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nBefore Brance put away his new Chainmail, Cynrik happened to sneak a peek at it with his Inspect.

n-Cold-Steel Chainmail Vest-

n-Tier 1: Special Grade-

n– Classification: Small Sized Under Armor –

n– A custom-made Chainmail armor meant to be worn under a set of armor. Designed by Cinyah Jetlensr and forged from five ore Cold-Steel, by Famed Blacksmith and Runist Jessup Pinhurst. The Runes inscribed on each chain-link have been tailored to handle Earth Mana. Comfortable and lightweight. Its smoothed links make it so the metal won’t pinch the wearer’s skin.

n– 10 DEF-

n-Durability 3000

/3000

n– Ability: 10% Buff to Earth Skills-

nThat’s pretty handy; it’ll save you in a pinch. 3k durability should be able to stop most attacks under Tier-2, Cynrik commented. Brance just smiled and was happy to have gotten his first bit of armor.

nSeeing the satisfied look on her son’s face, Cinyah pulled two shiny large teardrop-shaped shields that, when stood up next to Brance, were as tall as he was. When the boys had explained the whole story about their fight with Myer and how Brance described his preferred Mana constructs, Cinyah instantly went about designing these for him before sending the plans over to Maeve’s Father, Jessup.

nPlacing the two shields down on either side of Brance, both Maeve and Cinyah chuckled lightly at the young boy’s expression. Brance was flabbergasted when he saw the descriptions of both shields. With his jaw dropped and eyes as large as saucers, he stepped forward and caressed them both in awe. Unlike his previous kite shield, these were both graded as BSG Tier-1.

n“Hehe. Now, these two beauties are two of a kind. Your Mom, and my Dad, whos the head blacksmith, specially designed these two shields with all of your Affinities in mind. It took a lot of research, but he was able to build a Runic Schematic that merged Wind, Earth, and Light Mana. That’s not all, though, because it uses our Cold-Steel, they can easily be upgraded by us to higher grades and Tiers, allowing them to grow alongside you as you get stronger.” Maeve’s eyes sparkled as she explained her father’s creation to Brance.

n“Since they are the first of their kind and custom order, we’ve decided to name them the CS-Tear MK-1. The patent for the creation of the shield belongs to Cinyah, and as such, you will be the only person to own them. Now go on try them out.”

nShaking his head rapidly to clear his thoughts, Brance took both shields from Cinyah and examined them from top to bottom. The top half of the shield was rounded and as wide as his torso before tapering to a sharp point on the bottom half. A sizeable octagonal gem was placed in the center divided into three colored segments, corresponding to the three Mana Affinities he held. The edges of the entire shield were tapered into sharp points, and it was clear to Brance that the CS-Tear MK-1 was meant for both offense and defense, which suited his taste perfectly. From top to bottom, the entirety of the shield’s face was plastered with thousands of small runic letters, which gave it a mystical appearance, unlike his previous shield. Carefully turning the silver, shiny shield closest to him, Brance examined the inside portion.

nThe backside of the CS-Tear was concaved and ribbed with dozens of thin metal rods for support. With a simple glance of the concaved body, Brance’s eyes drifted to the center, where a leather bracer with three straps and buckles was neatly aligned, and half a foot away was a firm handle bolted in at several points. Taking a deep breath, Brance slid his arm into the bracer and gripped the handle before reaching over and putting on the second CS-Tear.

n-You have Equipt CS-Tear MK-1 X2-

n– Cold-Steel Tear Mark 1 –

n-Tier 1: Special Grade-

n– Classification: Teardrop Kite Shield –

n– A custom-made Teardrop-shaped kite shield designed by Cinyah Jetlensr and forged from five ore Cold-Steel, by Famed Blacksmith and Runist Jessup Pinhurst, for Brance Jetlensr. Baring the user’s Affinities in mind, the Runes inscribed on the shield’s face have been tailored to handle Earth, Wind, and Light Mana. The edges and bottom-most point have been sharpened to an extreme extent, allowing for practical offensive use.-

n– 15 DEF-

n– 10 STR-

n– Durability 5000

/5000-

n– Ability: 10% Buff to Earth Skills, 10% Buff to Wind Skills, 10% Buff to Light Skills –

n-Special Skill: Shield Wall- Requires the use of two similar-sized shields; a Mana Barrier can be generated; it will have a base durability of 5,000 HP. Activation Cost is 100 Earth, Light, and Wind Mana. Infusing more Mana will raise the durability.

n-Special Skill: Fusion. This shield can retract half the main body and combine with a second shield of the same variety. As a result, the stats and abilities of the shield will be doubled, and Special Skill: Shield Wall can also be used. Activation cost = 200 MP-

nBrance’s pupils shrank while reading the full description that Inspect gave him. The added boosts to all his Affinities and the two special skills that the shields present were astounding.

nCyn…these shields are overpowered as hell.

nCynrik, too, was speechless as he walked up to see his brother’s new shield up close. After reading the details on Brance’s two new pieces of equipment, Cynrik came to a conclusion. The difference between Brance’s original kite shield and the two new ones was so far apart that Cynrik even started feeling pissed at himself forever spending money on the first one.

n“Woah…these things are insane.” Cynrik couldn’t help but utter out loud.

n“Well, of course, My Dad is among the top 5 Blacksmiths and Runists in Valor City; we can’t have shabby equipment bearing our name.” Puffing out her chest in pride, Maeve chuckled. “Brance, you’ve still got two more presents, so go ahead and put your shields away.”

n“Yes, ma’am.” Brance quickly slotted both of his CS-Tears into the T1 loadout and stood with his hands behind his back, waiting patiently.

nKiss ass. Cynrik was getting tired of Brance’s “Perfect Child” act and had to take a cheap shot at him for it. Brance didn’t even bother responding to his brother’s taunts, as he had grown accustomed to Cynrik’s snarky remarks years ago.

n“Up next is this jacket. Again, in your Mom’s designs, she listed that it needed to be durable and lightweight while still giving all-around protection.” Neatly folded in Cinyah’s hands was a silver leather duster jacket. With a flick of her wrist, the jacket appeared on Brance, who was wide-eyed.

nWith a matching color to Brance’s shields, the silver duster was long-sleeved and hung down to his knees; on both of his shoulders were three form-fitting, layered, Cold-Steel plate pauldrons that covered not only his upper arms and shoulders but also his clavicle. (https:

/

/imgur.com

/a

/hWXxtK5 Like this, but instead of black, it’s silver and has Sephiroth style shoulders.)

nAfter a short range of motion test and finding out his movement was unhindered, Brance smiled widely and read its description.

n– Cold-Steel Light Bending Duster-

n-Tier 1: Special Grade-

n– Classification: Mana Infused Duster Jacket –

n– A custom-made leather jacket designed by Cinyah Jetlensr and crafted from five ore Cold-Steel and Medium Silver Drake Hide, by Famed Blacksmith and Runist Jessup Pinhurst, for Brance Jetlensr. This Jacket has been inscribed with Mana allocation runes containing Light, Earth, and Wind Mana. Thanks to the toughness of the Drake Hide, this Jacket will be able to stop most bladed attacks under Tier-2 with relative ease.-

n– 15DEF-

n– 50 MP-

n– Durability 10000

/10000-

n– Ability: 5% Buff to Earth Skills, 5% Buff to Wind Skills, 15% Buff to Light Skills –

n-Special Skill: Light Bending – By infusing Light Mana, the wearer can bend the light around their body, creating an active camo effect similar to an Assassins Stealth Skill. The skill will be dispursed if the user suffers a physical attack. Activation Cost 25 MP, Sustain cost 5 MP per second.

nNICE, now I won’t have to burn extra Mana to keep you under ShadowVeil. Cynrik chirped while reading the jacket’s stats.

nReally, that’s all you have to say about it. I half expected you to start singing One-Winged An…**. Brance cursed as he realized what he had just done.

nTOBS, PLAY ONE-WINGED ANGEL FROM ADVENT CHILDREN!

n-Now playing “Advent: One-Winged Angel” by Nobuo Uematsu-

nKue Kue Kue! BELLS, FROGS, BIG CHERRIES, PETER PAN, MAGIC CHEESE, SEPHIROTH!!!! Cynrik shuffled around while singing the meme version of the song’s lyrics, making Brance want to cry.

nCinyah and Maeve watched with concerned faces as Brance looked like he was about to have a mental breakdown, and Cynrik seemed to be dancing tauntingly. Although Maeve was clueless about what was happening, Cinyah, aware of the boy’s telepathic link, frowned and summoned a small ball of fire, which she subsequently flicked at Cynrik.

nSensing impending doom, Cynrik quickly dropped to his belly, just narrowly avoiding a thumb-sized flame that whizzed past his head and disappeared not far behind him.

n“Stop teasing your little brother, or you won’t get your presents.” Cinyah’s parenting style has changed a lot over the last five years. As the children grew, and she knew their stats, she became more physical, especially with Cynrik, who often got the same treatment as his father. Cinyah had yet to ever resort to corporal punishment with Brance, but Cynrik seemed to only listen when she used it.

nThe tone of Cinyah’s voice let Cynrik know she was serious, and he immediately had Tobs shut off the song and stood in place with his hands behind his back and his head hung low. “Yes, Mom, I’m sorry, Mom.”

nServes you right, asshole. Brance had to get the last word in, now that his Mom had shut down Cynrik’s childish crap.

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