Elias glanced down at his armor. The plates were still there, still warm with the faint pulse of the Art of Stone, but without the helmet, the full connection was broken, and Stone Skin would not activate.
He was just a man in very heavy armor.
Elias could feel the Art of Stone straining against that limitation, as its inherent abilities pressed against their restraints. They wanted to be used, and yet they could not.
His survivability had suddenly taken a sharp hit, and he knew there was a lesson here that he needed to take note of in the future.
Unexpected events could happen at any moment, and he would not be fully prepared for them. He had wasted too much time wearing his armor, and what was worse was that he allowed it to slip from his fingers.
Such mistakes could not be repeated again, and he may have reduced the chance of his surviving this test by fifty percent from just this single mistake alone.
Elias pushed the thought aside and entered the tunnel.
