Speed Is King

"Well done, Red. You did well." Elliot praised Red effusively when he saw the magnificent rod and armor which he had crafted for Wu Kong.

"Thank you, thank you. I would like to note that if I had better materials, and more time, I could have made a much better looking, much more powerful and much more ama-"

"Wu Kong, try it out." Elliot rolled his eyes at Red and ignored the rest of his words.

Wu Kong looked at the beautiful two meter long ornate red metal rod with golden trim all around with his eyes wide open in awe.

Gingerly, he ran his hands on it before gripping it tightly and pulling it out of the ground.

Whoosh. Whoosh.

It gave out a dangerous sound as it cut through the air easily. Faster and faster the rod spinned and twirled as Wu Kong gave Elliot, Red and the two wolves a display of skill and dexterity.

Finally with grand flourish like a showman, Wu Kong gave one final downward slash and held the ornate rod perfectly horizontal with nary a shake or tremble.

It was perfect.

"Brother Red. If this was done in all haste and far from your best work, I am truly in awe of your skills and your craftsmanship. You are a true master. Please accept this bow as my gratitude to the item you've bestowed upon me." Wu Kong straightened up formally before giving Red a deep bow.

"Ah, no need for that, no need for that! When I said I could have made much better ones, I might have exaggerated a little bit. AHAHAHA! In fact, not just a little, I was fully exaggerating! HAHAHA! This ornate rod is actually my best work!" Red admitted shamelessly.

"The design is a design I made for a particularly powerful Monkey Emperor! It comes with a back mount and many secret functions. I've taken the strongest metal I could find nearby and mixed it with some elements I had within me to create an extremely powerful alloy. I dare say nothing on this planet can break this rod!" Red continued to boast.

"There are several hidden functions as well. Blades, hooks, ropes and the sort. You can slowly experiment and discover them all in your own time."

Wu Kong nodded and stored it diagonally on his back. He looked at the armor pieces which Red had gifted him as well and equipped them slowly.

"The armor pieces I've made are also for the Monkey Emperor. They are the epitome of armor design and function. With it, you will receive at least 25% reduced damage from all sources below Emperor level! AND that is not an exaggeration!" Red gave them a running commentary as Wu Kong equipped his armor.

After he was done, gone was the powerful but poor looking monkey. In its place was a majestic looking Lord which gave out an air of nobility and strength. The armor which Red had made for him was a complete set of greaves, shin guards, pants, chest piece, bracers, shoulder guards and helm in metallic gray with red trim.

"Clothes maketh the man. Apparently it applies to monkeys too." Elliot mumbled as he looked at his Lightning Apostle with awe. "You look good Wu Kong."

"Thank you, Master. Brother Red, I owe you one." Wu Kong nodded at them and smiled.

"No need no need!" Red waved Wu Kong's words away, feeling very pleased with himself.

"I will reward you in Wu Kong's stead later once I find a suitable item for you, don't worry." Elliot told Red. "Wu Kong, one hour is almost up. I will summon you again before I engage the Belcher."

"I understand Master. Before I leave, here is the Mutated Sabertooth Tiger Lord beast core I got earlier."

"Ah yes, this would be extremely useful for Rex. Thank you, Wu Kong." Elliot smiled at his Lightning Apostle.

"I will take my leave first." Wu Kong bowed formally at Elliot before leaving.

"Red, join Brock in his hunt. It'll be good if you can gain a few levels too."

"Alright. I need to stretch myself anyway. It's been a while since I fought with my body. Later, pip!" With that, Red left too.

Elliot looked at the two wolves who immediately shook their heads.

"We won't gain any levels killing those weak little beasts." Rom said.

"I guessed as much. In that case, let's retreat to the woods, and you can secure the perimeter while I sort out my items and skills." Elliot said. "Let's go."

*-*-*-*-*-*

Deep within the forest a few minutes later, Elliot stared at the items he got from the Giant Mystery Boxes in slight consternation.

He had divided the pile of items into three categories.

The first category was "Normal Consumables". He got several types of healing potions, temporary attribute boost potions, beast taming candies, beast full restore potions and antidotes. Out of sixty four items he got left from the Gigantic Mystery Boxes, forty nine of them were Normal Consumables.

"The items which the Beast Apostle System provides are mostly self-enhancing items and consumables." Elliot realized as he looked at the huge pile of items in the first category. "Useful, but boring. Hawk, store them."

The second category had a far smaller pile of items and was called "Normal Non-Consumables". There were exactly twelve items in the pile and they were much more interesting.

"Armor for my Beast Forms." Elliot nodded in satisfaction. He picked up a beautiful armor set for his Black Bear form and was suitably impressed. It was black, spiked, and covered most of his back, his neck and his fleshy limbs.

There was also a beautiful set in dark orange for his Primal Feline Warrior form, and half a set in pristine white for his White Dragon Form.

"Excellent! With these, and with Red around, my entire team and I would be fully armored and armed very soon. In fact, I could even get Red to make armor for my cars later on." Elliot mused.

"Yes, I will definitely get him to mod my cars with additional armor!" Elliot decided.

His eyes turned to the final pile of items which he had named "Unique Items." There were only three of them but hot damn, they were extremely interesting.

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