“Hm, the System hadn’t lied. This stuff definitely feels light, lighter than the leather I wore until now” Lucas thought while exploring the limits of his new armor. Everything the blacksmith made, he already put on, excluding the gloves, seeing as his currently equipped Gorilla gloves had a utility function that self – repair couldn’t beat, the reduction in mana usage. The man looked a little disappointed, expecting Lucas to test the full set, calming down only when Lucas promised h will try them, just to inform the man what the full bonus set carried. This set functioned weirdly in Lucas’s opinion, seeing as his tiering wasn’t symmetrical. He unlocked the first part of the bonus with only two pieces of gear. Eager to test and compare everything, he called “Status” and menu appeared in front of him.

Name: Lucas (surname N/A)

Class: Duelist level 41 (Skill points available: 3)

Attributes:

Strength: 43

Agility: 73

Constitution: 23

Intelligence: 30

Willpower: 30

Perception: 48

Charisma: 30

Luck: 30

Health: 989

Stamina: 4818

Mana: 900

Skills:

Sharpsight

Duelist Grace

Dodge

Battle dance

Death of thousand cuts

Stinging cut

Punch parry

Mana Punch

Infused Piledriver

Guiding strike

Battlerush

Spin strike

Bulwark of balance

Equipment

Exquisite Naga steel coral breastplate

Exquisite Naga steel coral shoulder plates

Exquisite Naga steel coral gauntlets

Ceramic – laced gorilla gloves

Exquisite Naga steel coral leg guards

Gladius of the Viridi

Ring of the Abyssal Depth

Quests

A dish best served cold…

Titles

Monster Slayer

Colossus Muncher

Home – schooled

Scenario dungeon diver I

Lucas muted his excitement, navigating first to the equipment submenu and checking his set bonus.

Equipment

Active set bonus: Exquisite Naga steel coral set 4/2

Set bonus: +2 Constitution, +1 Agility

True to the description System offered, the set was durable with self – repair, connected to the constitution bonus while not hindering the movement of the user, hence the Agility bonus. Lucas found it ironic that he invested at least ten of his level points into raising mana and with just one upgrade in Constitution, his health shot up by a large amount. He remembered vaguely that Strength had some influence on health, but Lucas was convinced it was more of a case of System evaluating mana as the more important resource of the two. He was also convinced that Stamina was also more important than health, but due to his class giving out Agility like it was candy, he never felt the severe lack of it. Even the armor seemed custom made for him, shoring up his biggest weakness and further boosting his biggest strength.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“Which might be true in hindsight.” Lucas thought. Nobody knows how exactly System manages dungeons and how he spawns the loot, but during all my time, it only missed once or twice. And even then, the items held a lot of value, either fetching a nice sum of credits or a straight – up trade for the item Lucas could wear. He was pulled from his thoughts by the crowd that was starting to gather around the crafters. It seemed like the first batch of gear was finally finished and people who were in line to receive it were choosing what best fitted them. Unsurprisingly, he spotted Maggie at the front, talking to one of the crafters about a brand new crossbow she was currently inspecting. Lucas decided he wanted to hear first impressions and he approached the pair. The crafter stopped talking when he saw Lucas getting near, and a wave of apprehension started emitting from her. Lucas remembered the she was one of the persons who were in the first lines during the massacre of the inmates he committed while they were taking over the prison. The woman quickly recovered, and returned to the discussion with Maggie. What Lucas caught from the conversation, it was explanation of the process which she used to make the crossbow, including how she used the pearls to purify the wood from the impurities and other damages it had, seeing as it was recycled from the wooden furniture found around the prison. Maggie was listening carefully, interjecting from time to time with the questions, mostly focused on the accuracy and durability of the weapon. She looked pretty satisfied with the answers and she politely thanked the crafter before turning to Lucas.

“Happy with what you got?” she asked him, startling him. He was lost watching her, events of the last week out of his mind for a change. He nodded, not sure what to say. “It looks good” she commented and turned away to test her new weapon. Lucas continued watching her, her slender form varying from twisting trying to find the right angle for the shot she wanted to take and going completely still before the shot was fired. The arrow struck the wall and pierced all the way to the shaft, showing impressing force. Maggie muttered something and crossbow instantly reloaded itself, something Lucas was sure had something to do with the skill she activated, certain that crossbows usually took a long time to reload. She did a spin, landing on one knee and instantly firing. The second arrow hit the same spot as first one, once again going to the shaft, splitting the previous one in half. Even the wall itself hadn’t been able to come out unscathed, cracks appearing throughout it. Amazed at the force exerted, Lucas was sure he would like to stay out of her crosshair.

“I’m a little bit rusty” Maggie once again startled him, blushing.

“If that is what you look like when you are rusty, remind me to never get on your bad side” Lucas said bringing a slight smile from Maggie. He smiled back and for some reason decided to do his full routine, taking his sword. Maggie watched him with the same intensity Lucas had while watching her and, in a fit of inspiration, she raised her crossbow and fired. Lucas was shocked for a moment, before catching what she wanted and started his evasive maneuvers. There were hiccups in the beginning, one arrow even managing to hit Lucas, testing his armor, which proved his worth as the arrow simply was deflected and the damage already started repairing, just like the coordination between the pair. After a tenth shot or so, every time Lucas spun or dodged backwards, an arrow flew to the position he just covered, piercing right through the imaginary enemy. After half an hour or so, both were on the ground, panting. Their tactics were almost surgically precise and Lucas felt confident they will be able to replicate the deed in real battle. Just as they recovered, Ted arrived to join them. Unlike Maggie, he was covered head to toe in new armor, made from the same material the armor Lucas wore was and brandishing brand new club, once again made from steel coral. On its top the jewels were shinning, placed in a concentric circle, four in total.

“I think this is the best weapon I ever had. It can leech resources from the enemy and even has a skill of its own” Ted explained ecstatically. Intrigued, Lucas asked for permission to identify it to which Ted responded with frantic nodding of his head. “Sharpsight”, Lucas muttered and a prompt appeared.

Jeweled steel coral leeching club (Rare)

The club made from the rare steel coral material by an adept crafter. The jewels placed on its top further amplified the skill poured into making it, allowing the club to leech the resources of everything it struck. Furthermore, the jewels themselves are able to absorb the mana stolen from the enemies and unleash a massive explosion which harms everyone except the wielder. Due to the insight in reproductive cycles of the corals, the club carry the ability to self – repair. Part of the Steel Coral leeching set.

Bonus Abilities: Self – repair, leech, Stolen Flash

“Wow” was all Lucas able to say after inspecting the weapon. Ted exploded with the excitement and Lucas joined in his celebrations, truly happy for him. Maggie, after doing the same thing as Lucas, had a wide smile on her face and the trio was quick to once again do a test run, Lucas and Maggie filled with renewed vigor by the Ted, whose enthusiasm for his new weapon was contagious. Not even the troubles Lucas and Ted had in synchronizing managed to dampen their spirits or worry Lucas, who was having fun after a long time. After another half an hour, Maggie excused herself, going to pick her armor. Ted went with her, wanting to thank the crafter who made him his club once again. Lucas was left alone and he decided to take walk. He went level by level and soon found himself at the courtyard. He quickly went into the jog, testing how his new armor played with his passive. Satisfied by the results, armor not hindering him even a bit, as promised, Lucas stopped. Before he could call his status, deciding to spend his free point, his Perception alerted him to the moving in the vegetation just outside the wall. With a light jog and a quick jump, he found himself on the outside and spotted a squad of troopers. Using the element of surprise, he analyzed them with “Sharpsight”.

“???, Infantryman, ?”

“???, Infantryman, ?”

.

.

.

“???, Scout, ?”

“Looks like the attack is on its way” Lucas deduced, having learned from Bruce about the shroud skill the Scouts within the mercenary unit had. And they typically used scouts either with ambush units or while gathering intel before the attack. Resolved to cut the flow of information, Lucas dispatched the squad quickly, disarming when he was able and simply killing when h found no way around it. From a dozen man in squad, he incapacitated nine and killed three, including the Scout who started running back to where Lucas guess was the main host, forcing activation of “Infused piledriver” which certainly wasn’t the skill meant to simply disable the opponent. He strained his speed to full, finding Bruce and returning back to the disabled man in less than a minute and after some time, during which Lucas had to use “Stinging cut” twice to keep the troopers docile, the door to the courtyard opened and newly equipped adventurers came to tie them up. Bruce, already well versed in his role, started explaining the choice they now faced. Like always, all of them choose the wilds and one by one they were untied and escorted to the other side of the prison.

“They are coming” Lucas said after the last trooper was taken care of.

“I see. Let’s finish the preparations then” Bruce agreed with Lucas and went back into the prison to sort everyone.

“Send Maggie and Ted. I will stay in case any more scouting party appear” Lucas shouted to Bruce and braced himself for a long guard duty.