Chương 20: Exosuit

Scrap and I went over the mana generator and if he could change the shape of it. I wanted to know if the form affected the mana output. Thankfully Scrap mentally conveyed that the shape didn't matter, and he had made it round because it was what he had on hand.

Now the question was whether I wanted to build a Mech or an exosuit. I bet I could make a decent mech with our new tools and the steel mill being so close. The problem was that It would take time, and time that I and the city didn't have.

On the other hand, the exosuit would be less powerful but doable in the amount of time I had. As well as adding a little more defense, so next time I wouldn't be smacked into the ground.

I hoped that having something with concrete numbers like the HUB would provide a better understanding of the world around me. I wanted to test the formations on computers. Some of the formations increased the performance of constructs. So maybe it would improve a computer's already impressive abilities. And if it did, could I use a computer to calculate the trajectory of my spells?

I set out to create an exoskeleton. This would be challenging, considering it would be one of my most complex creations. Barring Scrap, as I had a guide when building him. I knew I wanted a HUD and protection and a possible boost to strength and agility. Thinking ahead, I decided that it needed to be able to share its mana generated from the generator. That away, I wouldn't need to worry about future creations requiring their own mana. I would just have them be powered by the exosuit.

The next step was to figure out what I wanted the exosuit to look like. I knew I didn't want it to be too bulky as I planned to have it fit in a mech suit that I would hopefully build in the future, but for now, I would need it slim and strong.

Scrap and I spent the rest of the day working on its design. In the end, we decided that it would have to be mostly slapped together with whatever we could get as we didn't have much more time until the other waves got to us.

We decided the best option was to forgo many parts of the entire suite. The legs, helmet, and gloves were essential, but the chest could be scraped as my cloak would work as a chest piece for now. The legs would be built out of thin steel plates and had runes for Harden and the silent formation. I also added the formation for metal mold. The plan was to use the metal mold on the plates like I was for my new arm. Combined with the amplify rune, it should produce an effect similar to boosted strength and speed. As an afterthought, I added the new formation for stability. Hopefully, keeping me upright and moving.

The gloves were more straightforward and only had the main job of transferring mana from the exosuit to the item in my hand. We also wanted to place a harden rune and an earth mold rune on them. The harden rune because the fewer fingers I lose, the better. The earth mold was going to be set up next to a limiter rune. The limiter rune would limit earth mold in such a way that when I placed my hand on the ground, the dirt would be pulled around my arm into the shape of a giant fist. This would give me a better way to deal with close-range opponents.

Now the helmet would be pretty complex and use new ideas that Scrap and I didn't fully have time to figure out. The main body of the helmet would be that of a motorcycle helmet we had found in a shed in a nearby abandoned house. We wanted the Hud formation. And a way to target enemies, so they were always hit when I launched a spell at them. I was initially thinking of figuring out how this would work with my arm but then took a second look at the plan and changed it so that Scrap would have his own mounted machine gun cannon thingy on my shoulder. Allowing him to attack instead of hiding.

The biggest thing was that I wanted to add a computer to it, allowing for more detailed hud stats. With the formations in the automation part of the book, I could potentially increase a computer's calculator speeds. And having the formation for Golems, I might just maybe be able to create my own little butler assistant thing. But that would have to wait because, for now, I didn't have time to make it.

Because I wanted to add the computer later, I would have to add a space for it to fit. I decided I would remove some padding from the back of my helmet in the shape of a small computer like a Rasberry pie. I also inscribed the Hud formation into a corner of the helmet's visor. Allowing me to see the condition of my exosuit. But because it was only the helmet at the time, it only had helmet stats.

I need to connect the helmet to my cloak, legs, and gloves. The connection between the helmet and my cloak was pretty simple as my cloak was already interwoven together, and it was directly below it. I used the connect rune to connect the mana flow between them. I did this to the legs and gloves too. Allowing it to be fully powered by mana. The only problems were the batteries I kept in my pocket wouldn't be enough, and I would need to upgrade to a better battery. I decided that a hobby battery for RC cars and planes would be enough for now.

I fit this battery in the place I wanted to add the computer, but it would work for now. With everything being planned and connected, all I needed to do was create a second mana generator. Which Scrap and I had designed and built while planning the exosuit. It was made out of powdered mana stone to help store more mana when not used. It was in the shape of a back brace that fits under my cloak and connects to it. The cloak then delivered the mana to the rest of the exosuit.

With that done, all the suit pieces were completed and connected. It wasn't what I would want in an ideal situation, but it would hopefully be better than I had before. The HUD allowed me to see each individual piece of the armor and how it was connected, and it also allowed me to see the state of the armor and what it did. My cloak was broken down into three components. Flight, stealth, and shield. Each letter showed a green light. If I selected the words with my eyes, I would see the components that went into their abilities.

It was pretty fascinating seeing what the hud could do. It even showed my arm and the spells I had available. The top corner had an overall health bar and a percentage, and there was a mana bar just below. I assumed the health bar was the integrity of the exosuit, and the mana was because I used powdered mana stone for the generator. It was exactly what I was looking for in a HUD system.

Now all that was left was to test whether it worked or not. Putting the suit on, I walked outside, careful not to activate any runes just yet. Once I was outside, I activated the suit fully. My first test was to jump up. Jumping, I flew upward about 6 feet before falling back to the ground. My stability formation really shined as when I hit the ground and started to tip backward, my legs auto-forced them forward. Allowing me to keep my balance. It was a bizarre feeling, almost like my legs had a mind of their own.

This was a good sign. Jumping 6 feet was way beyond anything I could jump before, and I had a feeling it could jump higher if pushed. Running resulted in the same boost to speed, allowing me to move faster than I could normally. The cloak still worked as I intended it to. And the gloves connected to the pee shooter well enough with no noticeable problems.

I felt ready for the leftover inhabitants of the flood.