Chapter 49: Like An Aegis

Verina's improved ohrtending capability was really useful to speed up the process of crafting our new apparel set. Sёarᴄh the Novelƒire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

Ever since the last chemistry lesson that I gave her, she seemed to be much more curious about how certain things work on an atomic level.

Science wasn't really my department, but the addition of Sage Internet really helped me dumbing those complex information into something digestible—since I could just search all of my problem away-

Now that I think about it, the name Sage Internet didn't really have a good ring to it.

Hmm…

Let's just call it Sir Aethernet.

'As Sir Aethernet decreed, this piece of tomato is actually classified as a fruit!'

Yep, that sounds better in the ear. A valiant and wise knight in shining armor, made from grafted social media posts and unlimited knowledge about cat pictures.

I really need to utilize Sir Aethernet more. Not in utility, but for the fact that I could just burst my old NewTube's playlist into my brain directly without needing to hold or touch anything.

Not to mention, I had just found out that I could use Gloogel Lens' image recognition function using my own sight as the medium of photo capturing.

I could even play a web-game with the help of Sir Aethernet, which was something that I didn't really focus on back then, when I was only thinking of a way to survive.

"You know," Verina said as she was doing her job maintaining the temperature of the forge. "I always find it so hot that you often sweat but make no effort to wipe it away from your face. Sometimes, it makes me want to lick it."

"Verina, do you want to know a fun fact?"

"... A 'fun fact'? What is that?" Verina slightly tilted her head.

"It is a tidbit of interesting or entertaining trivia."

"Alright, give me some of this fun fact then."

"I actually have a ghostly partner with me, all this time." I lied.

"... Elaborate."

"He is of a wise sage of noble lineage. He is Sir Aethernet. He helped me by sharing his wisdom. Do you think that I could just come up with an elaborate knowledge or design on the spot?"

"This means… all of those invention of yours-"

"Yup, it was his doing."

"Woah."

"Amazing, right?"

"Can I talk to Aethernet?"

"Sir Aethernet."

"Can I talk to Sir Aethernet?"

"Unfortunately, not."

"That is saddening."

"Regardless, I'm just messing with you."

"... So you are just straight up lying to me when you said that you have a ghost companion around you all the time."

"Yep."

"Sir Aethernet is not real, then."

"Nope, Sir Aethernet is real."

"What?"

"Fun fact, our skeleton is always wet."

"... I don't know what to do with this information."

"Also, you can smell your own lungs. Your brain just filters out the smell."

"..."

Ever since then, Verina stopped teasing me in the fear of acquiring forbidden information as a counter attack.

After several hours of intricately crafting each piece of the protective set, we finally finished a piece that was meant to be mine.

Though, it would be a massive understatement to call it anything but otherworldly.

And its item's description was also as long as it was complex in its creation process.

[Soulthread Aegis (Calamity 100%) - 4.3 kg: The Soulthread Aegis is a protective garb set forged from the intertwined remains of fearsome eldritch entities, woven together by the forces of despair, flame, and arcane glass. This living armor pulses with an eerie, sentient energy, adapting and evolving with psionic prowess of its user.

Its exterior is a deep, iridescent black with streaks of glowing blue, radiating a subtle, shifting aura that flickers like dying embers and splintering mirrors.

The core of the Aegis is composed of Sorrow Silk, a material that absorbs and converts the wearer's mental state into a proactive psionic energy. This darkly woven silk shimmers with a sickly light, growing denser and more protective as it feeds off from the intense activity of emotion.

The precise amalgamation of Calamity Alloys forms the outer shell of the armored parts like the torso, boots, wrist, and the skirt—featuring molten, magma-like cracks that radiate warmth, yet the wearer feels nothing but comfort within.

This elemental part deflects not only fire but even searing plasma or acid, as its natural resistance absorbs and dissipates the foreign change in temperature. The inner workings of the Aegis are flexible, allowing the armor to shift and move fluidly with the wearer, providing great flexibility]

Thanks to the highlighted indicator of the Gloamkeeper's Beacon, we were able to mix and fuse the right material to replicate some of the power that the Calamity Object possessed when they were still alive.

The most mind-breaking breakthrough was with the Sorrow Silk. Apparently, its property to interact with emotion was triggered with exposure to motion.

This was why the webs said to drain the victim's will to live, because one needed to be alive inside it for the web's property to take effect.

So, using Verina's knowledge in psionic activity and formation, we attempted to regulate the amount of emotion and 'livingness' to a non-harmful amount, and then start connecting this piece of trait into other material to create a synergy.

Not to mention, we also got our hands on the material from the Flesh Maulers and Sinew Shifter, turning their semi-living flesh to act as some sort of motherboard for the Sorrow Silk to function.

"How do I look?"

"Like a legendary warrior who has fought the abyss of darkness mending." Verina gave a thumbs up. "Or a rich person who commissioned a renowned calamity specialist craftsman. I want to say 'cooler' and 'hotter', but I'm afraid that you're going to retaliate with a 'fun-fact'."

"... Praises are fine, especially if it's related to my face."

"Noted."

I cleared my throat, maintaining my composure. "Speaking of a calamity specialist, I want to test things before finishing your Soulthread Aegis."

"Carry on."

"You need to be there with me."

I found out when we were trying to find what proper material to act as a catalyst for the Sorrow Silk's psionic power, she said that each material had different sensitivity to psionic influence, and to an extent, ohrtending.

Verina possessed a moderate amount of telekinetic capability with her ohrtending, and I want to see if there was any material that would react the most to her psionic influence.

If things went right, I might be able to fix Verina's lack of mobility that was caused by the aftermath of fighting the Wild Hunt's stray.