The newly-reborn purestrain dranrid made a beeline for the skill he had discovered several days prior, [Blessing of Health]. He winced as he felt the loss of so many reward stones at once, but he knew that the skill would be worth it in the end. This was confirmed as he felt the changes to his stats take affect.
[Blessing of Health] [Rare]
The Blessing of Health was created as a gift to the militant orders that served the gods. These militant orders were the training grounds for many that would go on to ascend to become Paladins or Avatars. Since a warrior of the gods would need a stout body and strong mind to face off against the demons of the world that would be their primary foes, the Blessing of Health was designed to boost those attributes. 25% of CON is added to RES and PER.
Yes! It looks like the stat boosting skills chain. Perception and resolve both went up by 110 points, which means it was feeding off of the higher constitution number provided by [Ethereal Empowerment]. Man, I wish I could do something like that for all of my skills.
Lanek shook his head in disappointment at that thought. He had looked through the shop extensively, but had found nothing. However, there was still a chance of pulling this off at some point considering the existence of skills that his shop didn’t include, such as those for other classes and domains. There was also the possibility of enchanted equipment that could help as well. He chuckled at the thought of what he could do if he were able to create a connection where his spirit stat was increased with every stat boost of strength, constitution, or dexterity.
With his new skill purchased, Lanek chose to enter the equipment shop, but not for himself. While he was planning on looking at some new gear, stat boosts, and new skills for himself, that was not the priority. He would spend reward stones on himself only after he was satisfied with the enhancements he had planned for his Maximilian, Sanguineus, and Kazuma.
The first thing he did once he was in the shop was to bring up accessories that could be equipped on the furballs. He didn’t want to invest in weapons or armor for Kazuma and Sanguineus as he didn’t want to impede their natural fighting style too much. As for Maximilian, his armor was already more than enough to protect him at this point, so it was more important to find other ways to strengthen him as well.
Lanek summoned Kazuma and Sanguineus’ gear and promptly returned it to the store, hoping that he would be able to get some of his reward stones back. Alas, that was not meant to be as the gear simply disappeared without him receiving any compensation. However, he didn’t mind, the gear hadn’t been too expensive.
He was also glad to be rid of the metal claws that he had given Kazuma as they had not been as effective as he had hoped. In fact, they seemed to have been slowing the big cat down, which resulted in him taking far more hits than he should have. Lanek purchased a pair of collars and started working his way through the enchantment list. He had discovered that multiple enchantments could be placed on a single item, which was ideal if he wanted to leave the furballs as unimpeded as possible.
The first enchantments that he opted for were to keep the pair as safe as possible in a combat situation. Each furball’s collar now had [Regeneration] and [Shield] imbued upon them. The first skill would obviously allow them to heal at a rapid rate, even during a battle. Apparently, it could also regenerate lost limbs, but Lanek hoped he wouldn’t have to test that out anytime soon. As for the [Shield] enchantment, it would essentially give the furballs the benefits of wearing plate mail without actually wearing plate mail. While shield was unnecessary for Maximilian, Lanek did make sure that the demigryph had [Regeneration] as well. Lanek knew that Liv was saving up for this enchantment for Yuri and herself as well once she heard that it was an option.
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His final enchantment for all three of his bonded companions was [Affinity Focus]. This skill would enhance the affinities they already held, making all of their attacks that utilized that affinity more effective. However, that was not the main reason he had selected the enchantment. After some research and discussion with Pharaoh and Liv, he had learned that both were operating under the belief that the more you focused and honed your affinities, the more likely it was that you would get a rare class or evolution associated with the affinity. Additionally, with the [Affinity Focus] skill, there was a chance that a dormant affinity might awaken. At least, that’s what the skill claimed in its description.
Exiting the shop, Lanek left the shelter so as to not disturb Liv’s sleep and called out to his furry companions. Once they arrived, he had them don their newly enchanted equipment. For the most part, Maximilian and Sanguineus seemed unchanged aside from Sanguineus’ shadow appearing darker and Maximilian’s eyes becoming green. On closer inspection of their statuses, Lanek discovered that Sanguineus’ darkness affinity had been enhanced and Maximilian had awakened the wind affinity. Considering how much Maximilian loved to run, Lanek wasn’t surprised by this affinity.
However, Lanek was not prepared for the changes that had come over Kazuma. He had expected the cat’s cold and lightning affinities to be enhanced, and they were, but the cat had also awakened a new affinity. With Maximilian, the new affinity had been a small spark, clearly in the beginning stages. With Kazuma, the new affinity was just as powerful as his others, almost as if this affinity had been growing in power all this time.
“Wow…” Pharaoh said, startling Lanek. “That’s a hell of a lot of spiritual power coming off of him. Did you know that he would awaken a spirit affinity?”
“Is that what that is?” Lanek asked, gazing at Kazuma’s eyes, eyes that were now completely blue without a hint of white. “No, I had no idea.”
“I see. Well, it isn’t surprising that he has a strong affinity for it, considering how long he spent as a spirit. I’m honestly surprised that he hadn’t manifested anything of the sort sooner.”
“So, what can I do to help him out?” Lanek asked.
“Nothing you can do.” Pharaoh responded. “He doesn’t need help anyway. Now that the affinity is active, his attacks and skills will naturally make use of it. When he evolves again, he’s probably going to have some very interesting choices.”
Lanek smiled broadly at that. The thought of Kazuma having a special evolution potentially waiting for him was something to celebrate. As he thought about the possibilities, Pharaoh spoke once more.
“Those are good choices for their equipment. It will make them very formidable, but now you should focus on yourself.”
Lanek explained his decision to move into a bit more of a support role and let the three furballs handle direct combat after the last few fights. The tressym listened intently, nodding his head at the conclusion.
“Good. If I might make a suggestion…” Pharaoh trailed off, continuing only after Lanek nodded. “You have a talent for ranged combat, especially with those darts you’ve been using. I would recommend focusing on that, possibly a few healing and rejuvenation skills to keep everyone else in the fight. It seems like the darts have a lot of potential, so maybe we should experiment with more materials and learn what else you can do with it.”
“I agree, thanks for the suggestions.” Lanek said, scratching the tressym’s ears and triggering a purr before Pharaoh returned to the shelter for the night.
As Lanek returned to the shelter himself, he knew what kind of equipment would be ideal for his new role, but he wasn’t sure how he was going to pull it off. What he needed was a projectile weapon along the lines of a crossbow, but that was light enough to reload and fire while mounted. If possible, he would love to be able to fire his splintering darts through the crossbow in order to increase their range, but he wasn’t sure it would work that way.
It occurred to him that he hadn’t actually explored everything that the shop made available to him in terms of equipment. Lanek had never bothered looking for unusual or unique weapons that might exist in this world nor had he even bothered to look at those options that we specifically geared for magic users. Hell, for all he knew, there just might be benefits to those pieces of equipment and unique enchantments that he wouldn’t have access to with his melee weapons and armor.
Lanek ordered the shop to show him magic-related equipment and felt his mouth drop open at the options appearing before him. After glancing at a few, he began cursing himself for a fool. Within seconds he had been able to identify gear that would cut his mana expenditure and casting times by half and some that would double his casting range.
Sonuva...