Book 1: Chapter 22: Armour and Bones

Book 1: Chapter 22: Armour and Bones

As Lone was practising his swordspear forms all self-created, of course Sophie approached him. "Lone."

"Hmm?" He finished the set of movements tied to his form and gave his undivided attention to the girl.

His forms were pretty sloppy after all. Going into or out of them took no effort at all. Still, he had to work hard on them.

There was no one around to teach how to use his perfectly suited weapon, after all.

"Well..." Sophie tilted her head a bit as she scratched her cheek awkwardly and said, "I've been thinking and, uh why dont we try to find an armour type that suits you perfectly? M-Me too.

She stood for a moment before adding, Uh, I-I know our weapons are weird but they feel natural to use, right? I just thought it might be good to get the same for armour The stuff you gave me is a bit uncomfy I cant move the way I really want to in it.

Lone stroked his chin and thought about the matter for a bit. "Id be lying if I said I hadnt considered it.N0v3lTr0ve served as the original host for this chapter's release on N0v3l--B1n.

Confusion filled Sophie's face. "T-Then why havent you done it already? I-Im not complaining, Im just wondering"

Lone smiled and said, Its fine. I totally get where youre coming from.

He put his swordspear down and cracked his neck. Issue is there are as many types of armour as there weapons. Not literally but theres a vast range. Armour is most costly MP-wise too since compared to weapons, theyre far more complex.

Lone sat down on a log that was acting as a bench for the keeps courtyard. I gotta carve out a proper place to sit on this thing at some point. Woodworking hasnt seen any love in a while.

I mean, its definitely a good idea, Soph. If I dedicate myself to finding us fitting armour though it could take days. Im not gonna make a full set outright but do each one in bits. Dont want to bottom out my MP, Lone said.

What about the goblins then? Sophie asked. Will we have time for both?

Lone leaned down and started taking his boots off. "Well, if I'm gonna be using my MP to create armour, there's no point in us going out today. By the time my tanks refilled itll be dark out. We'll stay here for a few days I guess while we figure it out. That okay with you, Soph?"

She wore an upset expression on her face. S-Sorry I didnt mean to ruin your plans

Lone rolled his eyes. You didnt and please stop saying sorry so often. You did nothing wrong. I can still get stronger by focusing on my other skills rather than the combat ones and my levels. Less so, yes, but it isnt a waste of time nor are my plans ruined. We can kill goblins again once Im done.

Sure? she asked as she sat down next to him.

He smirked at her. Yes, Im sure.

Once Lone was finished taking his boots off, Sophie wagged her feet by his side and requested, "Mine too, please."

Sighing lightly, Lone replied, "Really?"

Sophie blushed but nodded. Theyre hard to take off

Ha-ah, fair enough. At least tell me if you have any preference armour-wise while I unboot you, he said with a short chuckled.

He then got off the log and kneeled in front of Sophie to help her with her footwear.

Thanks Sophie said softly.

She then chose to fulfil his request. "I could never fight off all of the knights that came after me, you know? Most of them were just idiotic farmers and peasants following the will of their 'God' or forced to fight by their local lords. Still, it was far too much for me.

Lone nodded. That lines up with what history states. No rolling armies of knights, just a lot of mobs persecuting the Jews.

There were knights, just not a lot of them when compared to endless nobodies willing to die for essentially nothing, Sophie replied with a sadness in her voice. I I killed a knight a few times. I stole a short ones armour. It wasnt a perfect fit but it felt very natural? Maybe thats my perfect armour type.

"Really? Was it full-plate?" Trying to picture the tiny girl in a suit of medieval armour made the former teacher mentally laugh. Thats must have been quite the sight Yknow, a, what, four-foot-six girl running around in all that metal?

Sophie smiled wryly. "Maybe. I didnt ever, uh, see myself. It was full-plate, by the way. It was stiff in some joints if Im remembering right the memory is, uh, kind of fuzzy. I think that was due to it not being made for me though."

"Could be. Did you wear those shirts too, by the way? The ones that are just linen under the armour but chainmail around the arms and armpits," Lone questioned as he finished helping Sophie with her boots.

"Yup, I did. They got really sweaty though..."Sophie answered honestly. "You know a lot about armour, Lone. Is that something a history teacher knows normally?"

Finishing up with removing her boots, Lone shook his head as he got up. "I was a history teacher, yeah, but the curriculum usually forced me to teach kids about the world wars. Medieval stuff was side-lined pretty damned hard.

He got back on the log right next to her and sighed. The middle ages fascinated me. The Roman Empire is pretty interesting as well. Modern history though is what the board of education demanded we taught the kids though. Important stuff, sure, boring as fuck though."

Sophie cocked her head to the side in befuddlement. World wars?

Cost:3,500 MP [-500 MP] Mastery:Intermediate Level 1

Even a Kevlar bodysuit, which he had to make over the course of an entire week piece by piece.

Not a single one of his other skills had levelled up in that time, not even Cooking Mastery. It all felt like such a waste.

Sophie gently wrapped her arms around his neck from behind him while he was sitting on a chair in their kitchen. She rested her head on his shoulder then turned to smile at him sweetly.

Even though the two of them were close enough to kiss with but the slightest of movements, Lone didnt react.

Sophie had gotten more and more physically affectionate over the weeks and he honestly couldnt care. He was going insane over this armour issue.

Perhaps if she was doing this in her adult form hed honour it with a response, but right now, it was no different than his sister clinging onto him when they were much younger.

"Lone... Why don't you just use the full-plate? Even if it's not your best fit, I'm sure it'll help a lot against the goblins, won't it?" Sophie asked in a tone that was mixed with worry and hope.

Lone smiled wryly. "I mean, you're right, Soph, but this is really bugging me. Like, really bugging me. I want to know exactly what I'm the most suited for. In the game, my character actually never used armour most of the time, but even that doesn't feel right. It's so weird."

"Why do you even want armour? I know I, uh, I suggested it in the first place, but I don't get why you're so obsessed with it now..." she asked. "Didn't you, um, want to... get hurt to level up your skills?"

Scratching his head awkwardly, Lone replied, "Well... Yes and no."

Sophie cocked her head to the side in confusion, pressing her cheek against Lone's in the process.

Seeing this, Lone sighed. "I do want to level up Basic Regen and my resistances, yes, but I also want to be prepared to fight something where taking a direct hit from it will result in instant death, more or less. Armour'll help with that, won't it? It never hurts to be more prepared rather than less prepared."

Sophie slowly nodded with her head. She then suggested, "Maybe your skin is your best armour? Uh, I mean, you can create anything, right? Why not just create more skin? I love watching you do stuff, its fun. Seeing you so upset and frustrated, though it, uh, it hurts to look at..."

Lone's cheeks flushed a little. "Yeah, pretty uncool, I imagine Were honestly so lucky nothing had stumbled into my dome yet. Still, thats a wacky idea, huh? Creating skin.

Despite making fun of the notion though, Lones eyes shone as a certain thought entered his mind. Creating skin creating skin theres something to this idea"

"Huh? Really?" Sophie was as confused as he was excited.

Lone grinned. "I think you were really onto something.

Sophie was started into letting go of his neck when he suddenly sprung up to his feet and held his palm out.

W-What? Did he really think of something with that silly idea? she thought in shock.

He stared at his hand intently, as if hypnotised by it. Nothing seemed to happen for some time, but Sophie could sense his mana points were rapidly depleting.

'What's he doing?' Her other personality thought that it was a good opportunity right now that she was distracted to warn herself.

Something at the back of her mind screamed at her to attack him, to kill him while he was distracted.

Sophie shook her head and drowned out that voice which she thought she had been blocking fairly well for a while now. Apparently, not well enough.

Lone and Sophie both watched in amazement as a tiny white needle slowly eked out of the centre of his palm. It looked incredibly fragile, she thought.

"What's that?" Sophie asked in a very soft voice. She didn't want to disrupt Lone's focus, but her curiosity was killing her.

Lone didn't answer. The needle continued to grow until it was half an inch tall and it then expanded outwards.

It only stopped once it had formed the shape of a gauntlet that wrapped around Lone's entire hand.

A gasp left his lips and the gauntlet shattered, leaving nothing in its wake. Lone flopped to the ground with a big smirk on his face.

He leaned up and pulled Sophie down into a bear hug, using all of his tails in the effort which she very much so enjoyed.

He gave her a big kiss on the forehead and laughed. "It actually worked... Bones... Fucking bones... I'm not sure I would have ever figured that out on my own... Damned bones... Who would have thought that'd be my best form of armour? Another sick joke from that fucking god, I'm sure."

Sophie stayed still like a deer caught in the headlights. Her mind had gone completely blank the moment that Lone had planted his lips on her temple.

"I even got a skill. Thank you, Soph, you're amazing. What would I ever do without you?" Lone asked as he rubbed the girl's hair and began laughing in glee.

'This is it...' Sophie closed her eyes and slowly coiled her hands around Lone's waist. 'This is what I've been looking for... The other me is wrong. I can make connections, friendships, and maybe more with other people With him I dont need only her.'

With that commitment firmly planted in her mind, Sophie focused on enjoying the warmth of Lones embrace.