Speed Is King

As soon as the runes started appearing, the already stunningly powerful aura of the plate intensified many times over, causing Elliot to open his eyes even wider in disbelief.

"How could such a powerful item exist?" Elliot whispered.

The plate shone like the sun at noon, yet without any of its destructiveness that would otherwise have blinded anyone looking at it.

"Friends I was privileged enough to have called my sisters in arms died retrieving the Teardrop of the Gods which is now part of your armor." Lady Balastiera said softly.

"They gave their lives so that this miracle item could see the light of day. Their legacy will live on through the works you will do with the help of this armor." She looked at Elliot meaningfully, with a tinge of sorrow that was so deep that it actually caused Elliot's heart to bleed a little for her.

"I understand." Elliot nodded solemnly.

"Good." Lady Balastiera nodded.

The two of them then stood there quietly as Lady Balastiera continued to use her soul power to imprint the runes on the Heart Guard.

There was no need for words.

The thick atmosphere of solemness and near-religious sacredness made it impossible for any other thought other than abject glorification of those sacrificed to acquire the Teardrop of the Gods to be present!

After a few minutes of nonstop carving of runes onto the Heart Guard, only around 5 percent was done. And by that time, Lady Balastiera had turned pale, and her breath started to become ragged.

"Put on your breastplate." She said softly through gritted teeth.

Elliot obliged. It was apparent that she was approaching the limits of her power.

True enough, after another minute, her soul power finally winked out after finishing one last tiny rune.

Elliot's extremely sharp eyes could immediately tell that only 6 percent of the Heart Guard was covered in runes.

"I have done all I can." Lady Balastiera said in a deeply fatigued voice. She turned to Elliot and placed the Heart Guard very gingerly at the spot right over his heart.

Click.

WHOOOSH!!

A shockingly comfortable feeling of completeness and oneness scorched through his entire body, leaving him totally breathless and in absolute bliss!

At the same time, a primordial sense of power crackled into life from the Heart Guard and surged into his body.

Elliot couldn't help but to open his mouth wide in a silent scream of pleasure!

Without saying another word, Lady Balastiera collapsed.

Elliot grabbed hold of her falling body in reflex, and placed her gently on the soft earth.

He was not presumptuous enough to place her on his lap while waiting for her to wake up. Of course he didn't. He wasn't in some sort of a novel, was he?

Elliot sat next to her and closed his eyes.

His set of armor wasn't done making its grand introduction into his life.

For the next few minutes, Elliot sat quietly, almost completely unmoving except for the occasional twitch of his eyes.

The visions had started.

In them, he saw the tragic expedition through the eyes of a much younger Lady Balastiera.

They weren't complete visions. They were more like snapshots of the strongest memories she had of the whole expeditions.

A close up view of her friends laughing, a fleeting image of a suspicious statue all alone in the middle of a huge cavern, a long, lingering look at a dying sister, then a long, numbing series of images filled with dead or dying friends.

Finally, deep within a fortress, in a small guest room, was an inconspicuous box that wouldn't have garnered a second look from anyone if El'Taras wasn't there.

It was there they found the lump of Teardrop of the Gods.

"Let us go home." El'Taras had said very bitterly before crushing a crystal that enveloped all seven remaining members of the expedition team.

The visions finally ended with that final scene. And when they did, the irrepressible sense of might emanating from the Heart Guard dissipated as well.

It turned dormant and instinctively, Elliot knew that it needed more soul power to activate.

Whatever the Heart Guard was and what it could do, it was very clearly something that had to do with souls.

Before reaching Ancient level, Elliot had no way of completing it by himself to find out more.

As for getting other Ancient level powerhouses to complete the runes for him?

Fat chance.

Elliot could already be certified as the glorious first son of lady luck if an Ancient didn't try to kill him and rob him once they knew that he was in possession of such a marvelous armor!

Much less getting one to spend their precious soul power on helping him complete it!

He circulated his energy around his body and into his armor to give it a test.

The first thing he realized was that he had gained complete physical control of the armor.

He was able to move it around the way he moved his limbs!

"Amazing. Too bad I can't use the full power of this armor set just yet. It seems incredibly powerful…" Elliot said softly to himself. "But as it were, having it is already really good. With it, I no longer have to run away from Ancient level powerhouses."

"No need to run away from Ancient level powerhouses? What do you have that allows you to be so cocky, little fella?" A creepy voice hissed loudly from literally everywhere around him!

Elliot's eyes widened in shock.

"Hoooo. A fatigued Ancient! What a joyful, joyful day this is! Waaa hahahahaha! WAHAHAHA!!! WAAAAAAAAAAA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" The creepy female voice burst out into even creepier laughter when she noticed that the fainted Lady Balastiera next to Elliot was actually an Ancient!

Immediately, Elliot grabbed Lady Balastiera and blinked away!

He put on his Ring of Absolute Stealth and put one on her finger as well.

"WHAT? WHERE DID THEY GO?" The creepy voice thundered loudly all across the entire land!