Life Reset: Salvation (Life Reset - Neo Book 6)
Page 17
He brightened at that. “I’d love to try working with dragon scales. Especially the green ones.”
“I’ll make sure to hunt only green dragons from now on,” I said somberly.
I’ll make sure to be selective in my future dragon-slaying adventures, I said. You know, just as soon as Shiva decides to import some. Throughout my years in NEO, I’d only heard of dragons a handful of times. They were incredibly elusive, unique, high-tiered bosses that could level towns single-handedly.
Please don’t, I said in a pained tone. I’m about to have my hands full with all the terrible things that live in Stoney Barrens; I don’t need dragons thrown into the mix.
The first thing I’m gonna do if I see a dragon, Vic, is make you play bait again, I threatened. While I run away.
I put the magnificent armor in my inventory, bade Vrick goodbye, and went outside.
I walked a short distance through the northern ‘industrial’ part of the valley, reaching the Dreamer’s Lodge.
Hoker was already inside when I entered. The goblin enchanter was poring over a pile of swords, imbuing batches of them at once with magic. As he finalized the enchantment, a final flash of light came from the slab of stone that served as the worktable.
I moved to stand across the table from him. “Room for one more?”
He bowed deeply. “Of course, Shadow Lord. How may I be of assistance?”
“Do we have any more of the webcrystal dust?” The crushed crystal spider webs were an incredibly potent, magical catalyst.
“Yes, Shadow Lord,” Hoker said, almost reverently, pointing at a crudely made earthen jug that looked more like a wastebasket than a proper container to store the precious material. “We have accumulated 340 portions of the dust. I dared not use it with my meager skills.”
The enchanter had changed since his early days as a pretentious snob. But he had more than proved his worth to the clan. “Don’t sell yourself short,” I said. “Without you, I wouldn’t have been able to supply the army with enchanted gear. We owe much of our success on the battlefield to your efforts.”
He bowed again. “I’m but a simple enchanter. If it were not for the marvelous gem you found, I would have never met the army’s demands on my own.”
He was right, of course. The Enchanter’s Gem spared me the need to recruit several expensive enchanters, allowing Hoker to do the work of ten individuals at once.
“I’ll be working here.” I stepped to the side of the large stone slab.
“Of course, Shadow Lord. I will stop using the gem then.”
I shook my head. “No need, I won’t be doing mass enchanting. I’ve got two unique pieces I need to work on.”
I took out the Royal Scale Armor from my inventory and laid it on the table, then took off my mithril vest and put it next to the armor.
I studied the items. Factoring in my Runecraft skill bonus, the Royal Scale Armor could support up to six runes and offered protection from fire, while mine could hold up to seven runes and was resistant to electricity. I took in the tendrils of information surrounding them and felt my knowledge of Runecrafting synergize with the data, offering even more insight. Lirian’s intended armor would be able to accept 15 portions of the webcrystal dust while my own could only handle ten. I moved to the jug and took the appropriate amounts, filling one of my spatial satchels with it. Then I took a second look at the ugly container.
“Hey, Hoker,” I called. “Where did we get this jug from?”
“I made it,” the goblin said proudly. “The webcrystal dust didn’t keep well in the containers we had, so I looked around the warehouse. Claytown sends us a tribute of special mud, and I shaped it into a jug.”
“Kudos for the initiative,” I said with a smile. The goblin’s work was barely adequate, but it also reminded me of the clay shipments we were receiving. It might be prudent to think of recruiting a proper potter later on.
I turned back to the table and started working on the Royal Scale Armor. A holographic copy of the item appeared as I opened the Runecraft Design Interface showing the numerous colorful dots that marked its various abilities.
The armor had about 30 durability dots, a few more armor dots, and close to a hundred fire-resistance dots. But all those dot clusters were insignificant compared to the swirling cosmos of hundreds of dots that comprised its ability to negate damage. They were my focus, but there was no way I could ever connect all those dots.
That wasn’t my intention, though. All I had to do was increase the armor value as much as possible, and the invulnerability coverage would increase. I selected the ‘Te’ connector rune and started weaving it through the armor and durability points. The process was slow and tedious as I was a little out of practice, but I’d managed it after about an hour. I frowned. The Te rune had taken up all the available space. There was no way I could connect the fire dots now. A 50 percent reduction of fire damage wasn’t worth much if even a single point of damage would breach my vow.
“First things first,” I said to myself. I attached the connector rune to the ‘Ko’ rune of strength and watched the projected effect on the sidebar of my view. At level 72, my Runecraft skill increased an item’s basic properties by 46 percent, increasing the armor value from 40 to 58 and the durability from 220 to 321. Respectable, but not enough. I added the ‘Ma’ containment rune to create a socket for a void crystal to further increase the overall enchantment’s effects, effectively ‘wasting’ a slot in exchange for more power.
Left with three open rune slots, I considered my next action. I wanted to increase the fire resistance, but there was no way I could do that on top of the layers of connector runes I had already drawn. Then I had a sudden inspiration. Whether it came from me, or if it was the game throwing me a bone for my high skill, I didn’t know. I drew a second connector rune and, sure enough, the original connector lines faded away, making room for the new one, affirming my inspiration. As long as I was willing to sacrifice rune slots, I could keep drawing more connector lines on top of each other.
Even with the new revelation, connecting a hundred dots was a tedious task. I had to cancel the process and start from the beginning several times, though thankfully that didn’t affect the lines of the first connector runes.
It took me over two hours, but I eventually did it. I threaded the last line back to the rune of strength and held my breath as I watched the estimated effects.
Enchantment estimation:
Armor: 40 → 58
Durability: 220 → 321
Fire Resistance: 50% → 73%
I’d achieved the maximum coverage my skill would allow. The result should be higher thanks to the Dreamer’s Lodge bonus, the void crystal, and the webcrystal.
With two more slots left, I started experimenting with different rune combinations. ‘Lim’ – the rune of water I’d discovered from my Runecraft skill book – did nothing on its own, but coupled with the ‘Mag’ rune of warding, it added cold protection for the wearer. Unfortunately, I couldn’t enhance the cold protection further due to a lack of rune slots, so I gave up on that option and kept on experimenting. The ‘Ka’ rune of mass allowed the armor to fortify the wearer, rooting him in place – which was useful when bracing against a charge attack, but that hardly matched my daughter’s fighting style. In contrast, the ‘Zu’ rune of motion, which increased the wearer’s speed, was much more appropriate. There was no other rune combination that offered extra protection, so for the final slot, I decided to go with the ‘Shi’ rune of flux, which slowly restored the armor’s durability, ensuring my daughter’s armor would always appear
at its shining best, as befitting a princess.
Armor schema discovered: TekomateZushi [Impervious Hull]
It was ready. I started pumping mana into the enchantment, the drain barely making a dent in my nearly bottomless mana pool. I sprinkled a generous amount of webcrystal dust over the armor, and the aura of strength coming out of it grew. Once I sensed the enchantment was nearly complete, I drew out my second most powerful void crystal; a level 600 one I had harvested from Hesstiag, the former kobold chieftain, and placed it in the magical socket I’d created.
The entire suit buzzed with energy and a new notification pulsed over my display.
Enchant Royal Scale Armor [Impervious Hull]? Yes/No
Pattern Efficiency: 171%
Mana Invested: 540/540
Effect I: +333 durability
Effect II: +59 armor
Effect III: 100% fire resistance
Effect IV: Self-repair
The estimated effects seemed fitting. Since I wasn’t altering an existing enchantment, there was no chance of enchantment failure. I approved the prompt.
Runecraft skill level increased to 73.
The royal armor glowed as energy poured into it, hardening the scales and giving it a magical sheen. I could feel the power it emanated like waves of heat.
Royal Scale Armor [Runecrafted]
Description: An exquisitely crafted piece of armor that was further enchanted by a goblin Shadow Lord. The suit offers full protection to the wearer’s body while completely negating fire damage. Made from a mesh of finest oxsaurian leather, naturally fire-resistant demon scales, and tempered kobold scales, this suit of armor offers excellent protection while providing high mobility for the wearer.
Type: Armor [full-body set]
Rank: Rare
Durability: 553/553
Armor: 99
Effect I: 100% fire resistance
Effect II: Completely negate damage lower than the armor value
Effect III: Self-repair (2 durability points per minute)
Effect IV: +20% reaction speed
I noted the armor’s rank had increased from Magical to Rare and was probably on the verge of being considered Epic. The new armor value of 99 was double my own and would completely protect my daughter from almost any attack a lower-level enemy was capable of landing. The self-repair functionality was a welcomed addition that ensured the armor would always be at peak efficiency. It was a powerful piece, a fitting protection for my daughter.
I was tired. Half the day had gone by while I concentrated on my craft, and the mental effort was draining. But I wasn’t done yet.
I started working on my mithril armor. I didn’t push for originality and applied the same schema I’d used for Lirian’s armor, but instead of giving myself a speed boost, I used the extra rune slot for fire resistance. It was only logical. Enemy casters, as well as many types of magical monsters, loved hurling balls of flame around.
I spent hours poring over my armor, connecting as many dots as I could, but I wasn’t as motivated as before. Giving the best to my daughter was inspiring, but for myself, I could compromise.
Aside from the level 2,850 void crystal I’d gotten from the Infernal Scorpion Queen, the next strongest crystal I had was level 400, and I had a bunch of those. I wasn’t willing to expend the rare boss crystal on something as mundane as armor, so, shrugging, I slapped the other one into the socket.
Enchant Mithril Vest [Impervious Hull]? Yes/No
Pattern Efficiency: 149%
Mana Invested: 540/540
Effect I: +100 durability
Effect II: +25 armor
Effect III: 70% fire resistance
Effect IV: Self-repair
Good enough, I thought and approved the prompt.
Runecraft skill level increased to 74.
Mithril Vest [Runecrafted]
Description: An exquisitely made armor, as light as cloth and hard as steel. Provides excellent protection to the torso. Can be worn under heavy plate armor. Was further enchanted by a goblin Shadow Lord.
Type: Armor [torso]
Rank: Rare
Durability: 270/300
Armor: 75
Effect I: +50 max HP
Effect II: 70% fire resistance
Effect III: 40% lightning resistance
Effect IV: Self-repair (1 durability point per minute)
I put the armor on and checked my stats. My total armor value had soared to 185. It was much higher than Lirian, though it still felt a little inadequate compared to the titanic enemies I’d found myself facing lately.
The armor had a thin rent on the side, an old souvenir from some monster’s claw, but I could already feel the new magic at work, mending the metal. In half an hour, my armor would be as good as new.
I looked up proudly, wanting to show off the result of my work to someone, but the Dreamer’s Lodge was empty. There was no sign of Hoker. A glance at the internal game clock showed the workday was long over.
I yawned, then teleported directly to my room and joined Tika’s sleeping form on our bed.
Tomorrow was going to be an interesting day.
10 - Banditos
My eyes flew open and I jumped to my feet, half-naked, on the bed, a direball forming in my left hand.
I looked around frantically for the source of the attack. All I found was an empty bedroom.
“More sleep,” Tika groaned and ducked her head under our sleeping furs.
My game clock showed the time was 5 pm. It was still a few hours before my clan woke up for a new day.
Kaedric? I sent out my thoughts as I realized what had woken me. What’s going on?
That got me wide awake. Can the scouts stop them?
Do they have the mobile shrine with them?
Alright. I’m coming out of my house. I want the five highest-level combat troops in the valley outside my door in one minute.
I hurriedly equipped my new armor along with the items that comprised my Dread Totem set. I delayed only to kiss Tika’s sleeping form before running downstairs.
There was no one around the house’s first floor; the maids hadn’t come in yet to prepare our breakfast, but I wouldn’t have stopped even if they had.
I rushed out of the main door and saw Kaedric, Bek, and the eight kobold-bonetis assassins rushing toward me from different sides.
“Bek come help, High Priest,” Bek piped. Despite being a tier 3 Dire Totem, the goblin hadn’t grown as tall as me, but I knew his size was misleading.
“We … tk tk tk …. are at your service … tk tk tk, Chief,” one of the kobold half-breeds said with a voice full of clicking sounds. His scythe-like limbs quivered in anticipation.
“Bek and four of you, approach and stand around me,” I ordered and closed my eyes.
My Faith magic discipline had reached the Expert rank, upgrading the Shadow Teleport spell, enabling me to bring five individuals along. I started casting the spell and waves of darkness washed over our bodies, whisking us away.
I stumbled sideways as the cobbled ground was replaced with an open, grassy plateau. I was dizzy, and by the looks of it, so was everyone else. The half-breeds’ sharp limbs stabbed at the ground as they tried to reorient themselves. Bek looked ill but was able to remain standing.
We had appeared next to the mobile shrine. The small bone and stone structure was mounted on a gurney-like contraption and was left to sit next to the foot of the mountains.
I shook off the dizziness and studied the
area, immediately noticing the sounds of battle. My head stopped spinning, and I saw a squad of bonetis-mounted hobs fighting humans. My soldiers had bottlenecked a ravine exit and were holding their own against the bandits who had only enough room to come at them three at a time.
One of the scouts came riding toward me. As a lieutenant, he wasted no time in giving me the information I needed. “Chief. We’re blocking one of the ravines, but two more groups are coming from there and there.” He pointed at the mountain. “The caravan is slow. The bandits are sure to sack it.” He gestured behind us, and I saw several heavy wagons rolling by.
“Got it. Rejoin your squad,” I said. I turned to the kobolds who were getting to their feet. “Go hold that ravine,” I said, pointing to the closest one. They started running, brandishing their sharp, bony arms.
I felt reasonably sure the half-breeds would be able to fight off the bandits. At level 23, they were a few levels higher than the scouts, and as unique bloodline creatures, they were a magnitude stronger than ‘normal’ kobolds their level. It was a good test for their abilities.
I’d initially planned on teleporting straight back to the clan and bringing in the rest of the half-breeds for reinforcement, but there was no time. The third bandit group had reached the plateau and was starting to spread out. I had to pick them off before they closed in on our caravan, not wanting to gamble on the caravan’s guards to stop them. “Bek, you’re with me,” I shouted. “We need to stop them before they spread out too thin.”
We ran toward the horde of bandits. There were at least 30 of them. They were too far away to analyze, but I could sense none of them was higher than level 20. I infused my legs with mana and my speed increased. Bek kept pace with me, also utilizing the Mana Infusion spell I’d taught him long ago.
We reached the first of the bandits in a few seconds and greeted them with a volley of drilling arrows. My ten arrows downed three bandits at once, and Bek’s four killed another two. The rest of them fanned out, staying beyond our spell range.