Alice was becoming decidedly tired of leaving Metsel. That was the conclusion she came to after her fourth day travelling on a horse. She’d thought it was bad when she and Ethan had ridden to that village, but after four days riding, she was convinced that the smell of horse had seeped into her very bones. At least her Endurance was high enough that she didn’t really suffer from the muscle cramps and soreness she had last time.
Ethan had decided that two attempts on Alice’s life were enough. Before leaving Metsel, he spent a few days placing an order with Doll. The [Tailors] who had made Alice’s dress so long ago had given Ethan a list of measurements to submit. After all, according to Ethan, Doll didn’t see non-Immortals. Not even if she was making equipment for them. Her Perks would take care of that, apparently.
A day after Ethan had left to place an order, he returned with a metal shirt and metal pants. The shirt looked almost like a breastplate, but there were some very distinct differences. For one, it looked like it was some sort of hybrid between a long sleeved shirt and actual armor – which confused Alice quite a bit. She didn’t know much about armor, but she was pretty sure that wasn’t what armor was supposed to look like. Inside of the shirt, there were also a bunch of complicated looking straps and latches. Alice had no idea how to put it on. It was also swimming in System mana, making Alice wonder just how many System enchantments Doll had stuffed into the item.
When she had given the metal shirt a baffled look, Ethan had grinned.
“She already had it made. She just needed to resize it enough for the Perks to do the rest. It should fit you perfectly,” he said. “It’s one of her better works in the last few decades. Put it on.”
When Alice had touched the armor, she realized that her concern about how all of the latches and straps worked was irrelevant.
The moment she touched it, the suit of armor started rippling, almost as if she had just touched a pool of water. Then, it had swarmed across her body, and all of the straps and latches had just… clicked into place.
A few moments later, Alice saw System mana spread throughout her body. Then, she started feeling more solid. Almost as if her skin had been rebuilt out of iron. Alice didn’t even need to look at her Status Screen to realize that a huge System enchantment had just activated.
“Ethan… how much [Endurance] did I just get?” asked Alice.
Alice thought about it. Two hundred and fifty monsters was definitely more than she could handle… but she also wasn’t so confident in the future that it seemed like a great idea to throw away a chance to train. Even if she was reliant on Ethan and the [Soldiers] of Illvaria to keep her safe, she didn’t want that to remain the case forever. Also, Alice was full on basically all of her mana types, and needed some levels in various classes to progress. Maybe trying to get creative in using her magic during a fight would push her closer to level 85 in [Explorer of Magic]?
Alice hesitated, before she sighed.
“How about I try what I can, and then you step in once I start getting overwhelmed?” asked Alice, trying not to grimace. She couldn’t believe that she was heading towards a fight.
Ethan grinned. “I’m glad you’re taking the chance to improve,” he said. Alice sighed, got off her horse, and stepped towards the monster horde in the distance.