A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

Chapter 287: Chapter 287 - The Taurus Runeguard

The cloud of electrified snow grains exploded outward and enveloped the armor like a swarm of raging insects. The tiny pieces of snow soon found ever tiny gap or seam that should be closed but wasn't and welded it close.

When it was done, the cloud exploded outward, and dissolved into the air. What was left was a sparkling new armor, currently in its human form, ready to carry Erik into an awakened Earth.

He slowly walked up to it, stroked the metal with his hand while sending small charges of thundersnow through it, and smiled softly when he noticed the perfect conduction.

The armor hugged the iron puppet Erik's form tightly, maintaining a sleek silhouette that allowed only a few centimeters (~1-2 inches) of space between his skin and the shimmering onyx plates.

Each piece was masterfully crafted to enhance mobility without sacrificing protection, the surface was cool and almost liquid under the touch, with subtle runes etched beneath its glossy exterior, pulsing faintly with latent energy.

Erik abhorred any armor that was too bulky, so he made sure to keep everything as close to his skin as he could, despite the usage of a skeletal framework.

It's surface was slightly shimmering, but the onyx black color was largely the same as his original armor. The shoulder pads slanted downwards, hugging the framework, which closely hugged the skin. The gauntlets looked to be mirrored after his werewolf claws, even in human form, and even the feet looked dangerous.

The two biggest differences between the old and new armor, besides the various inner workings and improved durability, were the chest piece, and the helmet, the latter of which didn't even exist with the previous armor.

The helmet presented in the shape of a wolf mask that fully covered his head, with the only difference to a regular wolf being the bull horns coming out the side of them. Naturally, this was an aesthetic choice that Eira had pushed for and Erik had begrudgingly accepted.

Meanwhile, the chest had a large fitting in the middle, behind a see-through barrier. This was where Eira's core would go.

The barrier and fittings in this area were all light-brown, to satisfy Eira's desire for her favorite color, while the armor also had several thin, light-brown lines extending from this fitting, that acted both as decorations and to guide the core's power to the various area's of the armor.

Currently, there were not many others with him in the room. Astrid was still there, but she was meditating and not really paying attention. The only ones there to witness this moment were the three that had worked the hardest on finishing it: Erik, Elora, and Eira.

Elora sat on Erik's shoulder and had significant bags under her eyes. She looked grumpy, but was otherwise still able to function. That said, she was very ready to get some sleep. "I'm going to sleep for a week when this is over… Don't you dare wake me before then, Erik!" she growled.

"I promise, little Ember," Erik smiled softly. "I'm sorry it took so long."

"You could have just trusted me, you know," Eira pouted a little.

"What has ever given you the idea that I'm a trusting person," Elora scoffed in an annoyed tone.

Eira muttered something under her breath, but her complaints quickly disappeared when she looked at the armor again and became excited. "Anyway, I love it! It looks just like the projection!" she exclaimed happily.

"Good," Erik grinned. "Now, I promised you could come up with the name. Did you think of anything?"

Eira nodded enthusiastically. "What do you think of 'The Taurus Runeguard'? With me as the Taurus, and you as the Runeguard!"

Erik raised an eyebrow in surprise and thought, 'I expected her to come up with something more… simple, or perhaps childlike. But Taurus Runeguard is surprisingly apt and it sounds good, too.'

So he nodded slowly, "I like it. I suppose it's got a name, then."

With that settled, he wanted to spent a little more time admiring his handy work, but he could feel Elora's growing impatience to get some sleep, so he decided to move on.

"Now, let me show you how I'm going to put this armor on," he grinned, before turning to Elora. "Or, rather, let Elora show you."

Elora nodded and extended her hands, causing dark green energies to start swirling between them.

With Elora too tired, and also focused on her work, Erik decided to explain. "The armor has a compression sigil, which uses the space affinity to compress the armor into a smaller form. Unfortunately, the sigil costs a large amount of power, and thus only works when it has a working core, or if I'm providing the energy myself while wearing it."

"For now, Elora will use her power to act as its core, so I can put it on and move it to your core room," he continued, while Elora's magic began to condense into a fist-sized, round, dark-green jewel.

"She… She can act as a core?" Eira mumbled, surprised, and with a hint of anxiety.

"Of course," Erik smiled lightly, as he suspected were her anxiety was coming from. "How else were we going to replace your core in this structure?"

"I— I see," Eira continued. "Can she… do that to two things at the same time?" she asked, in a tone that attempted to be both curious and casual, but failed miserably.

"Eira… are you suddenly worried we'll let you die, while Elora simply takes on both tasks?" Erik turned to her with a soft, reassuring smile.

"N— No?" Eira stammered slightly, as she poked her fingers together and avoided Erik's gaze.

"There's no reason to be worried, Eira," Erik walked up to her, took her chin in his hand, and forced her to look at him. "I won't break my word to you. Do you remember what we talked about when I proposed this plan? Someone has to take the first step towards trust and in this case, that can only be you."

"Just think, though," he continued with a smile. "If it turns out that you can trust me with this, then what can't you trust me with? Isn't that what you wanted? Real trust?"

His words quickly made the doubt in Eira's eyes disappear. She frowned slightly, and than nodded with determination. "You're right… I trust you!"

"Good, because you can," Erik nodded seriously.

At the same time, Elora had flown up from Erik's shoulder, and pressed the dark green jewel into the appropriate slot on the armor, causing a whole mess of runes and sigils to shortly light up, before becoming invisible again. Next, the fairy waved her hand, and used her connection to that core to activate the compression sigil.

In response, plates and segments seemed to be getting sucked into a single point. The motion made it seem like the metal flowed like liquid, condensing and wrapping itself around the metal puppet's wrist, gradually taking the form of a metal arm guard. At its center, the small green jewel—now acting as the miniature core—pulsated softly, anchoring the transformed armor.