Chapter 22- Armor

August sat there in total, unmoving silence. 

He had expected the organizer to be something of a god, which he had almost proven it was not. Whatever it was, it lacked absolute power.

Of course, it could also be both omnipotent and omniscient, choosing only to tell him what it wished–  if the being was capable of desire at all. 

Looking between the legacy of the behemoth and the lavender screen, August took notice of the fact that the lavender screen referred to what could be created as simply armors, not pieces of or parts of armor.

Which meant that the first thing he would attempt would be a full set of armor, as it seemed most practical.

If he were to use one of the legacy molds to create a single piece of armor, only to later find out that he was able to make full sets, August would have lost his mind. 

He did not want to use the regular aura mold as he had an alternate idea as for what to do with it.

To finish the list of reasons why he had chosen the [Armored Rhinoceros' legacy] was the description. He called upon it once more to be certain. 

—--

"Armored rhinoceros' legacy(Aura mold"

"This piece holds particular value to the collector due to the difficulty of acquisition. Born from his hatred and malice, this piece is best suited for armor"

—-

August nodded, firmly certain in his decision. It only made sense that the first mold he used to create an armor was one that had an affinity for the craft. 

So August closed his eyes and tried to think of armors he had seen in the books of old. Learning from the gun scenario, he decided not to attempt a tactical suit. 

Focusing his mind intently, August forced himself to picture a suit of armor, one that wouldn't fully restrict his movement or make him give up his mobility.

He thought of a light armor, mostly comprised of a thick leather that tapered off into thick fabric at joints to allow him to bend. He also imagined it with thick plating that covered his major organs, not to mention metal soles for his shoes. 

He thought of a thick leather hood with stacked plating to allow him to pull it off as he pleased, and thin fabric underneath to provide protection from the coarser materials. 

As August thought, pictured and imagined an intricate armor designed solely with him in mind, he noticed something truly strange. 

Nothing had happened. 

There was no flash of yellow light, nor did he feel a change in the shape of the orb. He had no choice but to pause and think about the issue. 

The orb was not changing at all, regardless of what he did. 

He leaned forward and furrowed his brow whilst closing his eyes, considering the reason why.  Why had he not struggled this much when forming a lance? Or even a sword, for that matter?

It took a bit of thinking, but eventually, he came to a conclusion. 

It was simply because a moving suit of armor was too complex for him to picture properly. Each individual component required a level of detailed thinking that he could do separately, but not together. 

He thought about the armor he was trying to develop, the individual, interconnected pieces. Each of them was incredibly interconnected in their own right. 

As he thought of a solution, the first place that came to mind was a forge, the different tools and items that played an instrumental role in the integrity of these things.

Back in ancient times, smiths were ferociously battling themselves. On the battlefield, each time a man was cut down, shot by an arrow or plunged into by a spear.

But there was an eternal battle that was waging on long before that. 

Offense and defense. 

August thought long and hard about the essence of these two things. The greater the offense, the more sturdy the defense needed. While the sturdier one's defense grew, the more offensive power was needed to break through. 

That was why smiths forged blades and armor, a never-ending competition between offense and defense. 

There were many elements that went into it all, elements that August knew of but couldn't keep in mind constantly as he attempted to create a well designed suit of armor. 

He would need to be able to keep every last intricate detail in mind or somehow be able to move on without losing the picture.

'Tch, if only i had a way to move along in the design without having to hold focus.' 

No matter how he thought about it, he was lost. There was simply no way for him to create an armor as his skill expected. 

Or did this mean he was simply unable to create a full set?

August was inclined to believe in the latter.

He found his hopes more than quite a bit crushed, after all, what child had never dreamt of slaying a dragon in a pristine suit of armor, just like the heroes of old. 

Deciding something was better than nothing,  August instead decided to focus on a single aspect of his armor. Particularly, he decided the chest plate took precedence, as he had no tank top anymore.

He focused, picturing his blueish gray chestplate, forged from what he would assume to be the same material as the armored behemoth's incredibly durable plates. 

As he focused, he ran into the same problem once more. Nothing was happening. 

He was now truly frustrated, cursing endlessly in his head at his lack of ability to change the orb into something as simple as a single chest plate. 

He threw his head back in vexation and groaned. He must have startled the red head because he heard her make a small sound, then full-on curse before saying.

"Bloody hell, man! What in god's name is that thing?!"

August snapped his head to face the outside, shooting to his feet before looking around for the danger that had illicited that reaction. 

There was none,  nothing at all laid in the distance. 

But August found himself standing in the midst of an all ecompassing holographic yellow sphere and, at the center, was a yellow mapped projection of his suit of armor.