Wild Era, Ch 32: Unpleasant Company

The world shifted around Kelin as he appeared in the shallow cave above the Sirenflow River.

The roar of the river came from far below and a blaze of sunlight lanced through the opening, illuminating the cavern.

But this time, there were five people who should not have been there, standing at the edge of the cave. 

The five of them barely fit inside the cave, packed shoulder to shoulder with only six feet left between them and the dungeon portal. The sunlight struck their backs and left  shadows across the area.

It looked like they had been lazing around, but the shimmer of light from the portal’s activation had gotten their attention. 

They were already drawing their weapons.

Kelin silently activated the two Runic Scale talismans in his hand, letting the runes flow across his skin, and then he analyzed all of them.

There was a young man in the front that he already recognized, and the ability returned the full information.

Yaris Nellen. Level 78. Wind Duelist-Blade Tactician.

He was wearing a set of fashionable leather armor with metal plates inserted at critical points, all of it in a burnished golden hue, but unlike the four behind him, he hadn’t drawn the rapier or dagger at his belt.

His favored weapon seemed to be the smirk on his lips.

He was in his early twenties, perhaps a couple of years older than Kelin, but since he wasn’t moving, Kelin ignored him and scanned the four behind him.

Gamal Toler. Level 72. Storm Brawler-Furious Berserker. 

Tulso Bureis. Level 71. Earthen Defender-Shield Wall.

Alen Carr. Level 73. Wind Mage-Tempest Weaver.

Walli Humel. Level 72. Dark Healer-Mind Shard.

This was probably Yaris’s team that he used to level in dungeons or wherever he got off to. 

Kelin recognized Gamal and Tulso from the orphanage, but they’d left years before he had, so he hadn’t known them very well. They must have joined the Wind Hunters, and then Yaris had recruited them in the last year or two, or whenever he’d started his plan to get personal guards.

It wasn’t a bad composition for a team, but it wasn’t the best either. 

They had three melee, a wind mage, and a dark healer that had some damage and control capabilities. 

Dark Healer was a class that drained life from others, including monsters, and transferred it to the ones they wanted to heal. Out of all the common healing classes, it was the one most focused on damage and the least on true healing.

They weren’t well accepted by most organizations, since they weren’t very effective while resting. Their abilities only worked when they had monsters to drain. Their team would have to rely on potions and healing scrolls if they were trying to recover between a fight.

The Mind Shard subclass was a psionic one, one focused on subduing and confusing enemies. 

It was a decent subclass for that type of healer, but Kelin had the feeling this one used his abilities more on people Yaris didn’t like than he did on monsters. There was a cold twist to the man’s lips that spoke of cruelty.

Yaris himself was a Wind Duelist, which meant he focused on speed and precision, as well as boosting his strikes with elemental abilities. 

The Blade Tactician subclass added some passive and active abilities for even more precision, but it wouldn’t have been Kelin’s first choice for a combination. 

It was the common mistake that people made, doubling down on what the primary class was already good at, which meant some of the abilities would overlap.

Despite that, Yaris’s class was focused on speed and had abilities for sharp, devastating strikes that were intended to cripple and kill his opponents.

Kelin would have to be wary of him.

He also sensed the presence of several warding artifacts on the group, and the signatures were particularly dense on Yaris. 

At least one of them was focused on protecting the duelist’s mind, something that Yaris probably saw as a necessity with the mind manipulator on his team. 

Despite their appearance as adventurers, Kelin sensed no guild badges on them, which made him shake his head. 

The Stars Alliance supported everyone as long as you followed the rules. Refusing to join it and running dungeons independently was ignoring the help and training they offered. 

It was the sign of fools and criminals.  

It was also avoiding the responsibility of the Chaos War and being part of the army’s reserve, not that these four were probably able to see that far.

His analysis only took an instant and he felt similar inspection abilities coming his way as the five mercenaries waited for Yaris’s signal, pinging off his Soul Shroud.

Yaris was apparently feeling confident and as he confirmed Kelin’s identity, his smirk grew wider.

“And there you are,” he said cheerfully, “just like the seer said. I wasn’t sure you had the guts to go into that dungeon, but you proved me wrong. I’m almost impressed.”

His thumbs were hooked through his belt, making him look relaxed, but it left his hands very close to the hilts of his blades.

“I hadn’t expected you would come to find me yourself,” Kelin replied calmly as he looked across the group. “Hiding behind others and sending assassins after children seems to be your preferred method. Did you run out of pawns or did your father cut you off?”

Yaris’s smirk froze on his lips, but Kelin wasn’t done.

“I distinctly remember telling the guild to release that assassin and that would be the end of it, and yet here you are. When your father found out about your little problem at the orphanage, he must have given you quite the tongue lashing.”

Yaris’s face turned red as he began to speak, but Kelin ignored him and turned to the two behind him that he recognized.

“And you two, Gamal and Tulso...the orphanage wasn’t much, but you’re helping him to steal from it and frame the younger kids there? Avoiding the place is one thing, but trying to kill the only people left that you can call your family?”

Gamal and Tulso had their fists and shield raised, and Wind and Earth magic were cycling around them. They looked embarrassed for a moment, but it wasn’t enough for them to put their weapons down.

Kelin shook his head. 

“This is not a path you want to go down,” he warned Yaris. “Turn around and go home.”

He would happily get rid of the man here, but at the same time, he didn’t mind waiting until the timing was better, after he had another 75 levels or so.

Killing him now would only accelerate things.

He reached into his shirt and pulled out his guild badge, letting it hang in full view on his chest. He’d already sent a pulse of mana into it and the silver inscriptions across the badge glowed in plain sight.

“Meeting a guild adventurer outside of a dungeon is one thing,” he advised. “Attacking them is another. You haven’t crossed that line yet.”

He turned his attention back to the four with Yaris. 

“Did you know that guild badges can record bandit attacks?” He tapped the badge on his chest.

“Make the wrong move here and you won’t have a future in Highmist. You’ll be criminals with bounties on your heads, prey for anyone who wants to hunt you down.”

The words had no effect on the mage or dark healer, but Gamal and Tulso looked uneasy and they glanced at Yaris for approval. 

Gamal started to say something, but Yaris raised a hand to stop him.

“That’s only a problem if he’s still alive to turn that thing in,” Yaris said confidently. “By the time Walli is done with him, he won’t have a mind left or be able to keep the badge active.”

Kelin would have killed them already, but he hadn’t been lying about the badge recording bandit attacks. He would let them dig a hole for themselves and make the first move.

He glanced at the four behind Yaris.

“You four should leave and find a new employer,” he advised. “This one won’t take you very far.”

“They won’t dare.” Yaris laughed, looking confident even as his smile grew wider. “You think you are in control here? I love it when I find someone like you. It’s more fun to have a challenge, even if it ends the same.”

He analyzed Kelin again, as if double checking what he’d seen before.

“You’re Level 63 now? Weren’t you Level 20 or something a few days ago? Impressive speed, I have to admit, but you’re a single mage against five of us. Are you trying to scare me away because you’re afraid?”

His smile was still there as he locked his eyes on Kelin’s.

“Walli, get him,” he ordered.

As the dark healer’s mana began to gather, Kelin simply stepped backward. 

The silver and black displacement of the dungeon portal washed over him and then he was back inside the dungeon again, but this time at the entrance.

The dungeon would need time to reset and for the undead to repopulate it, so for now it was a silent realm filled with necrotic energy. The trees stretched out behind him like skeletal hands grasping at the sky, and the light was dark.

He camouflaged his mana shield and poured some soul energy into Soul Shroud, both of which worked together to hide his presence, and then he walked a dozen feet away from the portal.

A moment later, the team appeared in the dungeon. Yaris was in the lead and he glanced around in every direction, his eyes narrow.

“I don’t see him,” Yaris snapped. “Spread out and find him. He can’t have gone far.”

Kelin hid a chuckle as he watched the four guards follow their orders, spreading out from the portal as they began to search.

When they’d gone about a hundred feet, he shaped a particular soul spell in his hands, one he hadn’t had reason to use in this life yet. 

When it was ready, he released it at Yaris. 

The spell disappeared into Yaris’s soul, silent and unnoticed. There was a moment where Kelin had to carefully intervene, helping it through a rough ward that the man had, but then it sank into place.

As soon as it was there, Yaris’s presence blazed to life in Kelin’s mind.

It was a combination tracking spell and soul attack, one that would go unnoticed until he activated it in the future.

It was unwise to attack a soul mage without certain precautions, but that was something Yaris would find out in the future.

With that, Kelin simply waited a little longer for Yaris to step away from the portal. Then he walked back through it and reappeared on the other side.

He didn’t wait for them to figure it out. 

He continued to conceal his presence as he swiftly headed out of the cave and back up to the top of the cliff. Then he began to jog back toward Highmist, whistling a bit.

Hopefully, they spent quite a while trying to find him in the dungeon before they gave up. It would give him time to get back to town and out again before they even noticed.

He could have killed all five of them, but as tempting as that was, he’d decided the time wasn’t right.

Revenge was a dish best served cold and at a time of his choosing, when it would have the greatest impact.

A number of plans had run through his mind when he saw Yaris, with everything from killing him on the spot, to letting the dungeon raise him as an undead and then killing them, to burning out half of his soul and sending him back home as a cripple to occupy the Wind Hunters’ time and energy.

But if Yaris died today, or even only half died, the only result would be infuriating his father and making it personal. 

Then Kelin would have a Level 121 fighter chasing him down, not to mention one or more First Evolution rogues stalking him in the shadows, along with whatever other forces the Wind Hunters might be able to call on or hire.

At that point, things would accelerate out of his control and he’d have to rely on the guild for protection, rather than handling it himself. 

It would slow down his leveling and cause more problems for the kids, since they would also be implicated.

It grated a little to leave behind an enemy, but he was old enough to know the wisdom in a proper plan and timing.

This way, things would work out better.

The fact that Yaris came to find him in person said that the man was keeping things close to his chest and trying to solve his own problems.

That was what Kelin wanted him to do.

Now that he had seen the quality of Yaris’s forces, he wasn’t concerned if they showed up again. As long as it was those five, he could deal with them at any time. 

They were free to try to chase him to another dungeon. 

It would be even better if they thought he was afraid of them and got overconfident, since then Yaris was less likely to involve his father.

When Kelin was ready to deal with the guild behind them, he would clear Yaris out of the way first, sweeping aside all of the trash in one move.

The spell he’d left on Yaris was similar to a soul arrow that hadn’t ignited, combined with a tracker. It would alert him whenever the man was near, and if need be he could kill him at a distance, anywhere within a mile or so.

It was an option in case he wanted to use it.

He kept up his camouflage as he jogged across the plains. With his improved physique, the distance flew by and he barely noticed the effort. 

He kept up a steady run that was twice as fast as before, but it wasn’t much harder than walking and he was never out of breath.

The improvements to his Agility accounted for the speed, but the stamina was a result of his Constitution and body refining. Soulfire was flowing through his muscles, removing the strain and healing the damage before it could accumulate.

What had been a three-hour trip turned into less than half of that.

A flash of his badge got him waved through the gates and before long he was back at the guild hall, in front of Jesra’s desk.

“Did something happen?” The clerk looked up immediately at him. She looked worried as soon as she saw the speed with which he headed to the desk.

Then she froze as she stared at him, her mouth slightly open.

“Wow,” she said slowly. “You look different.” 

Her eyes ran along the line of his chest and arms, down to his hands, and then back up to his face. A faint blush touched her cheeks as she closed her mouth.

“Just some advancements,” Kelin said easily as he pulled off his badge and handed it to her. “Don’t worry. I came back for two things. The first is to update the quest to survey the dungeons. I cleared River Barrow. The second is to report that a team from the Wind Hunters tried to ambush me. I’d like to file an official complaint against them and start an investigation.”

Jesra blinked for a moment, her eyes lingering on him as she automatically took the badge.

“You’re alright though?” she asked, scanning him with more focus. “Was it Yaris?”

“Yes, him and four others in the early Level 70s,” Kelin agreed as he briefly explained what had happened. “His team, I imagine.”

“Alright, we can do that,” Jesra said as she checked his badge. “I’ll pass on the recording to the captain. With a verbal threat and an attempted attack, plus chasing you into the dungeon, we can investigate. Let me file this quest and get the captain for you.”

Jesra waved his badge over her runestone and handed it back to him, as well as an assignment for a room at the guild, which she added on for free as thanks for completing the quest. 

Then she called for Captain Sandren, who arrived within a couple of minutes.

“You always bring me good news,” she said with a grin as she waved Kelin back toward her office. “I’ve been looking for an excuse to cause the Wind Hunters trouble. With this, I should be able to keep them busy for a couple of days as we tear through their buildings. They’ve probably hidden the important things, but it’ll give me a chance to look around. 

“I can put out a warrant to arrest Yaris and his team, which will make them suffer a bit in the city. They’ll probably get out of it, since they didn’t kill you, but it will let me see who their backers are on the city council, and that will let me trace out any other connections they might have.

“I can also issue a guild warning to the Wind Hunters on the whole, so that if they do anything else in the future, we’ll have cause to take more severe actions against them as an organization.”

“Next time, I’ll make sure they attack me for a bit longer first,” Kelin said drily. “Then you’ll have more evidence against them.”

“That would be good,” Sandren said with a grin. “Then I could really get them, especially if it’s a second offense.”

She had been studying him since she arrived, but now her grin grew wider as her eyes settled on his features and then his arms.

“So you got some sort of physique ability or boost from that River Barrow dungeon, didn’t you?” she asked. “Thanks for clearing that one, since it’s a pain usually, but spill the details. What happened in there?”

“An elixir fixed a few things,” Kelin said with a chuckle. “There was a dungeon challenge. I passed it and that was the reward. It strengthened my body and fixed up some old problems.”

He didn’t give her too many details, and he knew she wouldn’t keep asking, since abilities were private, but he didn’t mind sharing the basics.

“It must have been a good one,” Sandren agreed in a teasing tone. “That type of thing is very rare. If only I were about a hundred years younger. You look positively edible now.”

Then she shook her head with a laugh.

“Alright, get out of my office before I jump you. I’m sure I’ll get over it by the next time I see you.”

Kelin just chuckled as he gave her a wave, and then he headed toward the room Jesra had assigned him. It was the same one he’d had before. It seemed like she’d been saving it for him.

He was slightly surprised by the effect of his appearance on Jesra and Sandren, so once he entered his room, he headed to the mirror.

What he saw made him laugh.

His features were more refined than before, thanks to the correction of his Charisma attribute, and he looked strong and healthy, but what the two women had seen was the subtle flush of soulfire running through his body.

It made his skin and eyes glow, and everything about him was touched by a golden radiance, including his clothing. 

He looked through his status sheet until he found the exact reason. It didn’t take long. 

It was listed under his Traits.

Innate Trait: Perfect Soulfire Physique (Special). 

[The essence of Soulfire has completely infused your physique, creating a perfect foundation for future progression in its Law. Its energy now radiates throughout your body. As you improve your understanding of Soulfire, those insights will be reflected in your physical form.] 

That was the effect of the elixir after it improved his physical foundation. 

He’d thought it was just part of Soulfire Body Refinement, but apparently it was a little more than that. 

He put some effort into suppressing the effect and after a moment the glow died down, but it felt like he was holding his breath in an unpleasant way. 

More importantly, the speed of his mana cycling through his meridians was hindered slightly.

He shook his head as he released it again, and the glow returned. 

He would have to practice. 

There should be a way to separate his mana cycling from the physical effect, once he got a bit better with it. 

Despite that, he couldn’t really complain about the effect. 

It was a type of physical aura, which was common enough at higher levels, and beneficial overall. He’d had one for the Law of Wildfire before, which had taken him a while to master.

This one seemed like it would be similar. 

Practicing with it would help his understanding of Soulfire. The runes he’d just earned from the dungeon might be useful for it.

He dismissed the thought as he turned away from the mirror and looked off to the northwest.

He was keeping an eye on the tracker he’d stuck on Yaris, and so far the man was still in the same direction. At this distance, that was all he could tell, but it seemed like he was near the dungeon.

Hopefully Sandren had some luck searching through the Wind Hunters’ organization for incriminating details about the sabotage of the mine or any other illegal business they were up to, but unless they were completely useless, it was unlikely that she would find anything.

It would only end up as a warning.

As for the bigger issue with the dungeons, other teams were slowly going through them too, the same as him. So far they hadn’t found any other altered ones, but it was only a matter of time.

It was the middle of the day and Yao and Naomi were off at their lessons, but he left them a note under their door with a suggestion that they meet up that evening.

Then he headed toward the guild shops, where he proceeded to unload everything from his dungeon run onto the counter.

The same assistant was there again, as unphased as ever as Kelin placed down over 200 undead cores, including all of the ones for the elites and the vampire.

He also added the rest of the materials he’d gained from the dungeon, with everything from the random bone weapons he’d picked up to the vials of necrotic troll blood, the barrow wight and skeleton materials, the magical gear from the skeleton mages, and more.

Then there were 74 necrotic runestone fragments, 8 medium-grade water mana crystals, 4 high-grade necrotic spirit crystals, and 33 regular necrotic crystals.

At the end, he placed down the vampire’s enchanted armor, cloak, and the fangs he’d extracted.

The cores averaged about Level 55 and got 16 silvers each, while the undead weapons and parts ended up at around a gold per, with more for the Elite barrow wight’s parts.

The vampire’s core was worth 30 gold by itself, for the rarity, even though the level was low, while the other three elite cores were worth 10 gold each.

The vampire’s fangs were worth 60 gold together, due to the rarity of the material and the potential for enchantments that could use them, while its armor and cloak sold for another 45 gold.

The random materials and weapons from the undead ended up at a gold or less a piece, while the mana crystals were worth 3 gold each and the necrotic runestone fragments were 15 silver per.

The regular necrotic spirit crystals went for 2 gold each, while the high-grade ones went for 10 gold.

The final result was 586 gold and 2 silver. 

It was over twice what he’d brought in from the last dungeon, which was thanks both to the higher level and running it solo. 

The last time, he’d split the gains, but the special nature of the drake and its materials, as well as all the shards from the poison wraiths, had made for a lot of value.

If things kept on like this, his days of worrying about a few silvers would be over, but the prices of the things he needed to buy were just as high.

That was where he turned his attention next. He tipped the assistant for their speed and headed out to the other shops.

He still had all five of the healing potions that he’d left with, but he spent some of his guild credits to get six mana potions, bringing his supply up to 10. 

It was 120 credits off the top, but his discount dropped it to 114.

Those were the basic potions, which added 50 mana, but since it wasn’t possible to drink too many potions in a row, he also bought five better ones at five gold each.

Intermediate Mana Potion.

[Restores approximately 100 mana.]

They were made from purified monster cores and restored mana in a slightly different way than the basic ones, which allowed you to drink them at the same time. 

It still wasn’t a good idea to drink too many of them, but they would work in a pinch.

He added five improved health potions as well, which were three gold each.

Then he browsed through the enchanted gear, looking for one specific item.

450 gold later, he had it in his hand.

It was a silvery blue bracelet about two inches wide and marked with subtle runes that seemed to fade at the edges. A glint of light twisted across the surface, making it seem like something was constantly reflecting from it.

Bracelet of Unseen Presence (Rare: Professional).

Artifact.

Effect: Unseen Presence. 

[While wearing this bracelet, most scrying and magical perception abilities under Level 150 and the Epic tier will be unable to detect you. Abilities above that tier will find it harder to lock onto your exact location. 

The bracelet will become warm to the touch whenever it is actively blocking an attempt to track you.

This bracelet is capable of distorting light and shadow around you, allowing you to temporarily camouflage yourself against a background, as long as you remain still. When used with other invisibility and stealth effects, its magic will help to augment them.]

Based on the guild’s information, the bracelet had come from a Level 150 Chaos Remnant and was sold to the guild with other loot.

Most importantly to Kelin, however, was that it was a dungeon artifact, not one that had been fashioned by hand.

That meant the runes on it would be more stable, in general, and it would be less likely to shatter or run out of mana.

He slid the bracelet onto his left arm, adjusting it until it was just above his elbow, where it looked similar to a style of arm band that had been popular on Irian in his youth. 

The bracelet resized itself and tightened securely into place, and he felt the effect snap into place around him. He could see himself in his mind’s eye, but he could also see a veil of light that made him look transparent.

It was a lot like his Soul Shroud, but both simpler and stronger.

That should keep Yaris and the Wind Hunters from finding him again so easily. If they were able to employ a Seer that was closer to Level 200, they could still manage it, but that would require a much more significant investment than Yaris was likely to be able to manage on his own.

His discount worked, but with that expense, he was down to 135 gold and change.

He spent 10 of it on a higher quality version of his current clothes and 35 more on some crafting materials for practice and to replace his talismans.

Then he headed to the workshops.

He spent the rest of the day burning through raw materials as he tested out the limits of Affinity Focus and his other subclass abilities, working to maximize the value he could get from every piece.

With his mana capacity and a Soulfire Sigil blazing above his workbench to provide increased regeneration, mana wasn’t a problem for his current level of talisman making.

Runes wove through the air and bits of scale and hide flew away with each flash of his mana blade. Mana surged around his hands and flowed through the material, twisting into intricate runes and the necessary support structures to hold it in place.

With each talisman, his ability to shift the flow of mana became a little stronger and he felt the weight of exhaustion pressing down on him more heavily, but he didn’t stop.

He wanted to stress his capacity, and that meant pushing through exhaustion.

The improvements to his Constitution helped quite a bit, improving his stamina to keep him going, and the recovery aspect of Soulfire Sigil supported that as well, granting him increased endurance for crafting as well as for battle.

He inscribed and stored away dozens of talismans, doing his best to make sure that each one was more powerful and skilled than the one before it.

He stuck to the same basic approach as before with offensive and defensive talismans, increasing his supply of Soulfire Bolt, Fire Blade, and Runic Scale talismans, but he added a couple of other varieties too, including one for stealth and one for preventing magical surveillance, which would work with his new bracelet.

By the time he was done for the day, his ability to infuse mana into the talismans was better and the quality of materials he was using had increased.

He examined one of them.

Soulfire Bolt Talisman. Common (Fine).

He didn’t read the rest of the description, since it was the same as before.

The talismans were still Common, but the quality had improved by a tier, moving from Average to Fine. One more tier would get it to Professional, which was the standard for selling talismans to others.

Each of them held an average of 15 mana now.

He didn’t bother with Runic Shield talismans this time, just the better Runic Scale ones, and he ended up with a dozen of each type.

He’d considered buying back some of the same drake scales he’d sold to the guild before, which had still been there, but in the end he’d gone with a higher-level scale from a cold drake, which had blue scales instead.

Those now held 20 mana, thanks to the quality of the material, which let him use Arcane Refinement on it more intensively.

He cleaned up the excess materials, including bits of scales and hide that he’d carved away, and then he headed to meet the kids.

He hadn’t started work on his clothes yet, since he was saving them for once he’d maximized what he could do with his abilities, but he’d get to them tomorrow.

He was only planning to spend about a day here resetting and rebuilding his supplies. Then he’d head out to another dungeon.

The evening with the kids was pleasantly normal and passed quickly.

After he cooked for them, he spent the time helping them with their mana cycling and some theory, and then he headed to bed.

In the morning, he did his own practice, testing out his improved capabilities, and then headed back to the workshop for another long day.

After a bit more experimenting, he found that there was a strong resonance between his Soulfire physique and the Soulfire Bolt talisman, which let him strengthen the spell he placed inside and made it slightly more stable.

His mana was attuned to the element, which meant that the engraving was as close to a perfect home for soulfire as it was possible to get. 

The end result was a stronger talisman with higher mana efficiency.

It still wouldn’t be as strong as his own bolts, but it was better than before, about 20% stronger than the old ones, point for point of mana. 

The Fire Blade talisman benefited as well, although a bit less, at around 10% stronger than it would have been otherwise.

The scale talisman didn’t benefit in the same way, but the quality of the material made up for the difference.

He debated doing the same for his offensive talismans, but adding 5 or 10 more mana to an offensive talisman didn’t matter as much as it did for a shield, since most of them were already capable of killing an enemy around his level.

The materials the guild had available also scaled quickly in price and if he spent too much on them, he would simply be burning his remaining funds.

When he had two dozen of each new talisman, it was already into the afternoon and he was running short on time, so he turned his attention to practicing the design for his next set of clothing.

When he felt like he was ready, he laid out the new set and got to work inscribing it with his full attention. 

He was still limited to hide, since regular cloth was too thin to take engravings the same way, but the Firestorm Leather was supple and durable.

When he was done with the first one, the enchantments glimmered with force.

He analyzed the tunic.

Mage’s Tunic. Grade: Uncommon (Professional).

Properties: Lesser Fire Resistance, Durable.

Effects: Mana Efficiency, Self-Repair.

[This tunic is designed to naturally draw mana from the environment and make it easier for the wearer to channel spells. It provides 10.8% increased mana efficiency.]

The materials were still Uncommon (Professional), but his engravings were better, with the same Fine quality as his talismans, and with Affinity Focus up to Expert, the strength had leapt from 5.7% to 10.8%. 

He hadn’t hit the maximum for the ability, which was about 17.25% if he combined the 15% maximum from Affinity Focus with the 15% improvement from Runic Engraving, but he’d infused the runes as much as he could and the effect was almost double what it had been before. 

He’d also managed to add a Self-Repair function this time.

Even with all of his previous knowledge, crafting required a great deal of time to perfect. It was excellent training for his mana cycling, but every tiny fluctuation in his mana and focus while imbuing the runes altered the result.

It would have to do for now.

At this rate, it would take him at least two weeks to stabilize his mana to match the requirements of Affinity Focus and reach the limits of his current tier, and he didn’t have the time to spare. 

A day and a half was already pushing it. 

He needed to head back out in the morning and find another dungeon to level in. He could spend more time on crafting once he dealt with the Wind Hunters.

After that, he would settle down for a little while and work on his skills, making sure they were all top notch before he closed in on Level 100 and the First Evolution. 

He turned his attention to the other pieces of clothing and got back to work.

A little over an hour later, he was done.

The result was 10.8% mana efficiency on the tunic, 11.1% increased mana regeneration on his breeches, 10.9% increased Fire efficiency on his belt, and +10 Increased Agility with a Sure Footing effect on his boots.

They also all had Self-Repair effects in case of minor damage.

He analyzed the boots, since they were the last piece.

Traveler’s Boots. Grade: Uncommon. Quality: Professional.

Properties: Lesser Fire Resistance, Durable.

Effects: Sure Footing (Earth), +10 Increased Agility.

[These boots are enchanted to magically stabilize your footing on earthen surfaces and to provide comfort while walking long distances. They provide +10 Increased Agility.]

For this set of boots, he’d leveraged the Earth aspect of his affinity from Gaius and granted the boots a true enchantment to stay stable on surfaces, especially stone and earth.

It would help on other surfaces as well, but on those they would effectively never slip, no matter how precarious the footing, as long as even an edge of the boot was touching the earth.

It would help if he had another cliff to climb, either to get to a dungeon or for a challenge during one.

With that, he packed away his materials and headed back to his room, where he collapsed into his bed and dreamed of ancient things.