— Not showing reverence to the Supreme Beings was unforgivable.
Shalltear’s eyes became sharp and dangerous when Aura finished her words.
“No, don’t misunderstand me. I didn’t say that. First of all, this armour suits me the best. This is my trump card— No, I have something that could be called that too.”
After gaining job levels with prerequisites that were a pain to fulfill, one could learn a unique skill. They were usually known as trump cards. For example, Shalltear was able to create an avatar with the same stats as herself.
By the way, Aura didn’t have such levels, so she didn't possess trump cards like these.
“My trump card is the special skill that transfers the damage I take onto the armour. By using this skill, I can avoid one attack, no matter how powerful it is. Yes, I can escape unscathed from even the most powerful super-tier spell that Ainz-sama is proudest of. However, the damage will be absorbed by the armour instead, and it might break from that blow even if it was enchanted with strengthening spells.”
“Hmmm, this skill is powerful, but the usage is kind of awkward.”
Basically, magic items such as armour would not be destroyed unless they were targeted by specific spells. Also, metal was durable and highly resistant to to pure energy attacks like lightning, flame or ice. Hence, armour made from metal was hard to destroy. Which meant that metallic armour had high defence, but low HP.
And so, if Albedo diverted the damage to the armour, it would ignore the armor’s defence, which meant that it would be unexpectedly easy to break the armour.
Her defense would fall drastically after the armour was destroyed, and it would make her an easier target. It might be called a trump card, but that was just an empty title to buy time. That was how Aura felt about it.
“Yes, my combat potential will plummet if my armour breaks. However, Shalltear who appraised this armour should have realized it. My armour was made with this skill in mind. Also, most trump cards can only be used once a day, but mine can be used three times a day.”
“Hmmm? Just enhancing it with magic will increase its HP, but it wouldn’t be able to survive three attacks right?”
Shalltear reacted faster than Albedo who was about to answer Aura’s query.
“I see, so that’s it, ~arinsu.”
Aura, who suddenly felt a chill from the giggling Albedo, turned sharply towards Shalltear. Shalltear who understood what was going on started explaining.
“That might look like a single piece of armour, but it is actually three pieces in one. You could call it triple-layer armour.”
“Ahh,” Aura uttered as she finally understood. Which meant that the armor would take three attacks to break.
“That’s how it is, Aura. I’m glad you can understand.”
Aura suddenly thought of the problem.
“Like I said, calm down. We’re getting to it now. But first, let me talk about the armour. The innermost layer is an armour in liquid form, which fits my body perfectly, and enhances my physical abilities. Next would be a full-body armour layer, like an undershirt. And finally, the outermost layer covers the inner layers and boosts their defenses.
“Okay.”
“And so, the order of them breaking would be from the outer layer…”
Albedo took a deep breath and Aura gulped. What could the problem be?
“— My skin exposure level doesn’t increase when my armour breaks!!”
Aura wondered if she misheard something.
Ignoring Shalltear who was commenting “I see”, Aura leaned forward to be sure of what she was hearing.
“You understand, right? Skin exposure should go up after the armour breaks! I don’t want to show my skin off to those bugs, but as someone who works closely with Ainz-sama, there are plenty of opportunities to defend him as a vanguard. In that case, armour that increases skin exposure is necessary to entice Ainz-sama!”
Albedo revealed the foolish side of her.
“Magnificent ~arinsu! Albedo, you are absolutely right ~arinsu!”
The number of idiots increased.
Aura pitied her earlier self.
Why did I take them so seriously just before? Idiots.
She looked at the stupid duo with narrowed eyes, as if she was watching them from afar.
“This is the only armour I have. I don’t have things like bikini armour or skin-tight armour.”
“Well, I have something like that from the clothing Peroroncino-sama gave me… However, I don’t expect much from them in terms of defense ~arinsu.”
Albedo inhaled sharply, and a strange expression that blended passion and professionalism appeared on her face.
“That won’t do. While we are ‘servicing’ Ainz-sama, we also have to act as his shields. It won’t do unless both objectives are met.”
Her idiocy returned in no time.
“Do you understand, Shalltear? Your armour lacks skin exposure, too. What we should strive for is sexiness and performance, an armour that serve these two purposes at the same time!”
It did not matter, but it would give her a headache in the future if Aura ignored this now. She should get these irritating matters out of the way as soon as possible.
“That kind of armour… No matter what kind of armour, attacking the exposed part of the body will deal more damage.”
“But! If there are armour pieces that look like string bikinis, it would increase the chance of making babies with Ainz-sama!”
Albedo erected her fingers into a V sign.
“How about thinking about the problem from another angle ~arinsu! An invisible armour will do nicely ~arinsu, just covering the important parts would be enough ~arinsu.”
“It will walk!”[1]
Where do you want to walk to, you two. No, it won’t be good no matter where they walk.
Aura thought as she shook her head and sighed softly. She just wanted to wash her hands of this topic.
“Let Shalltear take care of it, then.”
Asking in her heart to a comrade who was not present to help, Aura poked her fork into the cake on her plates.
The cake melting in her mouth enticed her with its sweetness, relieving the fatigue in her brain.
“Ah, delicious.”
Her companions, who had progressed from the development of the armour to a passionate discussion of armour theory, faded away from Aura’s sight.
However, she still empathized with the craftsman who had to make this armour.
“Can someone inject some common sense into the brains of these two? Ahhh, it can’t be helped, and asking Ainz-sama would be rude too.”
After finishing off a slice of cake in three bites, Aura reached for the next piece.
Appendix 1：Introduction to types of spells
In the world of Yggdrasil, there are four types of spells, which are dependent on the ability of the user.
The four categories are Arcane, Divine, Mental and Alternative. Magic that seems more western in nature are Arcane type, restorative spells used by priest are Divine, oriental magic using talismans are Mental type, and all others are classified under Alternative.
And from these types, they are further divided by systems into defensive-type, necromancy-type, elemental-type, movement-type, and so on.
On top of that, their strength is divided into ten tiers, with an additional super-tier on top. There are more than six thousand spells.
Ainz is able to use 718 spells. Considering the fact that normal level 100 players can only use 300 spells, he is an exceptional case.
In the world of Yggdrasil, spells above the eighth tier are the norm in a battle between level 100 players. However, in the new world Ainz is in, skilled magic casters can only use spells up to the third tier.