A New World, an immersive game experience

Chapter 992 The Need For Stronger Armor

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Leaving that train of thought behind, Eldrian thought back to his battle with the Death Knight. As often the case, he had been overconfident.

This time, however, that was okay. It had only been a dungeon attempt. Sure, there was a massive CD—win or lose. But that was all. No one had been in real danger. At least, as far as Eldrian could confirm. 

Of course, drawing on his auras was always dangerous. But that was why he had been training with Ziraili. 

In the end, Eldrian had been put in a bind not because of the fight itself, but rather because he didn't want to appear naked on the guild's stream. This body, his avatar, might not be his real one. But it would still have been quite embarrassing. 

'That's it!' Slamming his balled right hand into his left hand, Eldrian smiled. "I just need to make some armor that won't burn. Even when I channel Wrath."

Willow was the perfect example of what a weapon should be capable of. Eldrian had channeled Wrath through it, and it had worked perfectly. There had been no danger of Wrath damaging it. 

Naturally, though, accomplishing something like that wouldn't be easy. If Eldrain was to believe the stats that he had read during the fight, Wrath dealt 1,8k damage. And, according to the damage he had done to the Death Knight, that was its base (raw damage) value. 

Unlike other damage types, Wrath's damage did exactly what it said. 1.8k damage flat. It had ignored the Death Knight's armor and resistances, too. 

Eldrian knew from experience that it was possible to resist damage from auras. But not with normal magic. You needed to channel your own aura to counter the attacking aura. If you can't, then you will take full damage from the other. 

While the Death Knight had had an aura of death (its green flames), it hadn't been in full control of it.

On reflection, it was more like its greatsword had born the aura, not the knight itself. It could control it, but it wasn't the same as Eldrian's Wrath and Tranquility. Which was likely why Wrath had so easily consumed the other flames. 

Stopping his reflection on the battle there, Eldrian refocused on the important bit. 1.8k flat damage. 

There was nothing that Eldrian could think of to withstand such a raw damage value. Sure, Eldrian hadn't seen the stats of Tier 10 equipment, yet. But he had seen that of Tier 8 items (in the guild chat). 

Even if the armor values doubled from Tier 8 to Tier 9, and Tier 9 to 10, that would only bring it to around 500. Maybe 1k if it had a special ability or something. Still not nearly enough to withstand Wrath being channeled through them. 

Eldrian could still try what he had done last time. But as soon as his concentration was to slip, Wrath would start eating at the equipment's durability. Slowly consuming and melting them. 

Darkslime was surprisingly the best option Eldrian had. Since it was possible to be repaired with mana, instead of extremely rare and expensive metals. But... it would still become damaged during the fight. Especially in fights where Eldrian needed to rely on Wrath. 

'I need armor that can survive Wrath. I can't really expect to win when I always end up naked.' Luckily, the flames would obscure visibility. Something Eldrian hadn't really considered when he had panicked during the fight. 

'Eh, it had allowed me to finally slow time again. So I can't complain.' Eldrian mumbled. 'And, yeah. I feel like I didn't actually slow time. Only increased my perception of it. And increased my own speed...'

Yet, that left the question of why he had sent energy outside of himself. It was this fact that had convinced Eldrian that he had slowed time, and not increased his own thought process speed.

But, If he had slowed time, then the explosion strength should have been far larger. Like that time he had lost control of his time dilation field. Which GAIA had taken opportunity of to make Eldrian's soul a tunnel between Earth and ANW. 

"Back to my clothing options." Not wanting to let his thoughts wander too far in other directions, Eldrian pondered what he could do for armor.

While it was perhaps not required in regards to decency, since the flames would obscure visibility. He really didn't want to be naked. Not to mention, armor was important. 

Sure, Eldrian didn't often rely on his armor to eat blows for him. Often only using them for their stat boosts and abilities. But armor could save his life in a close fight. Especially against opponents who were as fast, if not faster, than himself. 

A few minutes of pondering brought Eldrian to the question; "Why can Willow survive?" 

The base of the weapon was Abyssalite. A rank 5 metal. While metals were generally less rare than crystals, this metal was still extremely rare. So much so that there was none of it in Kynigo, or even in the ducal cities. It could only be found in the capital. And at insane prices too, on rare occasions to boot. 

Abyssalite averaged around 100k gold per kilogram. For comparison, divine ores (like Divine Mithril) only cost around 10k per kilogram. And a large move Crystal (as large as a person's hand) around 12k. 

Now, these metals (and crystals) were all so rare that they couldn't be bought at will. Often they can only be found be bought at state-held auctions. This held true for all materials at Rank 4 and 5.

Thus, even if the secret lay in the metal, Eldrian would never be able to get his hands on it. It was too rare, and even if he managed to come across it in an auction, he didn't have the gold to buy it. 

Sure, Eldrian had a lot of gold compared to other players. A thousand or so wasn't much to him anymore. But above 10k was, and 100k was an insane amount. 

'Mmm, maybe in a year or so.' Thinking of all the expanding businesses that Aspen was managing for him, Eldrian realized that the cost wasn't something he would never be able to afford.

Heck, if he went on a money-gathering quest, he would be able to make it in a few weeks. Perhaps even less. 

'Yeah, if I take down a few ancient beasts...' Eldrian quickly thought of The Forsaken Cavern. His expedition into the cave had been postponed time and time again. 

Not only would he be able to fight mighty beasts, which would also count as training—he might even stumble upon some rare metals. 

"But... it isn't guaranteed it is the abyssalite." It could also be any of the other rare metals. Boran had been true to his word and hadn't been cheap in any single area. 

Currently, Eldrian could only use two abilities of the weapon. But there were surely plenty of others. Each is empowered by some or other rare material. 

It was also possible it was some secret technique. But if it was, then Solvi should have learned it. While Eldrian had ended up missing the smithing process, due to his training with Ziraili. Solvi had been allowed to observe and assist during the entire process. 

Eldrian was also sure Boran would be more than willing to help if asked. 'If it was a technique from Amnur, they should be able to replicate it...'

Asking the Legend, however, wasn't an option. He had disappeared right after finishing Willo, so Boran had told Eldrian. 

'It might also be the magic crystal core...' While Boran hadn't cheaped out, Magic Crystals were too rare for even him (the lord of Ganalin) to use in the forging of a single weapon. 

Magic Crystals were strategic materials used to expand and defend a kingdom's borders. Using something so rare and valuable for a single weapon was insanity. 

But that also meant it being the key to surviving Wrath was high. And, of course, it might be a combination of everything. 

'So, I need to get money and make a new Artificial Magic Crystal. In which case, I need to make two. Or Vriski will be real mad.