After using up all thirty inferior runes and standard-grade runes, Kent finally reached a conclusion:
This method of testing was wasteful.
According to the current test results, the existing equipment upgrades could only support up to two different rune combinations simultaneously. If two identical runes were stacked, the equipment would break; with three different runes, it would also break.
Kent suspected this might be related to the equipment's maximum strength and yield strength. However, without materials to produce higher-level equipment, this hypothesis could not be verified.
Nevertheless, even a two-rune combination significantly boosted the wearer's combat strength. If perfect-grade runes were used, it would mean that the guard squad, currently only at a warrior level, could potentially take on opponents of the guardian level.
This would bring a transformative boost in combat capabilities and a massive financial opportunity.
Kent's mind sparkled with visions of gold.
It was as if he could see countless gold coins piled up before him.
"Chief, the new batch of rune armor is ready. The guards are testing it now. Would you like to take a look?"
Graybeard approached from afar and asked.
"Let's go take a look."
In Kent's plan, runes were not intended as products for sale—this was core technology, but not a finished product.
Rune armor was the finished product.
Over the past two days, Iron Hammer had gathered the craftsmen to reforge armor for the guard squad and equipped them with runes.
During previous tests, Iron Hammer had discovered that the areas with the lowest failure rate for rune placement were the front and back of the chest. The mass-produced rune armor now featured one basic defense rune fixed at these positions, with an additional choice between two other runes.
Leather armor was equipped with basic defense and basic agility runes, while iron armor was outfitted with basic defense and basic strength runes.
In addition, each piece of armor had a circular patch on the left side of the chest, inscribed with a strange red symbol.
A five-pointed star lay in the center, crossed by a sharp hunting spear, forming an unusual emblem.
The patch was coated with red mineral paint.
The hunting spear and red star.
No one knew Kent's intentions with this design.
Only Kent himself understood that the red star was a tribute to the other world he could never return to, and the hunting spear represented the present.
Let the emotions, memories, and experiences from another world help me, in the world of the Red Earth—
To streak across the sky like a meteor!
"Chief!"
"Chief!"
In the arena, the equipped exploration team members saw Kent approach and gathered around him. They were all wearing rune armor: Splitting Blade, Bear, and Tally wore iron armor, while the others wore leather. Although the materials of these armors were no different from their previous ones, the addition of runes brought an unparalleled transformation.
The team's combat strength was around level seven or eight, but with two high-quality or even perfect-grade runes, their power surpassed that of a level ten guardian warrior.
"Chief, you really figured out the magic array?" Dry Leaf asked. He'd once told Kent about a hunter's armor in the Leaf Fortress leader's quarters, engraved with a magic array that could be activated without magic.
+99 Satisfaction from Dry Leaf
Kent smiled and nodded, his gaze falling curiously on the dirt-smeared Bear.
"What happened, Bear?" he asked.
"Haha, Chief, just take a look yourself," Udo pointed to the arena.
Inside, a match was underway.
Splitting Blade, wearing the new rune iron armor, rested his giant sword on his shoulder, his chest heaving from an intense fight. Despite his exhaustion, his expression was filled with excitement.
Across from him, Waterstream wore simple leather armor without runes or defense, holding a wooden stick with a splintered end.
With a shout, Splitting Blade launched himself at Waterstream, his body rocketing forward like a cannonball, the ground beneath his feet rumbling.
The exploration team's faces shifted. They were familiar with Splitting Blade's strength, but this scene exceeded their understanding. At that moment, Splitting Blade was displaying the fierce power of a front-line guardian.
The perfect-grade basic defense and basic strength runes enhanced his defense and strength by thirty to forty percent, roughly equivalent to raising his power by three or four levels.
As his sword slashed upward, sparks flew as it struck Waterstream's wooden stick from an impossible angle, producing a metallic clang. Under the immense force, splinters flew.
Splitting Blade's ferocity continued like a wild beast, but Waterstream blocked each strike effortlessly. Her wooden stick danced like a ghost, counterattacking with precision.
The team erupted in cheers.
"Haha, Splitting Blade is done for!" Kent heard Udo laugh, along with Bear's shouts of "Beat him! Beat him!" having just suffered a beating himself.
Suddenly, Waterstream's strikes accelerated, transforming into countless shadows brimming with killing intent—the Hidden Kill Dance, Feather Drop Technique.
Splitting Blade, originally on the offensive, shifted to a defensive stance, stumbling back as the Hidden Kill Dance drove him backward. His desperate swings were no match for Waterstream's relentless assault.
"It's time to end this!" Waterstream chuckled, leaping into the air.
"In your dreams!" Splitting Blade roared, unleashing a final, desperate strike, his sword spinning like a windmill, kicking up a cloud of dust like a rising tornado.
Yet, not even a tornado could withstand a thunderous strike.
The whirlwind surged, swallowing countless stick shadows, exploding in a burst of splinters. But the explosive whirlwind was instantly smothered, the assault stopping abruptly as Splitting Blade's sword clattered to the ground. Waterstream held her fractured stick to his throat.
The surrounding cheers reached a crescendo.
Throwing the stick to the ground, Waterstream glanced at the hunting spear and red star emblem on Splitting Blade's armor. Though odd at first, the emblem seemed more agreeable with each look.
"Quite an upgrade," she nodded, then looked at Kent with a smirk. "You're pretty lucky."
+90 Satisfaction from Waterstream
Splitting Blade, gasping for air, chuckled.
He saw Kent outside the ring and raised his fist, knocking it against the hunting spear and red star on his chest. He then joined his comrades in chanting Waterstream's name, as if he were the victor of the arena.