Shadow Slave

Marble Shell...

Sunny stared at the runes with a thoughtful expression on his face, then concentrated on them. Immediately, new strings appeared in the air, forming a description.

Attribute: [Marble Shell].

Attribute Description: [In the deep darkness of the underworld, a prideful demon forged seven suits of splendid armor for his favorite creations. The intricate shells were both a boon and a test, since only those worthy of his regard could unlock the mantle's true potential and bear its weight.]

There were more runes, but Sunny stopped to think for a bit.

'Favorite creations...'

He knew that Saint and her kind were an artificial race created by Nether, the ruler of the Underworld and the Demon of Choice... or Destiny, depending on how one decided to translate the runes. He also knew that Saint's armor bore a strong resemblance to the Mantle of the Underworld, although it was not quite as impressive.

The original Stone Saint had been one of the smallest and weakest living statues that used to dwell in the Dark City. By the time Sunny reached the place of their battle against the Fallen attackers, the bigger and more powerful warriors of her kind had already been destroyed, leaving only her, an Awakened Monster, to finish the fight.

What he got from all that was that Saint had only been a foot soldier in Nether's army... most likely.

The armor she wore was a true masterpiece of craftsmanship, but not something on the level of the seven Mantles, which had been gifted to the high-ranking officers of the stone legion by the Prince of the Underworld.

'Gods. If Saint is just a foot soldier, then just how terrifying was Nether's army?'

Well... they had to have been pretty terrifying, in order to challenge the gods. The Stone Saint he had killed on the desolate plaza of the Dark City was a pale remnant of her original self, as well, since the living statues had not been consumed by Corruption yet during the war between the daemons and the gods.

Shaking his head, Sunny turned his attention back to the runes. The description of the Marble Shell was a bit unusual, since it included much more information than that of other Attributes.

He continued to read:

Attribute Traits: [Living Stone], [Feather of Truth], [Stalwart], [Underworld Armament], [Mantle], [Shell], [Bound].

The first four were just like the enchantments of the old Mantle, with the exception of [Stalwart]. The extremely high protection against physical attacks and the high protection against elemental attacks remained the same, but the moderate protection against mind and soul attacks had been elevated to high protection, as well.

'Very good...'

The defensive trait of the Shell was passive, but the other three traits required essence to function. From now on, Sunny would have to circulate it through his own body in certain ways instead of pouring it into the Memory to activate the effect.

That was... a bit weird. Luckily, he seemed to possess an instinctive understanding of how the essence had to be circulated exactly, and his control over it was intricate enough to achieve the desired result.

The other three traits, however, were extremely interesting.

The [Mantle] and [Shell] were connected, and in fact mutually exclusive. That was because those were not really traits, but actually forms that his new Attribute could assume.

The Shell was a dormant form, while the Mantle was an active form.

As the Shell, the armor existed under his skin... or rather, was his skin? Basically, it provided all the benefits of the Mantle of the Underworld, including access to its enchantments, albeit in a muted and somewhat weakened form.

Sunny dismissed the Puppeteer's Shroud and stared at his arm incredulously.

His skin looked... pretty much the same, but somehow even paler and smoother.

'Great. As if I wasn't being called a creepy porcelain doll often enough, already.'

He sighed, then jabbed his arm with a finger. There was something strange... his skin remained soft and elastic, but when sufficient pressure was applied, it suddenly became hard as stone. Basically, it was becoming rigid when struck. After a few experiments, which must have looked really weird from the side, he determined that he could control the process consciously, too.

'That's neat. So I will always have passive resistance to all kinds of damage. I'll be able to repair damage to my skin with the [Living Stone], as well, although that won't help me against internal injuries.'

He activated [Feather of Truth] and felt his fist becoming much, much heavier. Then, he made his entire body extremely light.

'Ah! This feels so weird!'

Sunny did not exactly start to float, but he could potentially jump extremely high or hit extremely hard with the help of this new ability. The applications were nearly endless!

A silly smile appeared on his face.

'And I can always enhance the effect of a single charm, as well!'

Better yet, by augmenting his body with the shadows, he would be augmenting his Shell, too, considering that it was a part of him. That, in fact...

That was the real benefit of binding the armor.

Sunny's eyes widened.

'Wait a second...'

Had he not dismissed the Puppeteer's Shroud to take a look at his skin? Which meant... which meant that he could benefit from the defensive qualities of the Shell and summon an armor-type Memory on top of that, using both to protect himself at the same time!

Damn!

That was simply incredible.

Sunny was consumed by excitement for several minutes, then remembered that he currently had no powerful armor- type Memories to speak of. Well, it did not matter too much... he would find one eventually.

ƥαṇdα- ηθνε|·ƈθm Plus, there was the [Mantle] trait of the Marble Shell, as well.

Its function was pretty simple - it activated the Attribute, making it assume the form of a full suit of armor. Unlike Memories, Sunny did not have to spend essence to summon the Mantle, since it was simply a transformation of the Shell. Similarly, the Mantle was considered to be a part of his body, and so augmenting one with the shadows would strengthen the other in turn.

In its active form, the Attribute awakened its full power - the effects of [Stalwart], [Living Stone], [Underworld Armament], and the [Feather of Truth] were not weakened anymore, reaching their full potential.

Sadly, wearing another armor- type Memory on top of the Mantle was out of the question.

'Still great!'

So, Sunny had not really lost his armor. On the contrary, it had become stronger, and could be summoned in its full glory at any moment. It's just that the Mantle was now an innate part of him, as opposed to a Memory.

And finally, there was the [Bound] trait.

Its function was very simple... it bound the Marble Shell to Sunny's soul, which meant that one would grow alongside the other. Currently, the Attribute was of the Ascended Rank, just like Sunny.

If Sunny became a Saint, the Marble Shell would become Transcendent, too.

...Laying in the sleeping niche and feeling the Rhino vibrate around him, Sunny closed his eyes and let out a satisfied sigh.

'Six thousand kills... ah, it was worth it...'

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