This is a bonding exercise.

[ As well as an exercise in trust, he adds inwardly, and that gives him the biggest pause of all. ]

And the forest is a strict judge of such things. Loath though I am to say it, it seems we'll need to rely on one another to proceed.

[ To that end, the armor should ideally go. He acknowledged earlier that making himself lighter would be the wiser thing to do, and so Berkut sets out to unstrap the pieces. ]