Chapter 248: A Touch of Assassin Style

He started at the waist, forming the spell pattern again.

He focused on the components Renna’s notes described as improving movement as he began giving commands. Rather than replacing the main protective layers, he adjusted the amount of those materials within the flexible parts.

Once the waist was finished, he worked on the shoulders and lower sections with separate casts.

The complete set would provide less strength than before, but it would make him faster. Against that monster, moving faster was better than hitting harder anyway.

With the functional changes in place, Magna paused to examine the robe’s appearance.

It still looked like something a Magus would wear, but now that the glowing lines had changed, he wanted the rest of the design to suit them.

Besides, he wasn’t planning to be just any Magus. He wanted to fight at close range too, so the robe needed to suit that style.

With that in mind, he cast the spell on the waist again.

"Fit this section more closely. Preserve flexibility." The fabric drew inward, giving the torso a more fitted shape.

He ended the spell before targeting the lower panels, starting to change them as well.

The long sections shifted into overlapping layers, leaving space for him to step, turn, or jump.

He kept the high collar and long silhouette. Those were parts he already liked as they didn’t interfere with his movements.

With a few more small casts, he adjusted the fastening points. Dark straps settled neatly across the upper body, while the waist tightened beneath a shaped clasp.

He even added a few hidden pockets where he could later keep daggers and other weapons to make his assassin-mage hybrid class work better.

The almost-black folds between the crimson panels gave it a little of an assassin’s appearance too.

’Well, that suits me.’

Before setting it aside, he followed the blue lines with his eyes to check that the changes to the design hadn’t interrupted their connections.

They ran along the collar and front edges, branching across the shoulders before disappearing beneath the fabric. A few thin lines reached the hem, where faint wisps of cold mist drifted away.

Satisfied with the robe, he picked up one of the arm guards.

These needed to protect more than his forearms now. Leaving his fingers exposed would defeat the point of covering the rest of his body.

He cast the spell on its inner lining.

"Extend the lining into a fitted glove covering the hand and fingers."

Black material spread from the wrist opening, forming a palm and separate fingers.

He kept it thin enough to feel what he was holding. There was no point making a glove so thick that he struggled to move his fingers or grip anything.

Once its shape was complete, he ended the spell and cast again on the newly formed hand section.

With new commands, soft creases formed at the knuckles. Across the palm, the surface became slightly textured.

With the fit settled, he used another cast to replace its vulnerable materials with the same corrosion-resistant ones used in the robe.

He treated the guard’s forearm section separately, preserving the firmer outer protection and the flexible underside.

Then he picked up the other arm guard and repeated the process.

By the time both gloves were complete, their black fingers extended neatly from the deep crimson guards. The raised outer edges narrowed toward the wrists without restricting their movement.

He also finished the cooling channels quickly now that he had more experience, turning the red magma lines blue.

Finally, he adjusted each guard’s upper opening with a separate cast so it would overlap the robe’s sleeve. Even with his arms stretched out, there shouldn’t be a gap where the Desolation’s air could reach his skin.

Renna picked up one of the finished guards when he set it aside. She gently bent the attached fingers, watching the black material fold.

It was hard to imagine that something so flexible still provided the same protection as the original Shadow armor.

This time she put it on to try its effects without questioning whether it was safe.

Magna gave her a brief smile before reaching for the boots.

His mana was getting low enough that he wanted to finish the practical changes first.

Green words spread across the bottom of the boot as he focused on its sole.

The soles would be in direct contact with the ground, where he might step in corrosive blood that had dripped from the monster’s body.

Because of that, he took particular care to strengthen them before casting again on the upper section.

After finishing one boot and repeating the changes on the other, he added the cooling effect to each with separate casts.

Pale blue lines formed beneath the leather, reaching around the heels and along the sides.

He ended the spell before casting on the shaft, extending the channels up around the calf. A smaller cast joined the two sections at the ankle.

Unlike the robe, the boots didn’t need bright patterns across their entire surface. He kept most of the channels inside, allowing only a few narrow lines to show along the raised trim.

The pointed shapes beneath the knees remained, matching the darker details on the arm guards. He still cared about his style, after all.

Lastly, he adjusted the movement-enhancing components in each boot, using the same approach as he had with the robe.

After checking the final change, Magna let the spell fade.

For a moment, he simply stood over the table, looking at the complete set.

The dark crimson robe lay beside the black gloves and fitted arm guards. Farther down were the tall boots, while the broad-brimmed hat rested at the top.

The cooling and protective layers now covered the entire outfit. Once he put everything on and lowered the mask, there should be no skin left exposed.

The set would no longer double his strength. He had reduced that bonus to 50%, but in exchange, it could now triple his speed, provide corrosion resistance, and keep him cool from head to toe.

Whether that would be enough against the Bleeding Desolation was still something he had to find out.

But this time, at least, he wouldn’t be approaching it half-naked.