There was unmistakable pride at that announcement. Was this Abyssal armour really that special? The former trainees stared hard at the oversized suits and struggled to see their value.
Titus could only shake his head. It was hard to understand just what the Abyssal armour could do until you’d experienced it for yourself. He didn’t blame them too much for looking down on it.
“Before you can test out the suits, we have a little item on the agenda that needs to be taken care of first. Class change!”
Mirryn went wide-eyed at this. Class change? Now!
“Every single one of you has met the requirements for your class, we aren’t stupid.” Titus laughed. “I’ll ask you to step forward one at a time and we will enact the change. I’ll be the trainer for all of you.”
He gestured for the first person to step forward and soon after the soft glow of the class change radiated from that person’s frame. Titus pointed to one of the suits and they moved to stand beside it before Titus gestured to the next.
It was soon Donnelan’s turn and he stepped forward nervously.
“Don’t be shy, lad, it’s fine,” Titus smiled at him.
Donnelan eyed the commander. It was rare to see the grizzled veteran in such a good mood. “I’m not done with my current class though, Commander,” he said. “Is it really proper for me to change right now?”
Titus nodded. “You’ll understand in a moment. Step forward.”
Donnelan took the final few steps to close the distance to his commander, and Titus raised a hand to place it on his shoulder. As soon as he did, Donnelan received a System prompt within his mind.
[Would like to change class to: Abyssal Legionary?]
What!
Donnelan was stunned for a brief moment. The Abyssal Legion was actually a class within the System itself? This was almost unheard of… The cases where the System actually changed to recognise organisations that existed in the world were so few, you could count them on the fingers of one hand.
Yes! Donnelan hastily confirmed his choice. To inherit such a rare and unique class, who wouldn’t be willing?
The familiar trickling sensation washed over his mind as the System imparted new knowledge and skills to him, along with his new class, and Titus directed him to stand next to a suit of Abyssal armour near the back on the left side.
Still somewhat shocked, Donnellan stumbled over to his designated armour. As he approached it, he could see it was built lighter and slimmer than the other designs, clearly more mobile and manoeuvrable than the bulkier versions. Judging by the size of it though, there was still no way he could possibly move whilst wearing it.
Or… could he?
Donnelan flipped open his status and took a look at his new skills. Sure enough, Abyssal armour Operation Level one was there. As time passed and more of the new Legionaries undertook the class change, Donnelan was able to absorb more of the knowledge being fed into his mind until he reached the point where he was able to understand the suit next to him to some extent.
Even what little he did understand was enough to shock him. This wasn’t armour. This was a priceless masterpiece! The enchantments, the crystal filament wires, the incredible alloys that made up the plates, all of it was insane.
When every trainee had changed their class and taken their place next to a suit, the commander instructed them to suit up.
With the newly imprinted knowledge fresh in their minds, they were still hesitant to follow the instructions within their head. It just didn’t seem real. Donnelan decided to just go for it and stepped in front of his suit. Raising one hand, he placed it on the chest plate of his Abyssal armour and waited.
Perhaps he could feel it?
According to the knowledge he now possessed, the suit was powered by Mana, not by his own physical frame. Without excessive use of incredibly dense monster cores, moving something like these suits of armour would be nigh impossible. Only, the suits didn’t use cores at all. Instead, they drew on the Mana infused within the bodies of the Legionaries wearing them.
Something like this could never be done by someone that hadn’t undergone the baptism. The Legionaries’ very flesh was infused with Mana and they absorbed it from the Dungeon at an accelerated rate. Thanks to the incredible magical engineering within the suits, they were able to supply enough power to move it themselves.
Gradually, Donnelan became more aware of the flow of Mana from his body into the suit. As time passed, the flow increased and the thousands of tiny enchantments carved into the ornate surface of the armour began to glow with the light of Mana. The light spread throughout the suit, starting at the breastplate where his hand rested, then flowing throughout the suit until the entire thing was powered.
The armour began to float, piece by piece, onto his body, the various plates clicking into place around his arms, chest, neck and then legs. He had to lift his feet to allow the oversized boots to snap together around his ankles. Once the helmet settled into place and locked onto the pauldrons, it was done.
The feeling was strange, almost like being locked in a tomb. At the same time the armour felt like a second skin, as if it were connected to his body and mind. It moved so fluidly and naturally. It just didn’t seem real.
“Get yourselves accustomed to the feeling, Legionaries,” Titus said. “We are going to be training in these suits for the next few weeks until you advance your skills to the third tier. This is how we fight down here. Welcome to the World Below.”
93. New Dawn
There they are. Look at them. Peacefully sleeping, awaiting the day when they awake and take their first steps into the world. Shhhhhh, little ones. You don’t know it yet, but the world will be your oyster. Yes it will! You will roam wherever you wish and bring prosperity to our family. Our enemies will flee before your strength and become food beneath your mighty mandibles.
Yes they will! You adorable little things!
[Master.]
WHA—! What now?
[Crinis, why are you interrupting my egg time?]
[I’m very sorry, Master, but I believe I have detected another wave approaching from the tunnels below.]
Haaaa. These stupid monsters just won’t stop! I’m going to have to work out a solution for this problem before the time approaches. These waves have caused no end of headaches and significant losses to the colony over the last week. Those crocs are going to get what’s coming to them, and the sooner the better.
[I’m on the way, Crinis. Tiny, wake up! Time to fight.]
[Oh? Ohhhh! FIGHT!]
Reluctantly, I turn away from the twenty small, white spheres occupying the egg chamber. They’re the only occupants of the egg chamber and the workers have been caring for them diligently, but I can’t help coming up to take a look at them every now and again. When I think of the future these little eggs could bring for the colony, I get so excited I just can’t help myself.
I put in a lot of work to create those eggs. I deserve to be a little happy now that they’ve finally arrived, dammit!
Just three days ago the queen managed to gather the Biomass necessary to lay this small clutch. It’ll take a few more days before they hatch and then two weeks for them to complete their time as larvae and become pupae. Then a little while longer and they’ll finally take their place under my tutelage.
It’s so loooong!
I know it’s my own fault for extending the development time of the workers in order to squeeze more stats into them, but I’m so frustrated right now. I feel like kids probably felt at Christmas when there were presents waiting under the tree. I didn’t get to experience that during my human life, but I think I finally grasp that emotion now. The wait is torturous!