The Nightwalker was custom-made to Gusion's specifications. He felt that energy shields and the like were not as effective as his freely usable kido.
For a defensive outer garment, Gusion only had two requirements: it had to look cool and be tough. As long as it enhanced his defense and increased his life source tolerance, that was enough.
Hence the second skill, Embrace of the Night—a straightforward boost to maximum life source. For an epic-grade item, a 30% bonus to max life source is decent, but if the effect doubles, it becomes absurdly strong.
With this equipment, Gusion's advantage in night battles would be greatly amplified.
Even during the day, this piece was definitely epic-tier: high dual resistance, and when combined with Armament Haki, very few at the same level could harm him.
"How is it, satisfied?"
The sailor-uniform girl asked weakly, "By the way, can you change your aesthetic? Always wearing black makes you look so gloomy."
"If I like it, that's all that matters."
Gusion didn't argue about fashion. As a fighter, he only cared about practicality. As long as he looked cool enough, that was fine.
He then picked up another piece of equipment — his custom-made inner armor.
Strictly speaking, the outer garment isn't traditional armor; it's more of a functional defensive item. Real defense comes down to the armor itself.
Placed at the center was the inner armor. Honestly, Gusion couldn't even tell it was armor—more like a... tank top.
It looked so thin and light that it didn't give off any sense of protection, making one doubt its defensive power at a glance.
But as soon as Gusion picked it up and checked it out, his impression changed.
[Ice Cloud Battle Armor]
Origin: End Space
Quality: Epic
Type: Defensive Inner Armor
Toughness: 63
Durability: 400/400
Requirement: 65 Constitution
Details: Crafted by Supporter █████ with ten-thousand-year ice crystal and cloud silk as main materials. Offers extremely strong physical and magical defense.
Skill 1: Ice Wall (Passive)
Effect: While wearing the Ice Cloud Battle Armor, the Pioneer reduces physical damage taken by 40% and magical damage by 30% (applies to attacks below Tier 4 only).
Skill 2: Soft Cloud (Passive)
Effect: Thanks to materials and superb craftsmanship, the armor is soft and elastic, doesn't hinder movement, and mitigates 60% of impact damage from blunt attacks.
Skill 3: Ice Cloud (Active)
Effect: Actively activating this skill consumes half the armor's durability and grants the Pioneer 1 second of invincibility—immune to all Tier 4 and below damage.
Rating: 700+
Review: Dodging? What's that? Just hit me.
[]
Gusion ignored End Space's cheeky review. He was definitely profiting with this piece. The sailor-uniform girl had performed perfectly, producing a max-rated epic item worth 300,000 Endcoins, perfectly suited to his needs.
His equipment philosophy was now clear: no need for flashy abilities. Defensive gear should make him tougher; offensive gear should make him deadlier.
The Ice Cloud Battle Armor fit this perfectly—no fancy extras, just pure tankiness. With it and Nightwalker combined, plus his Haki, Gusion felt that ordinary explorers wouldn't even scratch his defense.
Even if he took Mandrake's thrust head-on, at most he'd be wounded, never killed outright.
"I think I get your style, based on the equipment you order..."
The sailor-uniform girl said from the side. "Do you ever use strategy in a fight?"
"Strategy? What for?"
Gusion grinned. "That's for before the fight. Once it starts, just kill the other guy."
She was speechless. Having survived as an explorer herself, she could not relate to Gusion's brute-force approach.
She picked up the last piece of equipment. "You'll probably like this one too."
Gusion checked it out—it was his second ring. Unfortunately, the sailor-uniform girl hadn't messed up this time; it was a straightforward epic item.
[Magic Draught]
Origin: End Space
Quality: Epic
Type: Accessory
Durability: 400/400
Requirement: 65 Spirit
Details: Crafted by Supporter █████ with Witch's Fragrance and Myras Mithril as main materials. Has a bewitching appearance.
Skill 1: Mana Abundance (Passive)
Effect: Increases max soul value by 40% while worn.
Skill 2: Spellstorm (Passive)
Effect: Reduces soul value consumed by skills by 30% while worn.
Skill 3: Magic Draught (Passive/Active)
Effect: When soul value is full, the ring slowly absorbs and stores it, up to 200% of the user's max. This stored energy can be instantly used to fully restore soul value, with a cooldown of 10 minutes.
Current Mana Storage: 0
Rating: 700
Review: By the way, please don't lick it.
[]
Gusion was speechless at End Space's review—who would lick a ring? But he was very satisfied with the item itself.
He already had the Soul Devourer ring for true damage, but since he couldn't count on the sailor-uniform girl making another growth item, he decided to stack his max soul value.
The higher his soul cap, the stronger the Soul Devourer's passive damage.
Since Soul Devourer's active skill burned through mana, Gusion wanted plenty of soul value for sustained combat and error tolerance, and passive savings when using skills—thus, this function.
Magic Draught was like having two extra mana bars, a lifesaver in a pinch. In the heat of battle, he could easily activate a ring skill, but couldn't always pull out a recovery item.
Besides, unless it's a growth item, most gear only lasts a few worlds before being replaced. Magic Draught was a top-tier mage accessory, and should resell easily.
Gusion's discarded gear was already listed on the market; his Butcher and worn-out Black Nightmare should fetch a good price.
"Not bad. By the way, can you make dark-gold tier equipment?"
Gusion put his gear away, asking casually.
"Dark-gold?"
The sailor-uniform girl looked troubled. "It's not impossible, but I can't guarantee quality, and materials are hard to get."
With her current Supporter rank, being able to craft epic-tier was already impressive, thanks to her upbringing. Beyond that, it was tough, which is why she longed for a legacy crystal.
Gusion's commissions were one way to improve her skills, but he only came once a month, which wasn't enough.
"Do your best. I'll support your business as much as I can."
Gusion said. He knew life-type players like her needed to grind proficiency—without requests, their skills stagnated.
He figured he'd need even better gear in the future. If she couldn't make it, their partnership would end.
"You're getting pretty cocky. I don't know what you did in the last world to get so rich, but dark-gold is a huge leap. You won't need it for a while."
She caught Gusion's implication. "But since you said so, I'll try harder."
She wondered if she should go home for a bit—she'd produced results, sold some beds, and should ask for more support.
"See you next world, then. I'll go test out the new gear."
Gusion turned to leave, eager to test its performance.
A few days later, after daily training, Gusion returned to his room to check the Pioneer's shop.
He currently had two Gold Pioneer Medals—enough to exchange for something good.
[Welcome to the Pioneer Shop. Items refresh in 25 hours. Please purchase as needed.]
He'd browsed the shop before. Medals earned from Pioneer missions were spent here, but he'd only had low-level medals before—just enough for consumables.
Now, with gold medals in hand, he expected to get some good items before the next world.
After browsing, Gusion found this refresh was excellent—everything he wanted. End Space was finally getting his taste.
After some inner debate, he picked two items.
[Purgatory]
Origin: End Space
Quality: Epic
Type: Gauntlets
Toughness: 60
Durability: 400/400
Requirement: 62 Constitution
Details: Crafted by Supporter █████ with Abyssal Bloodcrystal and Ghostcloth. High physical and magical defense.
Skill 1: Blood Fiend (Passive)
Effect: The crimson gauntlets hide on the user's hands. When attacking barehanded or with a weapon, triggers Blood Fiend for +30% physical damage and causes bleeding.
Skill 2: Coagulate (Passive)
Effect: For every 1% life lost, life recovery rate increases by 10% (applies to recovery skills).
Skill 3: Crimson (Passive)
Effect: For every 1% life lost, increases nerve reflex speed and extra damage by 0.5% each.
Rating: 670
Review: These hands will be drenched in crimson, frenzied in blood.
Certified Price: 1 Gold Pioneer Medal
[]
Epic items cost gold medals, but value varies. Gusion saw a max-rated item for two medals, but felt it wasn't worth it compared to two 670-point items. Selection depends on needs, and this one suited him best.
The other item was a training aid called Void Stone, also epic.
Void Stone lets you create a temporary meditation space for training mental attributes and techniques. Gusion figured, combined with the Dreamless bed, his training would be much more efficient—he could meditate and sleep at the same time, raising both stats and skills.
He wasn't in a position to call others tryhards—he was a bit of a grindlord himself.