Chapter 44 - Soul Armor
The evening descended in shades of crimson and gold, the sky bleeding into darkness as the sun dipped below the academy’s distant towers. A cool breeze swept through the grounds, carrying the scent of evening flowers and distant rain.
Walking back to his room while humming an upbeat phonk tune that only he knew in this world, Cale was happy—or rather, ecstatic. The yang qi flooding his system felt like an adrenaline rush demanding constant release, a pressure building behind his ribs that wanted nothing more than to explode outward.
He could control it these days, barely.
Like a bottle filling to the brim, one more drop and it would spill over completely. There were options, of course. He could visit Emma, find some brothel at the academy’s outskirts, lose himself in physical release.
But somewhere along the way, such things had started feeling empty. Hollow. Unless there was something behind it—or rather a proper reason—it all felt like pretending.
He remembered those early days when he’d thought loneliness could be cured just by sleeping with random women.
’Heh, what a fool I was,’ he thought, shaking his head.
Once inside his room, Cale checked the system interface.
The soulbound sword would still need approximately three hours to fully materialize.
But there was another message waiting:
[UNLOCK SOUL ARMOR?]
A wide, greedy grin spread across his face.
"Yes."
Multiple options materialized before him, each one a different path, a different fighting philosophy made manifest:
[REAPER: The Reaper-type Soul Armor specializes in speed, agility, and lethal precision. It grants its host exceptional mobility and enhances the likelihood of landing devastating critical strikes. While its defensive capabilities are modest, it excels at eliminating enemies before they can retaliate.
Stats: CRIT: +20% | AGILITY: +25% | DMG: +15% | DEF: +5%]
[WARRIOR: The Warrior-type Soul Armor is a balanced archetype designed for adaptability in all forms of combat. It provides stable improvements across offense, defense, and endurance, making it suitable for prolonged battles without any glaring weaknesses.
Stats: DMG: +15% | DEF: +15% | ENDURANCE: +15% | AGILITY: +10%]
[GUARDIAN: The Guardian-type Soul Armor emphasizes resilience and protection above all else. Its host gains immense defensive capabilities and endurance, allowing them to withstand overwhelming attacks while shielding allies from harm.
Stats: DEF: +30% | ENDURANCE: +25% | HP: +20% | DMG: +5%]
[BERSERKER: The Berserker-type Soul Armor is forged for overwhelming offensive power. It dramatically enhances strength and destructive capability, rewarding relentless aggression at the cost of reduced defensive effectiveness.
Stats: DMG: +30% | STR: +25% | CRIT: +10% | DEF: -10%]
[PHANTOM: The Phantom-type Soul Armor is built around unpredictability and evasive combat. It grants exceptional reflexes and mobility while increasing the host’s ability to evade attacks and exploit enemy openings.
Stats: AGILITY: +20% | EVASION: +25% | CRIT: +10% | COOLDOWN REDUCTION: +15%]
Cale studied each option carefully, weighing the implications.
Guardian, obviously was out immediately—it was too defensive, which was not a style Cale would go by.
Berserker was tempting but wasteful; he didn’t need a penalty to defense when he could win through precision instead. And just the term berserker made him think he would lose his intelligence like those game characters from his past life.
Warrior was solid, but it didn’t offer much. It felt like... well, something he could even achieve on his own. He didn’t want something over-all-rounded, what he needed was something swift and precise. Something like an ultimate card since using soul armor needed to be fed with either qi or mana constantly to keep it up.
One might even need to increase the input at times of critical conditions to repair its damage quickly.
That left the last two options.
’Which leaves me with these two, huh.’
Between Reaper and Phantom, the choice was obvious. He wasn’t one to use magic and long-range attacks continuously, didn’t have the patience for fighting enemies at long ranges or drawing fights out. He needed something that let him close distance fast and end things faster.
Reaper it was.
"Well... Reaper type," he announced, his voice steady.
[REAPER SOUL ARMOR TYPE SELECTED]
FORMING...
Cale stood as the entire air around him began moving vigorously, energy swirling with visible force. Soul essence enveloped him in a radiant veil, luminous and ethereal, before condensing into something far more solid.
The armor formed piece by piece.
A pristine white inner tunic layered beneath a sleeveless silk-like obsidian coat whose long tails flowed with quiet, elegant grace.
Smooth golden armbands settled around his biceps, engraved with intricate runic patterns that shimmered faintly with spiritual light.
Form-fitting black sleeves extended from beneath them to his wrists, adding both refinement and mystery.
A white sash wrapped around his waist, complemented by subtle golden accents that caught the lamplight. Dark trousers, immaculate white greaves, and black-gold boots completed the ensemble.
Every detail radiated ethereal beauty and regal dignity—he looked less like a cultivator and more like a celestial prince.
Opening his eyes, Cale tested the armor’s presence against his skin.
There was no weight, no restriction. It was so smooth, so seamlessly integrated, that he almost forgot it was there at all. Yet when his fingers brushed the cloth-like surface, faint crackles of energy danced across his skin like static electricity.
He grinned.
’Interesting...’
Walking to the mirror to admire his obvious "godly self," he found himself genuinely impressed. He looked like one of those costly game protagonists from his past life—the kind designed to be the embodiment of perfection, handsomeness incarnate.
Every angle was refined, every line purposeful. Handsome as he was, looking at this new outfit didn’t look like any armor type or even soul armor he had ever seen before.
’Heh, someone from earth might think I’m cosplaying a fictional character.’
But something else caught his attention.
His eyes.
The left one had transformed into burning gold—fierce and fiery as the sun itself. The right had become crystal blue, clear and pristine like a beautifully carved piece of ice.
And strangely enough, this combination did not look weird to him at all, rather given his thinking he was already going to get at least two ’Demon Eyes’ for each of his eyes. So, if these are better ones, he would be rather happy.
He had no idea what they did, whether they had any special functions at all.
’They do compliment my handsome face, so why not,’ he thought, studying his reflection with obvious satisfaction.
The only thing better would have been if he could figure out what the hell they actually did.