Novels2Search

66. BOOK 2 - END

As soon as he got off the teleportation wheel, Langa sent messages to both Liv and Synn to meet him at the tavern, as he needed to see if Merreddyd’s request was doable. It was late afternoon when he arrived, but Synn was already knee-deep in mead at the bar.

"Seriously?" he asked. "Is your hangover from last night even gone?"

"This is mead, it barely counts as alcohol," she said, raising her cup defensively. "I wouldn't have even come down here if you hadn't asked me to. What's so urgent?"

"Let me talk to Liv first, and then you can join us, okay?" he said looking around and spotting Liv. "Sit here and look as docile and non-threatening as possible."

"Sure," she said with a mischievous smile that made it hard to trust that she would do as he said.

Liv was sitting at a corner table writing something on a scroll. He looked up when Langa walked over and sat across from him.

“Hey, I know your message said you had something to tell me, but I think you should also know something, it’s about Fi Kindaro III,” Liv said, his face grave.

“Is it that he already Ascended to the 2nd Floor and joined a guild? I know, Vos already told me,” Langa said dismissively. “I don't want to deal with that right now.”

Liv sat back on his chair. “I thought you’d be more upset that you missed him on this Floor,” he said. “Are you shelving things away so you don’t have to deal with them, again?”

“I didn't come here for therapy, Liv. It doesn't matter if Kindaro goes to hell itself, I will find him and burn his worthless body with lightning until he screams himself ragged. Then I will heal him and begin the torture over again... but we’ve got bigger problems right now," Langa told him.

There was a pause where Liv looked at Langa as though contemplating whether he should send him to a mental institution to get his head checked out or agree with his sentiment.

Liv sighed. "Alright. It sounds like you have a plan. What's so urgent?"

"Okay, I’ll go step by step. First, you might not like this but IaskedSynntojointheguildandshesaidyes,” he said in one breath.

“What? Why are you talking so fast, I can’t understand you?” Liv asked with a frown.

Langa looked away. “I asked Synn to join our guild and she said yes.”

Liv stared at him in surprise, a frown on his face. “Why?” he asked.

“What do you mean, why?” A tankard of mead was roughly placed on the table and Synn slid into the chair next to Langa. “I’m a smart, experienced Mage with a decent crafting skill and the Avatar of a high-ranking demon god. Of course, he’d ask me to join.”

“Wow, aren't you a humble one? I told you to wait,” Langa said with an eye roll.

“I got bored,” she said.

“You misunderstood me, SynnForessa,” Liv said. “You are all those things, and I acknowledge your strength. You must have hundreds of guilds asking you to join them. Why would you want to tie yourself to a brand new guild that hasn’t even been formed yet?”

She blinked and tilted her head. “If I didn’t know any better, Liv’Kungsadu, I’d think you were giving me a compliment.”

“Thankfully, you do know better. Answer the question,” Liv said, putting down his pen.

She shrugged, “All those other guilds want me for my potential. They want to offer me a lot of support so I can level up faster, and offer me a large assortment of skills and assistance. To them, I'm just a rookie with a promising future that they want to recruit. But there are plenty of Mages from our batch with potential,” she said. “You guys are different; you have nothing to offer me except the one thing I want. You guys need me.”

“We need you? For what?” Liv asked, looking stung at her comment that the guild couldn't offer her anything.

“Who manages your guild’s finances, who assigns quests? Who applies for the guild to participate in the Tower's Main Guild Quests? I’m pretty sure I've managed a clan before.” She took a deep breath. "Anyway, I’m good at that stuff, besides all my other good qualities. You'd be a fool not to consider recruiting me just because you don't like me.”

“I neither like nor dislike you, and I certainly would never let that get in the way of me... of us... obtaining more power in the form of you," Liv told her. "If you really want to join us, then help us obtain the guild token,” he proposed.

Synn crossed her arms. “Is this a scam? Why should I fork up the money for you guys to buy a guild token? I’m broke…I don’t have money. I’m not rich like you.”

She had money, and all three of them knew it. The greedy little foxkin just wasn't willing to part with it. It didn't matter right now, anyway. “No, that’s not it,” Langa told her with a grin. “We’re not buying the token. We’re getting it the old-fashioned way with our blood, sweat and tears."

“You are going to slay the 1st Floor Boss?” She asked, looking from Langa to Liv. “Do you have a quest for it?”

“Yes, I do. So are you coming or not?” Liv asked.

“Who else is on this party with you?” she asked, her eyes bright with interest.

“So far me, Langa and Coraloa. The quest requires a minimum of four and a maximum of six players,” Liv answered. "Let me share it with you."

“Maximum of six? Who else are we going to take then? Should we ask Vos?” Langa wondered. He seemed like a decent person.

“No. First of all, I don’t trust him and second, he is a Hallow Reaper. The quest only allows people who are not already in a guild to participate,” Liv explained.

“Isn’t Coraloa a Guardian?” Langa asked.

“She’s holding up on joining officially until she finishes The Unrivalled’s Higher Blessing Quest,” Liv said. “There is no need for anyone else. We should be fine completing the quest with just the four of us.”

“Are you out of your mind? Do you want to slay the 1st Floor boss with only one level 12 and three level 11 players against a level, what,15 maestril?" Synn asked. "We all know the rules, right? When confronting maestrils, everyone in the party should be at least the same level or one level lower than it. And that's for five-person parties!”

"You levelled up?" Langa asked her jealously. He was halfway to level 12, but now she was on the same level as him.

"I did, yeah, just wait, I'll overtake you soon," she gloated. “Anyway, Liv’Kungsadu, The Unrivalled put the minimum requirement on quests so that crazy people like you don’t go there with only two or three people!” she said, shaking her head.

Langa could see her logic. Maestrils were very different from normal corrupted monsters. They were sapient beings who could think and had intelligence like mortals and were always hungry for the karma of players.

“It's a first clear, so the maestril won't be level 15 yet, probably 12 or 13,” Liv said, folding up his scroll.

"Even so, first clears are harder because of the lack of information about the Gate's environment. And in that party of yours, who's going to heal us?" she asked. "Are we going to waste money on health potions?"

"I'm a paladin," Liv said as if that answered everything.

Synn raised her cup and didn't budge. "Paladins have notoriously weak healing skills."

"You don't have to worry, for being named the Celestial I received a good healing skill. I have this covered, trust me," Liv promised. "Fewer players means more rewards and fewer people to share loot and experience with. This could be our chance to pull away from the rest of the top ten. The first party to clear a Gate gets double experience for a few hours."

Synn eyed him for a bit and sighed. "Fine, let's do it. Let's be reckless with our lives and confront a maestril with only four players. In exchange, let's have a solid plan."

Langa knew why Synn was worried. Unlike them, she only had one respawn and had used it up during the Celestial Clash. Most people assumed that since she was an Avatar, she had four respawns, but he supposed due to the strained nature of her relationship with The Nine-Tailed Fox, she only had one. If she died, then that was it for her. He didn't say anything though, because he wasn't supposed to know that, and the effects of his Team Player title were invasive.

“The fewer people we have, the more rewards we will get,” Liv said. “Even better if we combine whatever we get. There'll be three of us in the same guild and only one other person after all."

“So you do accept me in your guild?” Synn said with a smirk.

Liv looked away. “Only if you perform well in this quest.”

“There’s another problem. We only have three days to complete the quest, defeat the Floor Boss and register our guild,” Langa told them.

“What? There’s plenty of time. The Sun God gave me 29 days to complete it and there’s still over a week left,” Liv said.

“Yes, but I spoke to the Guardians’ guild master about working with us. She promised that if she likes our fully detailed Guild Charter, then when she makes her State of The Tower Address in three days she will give us a recommendation,” Langa explained.

“That is a great opportunity. Wow, I’m impressed. I thought you weren’t interested in running the guild when you said you'll do whatever you want,” Liv said, sounding touched.

Langa cleared his throat. “There was an opening, and I just took it. I didn’t go out of my way to ask for her help or anything.”

“Wait,” Synn said. “Where’s your Guild Charter?”

"I haven't compiled it yet. These are the guild policies." Liv dug into his pile of scrolls and gave Synn a couple of scrolls. “There is no way I can prepare everything and defeat the boss within three days. The NPC contractors I hired to renovate our guild hall are starting today, and while I trust that they need the work, I have to be here to oversee it, at least in the beginning. Otherwise, they might waste our already limited resources. Also, I've looked everywhere, and I haven’t found someone with an Inscription Skill to notarise our documents in the system and Inscribe our guild Charter.”

The only person Langa knew with an Inscription Skill was Liberty, and he doubted she would be willing to help them. His enchanting skill also had Inscription inherent to it, but he couldn’t use it to make system contracts as that required an actual Inscription Skill.

“Well, then you’re in luck because I happen to have a specialised Inscription Skill called Fire Sear. All things will be Inscribed in the firebase auink but it is an Inscription skill,” Synn said perusing the scrolls with a frown. “What the hell is this awful Guild Charter, Liv’Kungsadu? Where did you go to school? Oh, my gods, this is a travesty to administration.”

“Hey, I did my best,” Liv said defensively, looking annoyed.

Langa decided to give all the bad news at once before they started arguing. "Listen, guys, we need to raid the Gate tomorrow," he said, his voice urgent. "We can't afford to wait any longer if we want to be the first party to form a guild.”

Synn shook her head. “That’s crazy. This isn’t something to rush into Langa, we haven't prepared enough potions or weapons," she argued. "And we don't even know what creatures are in the Gate. It's too risky. Maybe the Charter alone will be enough to convince the Guardian Knight."

Liv sighed. “I hate to agree with her, but she's right," he said. "Three days is tight, but if we buy all we need today and spend tomorrow training together, we should be fine. We can't go into this Gate unprepared. We need to plan carefully and gather more information before we attempt to defeat the Gatekeeper."

Langa leant back in his chair, frustrated. "I know it's risky, but we can't afford to wait," he insisted. "One of our Batch's Rankers, Pranav is in the process of obtaining a guild token. If he obtains it and the Jahreela Saamp becomes the first guild from our tutorial batch, we’ll lose out on a lot of benefits, won't we?”

“How could a rookie player have enough money to buy a guild token? It’s impossible even if he is in the top ten,” Liv said, surprised.

“That’s a moot point considering you own a fucking town, Liv’Kungsadu. Being the first to obtain a guild token means that you get a free roving domain. All you need to do is build a guildhall on the 1st Floor, and then we don’t have to worry about coughing out the insane amount of Available Karma required to buy a roving guild domain,” Synn said. "We need this win."

“I understand but we haven't trained together to finalise our team play," Liv argued, uncertainly.

"Pranav won't wait. He's involved with the Hallow Reapers somehow, and if they help him get that token before us, it'll be too late to plant our feet into this ground."

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

Liv's face immediately hardened. "So, The Demon Reaper is instigating his followers to get in my way, is he? Dammit. I suggested four players under the impression that we'd have time to train together first."

“You and Langa have worked together, you and Cora have worked together, me and Langa have worked together and me and Cora have worked together. Hopefully, we can practice on the lesser monsters before we confront the boss. Then we can formulate a strategy. That should be good enough, don't you think?” Synn said. “Unless you aren't confident in leading a team of four strong-willed players?”

Langa sighed, running a hand through his dreads in frustration. "I know it's risky, but this could be our only chance. I will not lose a damn thing to Pranav again," he said, his voice pleading. "Please, Liv."

Liv glanced between them, his expression conflicted. Finally, he shook his head. "Fine, I also can't let The Demon Reaper get what he wants," he relented. "But we need to make sure we're fully prepared before we go in." He looked at Synn. "What do you think of the policies, SynnForessa? Can you make the Charter by the end of the day today?"

“Yeah, well, this is terrible,” Synn said taking a swig of her mead. “I’m just going to spend the rest of the day fixing these scrolls for you. Liv’Kungsadu, I need a list of all your assets, and liabilities, and in addition to the guild policies, everything about the financial aspects. I also need to know the guild's entry requirements.”

“I’ve got everything written down here…somewhere,” Liv said pushing all the scrolls towards her, looking relieved that he wouldn't have to deal with the paperwork.

“Okay,” Synn said perusing them. "You know that a guild must own a physical territory, right?"

"Why do you think I used all my savings to buy this dead-end washed-up town?" he told her pointedly.

"Savings? I'm pretty sure those are stolen funds," Synn muttered.

"Why because I'm half dragonkin? Wow, SynnForessa, I never pegged you for a kintolerant," he said, folding his arms.

"Me? Excuse me, do you know how many wars the Nine-Tailed Fox has fought against The Living Wing because your people keep trying to expand into foxkin territory? All they do is steal from us," she said.

"If you fight, fair and square, and kill someone, then take their treasure, is it theft?" Liv countered.

"You-"

"Guys, I get it, there's a lot of politics between your people, but we don't have time for this. What else do you need, Synn?" Langa asked since he could almost see a vein bursting from Synn's forehead while Liv looked as calm and collected as always.

She took a deep breath. "You also need at least five members to register a guild, and you must have three executive officers. Do you have those?"

"I do have the five members required to register the guild. As for the guild structure, I'm not planning on building a big guild. There's no need to have a lot of officers or executives. A small council of raid leaders will be responsible for most of the day-to-day functions, but the final decision will lie with me, always," Liv replied.

"Ah, not going full dictatorship, are we? Your queen must be tossing around in her sleep," Synn muttered, scribbling on the scroll furiously. "It says here that I also need the names of the five guild members and their role in the guild."

"Well, I'm the guildmaster, Langa is the deputy guildmaster and Samfubelin will be the Communications and Recruiting Officer. Other members that we currently have are Sigurd Magnarson and Kontisinfa Billin, they don't have any specific positions,” Liv paused, then said. “If she performs well in the Gate, SynnForessa can be the Guild Administrator."

Langa knew Liv was just being difficult, he had already decided to let Synn join.

Synn looked up at that. "You mean the job she’s already doing for free?"

Langa snorted. "Anything else?"

"Just the logistics. What’s the ownership of the guild like? I know you said that Sorrento Creek is the guild's territory but Is Sorrento Inn your property or the guild’s property?” she asked.

“The Inn is mine, but the rest of the territory I own including the guildhall, belongs to the guild," Liv said thoughtfully. “As for shares, I currently own 75% of the guild, and Langa owns 25%.”

“25%? Isn't that a bit much? What about investors? I'm sure people will want to sponsor us and buy a stake in the guild. We need the money, don't we?” Langa said, both in surprise and concern. “If Merreddyd likes our proposal, the Guardians might want to buy a share in our guild. They lack manpower, but not money so we could really use their help.”

“I actually wanted to give you 50%, Langa, but because of the issue of investors, I settled on 25%,” Liv explained. “You can do with your shares as you wish, but before you sell to any investors, please let me know. I want you and I to always own at least 51%. SynnForessa, if you perform well in the quest, you can get 1%.”

The trust Liv seemed to put in him made Langa pause. Wasn't he afraid of what would happen if Langa collaborated with other people for a hostile takeover? Actually, Liv probably knew that Langa wasn't interested in that kind of stuff.

“One? I want 10%,” Synn said at once, eyes narrowed with greed.

“If you want 10%, invest 100 gold right now,” Liv offered. "That's the best offer you're ever going to get."

Langa coughed. He’d only invested 150 silver and received 25%! By Liv’s logic, he should have invested 25 000 silver.

“What? Where the fuck am I going to get that kind of money so early in the Tower? How much did Langa invest?” Synn asked, outraged.

“I invested all my money and a self-sustained dungeon that produces vitality saffrons,” Langa said defensively. Rila’s Garden was nearly done with reconstruction by now, though he hadn’t visited it yet.

“Fine, give me 5%, Liv’Kungsadu,” Synn relented.

“3%, and I want 5 gold as soon as you have it,” Liv said. "While you're at it, use your Inscription skill to draft a system contract for yourself. For the shares, you will get no pay for the first three months. Don't argue; for what this guild will end up being worth, I'm basically giving you the 3% for free. That's your signing bonus. You are a talented player, so this is a sacrifice I'm willing to make in order to keep you. Take it or leave it."

Synn pouted and threw a money pouch onto the table. "That’s 90 silver. I'll take five months of no pay. I don't have any more to spare; instead, I will get you a person with a good construction skill to work on supervising the renovation of your guildhall for free. Undkese owes me, and it's time for him to pay up.”

“Deal,” Liv said, happily pocketing the money.

“Good, I'll work on the Guild Charter and contract for the rest of the day. I think that's it," she said, looking at the notes she'd written. "Since I'm busy, I won't have time to buy the materials I require for the Gate. Let's exchange mana signatures, Liv’Kungsadu, I'll send you the list of things I need, from potions to flammable among others.”

Before Liv could protest, Langa piled on, “Me too, actually. I need to finish enchanting my lucent powder bombs for the Gate. I'll also send you a list of the things I need," he said.

Liv sighed in resignation. “Fine, I guess I have to go and buy everything that we need for tomorrow by the end of the day today. I hope to The Sun God Coraloa is free for the next three days.”

"Is there an enchanting forge anywhere near here?” Langa asked once Synn left the two of them alone to begin working on the Charter. “My enchanting kit is common rank, which is fine for practice when I’m travelling or for personal karma projects, but I would like to work in an actual enchanting forge for my bombs.”

“Of course. I'll introduce you to one of the forges in town before I leave to go shopping,” Liv said. “But first I need to place a skill point into my healing skill."

"What kind is it? Is it a Heal over time or instant?" Langa asked, curious.

"Instant, but a Beginner Level 1, it heals for less than a common health potion,” he said. "It's a light-based skill called Healing Rays that clerics of the goddess Isis use, and I think it will suit my paladin build."

“Wait a second.” Langa raised his eyebrows. "How will you be able to heal us against a maestril with a brand-new skill?”

“I guess I have to stock up on health potions.” Liv chewed on his lip as he concentrated on his system interface. “Are you really going to give your dungeon to the guild?” he asked.

Langa shrugged. “Sure, but I want control over who can enter Rila’s Garden. I don't want people to hurt the allemaks for their lifeblood.”

Liv nodded. “That's probably for the best,” he said. “Thank you.”

Langa figured he should do at least that much if Liv gave him such a large share in the guild. Changing the subject, he asked. "By the way, do you have any crafting skills? I may have told Merreddyd that we are excellent crafters. I have Enchanting, Synn has Cooking, do you have one?"

"I just got Herbalism recently, so I can grow my own garden," he said.

Langa looked at him with amusement. "I never thought you would have such a peaceful hobby."

"My mother was a Herbalist. I just want to do something to bring me closer to her," he said with a small smile.

"Oh." That was a more plausible explanation.

"In Rila’s Garden, can the allemaks only grow vitality saffrons? Would it be possible to grow some liva flowers in there?" Liv asked hopefully.

While Langa had no idea what liva flowers were, he guessed they were important to him. "I don't know. I'll give you access to the dungeon once it's done renovating, and you can ask the allemaks yourself."

Liv nodded as Langa’s comcer beeped with a message. “Oh, Synn says she forgot to ask the name of the guild.”

Liv frowned. “I want a name that embodies my mother's dreams for me. Something that gives glory to the Sun God too,” Liv said. “The liva flowers I was named after blossom in the sun after all.”

Langa gave him a stern look. “You want to name the guild after yourself?”

“No,” he said shaking his head. “I need to pay homage to my master, so I want us to have a name which shows that while we're not the sun yet, we are the rays of a rising star." He looked at Langa as if he just had a brilliant idea. "This is your guild too, so what's the name of the sun in your language?”

“Langa,” he said.

“What?”

Langa smiled. “My name means the sun,” he said. He continued talking, barely noticing how still Liv had gotten. “Well, Langa means both the sun and the day. Langelihle means a beautiful day or a beautiful sun.”

“Your name is the sun?” Liv asked as if he just had a profound revelation.

“Yeah,” Langa said frowning. “What's wrong with you?”

Liv laughed in disbelief. “'You must always stand by the sun.' I thought my mother's vision meant that I should stand by The Sun God, but maybe it meant you,” he muttered. “Or perhaps both of you.”

“You're not making any sense,” Langa said.

“I'm even more sure now. I was right to Choose you."

“Okay, whatever. I don't want the guild to be named after me,” Langa said. “Think fast; Synn’s waiting for an answer.”

"Hmm, in your language, what's a name that embodies the brightest stars, to show that our guild is a rising star that will overshadow all the others?” Liv asked.

Langa thought for a moment. “In my culture, we believe that the morning star, ikhwezi, shines at dawn, signalling the end of the night and the beginning of a bright new day. The brightest morning star is called ikhwezikazi.”

“Hmm,” Liv stroked his chin. “We are the rays of the brightest morning star. I've decided. We will be named The Khwezikazi Rays Guild.”

That was a beautiful name, and Langa sent the message to Synn. He'd chosen Morningstar because Liv's public face may have been that of an angel, but there was a devil inside him too. What path would the bright Morning Star guild take? What Legacy would they leave in the Tower?

"Liv," Langa said quietly. "We have to work harder. We are just kneeling at the starting line, and there is a long way to go and a lot of people ahead of us."

Liv frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"I witnessed a fraction of Merreddyd's power. That girl is no joke; she tossed me around like a fucking ragdoll," he told him.

"Is that so?" Liv asked with interest. "If you got your arse handed to you, then why do you look so excited?"

“I can't help it. I just can't seem to stay away from things that make my heart race,” Langa said with a grin. “Come on, let's get going. We've got a maestril Floor Boss to prepare for.”

*

Langa took out the compass, Mlela's Dira. He knew he wanted to use it to find Fi Kindaro. The two of them were already linked by karma, so he was sure the dark elf would work as a target. The problem was that he didn't have any personal item containing Fi Kindaro's karma, blood or mana. Did that mean he couldn't link the device to him?

He contemplated for a moment before the idea hit him. He may not have something with Fi's mana, but he had something with Makoto's mana. The mana stone Makoto made from his attribute. Since Makoto was now technically Fi's property (the thought caused a surge of anger in him) it meant what belonged to Makoto belonged to him.

Langa also had Makoto’s karma inside him that he’d received when he died. According to what Rancho told him, he should be able to use that to enchant an item linking him to Makoto. He'd already started making something over a week ago, but it was incomplete. It had already been nearly a month since the tutorial, so he knew that he needed to use the karma and resentment as soon as possible before it fully assimilated into him.

He pulled out the darkness crystal in which Makoto's mana stone was encased, which Instructor Rancho helped him craft. He hadn't known what to enchant it with, in order for the negative karma between him and Fi Kindaro to produce an effect he could use against him but now he knew what to make.

Even though he was in an enchanting forge, Langa took out his Portable Enchanting Kit, an enchanted tablet with all the tools a common enchanter needed. It improved his learning speed by 5% and it was an item he had a personal attachment to, which was the main thing when forging karma-rich items. He needed this to be successful, so of course, he asked Adtonifulmin to watch over him as he worked.

First, he took out the woven reeds and beads he’d bought from Ginora village. He’d soaked them in his blood and lucent fireblood auink, but he still couldn’t enchant them directly. It didn’t matter though. He just needed them for aesthetics as they reminded him of the materials used to make tribal necklaces back home.

He placed the beads on the woven reeds, then hung the black darkness lucent crystal with Makoto’s mana stone as the necklace’s pendant. On its left, he placed a bone from the corrupted goat boss monster he’d slain to represent Death and on the right he placed the Living Wing's blood mana core that he'd earned during the Celestial Clash. He could probably sell it for a lot of silver since blood was not a common Mana Discipline, but he wanted it to fuel his revenge and strengthen his likelihood of enchanting the necklace.

So far, he hadn't been able to enchant lucent stones or crystals directly. Aria's theory was that his skill was still too low and needed to be either Intermediate rank or above Beginner level 5. During his journey on the Lucent bus, the Portable Enchanting Kit had helped him raise the skill to Beginner Level 6, so he needed this to work.

Langa used his lucent dark blood ink to inscribe the enchanting glyph, "Inferior Mana Absorption," on the modified darkness lucent crystal. He poured as much of his mana as he could into the enchantment, as well as as much of his karma pressure, and kept his thoughts only on revenge, on spilling Fi Kindaro's blood.

The dark thoughts made his Brand stir, and despite knowing how risky using it was, he needed all the help he could get, so he didn't try to forcibly suppress it, but he didn't encourage it either.

He willed himself to lose a portion of his existence, his karma. He specifically sent the karma he'd inherited when Makoto died into the enchantment.

[-692 Available Karma deducted]

The Inscription darkened as soon as he finished drawing the glyph. Instructor Rancho had warned him that items born of negative karma like this could have terrible effects on players, but he could only hope it turned out okay.

[Enchantment Successful! Due to the immense resentment in your karma, you have created a Unique Item. Please name your item.]

Unique? He'd been hoping for uncommon at best. But he supposed unique just meant it was one of a kind, but that could be trash or legendary. A name, huh? "Umgexo Wegazi," he said. It meant the necklace of blood.

[Congratulations! Your skill, Lucent Enchanting, has increased to Beginner Level 7]

[Name: Umgexo Wegazi

Item Rank: Unique

Description: A tribal necklace forged from the karma of Player Langa’s Zulu’s desire for revenge, born out of the tragedy of losing a child he had sworn to protect to Player Fi Kindaro III. This necklace was forged with a unique mana stone given to him for protection.

Effects: Enhanced Mana Regeneration: Boosts mana regeneration by 50% when facing Player Fi Kindaro III, his bloodline or bloodbonded.

If you spill the blood of anyone in Fi Kindaro III’s bloodline or bloodbonded to him, the necklace will amplify your emotions and warp your mentality with a dark frenzy, pushing you to shed more blood and attack with heightened ferocity.

Durability: 25/25

Restrictions: Only equipable by Player Langa Zulu, his bloodline or bloodbonded. Only active against Player Fi Kindaro III, his bloodline or bloodbonded.]

That was a good thing, right? The mana regeneration was awesome, but Langa didn't like the dark frenzy part. He already had to deal with an uncontrollable Brand. He pulled out the compass and then infused mana into it, placing the necklace on top of it. To his surprise, the compass danced in the air, disappeared and then reappeared as a pendant on the necklace, next to the darkness lucent crystal.

[You have successfully bound Umgexo Wegazi with Mlela’s Dira. Your karma bond with Player Fi Kindaro III has increased in strength.

You may now use Mlela’s Dira as a guide to Fi Kindaro III’s location.]

”Where is he?” Langa asked, infusing his intent into the necklace as mana. The arrow from the compass spun and the words on it disappeared. It pointed up and the number 2 appeared on the arrow.

Langa grinned. As soon as he got to the 2nd Floor, this necklace would lead him to Fi Kindaro and then he’d finally kill the bastard. More than ever now, he wanted to accept Adtonifulmin's offer to be his Visage if only so he could get something to improve his Mental Resistance so that when he went to fight Fi Kindaro, he would have no leverage over him.

Becoming a Visage would give him access to his divine domain, offer some protection from mental attacks, bring him closer to Adtonifulmin and earn him more divine skill slots. He knew why he was hesitating to take the contract, though. It would mean giving full control of his skills and growth to Adtonifulmin and as Adtonifulmin's mortal face, he would have a lot of responsibilities over all his followers. Langa didn't know if he was ready for that.

He didn't have to decide now, but he figured he needed to involve himself more in Adtonifulmin's affairs if he wanted to make an informed decision, so he decided to kill two birds with one stone.

"Um...Lord Glaridinus?" Langa asked, putting his hands together. "Can I ask for a favour?"

[The mid-tier constellation Glaridinus, is listening to your prayer.]

Glaridinus was Adtonifulmin's Apostle and the head of his Divine War Council, so Langa was sure he was busy. Still, he needed to be assertive given that he was one of Adtonifulmin's few Avatars.

"I read in Master's Relgte that you're a constellation of espionage and war," Langa started. "I was just wondering if you could get me in contact with some of your followers who have skills in information gathering. I need help investigating the voidents' message about the 3rd Floor, and I don't know if our guild would have enough influence to find that much information by then."

It would be nice if Synn could get them in contact with The Maluta Syndicate, but since Langa heard that Tibuana worked for them, he didn't trust them anymore.

[The mid-tier constellation Glaridinus, is pleased that you came to him for help and states that he will have a representative meet you once you reach the second Floor.]

[The mid-tier constellation: Tarquinius, asks if there is anything you would like to ask from him.]

[The Deiwos Clan god: The Faceless King of The Hidden Mask, wonders why you did not ask for his help in information gathering.]

Langa shook his head. "Not at this time, Lord Tarquinius, but I'll need your help to find Tonare's Legacies at some point," he said. "And Lord... En Dohhasieda, Synn is already in contact with the leader of The Maluta Syndicate, he's your Disciple, right?"

The reason he'd asked Glaridinus instead of En Dohhasieda was simply because he wanted to improve his relationship with Adtonifulmin's constellations considering they would be working together in the future. He would get to the rest of The Deiwos Clan later, but En Dohhasieda was a good place to start considering he and Picciari were said to be Adtonifulmin's closest friends.

He could feel that Adtonifulmin was pleased with his effort to get closer to his circle as well.

"Lord Adtonifulmin." There was one more thing he had to say. It was prompted by his desire to battle Fi Kindaro III evenly, but it was also something he'd been thinking about for a while. "When I get to the 2nd Floor, I'm going to open a box. Please help me out."

He needed to do something about his Mental Resistance, and the only way to permanently increase it was to face things. He'd been reading up on rituals that could help him, but all of them required him to open his mind up first.

There was a stream of surprised messages from the deities watching him and Langa shrugged. "I know you guys can tell how hard it is for me to do that, but I don't want to be like this forever," he said. "Lord Adtonifulmin, one day I will open every single box of my locked traumatic memories, but I want to do it step by step, to raise my Mental Resistance and take care of my mental health a bit more."

Dealing with his mother's death had been hard, but it had also been comforting. He wanted to take care of everything else he'd locked away like that.

<> Adtonifulmin's voice whispered to him through the Divine Nexus, his essence filtering through.

"Thank you, Master." Alright, it was now time for Langa to work on enchanting materials that would help him and his friends within the Gate.

For the first time in his life, there was no boredom filling Langa’s heart, he was happy and had a lot to look forward to. It was funny because he had always lived his life passively accepting that he would die young, but now, he would be fucking pissed if he died before catching up to all the superstars in the Deiwos Tower.

It was time for him to face his first Gatekeeper and obtain enough karma to clear the 1st Floor. After that, he'd climb to the 2nd Floor and slay his enemy. For now, though, Langa's excitement about fighting a maestril again couldn't be contained.

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