Having sung the ballad of damage reflection for almost 10 hours straight, Seth was finally able to put his hammer aside. This had taken way longer than the blacksmith had initially thought, despite having Cerberus help him.
But it was finally done; he had just riveted the last ring. Now lying on his anvil was a finished shirt of plate and fine, riveted mail, completely forged from < Silver of Athena Promachos>. This was the blacksmith's answer to the nature of the Aegis.
It would have been awkward to try and make a plate cuirass that could incorporate the Aegis, turning into a breastplate, without looking awkward, but he also didn't want Monique to be left with a simple mail shirt when the Aegis was a cloak, or a shield.
This was why the blacksmith decided on a shirt of plate and chain, which mixed the superior protection of plate and the superior range of movement of mail. The shirt had over 300 smaller, slender metal plates woven into the chain.
But they were not simply strapped in; they used the same technique as plate armor. They were all overlapping and articulate, preserving an optimal range of movement, while giving increased protection to key areas. In a certain sense, it was comparable to some brigandines, but using chain to keep the plates in place instead of fabric.
But that was not the end of its special traits. It was normal for a mail shirt to fall roughly to the middle of the thighs. At this point, Seth had incorporated pteruges made of reinforced owl leather to the hem of the chain shirt, to mirror the makeup of Olympian Armor like that of Athena, and further improve movability.
During the whole process, the forging of wire, the forging of plate, the riveting and weaving, he had to sing without a break. He was glad he had Cerberus for the bending and cutting of the wire for the rings. Otherwise, it may have taken even longer.
One thing was clear: he wasn't going to finish this today. It was already early evening. While Seth sat down to drink a weak healing potion to treat his sore throat, Sivri, as usual, unlocked the door of the workshop, in case somebody needed something from him in person.
Knock knock
He was just done with his potion when there was a knock on the door. He set the empty bottle aside and looked at the door.
"You can come in. The door is open," the blacksmith called, his voice mostly recovered from the strenuous singing. Coming in where Monique, Wedan, and Hoen. While the dwarves had their nosy gazes scan the workshop, Monique looked at him with a smile.
"Here, I brought you food from the kitchen," she said proudly and presented Seth with several dishes freshly prepared by Link, preserved by her inventory. The blacksmith happily accepted the kind gesture.
"Thank you, I didn't have the chance to go for lunch today," he thanked her and began eating the dishes she had placed on the workbench beside him.
"I know, I have been kinda waiting for your door to open since noon," Monique revealed.
"You did?" he asked between bites. " I'm sorry. The armor took longer than expected," he said, pointing at the plate and mail shirt still lying on the anvil. The finely woven rings were glistening in the light like knitted silver under the golden sun.
"You did that alone within a day?" Wedan gasped. Hoen nodded beside him, but didn't say anything. The dwarves had not said a word so far, as their eyes had been glued to said armor since they entered the workshop.
"Well, I had Cerberus help with shaping the rings after I made the wire," the blacksmith admitted that he had help, which didn't help the two dwarves grasp how he managed to finish a full chain and plate shirt within a day.
"I-Is that mine?" Monique asked, her eyes were now also glued to the armor that glistened like a pile of electrum coins. Seth had his mouth full, so he simply nodded. "Can I try it on?" she asked. Seth swallowed.
"Sure, go ahead. I tailored it for you, so it should fit you perfectly. If there are any places it doesn't, tell me," he said before he continued munching away.
Although there were clasps in the front to open and close the shirt, there was no actual reason, since Monique simply donned it using the system options. Once worn, Monique looked like she was armored like an alligator. A mechanical, cybertronic, silver-golden alligator.
"Oh wow, it feels really comfortable. It barely feels like it is of metal..." she mumbled. enthusiastically. She kept moving around and struck various poses to see how it fit. Meanwhile, Seth finished his food.
"But does this design mean I won't need a breastplate? What if I'm using the aegis otherwise?" She asked. Although she seemed to like the full freedom of movement, she did have some concerns about the defense.
"You could also wear a different breastplate for that time, but that won't be necessary, right Rún?" Seth deferred the question to the golem, putting aside the empty dishes. The master enchanter was going to be in charge of the shirt's external enchantment.
To preserve the range of movement and the capability to change to the Aegis in an instant, the shirt was the only piece of armor, so Seth decided not to double down on the Olympian enchantments. Rún's suggestion was simply too good to pass on.
"Exactly. I have created an enchantment I call the Arcane Cuirass. It allows the user to summon a barrier that covers the torso and mirrors the non-legendary traits of the item, practically doubling the layer of protection in one go," the golem explained proudly.
This meant that the conjured cuirass, so to speak, would have the same 40% damage reflection as the chain, as well as other effects the shirt would gain from the
For the shirt, he was actually quite happy with the legendary effect that had manifested after he finished forging. Aside from the additional 50% power to Skills and Spells, the silver carried Athena's Defense.
The effect raised the base defense by 25% and doubled the defense of all barrier skills. It fit perfectly with the planned enchantment and confirmed Seth's suspicion that the legendary effects were not fixed.
They changed based on the item he made from the silver to fit whatever armor piece it ended up as. Thinking of the other pieces reminded Seth of something.
"Oh, right, here, try these on, too," the blacksmith had suddenly remembered that he also had the finished helmet and leg armor in his inventory. Monique had not shown up since he started working on the armor, so this was the first chance to show them to her. Although the shirt was not finished, he looked forward to seeing the pieces together on the model.
As he handed them to Monique, he went over the power of the individual pieces, and Monique became visibly giddy as he went on about the power. She could hardly wait to put them on. The moment the helmet found its place on her head, Nyctimene appeared on her shoulder.
"Hello, Monique," the owl greeted her by her name.
"Hello, Nyctimene. Nice to meet you again," the chosen greeted back with a smile.
"Can I go try them out? Monique asked, ready to run out of the workshop to test the various skills and effects Seth had mentioned.
"Leave the shirt here, it's not finished," the blacksmith demanded back the shirt, before the Chosen of Athena could run off with the unfinished product. "Also, it#s getting late, so if you intend to test them in the field, you should wait for tomorrow," he added when Monique gave it back to him.
Since there were no problems with the size, the shirt fell directly into the hands of Rún. The sleepless golem would be able to enchant the armor overnight, so Seth could finish it in the morning of the next day.
Although it was a shirt of mail and plate, Seth was not nearly as afraid of it when it came to soul forging as he was of the soft feathers of the helmet. When forging the soul, it would only be a repeating pattern; he wouldn't actually have to replicate every little ring and plate.
"Don't worry, I'm just going to the training room to play around a little. "
"All right, have fun," the blacksmith sent her off.
"Are you finishing for today?" Wedan asked out of curiosity, seeing that Seth had handed the shirt to Rún.
"No, I think will will finish a few weapons for the Cloud Continent before I sign off," the blacksmith said after a moment of thought. He had neglected that aspect of their plan a little, since the armor production became a little busy.
"Oh, so you are cursing some weapons now? Can I watch?" Hoen asked, intrigued.
"If you have nothing better to do, I see no reason why not," Seth said with a shrug. There was no risk in watching him etch demonic poems. After all, he wasn't singing or reciting them. At least not loudly...
A couple of hours later, the blacksmith finished early and went to his quarters.