By this time, Anna and the twins had also finished their trials and arrived there, only to see Ashton preparing to fight some other guy.
"What's up with him and fights?" Anna shook her head.
"The progenitors told us not to do the exact thing Ashton is doing." Verina chimed in.
"If you want to have Ashton do something, ask him to do the opposite. Noted." Irina smirked, "Should we stop him?"
"I think it's already a bit late for that. Look at the guards around him. They must have tried to jump him, but got beaten instead." Anna sighed and sat down, gesturing the girls to do the same "Let's just wait for him to deal with the guy. We can get the details later."
The twins looked at each other, before following Anna's lead. Even if they wanted to intervene, it was unlikely that Ashton would allow them to. For now, it was best for them to sit and watch the situation. If they felt like Ashton needed help, they would immediately jump to aid him.
"That armour though... it's the first time I've seen anything like it."
Irina, who was obsessed with anything related to warfare, immediately noticed it. The armour covered Ashton's entire body, except his face. That coupled with his sword... he looked more like some kind of Paladin than anything else.
The set of armour had a squared helm with a v-shaped opening leaving the eyes. While nose and mouth were completed covered. Attached to the top of the helm were black hairs. The hairs seemed to almost mimic the back of the Hydra's individual heads.
The breastplate appeared to be made from many layers of smaller pieces, mimicking the scales of the Hydra. It covered everything from the neck down and ended at the groin. It was the same case for the rest of the armour set.
As for the shoulders, they were fairly pointy but quite short. On each shoulder pad, a small face of a dragon or a hydra was carved. The same decorative figure could be seen on the front of his helm, the back of his palms, and his knee guards as well as his chest plate.
There was also another hidden head carved on the nape, which was covered with fluttering black hairs. Nine carved heads represented each head that the Hydra had.
"How come he got a badass armour while we got low-grade abilities." Irina complained but immediately answered her own question, "Tsk... those tough trials give awesome rewards, don't they?"
"Mm-hmm..." Verina nodded while Anna's complete attention was on Ashton.
***
"Where did you get that armour from!?" Jacklin bellowed.
This was the armour the same one that once belonged to his ancestor. The one who 'survived' the trial and had received as a reward. However, upon his death, the armour went missing under mysterious circumstances.
But to see the armour in front of his eyes again... Jacklin knew it was destiny that wanted him to have the armour. As he was its 'owner'. But to see an impostor wearing it so blatantly in front of him, was a bit too much.
'But there are some discrepancies between the legend and what I'm seeing,' Jackling thought to himself, 'The armour was supposed to have only one Hydra insignia in front of the breastplate. But I can count at least eight right now. Had the records been tampered with? It doesn't matter. I can get my answers when I get my hands on the armour.'
Jacklin couldn't help but lick his lips in the excitement of having a relic all to himself. He was staring at the lower part of the armour when he licked his lips. But in the eyes of the crowd... the lord was making inappropriate gestures toward the unfortunate participant while staring at his crotch.
[He's into you.]
'Ugh... I was all fired up but now I'm just disgusted.' Ashton thought before speaking up, "If you're done lusting over my cucumber, can we fight? Also, in case you didn't know, I don't swing that way so you might want to ask someone else for a facial."
"Wha- Nevermind that. I'll put an end to you low civilization bastard right now."
As soon as the words ran out of his mouth, Jacklin disappeared. Ashton couldn't find him, and without the [Perception] skill, he couldn't predict the baldy's moves either. Ashton's situation was similar to that of a driver driving through thick fog.
A moment later, Jacklin reappeared on Ashton's side and threw a kick aimed at his nape. The movement was so sudden, that it wasn't possible for Ashton to react in time. After all, Jacklin had blindsided him.
However, Ashton's body reacted on its own, blocking Jacklin's attack. Once the attack had been interrupted, Ashton grabbed the leg and threw Jacklin back from where he had disappeared.
"What just happened...? Did I develop eyes on my back or something...?"
[You thought those hydra engravings were for decoration? Just like the hydra could see every attack coming, thanks to his numerous heads, your armour does the same for you. All the engravings have the ability to link with the vision of the one wearing them.]
[Hence, when they see an attack coming, so do you. As for what happened before, your body reacted to protect itself like it normally would. But only this time, it all happened before your brain could perceive it.]
[Therefore, even though it might seem like your armour reacted on its own to protect you, it did not. You protected yourself, but it was a reflex action. Get it?]
Ashton digested Astaroth's words carefully before coming up with a summary of his own, "So basically, I have nine additional sets of eyes?"
[Yes, but only as long as you're wearing the armour.]
While the two of them were chatting on their own, Jacklin kept attacking Ashton over and over. Only to get blocked every time. Jacklin could not use his entire strength to overwhelm the fool as it could destroy the better part of the continent if it did.
But as long as he kept limiting himself, Jacklin would have lost the chance to defeat Ashton and claim his armour for himself.
"Damn it! I'm going all out!"
Jacklin yelled at the top of his lungs and suddenly the air around them got heavier. His feet dug themselves deeper inside the ground while his muscle expanded ginormously. Jacklin's size instantly grew threefolds and so did the mana around him.
"I'll tear that armour off of you now!"