Shadow Slave

Marble Shell...

Sunny stared at the runes with a thoughtful expression on his face, then concentrated on them. Immediately, new strings appeared in the air, forming a description.

Attribute: [Marble Shell].

Attribute Description: [In the deep darkness of the underworld, a prideful demon forged seven suits of splendid armor for his favorite creations. The intricate shells were both a boon and a test, since only those worthy of his regard could unlock the mantle's true potential and bear its weight.]

There were more runes, but Sunny stopped to think for a bit.

'Favorite creations...'

He knew that Saint and her kind were an artificial race created by Nether, the ruler of the Underworld and the Demon of Choice... or Destiny, depending on how one decided to translate the runes. He also knew that Saint's armor bore a strong resemblance to the Mantle of the Underworld, although it was not quite as impressive.

The original Stone Saint had been one of the smallest and weakest living statues that used to dwell in the Dark City. By the time Sunny reached the place of their battle against the Fallen attackers, the bigger and more powerful warriors of her kind had already been destroyed, leaving only her, an Awakened Monster, to finish the fight.

What he got from all that was that Saint had only been a foot soldier in Nether's army... most likely.

The armor she wore was a true masterpiece of craftsmanship, but not something on the level of the seven Mantles, which had been gifted to the high-ranking officers of the stone legion by the Prince of the Underworld.

'Gods. If Saint is just a foot soldier, then just how terrifying was Nether's army?'

Well... they had to have been pretty terrifying, in order to challenge the gods. The Stone Saint he had killed on the desolate plaza of the Dark City was a pale remnant of her original self, as well, since the living statues had not been consumed by Corruption yet during the war between the daemons and the gods.

Shaking his head, Sunny turned his attention back to the runes. The description of the Marble Shell was a bit unusual, since it included much more information than that of other Attributes.

He continued to read:

of Truth], [Stalwart], [Underworld Armament],

old Mantle, with the exception of [Stalwart]. The extremely high protection against physical attacks and the high protection against elemental attacks remained the

'Very good...'

the Shell was passive, but the other three traits required essence to function. From now on, Sunny would have to circulate it through his own body in

understanding of how the essence had to be circulated exactly, and his control over it was intricate enough to achieve the desired

three traits, however,

That was because those were not really traits, but actually forms that his new

was a dormant form, while the Mantle was

provided all the benefits of the Mantle of the Underworld, including access to its enchantments,

dismissed the Puppeteer's Shroud and stared at

much the same, but somehow

As if I wasn't being called

a finger. There was something strange... his skin remained soft and elastic, but when sufficient pressure was applied, it suddenly became hard as stone. Basically, it was becoming rigid when struck. After a few experiments, which must have looked really weird from the side, he determined that he could control the process consciously,

always have passive resistance to all kinds of damage. I'll be able to repair damage to my skin with the [Living Stone], as well,

of Truth] and felt his fist becoming much, much heavier. Then, he

feels so

he could potentially jump extremely high or hit extremely hard with the help of this new ability. The applications were

appeared on his

enhance the effect of a single

with the shadows, he would be augmenting his

real benefit of binding

Sunny's eyes widened.

'Wait a second...'

meant that he could benefit from the defensive qualities of the Shell and summon an armor-type Memory on top of that, using both to protect himself at the same