Steel Bone, tested

The black cloth Fanny pulled away unfurled in the air and drifted slowly down, fully revealing what lay beneath it in the sunlight. It was a humanoid exoskeleton suit roughly 2.2 meters tall, cast entirely from a dark silver alloy, its surface covered in fine tapered lines and grooves. Dense engravings of mana circuits filled the grooves. Rather than the hinges commonly found on Constructs, its joints consisted of multiple nested hydraulic mechanisms and shock absorbers. Three fist-sized magic crystals were embedded in its back, arranged in a triangle and secured along the spine with precision metal brackets. A retractable mechanism allowed these crystals, which served as the exoskeleton's power source, to sink automatically into the spine once activated with mana, protecting them from outside damage. At the center of the breastplate was an emblem depicting a gear and ears of wheat—the symbol of Faoken.

A ring of intricate runes surrounded the emblem. After only a brief inspection, John recognized them as identification runes. Only soldiers whose mana had been authenticated could activate and use the armor.

If anyone tried to wear it without authorization, the identification runes would trigger a locking mechanism when their mana failed authentication. Every joint would lock simultaneously, trapping the wearer inside until someone with authorization unlocked the armor from outside.

As John examined the exoskeleton and listened to Fanny explain, his face remained composed, but his mind was in turmoil. That design, those functions, and that all-too-familiar authentication system...

There was no mistaking it. Wasn't this the goddamn Steel Bone Assault Type I armor issued exclusively for special operations in the game?!

In the game, this equipment not only reduced its wearer's mana consumption by fifty percent, but also boosted the strength and endurance of anyone below High Mage level by twenty percent. In