Chapter 180: Dragon Armor

A snake that loves attention becomes highly efficient once it starts working.

Perhaps he was curious about the potential of this new profession, and quickly finished the preliminary preparations.

"Just sign here, is that all?"

"Yes, it must be your real name. Li En won't work—it has to be Li Ensu."

An old parchment lay on the table; Li En examined it closely—there were no strange patterns on it. But since the devil's trick of hiding clauses in paper designs became known, modern signers almost always used plain white paper; those still falling for such tricks were mostly rural folk with no access to information.

This was not a commercial contract, so there was no need for three identical copies.

On the contrary, the uniqueness of this single contract reinforced the "bond" between both parties.

To break the contract, one must tear this very document—so it is typically kept by the master, becoming the collar that binds the Magic Contractee.

Li En read the terms—they were all as expected, and nowhere near enough to fill a book. Clearly, the sincerity was sufficient.

There were no standard constraints, punishments, or compulsory orders imposed on the Magic Contractee, but neither were there many obligations from the master.

He sighed and quickly signed his familiar square characters.

"Why would I play tricks? In the end, you're signing with yourself."

With a feather pen trailing from its tail, the snake swiftly signed its name—also "Li Ensu!"

Party A: Li Ensu. Party B: also Li Ensu.

This contract, which should have been invalid, immediately glowed upon the snake signing its true name.

Two magical arrays, filled with transparent flames, each contained two Li Ensus.

Li En faintly sensed an unnamed link forming between them.

It felt more like a chain binding him—a long, soul-linked chain extending from his spiritual body, gradually vanishing into the void, crossing time and space.

Yet though the contract had clearly established a master, he could never find him. At this moment, Li En was certain: the "snake" before him was nothing at all.

He was not here. Precisely speaking, he was nowhere—yet somehow, he could be anywhere!

"Sssss."

Still the snake's hoarse hiss—but this time, Li En did not understand. Was this one of the so-called Nine Divine Tongues?

Before Li En could react, a "chain" tore through the void and lunged straight at him.

"Ugh."

He felt strange—"himself" and "himself" had formed a connection.

The soul-chain forged a passage within his flesh and spirit.

The contract's "flesh-to-material" module activated, becoming the core function of the Magic Contract—he could feel he could draw from himself and pour it into another self.

This was the master's instinct—but Li En dared not use it.

【Magic Contract confirmed, new profession: Dragon Binder (sub-profession of Magic Contractee)】

At this moment, the Spirit Codex, as always, helped Li En evolve—but…

"Snap!" The snake flicked its tail.

【New profession: Masked Dragon Knight—successfully activated. Current level: 1.】

Li En silently turned his head, gazing at the snake swaying its waist and whistling, and sighed helplessly.

Forget it—it's just a name. He wouldn't argue over it.

"Heh, in the world of the extraordinary, this is more than just a name." The snake spoke mysteriously, but since it was settled, it seemed irreparable.

If nothing went wrong, this would be a profession forever unable to level up.

"Indeed, no mana explosion, no Magic Contract spells." This twisted, artificially created profession, though based on the Magic Contract template, had all its power warped into a single extraordinary ability—everything it should have had was gone.

Thus, it might be a level-one profession that works well—but has no level two.

"Not necessarily. The master of the contract is yourself. If you grow strong enough, you can pioneer this profession. This should be your first truly personal extraordinary profession—perfectly tailored, like the Multi-Headed Dragon bloodline evolution."

Li En took a deep breath, his gaze toward the snake growing more nuanced—he felt this thing was digging a pit for him, yet had no proof.

Why did he think so? Because it was all Li Ensu.

If he had to find something beyond intuition, perhaps it was the constant emphasis on balance.

"Relax, relax. This cost is too heavy—it would kill you if placed on you now. I've delayed it to three years from now. By then, if you can't pass the Deer's trial, you're already dead. If you do pass, the cost won't be unbearable."

Li En ignored the snake's words—but he did feel somewhat reassured.

His gaze turned to the shattered alloy armor scattered on the floor, and he prepared for his first Magic Contract ritual.

Yes, literally shattered into pieces. When Li En found the dwarf artisan, his armor was halfway repaired.

On a table covered with waterproof cloth, most components had been disassembled; damaged parts were being repaired or replaced, while apprentices cleaned and oiled them.

That seemingly majestic, unified armor was in fact an assembly of many parts.

If it were truly a solid block of iron, the wearer would be like a man sealed in a tin coffin—completely immobile.

"Stop? I don't refund." The dwarf artisan glared at Li En.

It wasn't because Li En's request was unusual—occasionally, customers regretted mid-repair.

This usually meant abandoning armor still repairable, which angered the dwarves.

"No, I just want you to dismantle it into more pieces—ideally, break it down into the finest components possible."

And Li En's request was even more absurd.

"I won't—" This clearly more troublesome task, he naturally refused.

"Add two gold coins for labor."

"Fine." Seeing the armor already half-disassembled, the dwarf artisan simply kept working.

The dwarf, named Minske, who ran a shop in Huicheng's Mage District, had excellent craftsmanship. In just minutes, only scattered parts remained—Li En promptly packed them into his space bag.

"Weirdo." Minske watched Li En's hurried back and returned to his next job.

He couldn't understand it—but as long as the gold was paid, he had no complaints.

And in this city, the one thing in shortest supply was neither strange races nor even stranger extraordinary beings.

Now, in his rented temporary room (too lazy to go home), Li En gazed contentedly at the cleaned armor components.

He extended his hand and activated the only ability granted by his new profession.

"Dragon Knight Armor Summon: Black Dragon!"

His calm words triggered the latent Magic Contract; Li En immediately felt discomfort throughout his body.

【Dragon Knight Armor Summon: Black Dragon (Level 1): Summon the Black Dragon factor from the contract master and fuse it into the armor or weapon before you.】

Something seemed to be pulled away—something dragged off by the "chain."

【Flesh and physique are draining…】

The Spirit Codex's prompt confirmed this was no illusion.

Li En gripped the pendant at his chest, urging the Deer's power to accelerate his recovery and ease his suffering.

Meanwhile, the scattered armor fragments before him "came alive."

Precisely, a door faintly opened in the void.

Twisted black tendrils emerged, beginning to merge into the armor fragments.

It poured faster, grew greater in volume—massive fragments were absorbed, reassembling within the black, chaotic sea.

This expensive armor became a one-time consumable, yet forged the skeleton of a new armor.

It slowly awakened—or rather, resurrected.

A "juvenile Black Dragon" gradually merged into the armor, becoming its flesh and bone.

It was being summoned, being awakened. Li En calmly commanded it to obey the contract's demands; the Black Dragon, as his second thought-line, calmed its turmoil.

Finally, as the black light faded, a pitch-black battle armor stood before Li En.

The once-smooth shell now bore numerous black dragon-scale ornaments resembling metal; the entire armor looked like a black knight from hell—or a humanoid black dragon roaring in fury.

Li En stared at the chest area, where a dragon's face seemed to gaze back; his arms bore dragon-claw decorations.

On his shoulders and back, faint dragon-scale and dragon-wing patterns were etched—a suit of armor that looked wildly extravagant.

"Snap!"

The locks suddenly opened—the empty humanoid cavity gave Li En a pleasant surprise.

For heavy armor wearers, the greatest headache was never weight or protection—but the tedious process of donning, assembling, and adjusting each component. Only the strong could don it alone; half an hour was normal.

Thus, most knights who anticipated battle would have others help them don armor early and never remove it all day.

In hot weather, the taste and smell…

"Ugh." Li En, just moments ago elated, now felt weak—he had been drained too much.

【Biological Rank: Silver, Status: Strength 14 (17), Physique 13, Agility 10, Spirit 14】

At this moment, Li En froze.

His core attribute, Physique, had dropped by 3 points? Considering marginal returns, this loss was enormous.

"Put it on," the snake suggested.

Li En slowly walked over and lay into it—his weakened body instantly surged with power!

It was back—all of it was back!

The 3 lost Physique points had immediately returned on the Codex!

"Huh, I'm wearing armor…"

Only now, as he moved, did Li En realize—he had already donned the armor.

But this time, he felt no discomfort, no constriction—on the contrary, it felt as if it were his own flesh.

"Huh!"

He swung his fist, kicked his leg—the leg-kick motion, higher than his waist, had been impossible before.

"So this is like a skinsuit? No wonder you keep making Masked Rider jokes." Moving his body up and down, Li En felt no restriction at all, and immediately smiled.

The biggest weakness of heavy armor units is clearly their lack of agility—can this even be compensated for?

He could feel countless "cables" and "nerves" inside the armor, connecting it to himself.

"Skinsuit? I feel more like it's a tentacle suit—ahem—I'm truly a genius, solved a world problem in one go."

The snake seemed to reveal something strange, but Li En thought about it and pretended not to hear. After all, they had once been one person.

Then Li En picked up a dagger—the Vajra dagger he had bought on a whim.

"Crack!"

He thrust it sharply into his shoulder, but heard only the sound of metal shattering.

The dagger shattered into pieces, yet the black shoulder armor (wing-shaped) bore only a faint scratch—next instant, that scratch began healing at a visible rate!

Throughout this process, not even a prick of pain—Li En didn't even feel the "impact."

"Excellent, excellent." Li En clenched his fist, feeling an unprecedented sense of fulfillment.

Perhaps he had finally filled the most crucial piece, completing the fusion of all his abilities—perhaps…

"Wait until your mage and paladin both break through third tier, then you can challenge a Grand Warrior." But the snake's judgment revealed that Li En had already become one of the true elite.

(End of Chapter)