Even if it was for a good reason… this would be a massive pain in the ass. It will probably slow me down a couple of months as well, so I hesitated if I should do it.
‘Oh, man… why I can't be just a self-centered asshole? Life would be so easy that way…’
There were too many demerits… so, I had to consider the merits. If I helped this guy, I would be making the world a bit better. One extra karma point. I also could potentially be making an ally, another karma point… this also can be a good experiment to check if there are some ways with curses without holy magic. Another karma point… I was probably in need of those since I didn't know that I had the chance to deserve a second chance.
“Nimir, was it? Do you want to keep living your life like this or do you want to change it?”
Nimir looked visibly confused… as if it was obvious that he didn't have a choice. That would be a hard job, since he was a kid, and he lived like that for years, he couldn't believe that he could live in another way. That gave me second thoughts as well…
“If you aren't satisfied with your life, then I can give you a hand and change it. You will be able to help me with something as well… I heard that you guys can transform, even without the skills, so someday, I will be able to enter your homeland without being stopped or bothered.”
Going so far away wasn’t within my plans. There were too many dungeons in the human territory and in its neighbors, so my plans were only to explore them over a period of ten years. Still, thinking beyond that would be fine as well. As long as it was beneficial and it would make my plans better, I had to consider making those kinds of changes.
Although my plan sounded logical, he didn’t look very fond of the idea… most people fear the unknown and they reject things that might turn their lives upside down, even if the benefits outweigh the demerits.
“If you aren’t interested, just say so and I will move on with my life.”
My tone came a bit colder than I had initially planned, but it was better to convey those things clearly… I had my own problems, to worry about, after all. If he was going to make things more difficult than they have to be, then it was better to not accept the offer.
“... What will I have… to do?”
“Just follow me to the dungeon and the guild, you won’t have to fight for now, but after getting some classes, we might be able to do something about your sight.”
“... Won’t the people… hurt me?”
“... We will do something about that, they won’t recognize you. I have some extra clothes that you can use. For now, do you know any area here that has some water or even a hole that we can fill with snow? You need to clean yourself.”
There were so many things to do… the most difficult one would be to replicate my ring’s effect. I couldn’t just lend mine to him, since both of us needed to keep our identities hidden. In any case, he nodded and then guided me to a small frozen pond five hundred meters further from his hideout.
I looked around and tried to look for other solutions. Still… Melted snow can be used to clean oneself, but it's not ideal. Snow lacks minerals found in natural water sources, making it less effective at removing oils or dirt. Also, it can be quite cold, which may irritate the skin. For better results, heating the snow to a comfortable temperature was better. Still, there was no place to put the snow and melt it. The pond would be a better option.
I moved my sleeve a bit and then adjusted the device on my right wrist. It was like a collection of a bunch of tubes glued to each other. When I rotated them, a certain tube would be connected to a trigger that was hidden in my palm. I pushed the trigger four times at four different points of the pond and I fired some small iron balls that began to melt the frozen pond.
Each tube had five of those, so I could use them for rapid-fire as well, and I could use that invention with a single hand. I called it: the multi-purpose sticky-bullet shooter, I also called it the hidden shooter of weird bullets. I wondered why I couldn’t just be a regular archer…
The pond melted in no time since the iron balls were enchanted with the flames enchantment. The water got quite warm in no time and soon some steam began to leave it without making it bubble thanks to the heat. The effects could last for only half an hour while being used like that, but since the iron balls could be easily bought in some blacksmith shops, I didn’t care.
“Clean yourself properly and then put these on when you are done.”
I took out my spare clothes, boots, and gloves… that should be enough to hide his appearance, but his eyes were still a problem. Just covering them would make people connect the dots. So, I decided to paint the lenses of the glasses with the magic ink that I used for the tattoos, that would be enough.
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I moved to a nearby tree and then focused on the most important step of this whole ordeal… I took out my ring of misinformation and then another simple one from my magic bag… I had to transfer the effect and then try to learn it how it worked. That would consume all my mana, but the transference wasn’t instantaneous.
After activating Arcana Transference, I could feel my body absorbing the energy of the first ring, passing from my left hand to my back and then the right hand and the ring… I focused on letting my mana flow perfectly without doing anything else, but I also tried to get a good analysis of the feeling.
I used that skill a few times in the last few months to understand how it worked, but my success rate was fifty percent. It was too expensive to fail on this… Still, that made me understand that my body was used like a conductor to keep the effect and mana on the enchanted item stable… usually, the enchanted items break when the effects leave the items for whatever reason, after all.
‘The mana is… distorting the aura around at low levels, but at high levels, it is…’
I needed to learn more, but perhaps I should focus on learning the basics first… Still, I already knew how the lesser effect of the item worked, it distorted the information of the target. It made it obvious that they were wearing such an item and we didn’t need that kind of attention. I needed the upgraded version…
I focused a bit more, even though the process was close to ending. Thanks to my insistence, I didn’t understand how the upgraded version worked, but I had the feeling that I had experienced before.
My mana was almost empty and I felt a headache, but at least I confirmed that I passed the effect without breaking it or weakening it. Once I recovered a bit, I tried to recall that weird feeling… it was definitely very familiar.
‘It was familiar because I have some enchantment knowledge… I guess if I combine some of those effects.’
I tried to recall the enchantments that I learned after the offensive ones. Then I checked my notes for the information about them. It was better to check the notes than just use my memories since they were more complete.
Everlight - Provides a temporary, adjustable source of light, illuminating dark spaces without the need for fuel or energy.
Water Purification - Purifies any water poured into it, removing toxins, impurities, or magical poisons.
Silenced Movement - Muffles all sounds made by the user, allowing them to move in complete silence.
Sun Protection - Creates a protective barrier against harsh sunlight and extreme heat.
Warmth Emission - Emits a steady, comfortable warmth, capable of heating small areas or objects nearby.
Arcane Dampener - This enchantment creates a field around the user that absorbs and weakens incoming magical attacks, reducing their potency and effectiveness. It can diminish the damage of spells, and disrupt their effects. The strength of the dampening effect can vary based on the user’s spirit or the enchantment's level.
Scent Mask - Masks the user’s scent, making it difficult for animals or magical creatures to track them by smell, useful for escaping or avoiding detection.
Tranquil Presence - Instills a sense of calm and peace in those nearby, reducing aggression and hostility in stressful situations, and facilitating peaceful negotiations.
‘Is it Arcane Dampener and Everlight?’
Combining both of them would hide my information? I could see the logic behind it, a source of light would make people see wrong information and an arcane dampener would make the effect work on my whole body. Still, I wasn’t one hundred percent sure about that. My instincts were telling me that I was missing another piece of the puzzle.
All of a sudden, I recalled a certain skill that I had… Camouflage. That kind of skill made it hard for people to see me, at high levels, it was said that I could even disappear in front of a person in broad daylight, once they blinked.
The misinformation ring was supposed to be a common ring, it wasn’t supposed to have two effects. So, combining two effects wouldn’t make it become that one… but they could work in a similar way. It just had to hide his race and name, since people should know after he walked around for so long.
I didn’t have time, so I drank a mana potion and then grabbed the spare bow that I had in case my hidden shooter were to break. It could get two enchantments, after all. However, how I could learn a camouflage enchantment? I didn’t try to learn one since I already knew the skill.
I knew that eventually, I would have to make those findings myself, but I didn’t think that it would be this soon… in any case, I decided to combine the effects of Everlight and Silenced Movement to mimic Camouflage.
When using Everlight, I usually feel a surge of warmth and clarity, as if a weight has been lifted. The enchantment resonates with my calm emotions, illuminating not just the surroundings but also my spirit.
When using Silenced Movement, I feel an exhilarating sense of freedom. I experience a heightened awareness of their surroundings, as sounds become muted, allowing me to hear even the faintest of noises in their environment. I cast the first enchantment with those two effects in mind and in my head, I felt them mending together to make a single one.
When the process was over, I felt like my head was splitting, but since it worked, I couldn’t stop now. I tried to mix the first effect with Arcane Dampener, but my focus wasn’t enough… when it was about to work, I felt the enchantments repelling each other. I almost destroyed the bow in the process, but I got lucky.
‘Shit, not good, huh?’
Long Wooden Bow (Rare)
Enchantment Slots: Camouflage - Blend into your surroundings, becoming nearly invisible to enemies for twenty seconds.
Arcane Dampener - This enchantment creates a field around the user that absorbs and weakens incoming magical attacks, reducing their potency and effectiveness by ten points.
Bonus Effects: Eagle Eye - Provides an increase in range and accuracy of 20%, allowing the archer to shoot from great distances with little penalty.
Misinformation: It grants the user the power to change their parameters for five minutes with a cooldown of one hour.