Project Seraphina [LitRPG, Magitech, GL]
3.9 Wyvernscale Armor I

“I’m sorry,” I say once the two of us are back airborne. “I’d planned out today to be a lot more calm and relaxing than it actually ended up being.”

Chloe gives my hand a squeeze. “It’s okay, Sera. We got to help a lot of people today, and that makes me feel happy.”

“Thanks.”

After a few seconds of somewhat awkward silence, I continue. “I know it’s getting kinda late, but is there anything you want to do this afternoon? See a movie or maybe try some other store for a ring or…”

“Head back to bed and continue where we left off last night?” Chloe asks

Now it’s my turn to have my face turn bright red like that of a tomato. “If that is what you want.”

Chloe giggles before giving me a coy smile. “Maybe tonight.” A wink follows. I don’t know how or where Chloe learned to push my buttons like that, but she does it with absolute grace and I can’t help myself with how much I love this girl.

“Actually, I have these wyvern scales now,” I mention. “I can’t imagine they’ll be bad crafting materials. And…” I trail off for a second. “I don’t think Alana is wrong. If we’re to keep up with what the System is going to throw at us next, we’ll both need better equipment.”

Chloe gives an indignant look. “You’ve got a pretty girl practically throwing herself at you, and you want to talk about dragon scales and crafting? I’m guessing you never noticed any of the guys at school hitting on you, either.”

I shrug. “I seem to be doing pretty well in that department. No complaints.”

Chloe grins. “Good answer.”

We make our way back home in short order. And, unsurprisingly, the first thing we both do is take a bath. Not together, though. After dealing with the wyvern and then running around in the hot summer sun for several hours, tending to the wounded and providing emergency aid, we’re both stinky and trying to get clean, not get dirty again in a different way.

Surprising me, however, is the fact that my earlier conjecture was correct. Despite the midday sun barreling down on both of us for several hours, neither of us has more than a light pink tint to our skin. I feel no pain beyond a warm sensation to the touch.

I finish up in the shower and make my way back downstairs to the kitchen table… And honestly, I really do need a workshop of some sort.

These wyvern scales are… something. They don’t weigh particularly much. I’d say their density is closer to that of my arm, and about half that of iron or steel. They are thin— a thickness maybe double that of my fingernail. And they are stupidly strong. Even without the wyvern’s [Vitality] reinforcing it, it doesn’t snap even when subjected to enough force to bend my [Simple Buckler].

Even more impressively, the scales have a natural resistance to Ether, something I learn as I attempt to cut it with a thin blade formed of my [Intermediate Ether Manipulation] Skill. It does cut, but it’s far, far more durable than I’d expected. Like trying to… Actually, I can’t come up with a good metaphor in this situation.

In either case, I decide to test a few weak spells to see how the disc-shaped scale holds up to magic attacks more generally. Outside, on the driveway, where I hopefully won’t set any part of the house or Mrs. Jacobs’ lawn on fire. It’s not perfect, of course— I’m pretty sure some of my spells can explode concrete— but it’s the best place I have on short notice.

First, I start with a fire spell. Just [Fire] and [Straightness] for right now, choosing not to go any further than a simple ray of flame. I hold the spell for about five seconds. The concrete starts to glow a faint red due to blackbody incandescence, but true to expectation, the scale doesn’t seem deformed in the slightest. I hold my hand against the underside of the scale and… sure enough, it’s cool to the touch. The concrete underneath is no hotter than expected for it being afternoon on a hot, sunny day.

I try an ice spell, a far weaker version of the one I used against the wyvern a few hours ago… Yeah, it’s only been a few hours, hasn’t it? Feels like a lot longer, with everything we’ve already done in the aftermath. A ray of frost follows much like before, though instead of a scorching orange beam, it’s a cool teal that appears almost white against the yellow and grey of the sunbaked concrete.

And… sure enough, the ground underneath the scale is still sizzling, despite the surface all around it being cool to the touch. It’s a bit ironic how the magical resistance of these scales was used against it in the fight. By trapping all that cold energy within the creature’s own body, I seem to have inadvertently created a chain reaction of sorts that overwhelmed its natural defenses to temperature change, causing it to shatter and burst from the inside out. Definitely need to be aware of the weakness of making armor that’s too protective. And I probably shouldn’t be in a rush to learn any attacks that require me to open my mouth wide like a jackass screaming ‘hit me right in my unprotected mouth while I’m charging up my attack!’

Okay, no, I have no reason to do that in any case. Although, in theory, there isn’t any reason why I can’t [Glyphcast] from a part of my body that isn’t my hands. Just the higher concentration of nerves and [Ether] channels that make it easier to do so there. So maybe that is worth experimenting around with at some later point.

I don’t have any good way to test the scale’s resistivity against electrical attacks, although I can’t imagine it’s inferior in that respect. Instead, I try one last thing, channeling [Wind] together with [Sharpness] and linking the two glyphs together to form the shape of a rudimentary wind blade. Clutching the blade’s hilt in my hand, I slam down the nearly-invisible edge onto the outside edge of the scale. And though the scale bends ever so slightly and there’s a very, very quiet cracking noise, it does hold up surprisingly well. I’m sure it would have withstood a direct attack in its thicker center even better. No wonder Alana had such a rough go of it.

Now satisfied with my understanding of the scale’s physical and magical properties, I have a better idea of what I can do with them, along with what I’d like to be able to do with them if the first couple of attempts pan out particularly well.

I head back inside, enjoying that sweet chilly embrace of cooled air enveloping me as I close the door behind me. And after enjoying a brief embrace with Chloe— for no embrace can ever be long enough to truly satiate— I get to work.

I decide to start with two simple bucklers, not unlike the ones Chloe and I are using now. It shouldn’t be too difficult to take two of the smaller scales and attach a pair of handles to the underside of them. Or so I think to myself, before learning the full extent of their magical resistance. It’s not impossible for me to cut them, but it requires a tremendous amount of [Ether], and I have to move extremely slowly and carefully.

My right index finger is numb after an hour of slowly, carefully, and very precisely cutting the two smallest scales into as perfect of circles as I can. Next, I have to bore two small holes into each of them for the handle, which takes another fifteen minutes. And, more unfortunately, I have to do this part outside, as I’m less ‘boring a hole’ into them and more ‘vaporizing the…’ whatever the hells this scale is made of. Something a lot stronger than chitin, keratin, or other common bioproteins that pre-date the System.

In either case, I am eventually successful, and the System seems to acknowledge the difficulty of working wyvern scales using nothing but a blade of concentrated [Ether].

[Your [Intermediate Ether Manipulation (Rank XI)] has upgraded to [Intermediate Ether Manipulation (Rank XIII)].]

Now for the handles, which is… its own can of wyrms. Steel would be the obvious go-to, but the metallic handle and screws needed to fasten it in place would defeat the whole heat resistivity benefit of such a shield. What’s the sense of being able to resist heat and flame if I’m just going to succumb to conduction burns anyway? I would coat the handles in more scales, except I’m not skilled enough to do so.

Ultimately, I think leather is the only decent option readily available. It won’t be perfect, but it should work fine. And, as it turns out, there is some leather available in the house— a couple of old belts that Chloe’s father once wore… And if he ever does show up and needs new ones, well, I have the money to replace them. With interest if necessary. Right after he explains what he supposedly ‘knows’ about me and my extradimensional origins.

As for the steel, I want to just take them off a couple of lids of kitchen pots, but Mrs. Jacobs is more likely to care about those, especially in the nearer term. A quick flight to the hardware store solves this problem. While I’m there, I go ahead and pick up a few pieces of insulating foam, figuring that if I’m already out getting materials, it’s worth it to go ahead and see what other mundane materials I can use. Honestly, I should have just done this from the get go instead of even considering parasitizing the Jacobses’ stuff. Especially after kindly letting me live here after everything.

Gotta remember that I’m rich now, or at least not dirt poor anymore. Such a weird mindset to adjust to, even after making plans to buy ten grand worth of silver and gemstones earlier today.

I arrive back shortly before dinnertime. Chloe has already started preparing our meal— nothing fancy, just some spaghetti with marinara and Italian sausage links. The sizzle and smell of the sausage cooking on the stovetop and seeing Chloe prance around the kitchen in quite the saucy outfit— in multiple ways— is plenty of extra motivation to finish up sooner rather than later.

Thankfully, both the foam and the steel ingot are far, far easier to work with than the scale. I’m able to cut and work both with ease, and manage to inscribe some basic heat resistance enchantments into both. Not that I expect to need them very often, but I’m a huge proponent of ‘better to have and not need than to need and not have.’ And just as Chloe is finishing the final touches on dinner, I’m melting the final rivet into place.

Our new shields glisten with a deep jade hue, and more importantly, they’ll protect both of us considerably better than our previous ones.

[You have crafted two [Wyvernscale Bucklers]. [Defense] +10, [Magic Defense] +10, [Agility] +55. The properties of these shields also reduce the damage dealt by magical effects with the [Fire], [Ice], and [Wind] attributes by 25% (Multiple instances of the same elemental resistance on the same person stacks multiplicatively. If a spell has multiple element modifiers, the damage is divided according to each relevant element, then each resistance applies to that element’s portion of the damage.) (Shield Type: [Light Shield])]

Shield type? I muse. I suppose that has something to do with what classes are allowed to equip what types of weapons and armor. I know there’s something going on with that; I can’t equip Chloe’s robes just as she can’t equip my [Brigandine]. Both of us, however, are able to equip the [Simple Buckler], which I assume is also a [Light Shield] variant. I check my [Status] and confirm those suspicions.

And I think I understand from the description how to apply these resistances across multiple elements. Right now, I have 25% [Fire] resistance and a total of 43.75% [Wind] resistance. If I am dealt a hundred points of damage which is considered both [Fire] and [Wind], the System will treat the spell as though it deals 50 points of [Fire] damage and 50 of [Wind] damage, causing me to take… doing the math here… a bit under 66 damage total.

But why am I just getting this information now? Is this knowledge I’m gaining because I’ve reached the level 32 class change? Or maybe because of my [Angelic Insight] Skill? Or just because I’ve finally gotten a piece of armor with multiple elemental properties? Something to think about later. For now, however, it’s time for dinner.

I look down at the table and the mess I’ve made. Clean up the place first, then dinner.