Isendra's Protection

Yinsen looked at the ring on his left index finger and gave it a simple test.

The ring was incredibly easy to use. More importantly, the enchanted Magic Array was made exceptionally sturdy; it would not lose its effect from a few minor bumps and knocks.

Thinking of the two pairs of bracers he had made before, they had only been struck once. The bracers themselves had not even been damaged, yet the inscribed Magic Arrays had been completely destroyed—the gap in quality was enormous.

"Thank you, Zul."

Zul calmly accepted his thanks, then stepped back and yielded his place to Isendra, who had been waiting nearby.

"I made this together with Charsi. Didn't your old pair of bracers break?"

Yinsen had not expected Isendra to make him a pair of bracers. They were extremely similar to his previous pair, but far more refined.

"This..."

The instant he took them, Yinsen noticed that the metal on the surface had been mixed with Mithril, which was better suited for conducting magic power and Mental Power. Beyond that, the Magic Arrays were far more precise than his previous work. Their structure was sturdier, and their effects were greater.

"There's more than one spell enchanted on these bracers?"

He put them on and tried channeling a little Mental Power into them. Yinsen immediately discovered how outstanding this pair of bracers was.

"This one on your left hand can not only add freezing damage to the six arrows mounted on it, but it can also release an Ice Shield."

Isendra explained how to use the spell. Yinsen understood the trick after hearing it once, then controlled his Mental Power as she had instructed and gave the Magic Array in his left bracer a command.

Icy air spread from the bracer, then condensed in the blink of an eye into a translucent round shield roughly one meter in diameter.

"Besides providing a certain amount of defense, it will also affect anyone who gets close to you."

When Frost Chill was cast, it inevitably lowered the temperature and affected people to some degree. However, Yinsen, protected by the Frost Shield, would not be harmed. At most, he would feel a little cool.

The drawback of the Ice Shield was that it required a continuous expenditure of Mental Power to maintain. Before Yinsen's Mental Power became strong enough, he would not be able to keep it active throughout an entire battle.

Even so, it was still an excellent defensive piece of Magic Equipment. Besides, there were six arrows on the bracer, and those arrows could also be imbued with Frost Magic to damage enemies.

Yinsen tested it as well, firing an arrow at a stone some distance away. The Freezing Aura was far more powerful than he had expected, and the entire stone was covered in frost.

"If it hit a person, even if it didn't freeze them to death, they would suffer severe frostbite and lose their ability to fight."

There were also three more arrows than on the bracer he had made before. Combined with this power, his Combat Power had practically doubled.

"What about this one?"

They had been discussing the left-hand bracer the entire time. Yinsen was not stupid—how could he fail to guess that the right-hand bracer's effect was completely different?

"The magic on this bracer is mainly for offense."

The right-hand bracer bore a Fire Attribute Magic Array that Yinsen was more familiar with. He had inscribed a Fire Attribute Magic Array on his own bracer before, but the Magic Array on this new bracer was incomparable to his, both in effect and power.

Likewise, it could only add fire damage to fired arrows. But compared with the faint flames on Yinsen's version, which could only cause some interference to enemies, Isendra's creation was far more formidable.

A single Fire Arrow shot out and blasted a small crater into the ground. If an ordinary person took a hit from that, they would definitely be dead.

"Besides that, this bracer can also fire five fireballs."

A fireball spell?

Fireball was a basic spell that every Elemental Spellcaster had to learn. It might only be an entry-level spell, but its power varied drastically depending on the caster.

Although Isendra was not a mage who specialized in Fire Magic, her understanding of the fire element was more than enough to create a qualified item.

The Fireball spell inscribed on the bracer she gave Yinsen was not some beginner-level little fireball. With those Fire Arrows already available, adding a small fireball would have been meaningless. Thus, every fireball condensed by this Magic Array was quite powerful and could be used for area damage. Still, it did not compare to the large fireballs she could cast herself.

Based on Yinsen's strength and the intensity of his Mental Power, while taking his future rate of improvement into account, Isendra had put a great deal of thought into setting this standard.

"Thank you!"

After learning the details of the two bracers, Yinsen also discovered their baffling names:

The left-hand one, which could use Ice Shield and fire Ice Arrows, was actually called Isendra's Passion! It meant that the user was protected by Isendra's passionate friendship. The right-hand one, which could use Fireball and fire Flame Arrows, was called Isendra's Ruthlessness, meaning her merciless ruthlessness toward enemies.

Together, the two bracers were called Isendra's Protection, which was at least a somewhat normal name.

"Aren't those two names backwards?"

Yet after hearing what they meant, Yinsen felt that the names Isendra had chosen made a great deal of sense and suited them perfectly.

After giving a few more simple instructions, Isendra yielded her place to Charsi, who had come with them.

The blacksmith of Rogue Encampment was actually a very warmhearted person. Yinsen had not interacted with her much before, but when he needed help, Charsi had set aside her own work and forged that pair of bracers for him as quickly as possible—even though Yinsen had said he was not in a hurry.

He had not expected her to come specifically to see him off. And from the looks of it, she seemed to be giving him a gift as well?

"To be honest, I didn't have much time to prepare anything, and I didn't have suitable materials to make something for mages. I forged this light armor earlier by mixing in some strange metal particles, so I'll give it to you for protection."

It was a very lightweight suit of armor, made up of only a few pieces.

A breastplate, gauntlets, and greaves. Aside from protecting the vital area of his chest, it only protected his hands and legs, the parts often used to clash head-on with enemies. It was highly specialized armor.

What surprised Yinsen most was that the armor was not heavy at all. It was even lighter than Leather Armor. Wearing it felt like wearing ordinary cloth. That was why Charsi had given him this light armor—armor that was too heavy would only be a burdensome load for Yinsen.

"I'm not entirely sure what those strange particles do. So far, I only know that they make this light armor even lighter than cloth, and that it can float on water. I don't know whether that will be useful to you."

Yinsen had already been wondering whether this counted as successfully becoming a Bronze Saint. When he heard Charsi's words, his mouth nearly split from smiling.

"Useful? It's unbelievably useful!"

His world was entirely covered in water. No one could guarantee that they would always have enough strength or remain conscious if they fell into the water. With something like a life jacket, his life would undoubtedly be far more secure.

If Isendra and Zul had not been watching nearby, making it inappropriate for him to appear too excited—as though their gifts were not as good—Yinsen would have wanted to give Charsi a huge hug. Of course, given Charsi's build, it was hard to say who would be hugging whom.

"Also, I repaired this weapon of yours."

Seeing that Yinsen liked her gift, Charsi was equally happy. She casually took out an iron rod from behind her.

It was the iron rod Yinsen had obtained while clearing the Den of Evil. After killing Blood Raven and returning to the encampment, Isendra had asked for the rod. He had not thought much of it at the time and had simply handed it over.

He truly had not expected that Isendra had given it to Charsi, who had repaired the iron rod. She had dealt with the broken point where the hammerhead had once connected, cleaned away the various stains on the rod's surface, polished it, and added decorative patterns.

The rod was now silver-white, covered in irregular patterns, and its grip had been almost entirely remade. It looked infinitely better than before. Combined with its already considerable Lightning Power, there was no trace of its former miserable appearance. It looked like a brand-new weapon.

"This weapon doesn't have a name yet. Maybe you could give it one?"

That seemed to be the custom in this world, but Yinsen could not think of a good name in such a rush.

"Hundred Thousand Volts?"

"Power Generator?"

"Lightning King?"

"Human Myth—Descent of Lightning?"

One lightning-related name after another flashed through his mind, but none of them seemed reliable.

"I'll think about it slowly later. I can't come up with a name right now."

At that moment, the last of the Space-Time Energy on Yinsen's body began to fluctuate violently. A Magic Array pattern appeared out of thin air beneath his feet, radiating waves of light.

"My teacher has started casting Teleportation Magic. It looks like I'll be leaving soon."

He quickly picked up the several bundles he had placed on the ground. He still remembered that anything not being "carried" on his person could not be taken back with him. The most important things inside were not the small amount of food and drinking water, but the books and notes Akara, Isendra, and Kashya had given him. He absolutely could not forget to take those.

The others had wanted to chat with Yinsen a little longer, but seeing this, they backed away a few steps. They did not know the precise range of the Magic Array. Getting swept in by accident would be one thing, but getting caught at an awkward distance and torn to pieces by the powerful Magic Energy would be truly unlucky.

"I'm very happy to have become companions who fought alongside all of you. I will always remember this time."

The growing radiance gradually obscured Yinsen's figure. Even his final words of farewell became increasingly indistinct as the magical fluctuations intensified. When the Space-Time Energy finally erupted, Yinsen vanished amid the dazzling light.