“You can crack this one open.” Nick gestured to an ornate gold container that had risen from the floor, phasing straight through the rock before solidifying by his feet.
“Alright. But you get first pick. You had to hold off the swarm while I was chanting.” Sophia staggered over to the magical receptacle and lifted the lid, fishing out a scrap of paper from the top of the pile.
“Actually,” she handed him the slip of parchment. “Do you mind if I choose first? My class has a special use for active ability stones, and I desperately need another.”
“No problem. I would have picked the passive stone anyway.” A surge of excitement granted him a jolt of energy, despite being utterly drained from the prolonged battle.
In fact, excited was too tepid of a word to describe what he was feeling. Nick would have danced if he could. After all, he had just been given the opportunity to fill a gaping hole in his profile.
He broke into a wide grin as he read the list in full.
Contents:
1 active ability stone (hidden modifier).
1 passive ability stone (hidden modifier).
1 gear upgrade token (uncommon).
This token can be consumed to strengthen the core of an uncommon item, improving its unmodified properties, and increasing it to rare rarity.
“You can have the upgrade token,” Nick offered, since Sophia had done the lion’s share of the work in his opinion.
“No. You take it,” she countered. “My venom dagger is already rare. None of my other items are worth it, except maybe the ward. With all the gear you’ve found so far, you will get the most out of the opportunity. If you want to make up the difference,” she cut off Nick’s protest, then continued.
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“You can help me hunt down a beast to become my new summon. I need an ability stone, the full skeleton of the creature in question, and a rare item known as a beast core. We might need to kill quite a few before we find one with an intact core inside.
“One of the centipedes might have one, but they’re too similar to my wasps. I don’t want to over specialize in a single summon subtype. It would create overlapping weaknesses and leave me vulnerable to potential counters.
Also, I don’t want to do anything that will box me in the next time that I’m able to change classes. Ideally, I’d like to find something tough enough to take a few hits that can also attack from range. Or maybe something that specializes in counter magic. I’m far too vulnerable to spells at the moment. Besides,” she flushed with embarrassment. “I really don’t want to be known as the bug lady.”
“Actually, I have something in my pack that might check all those boxes.” Nick took out the remains of the spear-tongue frog. He explained its abilities while she bent down to take a closer look, examining the bones with a clinical eye. “I found the core inside by chance while I was grilling up the meat.”
“While you were what?” Her nostrils flared in disgust. “No, that’s wrong Sophia,” she corrected herself. “New world, new rules. Thanks Nick, it’s a deal. That frog sounds ideal for my purposes. It’s better than any of the other beasts I’ve run into on the bog.”
She reached down and picked up the skeleton. He handed her the core, wondering what it signified regarding beast anatomy before dismissing it as a mystery for another day. The core was warm to the touch and despite its unassuming appearance, he had the sense that some manner of energy was trapped within.
“This ritual is part of my class trait, and it takes about an hour to complete. It transforms the beast’s essence into a matrix to wrap the spell around whenever I summon it. My summons aren’t alive by the way, except for the big one, so you don’t need to feel bad about how often they get mutilated.”
Nick nodded along with her explanation, happy that Sophia trusted him enough to divulge critical information about how her abilities functioned.
“The bodies are made of condensed mana, with an infusion of my stamina inside to power their movements. Although they inherit the base instincts of the beast they were based on, muscle memory, sensory processing, and the like, they don’t recreate its mind or sense of self. I have to control each summon directly or give them simple instructions.
“I wouldn’t be able to guide them and fight at the same time if it wasn’t for my battlefield awareness skill. We can talk more about it when I’m back if you like,” she turned to face the great machine. “I’m going to head into the refinery to perform the ritual. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t try to sneak a peek. I’d prefer that you didn’t associate me with that image as it's super gross to watch.”
“No problem,” Nick nodded. “I’ll stand watch while you’re busy and use my upgrade token and ability stone while I’m waiting.” With a grateful smile, Sophia carried the frog’s remains into the guts of the refinery and vanished from view.