Age of Gods - A VRMMO Story

With the metal work done for the moment, he proceeded to pull out some more of the Black Tar Boa skin to use for the leather of the armor. The boa didn't seem to be all that rare and was readily available for a decent price. Thomas chose it for its durability and comfort, the smooth skin-like scales also gave the skin an appealing look. Along with the boa skin, he retrieved some tailoring plans. He picked a pattern for a vest, similar to the last set of armor he created. He preferred the vest shaped armor that left his arms free. With the armor he'd already made, he could retain that freedom while still being well protected.

Granted, most armor was designed like that so it's not like he was being wholly original with his design. Then again, designing something original would take far more talent and skill than he possessed. None of that was helpful to him though. Instead, he focused on tracing out the pattern of the vest onto the snakeskin. After tracing the pattern, he began to slice it out with a summoned tool. His work was smooth and nearly effortless thanks to the sharpness of the summoned Mithril tool. The snakeskin was quickly sliced into two main pieces that would form the front and rear main panels along with multiple smaller pieces.

Altogether it would be layered with the sheets of Mithril in between. He looked at the bottle of glue he had and frowned. He was sorely tempted to make his own glue using purified materials. There was a problem though. According to the recipe in his Alchemy book, making the glue didn't take much material or effort. The problem was that it took nearly a month to thicken and settle properly once it was prepared. If he made a batch now he would need to wait all that time for it to be ready. Worse, he couldn't store it inside of his inventory since time wouldn't pass there. It could be stored in one of his storage rings but that wouldn't change the amount of time it needed. With that being the case, he had little choice but to use premade glue that hadn't been purified. He would just make several proper batches once he had the U.L.T.R.A. and could afford the wait time.

With everything ready, he began the process of building the layers for the armor. The powerful glue was more than enough to hold everything together as he worked up each layer by sandwiching the pieces of Mithril plating between layers of snakeskin. The process was relatively quick and easy. The glue took very little time to set and provided a bond that would make even modern 'super' glues seem weak in comparison. Little effort was needed and in less than an hour both halves of the armor had been completed.

The front half of the armor looked very modern with straight lines and angles with very little gap between the plates. His chest was covered by two of the larger plates to protect his heart and the majority of his lungs. Below that were smaller plates that covered the lower portion of his chest and stomach in wide thin plates. He sacrificed some flexibility for protection but felt the trade was worth it. He wasn't overly flexible, to begin with. The loss would hardly be noticed. At least he wouldn't be a tin can!

As for the back half of his armor, it was slightly less protected and made of many more plates. Unlike his chest, his spine needed to remain as flexible as possible. It wouldn't do if he couldn't bend over or flex his back. To protect his vulnerable spine, he used a dozen much smaller plates all lined up with a small gap in between. It was a vulnerability but a small vulnerability. Anyone or anything that could take advantage of the gap could likely crush him without having to resort to such a small weakness. Next to the small plates covering the spine were larger plates that protected bigger areas such as his shoulder blades.

With the two halves finished the next step was to enchant the armor before the final assembly. He didn't plan to make it fancy, just something to take advantage of the metal magic imbued Mithril and spread the defensive bonus to the entire piece of armor. Purified mana crystals and Alchemist's Oil were deposited in lines on the interior of the armor where it would be protected from external damage. The lines of the enchantment were clean and simple, just like the intended enchantment. He worked slowly and patiently until it was finally completed.

With the enchantment completed, he used the glue once more on the straps that would allow the armor to hang from his shoulders as well as the sides. To don the armor he would only have to slip it on like a shirt. As soon as the two pieces became one he received the expected system notice.