Arthur's Knight Armor: Ready to Eat Straight from the Can

Arthur's Knight Armor = Ready to Eat Straight from the Can

Not far from Arthur's skeleton lay a complete set of metal armor scattered across the ground.

If Arthur had not died in the initial attack, then after Princess was abducted, he would have put this Knight Armor back on and charged toward the Demon King's Castle once more.

Now that Arthur was dead, the Knight Armor should have been buried in the human world alongside the matching armor hidden in the Demon King's Castle for later challengers, together with all the other sacrificed soldiers... Yet when Cheng Tian approached, the lifeless Knight Armor was completely activated as if some sort of vitality had been injected into it!

It first separated itself into individual pieces, then, like the opening animation of Saint Seiya, snapped precisely onto Cheng Tian from his feet upward.

Even the armor's original dimensions, which had only suited Arthur's relatively short stature, extended themselves during flight, ultimately outfitting Cheng Tian as a standard medieval knight.

Knight Armor: Green Excellent/Lv1. Full-body armor, special armament. Simultaneously occupies six equipment slots: head, chest, hands, waist, pants, and shoes. Equipment requirement: Arthur's Proof/Strength 12. Absolute Durability 1/1.

The Knight Armor could block one instance of any effective damage, regardless of its strength. Once the damage had been negated, the armor would shatter completely and forcibly launch its wearer backward at least three meters, while granting the "Phase Shift" status for three seconds.

Ignoring the damage negation, its effect was practically identical to Cheng Tian's current Protagonist Template skill, 'Hit Evasion.'

With skilled use, it could even achieve something like a "nitro boost," using the knockback from getting hit to leap past fixed obstacles.

However, the most infuriating and unusual aspect of this armor was precisely its damage blocking.

It could block a zombie's slap, and it could block a planet-destroying cannon... It would probably be more cost-effective to find an opportunity to use it against a planet-destroying cannon.

Besides, it occupied far too many equipment slots. If Cheng Tian had not set out naked, he would never have worn it.

Still, since Vampire Magician from Great Demon Village had already appeared, perhaps higher-level Knight Armor capable of letting people cast magic was hidden somewhere as well.

"Bro... Friend, that full-body Knight Armor of yours looks pretty cool~~"

Seeing Cheng Tian return fully armed, One-Ear instinctively started with "bro," but the experience of having one ear pierced made him immediately change his wording after just one syllable. Once bitten by a snake, twice shy.

"Good thing this thing comes with padding inside. Otherwise, I couldn't wear it at all."

As he spoke, Cheng Tian knocked on the armor, making it ring loudly.

Back when curiosity had gotten the better of him, Cheng Tian had visited a full-contact armored combat club and experienced what it felt like to swing a flail while wearing a full suit of armor.

All he could say was that it felt pretty awkward. Especially after putting on one of those visor helmets full of narrow vertical slits, his field of view became even more restricted than it was in a motorcycle helmet. Being able to see only directly ahead made Cheng Tian deeply uneasy.

Now he understood why Arthur in the game always kept his visor raised... Once it was lowered, he really could not see the road.

"Hey, you there. Can you still walk?"

After exchanging a few words with One-Ear, Cheng Tian turned to Phone Guy, whose bloodstains had already darkened into blackish red.

Phone Guy hesitated for a moment before shaking his head.

His digitized body had stopped the bleeding quickly after leaving combat, and in theory, he could still perform according to his displayed stats. But the loss of health and actual flesh was real. For a city kid who had barely ever suffered, it was simply too much to bear.

So as he shook his head, he also secretly hoped that Cheng Tian, who had taken the initiative to ask, would offer him some sort of help.

But the truth was...

"Oh. Then good luck. I'm leaving first."

Under Phone Guy's stunned gaze, Cheng Tian looked entirely unconcerned, then smoothly turned and left.

Cheng Tian actually had a strong sense of teamwork. Even when it did not affect stage-clear rewards, he would risk danger in games like Vermintide, Darktide, and Left 4 Dead to save his cyber teammates. Even if the other side was just an AI BOT, he would still save them.

But this college student who had done something stupid in a moment of hotheadedness clearly did not fall within Cheng Tian's definition of a cyber teammate.

As Cheng Tian passed One-Ear, he paused slightly. Their eyes met for a moment, then Cheng Tian took another step forward with his long legs.

One-Ear was actually not bad. He had courage and combat ability, and he did not drop the ball at critical moments. But considering that he obviously had some connection with that suicidal idiot, Cheng Tian naturally would not deliberately say anything that would harm their unity. He would leave the choice to One-Ear himself.

Would he follow Cheng Tian and try to advance the main quest, or remain here to wait for death with his classmate?

Not wanting to waste anything, Cheng Tian also collected the basic equipment that Greenie had pawned off to the other novice players. Their original owners were dead anyway, so there was no reason not to take it.

A wooden bat from Streets of Rage, a Goblin Cleaver from Oriental Legend, a straight sword from Chinese Paladin, and a two-handed hammer from SD Final Fight.

Cheng Tian stuffed all four weapons into his inventory.

It was worth mentioning that a Chosen Player's inventory basically followed the Warcraft hero template. It had only six slots, but unlike Diablo or Resident Evil 4, there was no need to play Tetris inside the inventory. Each slot could hold one category of items.

That also confirmed Cheng Tian's initial guess about why Greenie had only taken out five pieces of equipment to pawn off.

Though they were all basic weapons, during this impoverished beginner stage, Cheng Tian had no intention of letting even mosquito-leg meat slip away.

Besides, for Cheng Tian, who now possessed two Protagonist Templates, these basic weapons had another use.

The cemetery covered a much larger area than it did in the game, but finding the exit was not difficult.

By the light of the moon revealed after the clouds drifted past, Cheng Tian could see a dense forest in the distance and the faint outline of a river. That was most likely the direction of the first gate leading to the Demon King's Castle.

In that same direction, Cheng Tian also spotted several Red-Eyed Ravens lingering on dead trees, along with Man-Eating Plants growing around the tombstones. They twisted about like animals, nearly as large as the tombstones themselves, and when they opened their mouths, rings of sharp lamprey-like teeth could be seen inside.

Generally speaking, wherever there were monsters was the right path. At least, Demon Village was no exception.

Man-Eating Plants were murderous plants mutated by demonic corruption. As long as they caught the scent of a human, they would decisively open their mouths and spit black fireballs condensed from evil magic at their target.

They did not eat people. They only killed them, positioned like fixed turrets along the unavoidable route to the cemetery exit.

Because they were fixed turrets with limited attack range, they could actually be avoided by taking a detour.

...But Cheng Tian refused!

A projectile sliced through the air and plunged precisely into the wide-open mouth of a Man-Eating Plant. It was none other than Cheng Tian's Gentleman's Cane, which could cast polymorph magic.

Yet strangely, an identical cane remained in Cheng Tian's hand.

At the same time, the cane that had struck the Man-Eating Plant exploded on the spot. With a soft pop, the Man-Eating Plant actually transformed into a green monster duck with plant roots connected to its backside!