Dead Man Walking: Living By Day, Dead By Night
Chapter 139: Stalker's Cuirass

Zane realized that the most effective means of going out and getting gold was very simple. Grinding the tens of thousands of undead that still remained within the former boundaries of Carson City. And sell the excess materials and junk items he scavenged from them via his auto loot feature.

After selling the variety of junk items that he had in his inventory, which apparently was a substantial amount. Zane had roughly 6,500 gold altogether. Meaning he had enough to buy once recipe for his armor set. Because of this, Zane did not hesitate to buy the recipe for the piece of armor that would protect his vital organs. Which was the cuirass.

Immediately upon buying the recipe for the Stalker's Cuirass, it appeared within his inventory, where Zane immediately looked at it. The letters for the name of the item were written in blue, to distinguish it from other items of differing quality.

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[Recipe for Stalker's Cuirass]

[Learn: Y/N?]

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Without hesitation, Zane used his thoughts to click on the button that allowed him to learn the recipe, and immediately his mind was flooded with the knowledge he needed to craft the item. As well as its stats, and what effects it would have once he equipped it.

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[Stalker's Cuirass]

[Item Quality: Rare]

[Item Type: Medium Armor]

[Item Slot: Chest]

[Item Effects:

+50 Armor

Improves your chance to get a critical strike by 2%

Improves your chance to dodge an attack by 2%

Increases Stealth by 20%]

[Set: Stalker's Armor 1/5]

[(2 Set): +10 Armor]

[(3 Set): +2% Damage Resistance]

[(4 Set): +2% Damage]

[(5 Set): +2 Dexterity]

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Zane was stunned when he saw these stats. They were definitely beyond what he was expecting them to be. As for the resources required to craft a single piece, it required 40x Leaper Leather, 30x Abomination Hide, and 20x Stalker Claws.

Which luckily for Zane he currently had the bulk of all of said materials in his inventory, aside from, of course, the Abomination Hide and Stalker Claws, as until recently those had been much more difficult undead to come across and defeat.

Nevertheless, Zane was determined to farm these materials in addition to the gold needed to purchase the recipe. What he would need to do after clearing out the majority of Eliza's horde would be to take a visit to the ruins of Old Reno, where Abominations and Stalkers were far more prominent.

But that was a task for another time. Instead, Zane quickly got to work on the Cuirass made from a mixture of materials that he had scavenged and auto looted by killing thousands of undead since this apocalypse had begun.

He stood at the grim forge, whose eerie green mist would turn away most living things, and basked in its warmth and comfort, taking out the tools necessary to stitch together his new armor.

Much like how his body had gone into autopilot mode when building the grim forge, so too did Zane's body enter such a peculiar state as he crafted the Stalker's Cuirass, which when it was finished Zane was surprised by its appearance when he equipped it and looked in the mirror.

The stalkers' cuirass appeared as if it were made from an almost obsidian like substance. It was rigid, and yet flexible at the same time. Easily capable of absorbing the shock of significant blunt force drama, while still capable of protecting against piercing strikes, including, of course, bullets of high calibers.

While the outer shell of the cuirass was shiny, black, and seemingly rigid, almost like it was made from obsidian, but without the stone like texture. The interior was lined with what appeared to be a fine and glossy black leather, which made the cuirass comfortable to wear, even if he had nothing beneath it.

But it did have something beneath it. There was another layer of protection beneath the cuirass itself, that was similar in design to the old buff coats used by European soldiers during the renaissance, and early modern period.

If the outer shell of the cuirass was made from the Stalker claws, and the interior of the armor was lined with the Leaper leather, then the under armor coat was manufactured from the Abomination Hide.

The armor piece did not just include body armor, rather came with built in pauldrons. Which were made of the same material as the cuirass itself. They were neither large nor bulky, but rather round, almost as if they had been molded perfectly to wrap completely around Zane's shoulders and biceps.

In addition to the Pauldrons, there was a bandolier that wrapped around the cuirass, and a belt, which held two sheaths, clearly intended to be used by the Stalker's Short Swords that went with the armor set.

There was also a quiver that could contain both the Stalker's Short Recurve Bow, and a number of arrows. But for the time being, these holsters were empty, as Zane had yet to craft and equip these items.

Still, Zane admired the appearance of the armor, which he genuinely thought made him look like an assassin build character that one could commonly replace in RPGs. Especially if he were to put the hood of his Death's Shroud over his head, which included a portion to conceal the lower half of his face.

He was genuinely curious what the rest of the armor would look like once he had completed crafting the entire set.

Nevertheless, Zane did not let his excitement take hold of his mind. Nor did he really have the time to. After all, after equipping the body armor, he was immediately approached by Madison, who noticed the change in his equipment immediately.

The pink-haired bimbo quickly made a comment about Zane's new armor and demanded to know where he got it.

"Holy… Zane, you look so freaking cool with that armor! Where did you get it?"

Zane looked over at the girl, who refused to let him free her from slavery, and scoffed. He supposed he had time to waste, since the day's work was over, and he was now simply waiting for nightfall to take place.

Thus, he went into great detail about his recent discoveries, something he had yet to actually explain to the women by his side at an appropriate amount of length. When Madison realized that she too could get some sick looking gear, she was quick to grab hold of Zane's hands, and beg him to craft her some too.

"You mean, I can get some awesome equipment as well? Zane, my birthday is coming up soon. I totally like want an awesome chest plate like what you have! Please, will you craft some for me? Pretty please!"

Zane didn't know how to respond to this… He didn't have enough gold to purchase another recipe at the moment, nor did he plan to craft any armor for his companions until after he had gotten his full set. Because of this, Zane shook his head, and denied the girl's request, instead asking her to think of something else for her birthday present.

"I'm sorry, Madison. I don't have enough gold to purchase another recipe at the moment, and it is unlikely that I will have that amount by the time your birthday arrives. You will have to think of something else for me to get you…"

Madison pouted when she heard this, and would not look at Zane for several moments, at least not directly. Instead, she glanced at him from the corner of her eye repeatedly, blushing as she did so. Why she did this, Zane did not actually understand. Nor did he care to do so.

But just because Zane did not comprehend her thoughts, it didn't mean that there was no rhyme or reason for these actions. After coming to a decision within her own mind, Madison bit her lip before finally agreeing to Zane's statement.

"Alright, fine… If it's not possible, I won't like, throw a tantrum over it or anything… But I now have something else I want for my birthday!"

Zane's brow raised slightly as he quickly interrogated her about what kind of birthday present she wanted.

"And what might that be, exactly?"

However, surprisingly, Madison wore a confident smirk as she outright refused to tell Zane, leaving behind a cryptic response as she walked away, with a hint of pep in her step.

"I'll let you know on my birthday, and not a moment sooner!"

Zane, of course, could not understand how this made any sense. Wouldn't he need time to procure the present for the girl? Especially in today's age, when it was more difficult than ever to get your hands on things like food, water, and toilet paper, let alone something like a gift for someone's birthday.

Regardless, Zane chose not to think about it. By now, he knew better than trying to comprehend the mystery that was a woman's thoughts. And instead he got back to planning how he would most easily procure the gold and materials that he needed to craft his armor and weapon set.