"A unified combat style?"

I whispered.

Was the system trying to force me onto a path similar to the Lord of Frost?

I closed my eyes.

Then checked my missions.

I currently had two ongoing missions.

{ Full Equipment Mission }

{ The True Path of Equipment }

The names were almost identical.

Were they part of the same mission chain?

Maybe.

As for the Full Equipment Mission...

It had three conditions.

An offensive capability.

A defensive capability.

A healing capability.

The offensive condition had been fulfilled through the Flame Art and the perfected weapon.

The healing condition had been fulfilled through the White Flower.

The strange part was the defensive condition.

I had been certain a Unique Armor would be enough.

But it wasn’t.

So what was the problem?

Did I need a defensive trait or something similar?

But...

If this was related to traits...

Then the flower itself could be considered an acquired trait.

What about offense?

The Wind Blades were obviously offensive traits...

But...

The mission specifically stated that the offensive condition had been fulfilled because of the Flame Art.

And that clearly wasn’t a trait.

So what exactly was it?

A Lord, in general, possessed traits, weapons, and tools.

The blades were traits.

The flower was a tool that transformed into a trait.

What about weapons?

Were weapons simply tools that became traits?

No...

That wasn’t possible. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

The defining feature of traits...

Was that they remained with the Lord.

Unlike weapons...

The moment a Lord abandoned them, their advantages disappeared.

So...

Saying the mission only required traits was clearly wrong.

There had to be something else.

But what?

"Damn it..."

I muttered angrily.

Then stood up.

I needed food.

Even while eating...

The thoughts continued to swarm my mind.

None of them could uncover the answer.

"What about the other mission... The True Path of Equipment?"

I whispered.

That one seemed even harder.

Lord Frost possessed an ice weapon and ice-based traits.

And when he obtained his armor...

It became an ice armor as well.

What about me?

My traits had nothing in common.

My offense relied on wind.

My weapon was closer to a body-based combat art.

And my armors...

Were all completely different.

How was I supposed to build a complete path out of such chaos?

Did I need to abandon the Flame Art...

And search for a wind weapon instead?

After all the training and refinement I had poured into the Flame Art...

Was I truly supposed to throw it away?

And even if I did...

Where would I find a perfected wind weapon?

The weapon furnace produced weapons randomly.

And until now...

Not a single wind weapon had appeared.

"Damn it."

I muttered in frustration.

I took another bite of food.

"As a Fourth-Rank Lord..."

I whispered.

"I can use one weapon from every rank."

"I already used the Trait Enhancer as an ancient weapon to strengthen my wind trait."

I exhaled slowly.

"So if I replace it now with another ancient wind weapon..."

"I’d be forced to abandon the Trait Enhancer."

"And that..."

"Would cripple the wind trait itself."

"It could make it far weaker."

"And everything I achieved with it would become meaningless."

I closed my eyes for a moment.

My thoughts slowly calmed.

Then...

I laughed quietly.

"Fine."

I whispered.

"I’ll abandon those two missions."

I was already powerful enough.

Yes...

Lord Frost was incredibly strong and terrifying in direct combat.

But...

I had my own trump cards as well.

I had the Flame Art.

A sly smile appeared on my lips.

"Let’s see if he can survive that."

I murmured.

As for the missions...

I still had hidden missions left unfinished too.

The latest one...

Had already ended in failure.

I hadn’t visited Sunrise City for quite some time.

Fiona continued sending me updates regularly.

The Adventurer’s Guild didn’t force anything on me.

Its members could accept or ignore missions however they pleased.

But the tournament organized by the Beyond the Ocean Organization...

I had already received the warning regarding my fourth loss.

One more defeat...

And I would be eliminated.

"Should I go?"

I whispered.

Then smiled.

"Why not?"

I stood up.

Raised my hand.

A small gate appeared before me.

But—

Before I crossed through it...

The system suddenly rang.

{ Alert }

{ A change in the user’s mentality has been detected }

I narrowed my eyes.

"What now?"

I muttered irritably.

Then—

{ Warning }

{ Abandoning the True Path of Equipment will reduce the probability of advancement beyond the Fifth Rank }

My movement froze.

Silence filled the room.

"Hah?"

I whispered slowly.

My smile faded little by little.

Beyond the Fifth Rank?

What did that mean?

I slowly raised my head.

In this world...

Low-rank Lords were common.

But higher ranks...

Were monstrously rare.

Even Sixth-Rank Lords...

Were treated like legends.

"Don’t tell me..."

I whispered.

"That the path itself..."

"Determines a Lord’s upper limit?"

My eyes widened further.

Only then...

Did I begin to understand.

Why higher-ranked Lords...

Were so fundamentally different.

And why each of them...

Seemed to possess an entire world of their own.

I slowly clenched my fist.

Then sighed deeply.

"Damn it."

I muttered again.

"Every time I think I understand this world..."

"It slaps me with another truth."

Suddenly—

The system rang again.

{ Message — Lord Frost }

{ You still haven’t answered me... Do you have more Dolphin Belly Fat? }

"He’s annoying."

I muttered.

I threw my head back against the chair.

"Of course I won’t give you more."

"I’ll need it."

I fell silent for a moment.

Then—

Narrowed my eyes.

"But..."

I whispered.

"What exactly will I need it for?"

My gaze shifted toward the ten cubes lined beside the wall.

Ten armors.

Each one...

Powerful enough to make any Fourth-Rank Lord lose their mind.

"I already have ten armors."

I whispered.

"Do I really need another Unique Armor?"

I shook my head.

"No."

I slowly raised my hand.

The white-thread armor appeared over my body.

The threads moved gently.

Light.

Flexible.

Strong.

Then—

I dismissed it.

In its place appeared the armor Strong as Mountains.

Weight.

Durability.

Dominance.

Everything about it felt completely different.

Then I dismissed that one too.

I sighed.

"Unique Armors are powerful."

I whispered.

"But they still belong within the scope of the Fourth Rank."

I slowly stood.

And began walking through the room.

My thoughts accelerated once more.

Dolphin Belly Fat...

Wasn’t merely rare.

It was specifically used in the creation of Unique Armors.

So—

What about the higher armors?

Core Armors.

Legendary Armors.

Transcendent Armors.

My eyes widened slightly.

"Don’t tell me..."

I whispered.

"That this material isn’t important for Unique Armors..."

"But for what comes after."

My steps halted.

Only then...

Did I remember something else.

Lord Frost.

His new armor.

That thing...

Wasn’t normal at all.

Its defense.

Its control.

Its catastrophic attack power.

All of it...

Far surpassed the concept of an ordinary Unique Armor.

"That bastard..."

I whispered slowly.

"Did he really forge it as nothing more than a Unique Armor?"

I stayed silent for several moments.

Then...

Began laughing quietly.

"It seems..."

"I’ve been acting like a beggar who discovered a mountain of gold..."

"And used it to make spoons."

I sent a message to Lord Frost.

Requested a meeting.

He agreed immediately.

I teleported straight to the meeting place.

This time...

It was atop a high balcony.

Quiet.

Cold wind brushed against the edges of our robes.

Below us...

Sunset City stretched beneath the orange glow of its lights.

"Seems you’ve been busy with your armors."

Lord Frost whispered with a smile.

I smiled back.

"Your armor."

I said.

"It looked very good."

"I wonder if there’s something about armors you didn’t tell me."

"Like what?"

"Like how your armor seemed perfectly suited to your nature."

The corner of Lord Frost’s lips curled upward.

"Perhaps..."

He whispered.

"Because I sacrificed my ancient ice weapon as the core of the armor."

"And don’t forget..."

"My other traits are all ice-related as well."

He raised his cup calmly.

Then continued.

"Weapon + Rank Energy + any additional enhancements."

"These are the components of a Unique Armor."

"The more connected the materials are to a single nature..."

"The more the armor itself belongs to that nature."

"I see."

I whispered.

I narrowed my eyes.

What he said was logical.

Expected even.

I already understood that much.

Yet...

I still felt there was something more.

Fine.

Of course he wouldn’t tell me directly.

So—

"Tell me."

I asked.

Paused briefly.

Then added.

"What are the conditions for creating an armor beyond Unique?"

Lord Frost’s smile froze for a moment.

He looked directly at me.

Then—

Laughed.

A short laugh.

But not a comfortable one.

"You’re truly greedy."

He said.

"You’re still Fourth Rank."

"And yet you’re asking about higher armors."

I didn’t answer.

I simply continued staring at him.

Eventually, he sighed.

Then set his cup aside.

"Core Armors."

He whispered.

"Are not forged through ordinary methods."

My eyes locked onto him.

"A Unique Armor..."

He said calmly.

"Is an armor born from compatible materials."

"But a Core Armor..."

He paused briefly.

Then continued.

"Is an armor born from a Path."

My thoughts froze for a moment.

Meanwhile, Lord Frost continued speaking.

"A Unique Armor can be forged by any wealthy Lord."

"But a Core Armor..."

He raised a finger toward his chest.

"Requires the armor itself to acknowledge you."

"What does that mean?"

I asked slowly.

He smiled.

"It means materials alone are not enough."

"Your energy, your traits, your weapon..."

"And even your combat style..."

"Must become completely harmonized."

My eyes widened little by little.

And he calmly finished:

"Only then..."

"Will the Core Nucleus appear."

"The nucleus that makes the armor alive."

"Alive?"

I whispered.

He laughed lightly.

"Not like a living creature."

"But..."

His eyes lifted toward the sky.

"A Core Armor begins to understand its Lord."

A chill ran down my spine.

Then—

I immediately remembered:

{ The True Path of Equipment }

My eyes widened even further.

And suddenly—

Lord Frost looked directly at me.

His eyes narrowed slightly.

"Don’t tell me..."

He whispered.

"That you’re actually trying to forge a Core Armor?"