Without Fury's interruption, Marcus began to assess his spoils after returning home.
He now possessed 21 Aya Stars, plus the Mind Scepter that he hadn't yet extracted Aya from.
Once he processed the scepter, his Aya Stars count would soar to a full 28.
This represented his largest essence haul ever. With the scepter's extraction, he would have enough to directly shape seven different warframes.
Even after keeping his usual four in reserve, he could still create six new armors.
The realization filled Marcus with excitement. His arsenal of battle armors was growing impressively.
"Let's begin the extraction first," he said.
As he spoke, void energy surged forth to envelop the Mind Scepter, and ghostly images of Aya Stars began to materialize in his palm.
The extraction process had become second nature to Marcus after so much practice.
In short order, seven completed Aya Stars appeared in his hands, joining those he had extracted previously.
"Twenty-eight pieces of Aya Stars—I've never acquired so many at once before."
Even after setting aside his reserve Aya, he would still have enough to easily craft six warframes.
This abundance energized Marcus. He could now address virtually all weaknesses in his arsenal, freely choosing which armors to prioritize.
"I think I'll make Wukong [Monkey King] first."
Marcus had wanted to craft the primal, resilient warframe for some time.
Now with plenty of resources at his disposal, he could finally shape this armor and experience its formidable capabilities.
As he made his decision, an energy cocoon formed around Marcus, emitting a gentle luminescence.
Crack...
With a splintering sound, a battle armor emerged in the room. It featured feathered ornaments on its head, a skirt-like waist covering, and a face reminiscent of a macaque.
"Heh, with more elaborate decorations, he'd truly be the Monkey King himself," Marcus said with a smile, adjusting the two energy tufts atop the helmet.
He felt thoroughly satisfied with Wukong. This warframe possessed primal power and excelled at defeating opponents through ferocious attacks.
In combat, Wukong could exert tremendous force. Whether offensive or defensive scenarios, this armor could handle them with ease.
Looking down at his newly formed body, Marcus concentrated. An energy shadow leapt from his form. The moment it separated, the shadow solidified into a perfect duplicate standing beside him.
Celestial Twin
This was one of Wukong's signature abilities—creating an exact duplicate to assist in combat.
Examining the Celestial Twin that perfectly mirrored his form, Marcus nodded appreciatively. This brave and fearless clone alone justified the investment.
"Come to think of it, there are other frames with similar abilities," he mused.
Clone creation wasn't unique to Wukong. He recalled several other warframes capable of achieving similar effects.
After brief consideration, several options materialized in his mind.
"Equinox [Day & Night] can create duplicates through augment crystals. Though they don't last as long as the Celestial Twin, it's still a powerful option.
Then there's Excalibur Umbra [Shadow Excalibur], a sentient armor that can act independently even when not worn... though I haven't crafted that one yet.
Beyond those, Caliban [The Sentient] can awaken spirit entities from its frame, which is also promising, though the name is a bit..."
Muttering softly, the warframe enveloping his body gradually dissolved in brilliant light, soon forming a new energy cocoon.
He had made his decision, preparing to shape both Equinox [Day & Night] and Caliban [The Sentient].
Each armor offered unique advantages. Equinox could release different abilities by switching between day and night forms, while Caliban, fused with sentient technology, possessed specialized capabilities derived from those ancient enemies.
The armor he now shaped was Equinox [Day & Night], with its dual-aspect design.
After the energy cocoon shattered, a black and white warframe emerged.
Equinox featured flowing, garment-like extensions on its arms and two long horns atop its head—one black, one white. Its overall appearance resembled a humanoid Yin-Yang symbol.
"The power of destruction during day and tranquility during night—two contrasting forces merged into one. This frame is truly fascinating."
Marcus felt a peculiar connection to this black and white warframe. He recalled the tremendous effort he'd invested in crafting Equinox before his dimensional transfer.
This armor differed significantly from others. The time and resources required to manufacture Equinox equaled what would be needed for two separate warframes.
"Let's test the form switching first."
Day & Night
Marcus raised his arm slightly. A wave of energy surrounded his body, transforming his appearance into pure white in an instant.
This was Equinox's Day form. The two horns atop the head merged into one, and the flowing decorations disappeared, leaving a visage of warrior-like strength.
Now he could spread his wrath like the midday sun.
He clearly felt the transformation—the moment the warframe switched to Day aspect, destructive energy overwhelmed tranquility. A power capable of annihilating everything surged through his form.
"So this is the power of destruction?"
Muttering quietly, Marcus touched his fingertips to a nearby table. With just a fraction of Day form's power, the table instantly shattered into fragments.
"This capability is truly formidable."
The destructive potential impressed him greatly, heightening his anticipation to experience Night form's contrasting tranquility.
Energy surrounded his body once more. In the next moment, his appearance shifted from pure white to deep black as he transformed into Night aspect.
During the transformation, the horn atop his head not only changed position but also color, from white to black. His body became more slender, and flowing garment-like extensions reappeared.
Marcus felt the internal change as well—the destructive energy that had threatened to obliterate everything now lay covered beneath a blanket of tranquility, becoming peaceful and controlled.
"So this is Night form? Combined with Day form, the contrast is perfectly extreme."
Day form's destructive power sought to release its fury like the sun, annihilating everything within reach. Night form's tranquil energy worked to heal and restore, flowing like gentle water.
These two contradictory forces now existed in perfect fusion, just like the Yin-Yang symbol represented—each containing elements of the other, using the opposite's strength to maintain perfect balance.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Support me at [email protected]/goldengaruda and check out more chapter of this or more early access chapter of my other fanfic translation.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~