Return of the Woodcutter

Wearing his grey cloak to hide his identity, Aito walked through the streets of the second floor with a thoughtful expression. 

For the first time in a while, he wasn't in the mood to train. His previous interaction with Ogoro had troubled him in more ways than one, preventing him to think straight. 

Why was he so affected by those, even though he knew he had made the safest decision? The most logical one. He kept wondering if he was truly a coward, although multiple past events proved it to be false. 

Somehow, his refusal to help Ogoro felt… well, he didn't feel good about it. 

To forget about that weird feeling, he decided to visit Ainar and pick up what was promised to him. Certain it'd boost his morale to gain new equipment. 

But the closer he got to the minerian's stall, the more another idea sprouted in his head. What if… just what if he could safely use the hidden staircase? 

No, he shook his head at this stupid idea. Why would a merchant or any staff member want to help him? He had nothing to offer in exchange.

At least not something so valuable that it would entice a merchant to break the Tower rules. Moreover, what should he do if he managed to access the first floor undetected?

He had no idea. 

A long sigh pushed its way out of Aito's throat as he finally arrived at the minerian's stall where Ainar was standing by his counter munching on a piece of charcoal. 

"*Crunch* Fey, foy," Ainar said, swallowing the charcoal reduced to black powder in his mouth to speak properly. "You look like human shit." 

"Because I'm in a foul mood," Aito said, before changing the topic. "Anyway, did you finish what I ordered?"

"In a hurry to see my work, hun?" Ainar asked. 

"I'd be lying if I said no." 

The minerian smirked before he reached under his counter, then neatly placed every single piece of armor set on it. 

"Here, try these out while I fetch your morpho-ax and shield." 

Aito rapidly unequipped the full plated armor set he had "borrowed" from Sam and stored it in an inventory bag he had specially kept empty for it. This medieval armor set was truly easier to take off than to put on. 

Once done, he took a proper glance at his new armor set lying on the table. It wasn't what he expected. It looked more like a medium-heavy armor than a true heavy one. 

He simply grunted and decided to put it on before complaining. First was the thick grey vest with long sleeves. It was heavier than it seemed. 

As he inspected, he realized it was in fact a chain mail, well sort of. The metal was woven with such precision it seemed like a normal cloth. Also, underneath it, there was a layer of hardened leather for additional defensive properties and a layer of fur for comfort.

He equipped a steel breastplate that covered his upper body, pauldrons for his shoulders, vambrace, articulated gauntlets, pants also made of chain mail leather. On top of it, he put his steel cuisses. Then he finished by his greaves crafted half with steel, half with leather. 

There was no unnecessary decoration on his armor set. but it looked cool nonetheless. It didn't provide as much protection as the full plated armor set; however, it was far more comfortable and easier to move with.

Just like everyday clothing. 

Finally, Aito put on his new helmet, which was akin to those of ancient Greece, only more opened at the level of his jaw. 

A morpho-ax and shield in hand, Ainar looked from the side with a "so, I told you it was good" expression. 

"Comfy. Warm. Perfect size." Aito said, nodding, "Not bad." 

"Not bad?" Ainar said, pointing his bulgy index finger at Aito in an accusatory manner. "This design allows for more agile movements. I even added a zipper for your little scrog. Your vest and pants are made of weaved-mail, providing protection against even a steel sword. Only a few smiths can weave steel with that kind of precision. I also added a bit of your shiny rock, which I'm calling ainium now, to increase its resistance to aura attacks. I've discovered that if I fuse it with another metal, in this case, steel, the result is a new metal with aura resistance properties." 

"However, it's not at the level that it will repel aura skills, but your equipment should dispel it after a few seconds. Why didn't I use the ainium for your whole armor? The reason is simple, it's so that you can use aura yourself, for as long as there is no impact like squeezing or hitting, the diluted ainium won't react negatively to aura. But imagine that you're wearing armor entirely made of ainium and use Durability on it, your aura would bounce off even without any impact of sorts. You would just get injured in the process. Which defies the purpose of an armor." 

"I do think it is possible to instantly cancel out an enemy's aura skill with the proper metal fusion. I didn't manage to find the perfect balance, yet. Currently, if we don't take into account the other materials, your armor set is made of 95% steel and 5% ainium. There is no other armor set like this one. It is the first of its kind. A unique piece." Ainar said, his torrent of explanation coming to an end. "So, do you think it's still 'not bad,' hun?" 

Aito looked at his equipment with a new perspective. His old one couldn't even compare. This armor set was much more versatile. Greatly increasing his chances of survival against skills entirely based on aura. However, it wouldn't be as effective against certain skills. Most of them were used by mage classes. 

The main difference between mage classes and other combatant classes was the usage of aura to influence their surrounding environment. 

For example, elementalists, like those Aito encountered before, would use their aura to capture the ambient air.

Small particles of aura acted as links to attract oxygen, then trap it in a form of a ball delimited by aura. Inside it, the particles of aura would create intense friction to birth a fire. As long as the aura membrane cloaking the fire remained intact and the supply of energy was unperturbed, the fireball wouldn't dissipate. Well, if the caster were to run out of oxygen to feed the flame, it would go off. 

Warrior and archer classes mainly used aura to enhance their body or equipment capabilities. Of course, it was not a strict rule, just a general fact. Some uncommon warriors were known to be able to cast fireballs, after all. 

Although Aito's new armor set could resist telekinesis skills like Mabas', it'd be hard to defend against the heat of a fireball since it was made of pure fire. It was created using aura, but ultimately, it wasn't entirely made of aura. 

The flames would have enough time to burn him because of the sparse quantity of ainium.

"Hum, it's VERY not bad indeed," Aito said, enjoying teasing the minerian. That new equipment boosted his morale and confidence by a considerable amount. 

Ainar shook his head at the ignorant, then settled a thick metallic round shield on the counter. Its surface was covered with grey metallic scales, which were steel reforged into small oval-shaped plates. 

"Grab it and infuse your mana into the mana bead next to your index on the grip." 

Curious, Aito did as he was told. Immediately after, the inside of the shield emitted creaking sounds. From top to bottom of the shield, the small metallic plates shifted sides in the blink of an eye, showing shining scales crafted from ainium. 

"This…" Aito paused, too impressed to talk. 

"An anti-magic shield," Ainar said, crossing his burly arms and lifting his nose to manifest his pride. "There are two layers. A steel layer and an ainium layer. By infusing mana into the grip, you'll be able to shift layers. Steel for your aura skills. Ainium for defending against an aura attack. Do take care of not using aura on the ainium side. Your equipment would remain intact but the aura will disperse violently like a shock wave. I guess it can be useful as an attack of sorts. Ah, and if you want to shorten the shield, simply infuse your mana into the second mana bead next to your pinky." 

Aito tried it as soon as he heard that. The shield rapidly reformed into a smaller version in the shape of a piece of pizza. 

"This… I feel like I'm cheating." Aito declared. 

"Because you are!" Ainar exclaimed, "This is a real cheat. Even more here, since we are in the Tower. I'm confident to say that no challengers will be your equal with it. Add this to your arsenal, and you can officially be called a cheater." 

Ainar handed him a one-handed bearded ax with multiple features on its ax head. 

"The ax head is composed of three parts," Ainar explained, pointing at the blade. "This one is made of pure steel using the design you asked for. The backside of the ax head is a hammer crafted with Ainium. On top of the head is a small steel pike you could use for piercing. Oh, if you—" 

Aito didn't even wait for Ainar to finish his sentence and immediately proceeded to infuse mana into the shaft, which almost immediately lengthened by slightly more than twice its size. Like small trap doors, the top and bottom of the bearded ax blade opened to make way for the lengthening process. 

Instead of a one-handed bearded ax was now a two-handed executioner ax with a long half-moon blade specially made for decapitation. 

"So, satisfied?" Ainar asked, smirking.

"Very satisfied," Aito replied, morphing his weapon back to normal. Almost each of the gears showed to him had been modified, improved beyond what he had ordered. Not that he minded this kind of initiative from the inventor, as long as it was good. "In fact, I feel like I'm over-geared." 

"Ha! Wait until you try it out in an actual fight. The fourth and fifth floors will be a piece of cake for you. The sixth will be a bit more challenging but won't be an issue. I'm pretty certain you could even take on a small army of challengers with this weapon and your current equipment. Provided you have the skills to wield them, of course." 

'A small army of challengers….' Aito thought, his mind wandering back to his earlier discussion with Ogoro. 'Maybe… with that equipment… yeah, there is a definitely a higher chance I could pull it off. No, wait... I don't even have access to the hidden staircase. Without it, it'd still be suicide.' 

Aito's gaze then naturally laid on the minerian who had a weird satisfied grin on his face.

'But he does.'