191. Symphony

The cube deformed and swallowed Rakna’s hand as if it was a maw. Nyx was startled but since he didn’t seem alarmed, she just watched it happen

She then focused a little and started hearing the sounds coming from the object. To her, it sounded like a million buzzes and after taking a closer look, she noticed that the cube was in fact a massive agglomerate of miniature fragments interacting with each other.

She wasn’t very versed in technology but even she could tell what it was. “Nanomachines…?” She asked while it wormed itself around Rakna’s arm as if it was waiting for a sort of signal.

“Yes and no,” he replied to her as he observed the wriggling material. “Nanomachines are basically molecular components that behave in a specific manner based on fixed stimuli. It’s mostly used in conjunction with DNA; it’s what Allan and I have in our bodies. This, and Sonata, from what the old man told me and what I have learned recently, is different.”

“It’s actually a whole block of energetic material that can imitate other matters and, yes, not unlike the idea of nanobots, it’s a collective swarm of small components but it does not react to external stimuli. It’s moving according to a program coded in the very material.”

“Fascinating… But what does it turn into then? It isn’t a weapon like Sonata, is it?”

Rakna glanced at her. “Watch,” he said and touched the deformed cube with his other glove which also sent a pulse of Eion into it. Immediately, it looked as if the components multiplied in number before climbing the entirety of Rakna’s arm. It then spread everywhere else and in the span of a few seconds, it covered him entirely.

To Nyx, Rakna appeared to be nothing more than a humanoid-shaped mass of black material. But it lasted briefly and soon enough, she saw the material settle down. It became more defined very quickly and before she knew it, a long coat erupted out of the mass.

It wrapped around the arms and head with its sleeves and hood; which interestingly enough, had two expands for Rakna’s wolf ears, though they were elusive since he had folded them.

The legs followed up, with the material transforming into another piece of cloth that let his four tails go through. This part also had steel-like bands circling them. Right afterward, the boots were formed and shared the same kind of design.

The torso became covered by something that could only be described as the combination of a vest and an actual armor plate with a symmetrical pattern, completed by several belts. The hands were then released from that squirming material to leave the place to the gloves from earlier.

Finally, the last change that occurred to the outfit was the colors. It started gaining accents of silver and while the inner parts remained black, the rest, including the metallic parts, was filled with a varying shade of gleaming purple.

But once all of that was over, there was still one part where the material was still twisting like a swarm of bugs; the face. It was not making any sound anymore and it was also harder to make out due to the shades of the hood, but it was still there.

Nyx’s attention was locked onto that part and as she stared at it, two purple jagged ellipses lit up and Rakna’s distorted voice resounded.

“Allegro. That’s the name of this outfit,” he said whilst fixing the crinkles in his clothing. He tapped a few times on the armored sections and defying all principles, it acted just like textile fabric but nonetheless made a metallic noise.

“Sonata… Andante… and Allegro,” Nyx made the connection.

“Yes, three movements in a Symphony. It’s the name of this entire set,” Rakna replied and reached for his face. He grabbed onto the disturbingly squirming material and pulled it out like a mask. His face was uncovered again and he also pulled down his hood.

Nyx automatically focused on the ‘mask’. The purple eyes had gone away the second it was taken off but the object still appeared like a real-life ‘glitch’. There truly was no word other than writhing to define its form.

“This mask also has a name of its own,” Rakna provided.

“Let me guess; Scherzo?”

He faintly smiled and nodded. “It is also kind of a special mask… here, put it on,” he said and tossed the item to her. She caught it nervously but when she had it in her hands, she noticed that the odd movements she could see were not transmitted to her at all.

She could see that it was writhing, but she could not feel it. Even if she rubbed the material from all sides. All she felt was nothing less than a perfectly smooth surface.

“Dynamic shape,” Rakna explained. “As your hand gets closer, the pieces will adapt their position to perfectly match it.”

“I see. Technology can truly be incredible. You cannot help but forget it once you delve too far into magic,” she commented and brought the mask to her face. It instantly adapted to her facial shape and practically got glued to it.

Promptly, the eyes of the mask returned but this time, they were red; her own eye color. And right away, the main feature of the mask activated and she nearly lost her balance. Her field of vision widened massively.

She could perceive everything in a 180° in front of her, both vertically and horizontally. She could literally look at the sky without looking up and vice versa for the ground at her feet. She got dizzy very quickly and pulled the mask out when she started feeling sick.

“T-thanks for letting me use it,” she said whilst handing the mask back to Rakna who had clearly expected her reaction.

He took it from her and the red eyes on it turned off. “It took me a long time to get accustomed to the change in the field of view,” he said and tapped the mask a few times on the inside. The matter that composed it broke down and merged with the outfit he was wearing. “You can look at this to better understand it,” he added and pulled up the item window.

❮ ◈ ❯

Designation: Armor/Full-Body Exo-Armor

Name: Allegro

Rarity: Orange

Durability: 100%

Effects: +50 (A)DEF

Perks:

- Intertwined Miniature Eion Systems & Eion Energy Production.

- Eion Exoskeleton: The fibers of the item are constantly contracted by the Eion Energy flow and will increase the wearer’s Agility and Attack by 50 at all times. This flow will also be able to regulate the wearer’s temperature to allow him to explore all environments without trouble.

- Scherzo: This mask will passively distort the wearer’s voice and expand their field of view by reflecting the light waves into the material directly toward the eyes. Night vision, telescopic vision, and infrared vision are also available.

- Talpa Scherzo: Dynamic coloring and surface used to blend into surroundings. The armor is capable of imitating surroundings to perfection. From wood to stone, it can mimic both appearance and physical aspects.

- Symphony Key: This armor is the center point of the Symphony Set. It can only be activated by someone who wears Andante. If Andante, Allegro, and Sonata are being used at the same time, the following perk will become available; Overdrive.

Description:

A masterpiece forged, crafted, and put together by a master artisan and blacksmith, the Earth conqueror himself, with the technology of an advanced civilization. It was given to Rakna Xiorra as a gift by the one who bears the name of Blade.

Note: Evolvable.

Additional Note: This is a full-body armor. No other item can be worn over or under it. All other armor-type items the Host was wearing were transferred to your spatial storage.

---

Overdrive

The Eion Systems of each item will unify to increase the output of Eion Energy by several folds for a short amount of time, boosting the items’ specs and perks.

Duration: 5 minutes.

Note: The Eion Systems will cease all function for 24 hours afterward. Allegro will not be capable of energy production or repairs. All perks will become inactive and the defense value will drop to 1.

❮ ◈ ❯

“Impressive. This is better than most of the defensive equipment we found in the System yet,” Nyx said honestly. “It has a very decent value for something made without magic-craft.”

“I agree. The old man was probably at least Ascended Level in craftsmanship and smithing to make all of this,” Rakna remarked. ‘And chemistry too apparently,’ he added in his head.

“{Furthermore, both of them are evolvable. It’s an extraordinary feature and you own three. And the fact that it’s based on assimilating other item’s properties makes it even better,}” Higure said.

“Now that you mention it…” He muttered and cast Appraisal on Allegro and Andante’s notes. They both gave him a nearly identical result.

❮ ◈ ❯

Number of current evolutions: 0

Unused Evolutions: 4 (At least Green/Blue rarity)

Allegro & Andante are not limited by item types. Two same armor categories can be used to proceed to an evolution but duplicates cannot.

Requirements for next evolution:

- Any armor with a rarity of Orange or higher

- Host Level 70

❮ ◈ ❯

“In all honesty, this is god-send. I really do not feel like spending my time farming everywhere for better equipment. It’s better to just feed everything to Symphony,” Rakna said and pulled out his three strongest armor items that had been put into his storage.

Notably; the Dreorin Boots that gave him Wind Blade and the buff skill, Dreorin’s Heritage; the cloak, Praying Shadow, that gave him Wind Blessing; and the Manesis Plate that Flavia had gotten from Cuniya’s Dungeon, which gave him Magic Deflection and Charm.

❮ ◈ ❯

Do you wish to discard these items to evolve Allegro?

Yes/No?

❮ ◈ ❯

“Yes,” Rakna replied, and instantly, the three items split into spheres of light that merged with the different parts of Allegro. The coat, the mask, the boots, and the chest plate.

A few alterations occurred; stripes of red appeared on the boots, the coat became bigger, and the hood became a bit larger. Just like that, the defense, AGI, and ATT values of Allegro jumped to 100 and three new perks appeared on its specifics.

❮ ◈ ❯

- Dreorin Spirit: Upon activation, the fabric of Allegro will turn into scales and increase defense by 20% for two minutes. Increases defense against fire by an additional 20%.

- Wind Incarnation: The wearer can float at will at the cost of 1 MP per minute. They will also be capable to cast the dependent skill, Wind Burst. A restricted layer of wind will coat the wearer’s body and allow them to release it as a blade from any of their limbs.

Cost: 30 MP | Attack: User’s MA | Cooldown: 1 Minute.

- Manesis Charm: A perk derived from the residuals of the White Witch’s Magic, Possession, and then enhanced by Eion Energy. The wearer will passively charm elemental spirits and all incoming magic damage will be reduced by 1 to 99% depending on level gaps.

This charm will extend to other living beings. If not resistant to it, strangers will have a favorable impression of you by simply interacting with them.

❮ ◈ ❯

Rakna nodded satisfyingly. “I will have to find a fourth one. For Andante too. It didn’t work with these ones but there’s still no guarantee it will only evolve with gloves,” he said and then looked at himself thoughtfully. “Alexa, can the System hide Allegro as it does with other armors?”

[Negative. It is not an item native to the System. That feature does not apply.]

“Kind of expected that,” he uttered and rolled his sleeve back. He started fiddling with the watch he had worn a moment ago.

“What are you doing?” Nyx asked after having silently watched him for the last few minutes.

“Allegro has modes,” Rakna responded as he tapped on the tactile screen of the watch. “The box is one of them and they can be selected with Andante. But there’s an easier way the old man told me I could do by connecting a compatible computing device like this one… And it’s done,” he said the watch beeped.

Right away, Allegro started transforming again. The coat shortened until it was nothing more than a leather jacket with no hood and a fur collar. The boots turned into regular shoes, the pants and shirt shed their metal plates and at the end of it, Rakna was back in normal attire.

“With this, the overall defense decreases a bit, but I retain the perks,” he said. “Best to use it at full capacity in fights. That look is a bit too much for a daily use.”

Nyx blinked in confusion as he went on. “Wait… where are the clothes you were wearing before?”

“Hm? You didn’t notice? I put them in my storage while Allegro was forming itself around me.”

She fell silent as her brain came to a weird conclusion. “So… you were naked in front of me for the span of a few seconds?”

“…that is a very strange remark that I will try to forget.”

Nyx couldn’t help but laugh a little.