The swirling spiral of beautiful lights continued to condense as the flow quickened, spinning around the magical ring with ever-increasing density as they drew closer. The final tail of sparkling lights collected into the item with a whoosh, and the star-like tapestry of brilliance reflected on the walls of the room disappeared. All that remained was a single, brightly glowing circle resting in Lucius' hand.

Maryanne leaned forward, still staring intently as she watched the show unfold. When the magical glow hiding the ring faded, her eyes shot open, locking onto the glittering ring with intense curiosity.

"It's so pretty, Lucius!"

Lucius looked down at the newly upgraded item in his hand. He had to agree with Maryanne—the ring was truly eye-catching. The metal had turned jet black, but the dark color was sharply contrasted by the glowing white inscriptions fluttering and spinning across its surface, as if alive. Maryanne stepped closer, gently running her finger across the ring. The glowing runes seemed to feel the touch as they gathered around the girls finger like playful fish. Lucius rested his free hand on his chin as he watched the runes.

"I might have to wear gloves over this thing in the future," he said. "The glow is way too eye-catching. Well... let's see what's changed."

Lucius sent a mental command to the system as he focused on the ring.

Signet Of The Commander - Magic Ring - Quality [Extraordinary]

This item should no longer be categorized with storage rings, and has risen to a class of it's own. A potent magical power is housed within it's metal body, prevented from escaping and molded to purpose by intricate living runes. This ring contains a dimensional storage space of 18 x 18 yards and imbues its wearer with moderate telekinesis.

Lucky Duck - All attributes +5

Leaders Cunning - Intellect +5, Creativity +5

Overload - Create a magical barrier by temporarily releasing the powerful energy trapped within, usable once per day.

"Damn... that's one hell of an upgrade," Lucius muttered.

Maryanne scrunched up her nose at his choice of words.

"Don't say bad words," she scolded.

Lucius smiled as the small child rebuked him, playfully tapping her nose. She tried to swat his hand away, but he pulled it back just in time. Turning his attention back to the ring, he slid it onto the index finger of his left hand. A surge of energy flooded into his body through the small metal band, evenly increasing his attributes before adding an extra boost to Intellect and Creativity.

He had always been hesitant to upgrade those attributes—something about letting the system's magic mess with his mind made him uncomfortable. But he couldn't deny that the ring's influence felt amazing. Having his mental attributes increased was like cleaning a pair of dirty glasses you didn’t even realize you were wearing. Suddenly, the world was brighter and more vivid. Reality itself gained a crispness that hadn’t been there before.

As Lucius’ thoughts became sharper, the first decision his enhanced thoughts came to was to stop hoarding his attribute points. Waiting was foolish, he had let his fear control him because he was still haunted by his previous mistake of using them too greedily. A few points in Strength or Dexterity could mean the difference between life and death. Attributes needed to be spent immediately to give him the best chance of survival.

Lucius pulled up his attribute panel, scratching his chin thoughtfully.

Strength 24 Vitality 21 Dexterity 30 Intelligence 5 Creativity 6 Luck 1 Stamina 16 Magic Power 0 Magic Resistance 6 ... ... Free Attributes 25

"Why doesn't it show the points from my items, can you show that too?"

User preferences adjusted.

"Good, show me my status."

Strength 24(29) Vitality 21(26) Dexterity 30(35) Intelligence 5(15) Creativity 6(16) Luck 1(6) Stamina 16(21) Magic Power 0(5) Magic Resistance 6(11) ... ... Free Attributes 25

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"That's better."

The status panel now displayed his base attributes first, with the bonuses from his items shown in parentheses. This made everything much clearer. Over the next 20 minutes, Lucius methodically allocated his free attribute points, focusing on Strength, Dexterity, and Stamina. He considered adding some to Vitality, but with Whisper's ability to increase his Vitality by consuming blood, that attribute would likely become his highest before long. It would be wasteful to invest points there.

Once finished, he pulled up his status panel again to review the changes.

Strength 35(40) Vitality 21(26) Dexterity 40(45) Intelligence 5(15) Creativity 6(16) Luck 1(6) Stamina 20(25) Magic Power 0(5) Magic Resistance 6(11) ... ... Free Attributes 0

Lucius was rubbing his chin with a satisfied grin, observing the growing numbers, when an unexpected system message interrupted him.

Congratulations!

You have reached 40 points in the Dexterity attribute, passing the first magical threshold! There is enough magic in this attribute to generate a related Talent. Taking into consideration your current attribute distribution, talents, aspect, and personality, the system can generate a new Talent. Would you like to generate a Talent now?

Lucius stared blankly at the glowing words scrawled across his vision for a few seconds before his grin broadened even further.

"My strength passed the forty point threshold as well, do I earn something for that?"

Item bonuses do not apply toward the total. Would you like to generate a Talent now?

He gave the command without further hesitation. "Of course!"

Generating...

...

...

Congratulations! You have unlocked the Talent Flicker.

Flicker - Level 1 - Unleash the full power of your magically enhanced Dexterity in one condensed burst, granting you an instant of tremendous speed.

He spent a moment considering the words before committing the new talent to memory, then Lucius began collecting the pile of items on the bed back into his upgraded ring. When he reached the dog tags and journal, he held them in his hand as the image of the ring on Tiber's finger popped into his mind. The ring was proof that Tiber’s unit had closed an anomaly at some point, so there was a good chance the female soldier Lucius had found in the Abyss was related to them.

He quickly transferred the remaining items into his storage space before leading Maryanne and Whisper back toward the warmth of the woodstove. Tiber glanced over casually, but the eye-catching glow on Lucius' finger immediately drew his attention.

"How fancy. Looks like we know who earned the most from the Minotaur kill."

Tiber's focus shifted as Lucius placed the bloody dog tags and journal on the table before him, motioning for him to take a look. "I’ve been carrying these around in my ring. I was reminded of them when I upgraded it a few moments ago. I found these on the body of a soldier in an anomaly. You’re the only other soldier I know who’s closed one, so I thought they might mean something to you."

Tiber's calm expression fell, replaced by a solemn demeanor as he took the two items into his hands. He let out a deep breath as he read the name on the dog tags, sitting still for a few minutes before he finally spoke without looking up, "The woman these belonged to... she's dead?"

Lucius nodded silently. The woman's death had been brutal, and if these were her friends, it was better to spare them the details.

"You’re sure? You saw the body with your own eyes?"

"I’m sure," Lucius replied.

He saw a hint of emotion flicker across Tiber’s face before the serious man quickly buried it deep. Turning toward Roland, Tiber gave a quiet, firm order. "Roland, go relieve Garrick. He needs to know that his wife is dead."

Roland shook his head sadly as he walked out of the cabin, a few seconds later the door slammed back open, nearly breaking off the hinges as a red eyed Garrick stormed over toward Lucius, grabbing the front of the young man's shirt.

Lucius was about to defend himself when he saw the tears dripping down past the area of Garrick's face that was hidden behind the hood, soaking into the man's thick beard. Tiber leapt up as soon as he realized what was about to happen, grabbing the hand that was clenching Lucius shirt only a moment after it landed there. Tiber began speaking in a sympathetic tone as he held the archer's arm firmly.

"She's already gone... Come sit down, Garrick. Lucius is not to blame."

Garrick's hand begun to tremble as it released it's grip on the shirt, before falling back down to his side weakly.