The new gear was ready five days later. Both Braxton and Vixen, were free. They went to see the new armor in the hanger. They put them on and a new room opened up. It was a testing room. They put the armor through its paces.
After the testing was finished, Vixen said "Okay, I forgive you. This armor is badass."
"It's okay, I won't forget. No more surprises, you don't like them." Braxton replied.
"I don't know if your skills will work with the new armor. Mine will." Braxton added.
"I've already checked, it works. I also got a new one called Combat Dodge. It's pretty cool. The armor has built in sensors and will protect me from incoming critical damage." Vixen replied.
"Very cool." Braxton let her have the little moment.
Each set of armor had its own wristwatch for weapons storage. It pulled the weapons from their other storage wristwatches and added one hundred additional slots. Braxton's other suit weapons were not incorporated. When he pulled them out they were added to his new armor. "20mm sniper rifle acquired, Rocket launcher acquired, combined sword/laser sword acquired, mini gun acquired." Alpha chimed in as the new items were absorbed.
"Can we go try our armor on that demon now?" Braxton requested.
"Just that sniper rifle. I really don't want to get too close. That thing scares me." Vixen responded honestly.
"Okay. I have armor piercing rounds. I'll try shooting it in the chest. The headshot didn't do any good." Braxton responded.
They started running. The new armor could run 30 mph for extended periods of time. It only took a little over three hours to reach the area they wanted to be. Braxton summoned the sniper rifle. The demon was in the same place standing guard. "This gun is insane. I don't think I'd try shooting it if I didn't have the armor." Braxton said as he laid down and took aim.
The gun was eight feet long and weighted thirty pounds. The scope was enormous. It looked like a telescope. It was clear this was older technology but it was very heavy weaponry. Braxton checked the data on the sniper rifle. He had plenty of range with the weapon. It's maximum effective range was ten miles. The UI was able to assist with sighting too. Alpha's upgrades had been very useful.
Braxton locked on the target. He aimed for the left side of the demon's chest. He squeezed the target gently. The weapon felt like it was going to tear itself apart not to mention the armor. The kickback was insane. The noise deafening. The bullet zipped on course. The casing flew and clanked to a stop. Everything felt like it was in slow motion.
The next round was chambered and Braxton recovered from the initial shock. He locked on the right side and squeezed the trigger again. The first bullet impacted as the second was racing towards the target. He watched as the first round tore into the demon's armor. The armor was shredded. The creature raised its sword and the second round blasted into its chest. The armor plate on its chest caved in, crushing the demon. The fire burst out of containment. The flames in the eyes vanished and the armor husk fell to the ground empty.
"Hellforge demon vanquished. Do not try to consume essence! Your body is not yet ready for this material." Alpha warned.
"Whoa, the upgrade provided me with data on this creature when I killed it." Braxton stated in wonder.
"Yeah, that was one of the complaints players wanted fixed. It was part of my upgrade. Maybe your nanites upgraded by proximity to mine, like a radio transmitter or something. That might be why my upgrades took so long." Vixen explained.
"Maybe, it's freakin cool. It sure beats not know if I killed a creature." Braxton replied.
"Let's go check out the cave behind it." Vixen urged.
They both got up and moved towards the cave. When they got close, they felt a level of oppression emanating from the cave. Hovering over the body of the demon was a black mist. Vixen went to approach the body to grab the sword. The mist started to drift towards her. Braxton grabbed ahold of her shoulder and yanked her away just in time. The mist looked like fingers reaching up from the corpse. "I forgot to tell you. I got a warning not to absorb that essence. It's harmful for us right now. This thing is from a different level. It looks like drinking blood will be a thing of the past on that level." Braxton informed Vixen.
"How are we going to get the weapon? Any bright ideas?" Vixen question angrily.
"Not right now I don't. Let me think about it." Braxton requested.
"You better think of something to get me that sword. It's mine you know." Vixen staked her claim forcefully.
"Why is it yours?" Braxton teased.
"I'm better with swords and you already got a bunch of new weapons. That's why!" Vixen said possessively.
"Fine I was just joking. Now stop, so I can think of a way." Braxton ordered.
Braxton went to find a long root. It didn't take long to find one. He summoned his new sword and it severed the root easily. He was feeling pretty happy with his new weapons. He felt ready to move on again. The tunnel would be his next step.
He returned with the root. Then started trying to pull the sword back with it. Any time it came in contact with the edge, it sliced right through the root. It made razor blades seem dull from how easily it shaved slices off it. The glasslike appearance made it look brittle. It was insanely sharp and only time would tell how good it would be.
Braxton keep at it until he got the blade away from the body a little bit. "Watch the vapors while I try to grab ahold of the handle." Braxton commanded.
"Okay, but if I yell at you, you better listen quick." Vixen chided.
"Shit I'm only doing this for you. Add a grappling hook to your storage for next time." Braxton suggested.
"Sounds like a good idea. Hurry up already." Vixen pressed.
Braxton got as close as he needed to to reached for the handle. Then quickly snatched the handle and pulled the weapon back. The process took a long while. Braxton felt elated to finally have achieved the goal. He made sure to extort a few kisses before he gave her the weapon.
Vixen walked to the nearby roots to play with her new toy. The roots were not very strong. The sharpness of the blade was not in question at all. It cleanly sliced through three, four inch root stocks in one pass. This didn't do anything to test durability. She swung a few more times, admiring the feel and sharpness. The balance of the blade lent itself to easy use.
"I need to know it can take a solid hit from a sword before I feel comfortable using it in battle." Vixen stated plainly.
"Give me your old sword. Keep it tip to tip so we can test it. I don't want to go full out before we have some sort of idea what is going to happen. We are both wearing new suits that might add extra power to our attacks too. We really don't know the ins and outs of them yet." Braxton replied.
"Don't you have an old sword?" Vixen inquired.
"Yeah its just a small one." Braxton said lamely.
"Sounds like a good test weapon. Whip it out." Vixen joked.
"Okay, fine." He said as he summoned a long sword.
Braxton did a few practice swings. It had been a while since his last sword practice session. He also wanted to get a feel for it with the new armor. Vixen was a little impatient with waiting. She was eager to get to swinging again. Being well verses in combat and training she knew better than to rush.
The two squared up shortly after. The first swing took the last six inches cleanly off the blade of Braxton's original long sword. It was no more difficult than cutting the roots had been. "Damn. Is there any damage to your blade?" Braxton questioned as he looked at the remains of his blade.
"Not even a blemish on the sides were your blade pieces rubbed them." Vixen said.
"I hope that test was good enough. I'm not interested in trying another." Braxton stated firmly.