Although I said ‘Power Armor’, this is actually a Living Armor I’m planning to create. With me are the Grimm Brothers along with a few others. The Brothers have changed quite a bit as they leveled, they are now Grim Beards, their beards became longer, thicker and braided like muscles hugging and contorting around their skeleton.

They are here to help me make the Living Armor. I send a mental image of the armor to them and we start.

I create and mold bone in the form of plate armor along the hairs, a few Boneshapers start to work with it, making it stronger and refining the design. The final design looks a bit weird, with holes and openings in the hands, fingers, chest and the back, this is intentional of course.

Merlin and the Grim Brothers start to inscribe along the armor. The Brothers create small and fine arrays with many connecting runes. The arrays are made with their beards, creating black threads which pulsate with purple color all over the body of the armor. Merlin is inserting quartz along the armor and creating a thin layer of crystal in certain parts. The armor is finished, now speckled with purple quartz and veins of purple that dimly shine, giving it a strangely lively appearance, like a pulsating heart.

Unlike Merlin's, these crystals are not strong enough to take head-on attacks, so I create a few additional plates, which are also inscribed and embedded with the dark crystals on the inside. The Boneshapers also start their finishing touches on the armor.

The final product is quite a bit bigger, and much more imposing. Even though it is tall and wide, the whole armor has a grim and skeletal appearance, the chest piece in particular is quite nice, it has the form of two large skeleton hands, the fingers intertwining and protecting the chest, the two sharpened thumbs acting as pauldrons.

“Alright, time to test it.” As soon as I say it, Merlin touches the armor and starts to control it.

First he makes it stand and and move a bit, testing its joints and flexibility, making sure nothing is falling out.

The armor is even more flexible than a normal plate, the Boneshapers are not only able to increase the toughness of bone but also its malleability and flexibility, this armor is almost as flexible as a human body.

The armor raises its hands, finger splayed, and then shoots out purple beams of necrotic energy through them. The beams are pretty weak in comparison to Merlin or even other spellcasters, but they are there more for utility, they can also shoot stronger beams by breaking, though that does mean the armor only has 10 shots for now.

The armor lifts its hand up, palms forward, a circular hole opens up in each of them, and then another hole opens up in its skull, like a third eye. Finally, the hands in its chest also move, the laced fingers opening up, revealing the inner chest piece, with its holes. The fingers intertwine again, and this time the back opens up, again revealing another set of holes on its back.

“Alright, everything’s fine. I’m raising it.”

I create a small necrotic core on the hollow inside of the armor, roughly where the pelvis would be. Instead of the pelvis however, there is a special bone structure that holds and connects the core to the rest of the armor array.

I focus on that connection and flood the core and the armor array with my necrotic mana, doing my absolute best to keep it under tight control. The most important part of this is for the necrotic energy to stay within the core and the armor, not inside of it.

I feel like I’m trying to pour water inside an eye dropper with a water tank, but the process is quick enough and soon my Living Armor is… well living. The movements are noticeably more robotic then when Merlin was in control.

“Alright, let’s go everyone.” All of them go to the flesh dungeon, where the final components are waiting.

The armor receives a coat of non-necrotic bone and a few new friends.A Nerveling, a Fleshling and a Blood elemental. The armor opens up and accepts its new innards.

Thus begins Test 2.

The armor and the fleshling both move at the same time, their finesse is not quite as good as Merlin when he was controlling the armor, but it’s close enough and will hopefully get better.

Blood seeps from the armor, coating it and transforming into tendrils. The elemental moves and coats only the left arm, taking the form of a liquid shield.

The armor opens its right hand, and a single translucent white nerve tendril comes out, before discharging electricity, the symbiont swings their arms and uses the nerve as a whip, still releasing electricity.

“Now, for the final touch.” Merlin approaches the armor and creates two crystal lenses and sockets on its two eyes, right before detaching the head. He opens it and lets a crystal slime hope into it, then puts it back.

The lenses shine and then shoot out beams or purple mana, the third eye opens up and now it shoots out a beam of pure mana.

I see Merlin touching his forehead.

“You don’t need a third eye to shoot beams.”

“It could be useful.” He answers.

“You just want it because it looks cool right?”

“Yes.” He admits.

“Well, we can think about it later. For now though, let’s run a few more tests. I have a few more ideas, but I want to see this armor in action before making changes.”

Merlin nods.

“Let’s go to the ring then.”