MM - Chapter 53 - UPGRADES ALL AROUND

With his personal matters out of the way, Raine went through the new equipment in his inventory. He started with the full suit of leather armor he’d found in a display case.

[Prestige of the Transcended - 6 Piece Set - Lustrous Blue - LVL 15: (HP +250) (AP +50) (DEF +200) (RES +50) (Move Speed +2) (PTC +25) (FIN +25) (ACU +25) (PHY +25) (CNC +25) (Durability 275/275) (4 set bonus: 50% Reduction in fall damage) (6 set bonus: 15% Additional damage dealt with martial weapons and skills)]

Losing the obfuscation of his face shroud was unfortunate, but there was no other reason to hesitate. Raine equipped all six pieces of the set. The rush from an over fifty percent boost to his attributes was beyond euphoric. His eyes rolled back as his muscles twitched with untapped power and speed. He yearned to dive toward the ground where he could sprint, leap, and flip through the air.

Of course, such a display would be overly eye-catching. Luckily, his cloak obscured his image, so when he did finally land, his armor wouldn't catch too much attention with its immaculate dark leather and Lustrous Blue undertones.

Next, he opened the chests stored in his inventory. If he weren’t behind the shield of his drifter, he would have been a beacon in the skies. He found three extra pieces of Lustrous Blue armor but none would be an upgrade after losing the bonuses of his set. He went through the weapons from the rack and chests, swapping out upgrades in his roulette where applicable.

[Damascus Spiked Knuckles: Lustrous Blue - LVL 15: (AP +56) (AS +1.5) (PTC +12) (ACU +10) (PHY +6) (Durability 140/140)]

[Immaculate Damascus 2-H Mace: Lustrous Blue - LVL 15: (AP +78) (Defense +22) (PTC +14) (PHY +16) (CNC +8) (Durability 200/200)]

[Kindred Heart Shield: Lustrous Blue - LVL 15: (DF +90) (PTC +10) (PHY +25) (Durability 250/250)]

[Spine Splitter Greataxe: Lustrous Blue - LVL 15: (AP +95) (AS -.25) (PTC +20) (PHY +25) (Durability 200/200)]

[Staff of the Four Winds: Lustrous Blue - LVL 15: (EP +115) (DEF +20) (AS -.25) (PHY +14) (CNC +29) (Durability 150/150) (Innate skill - Four Winds: Conjure strong winds to blind and deafen in a column AOE) (Cooldown: 4 times per day)]

[Heavy Spear of Conductivity: Lustrous Blue - LVL 15 (AP +75) (DEF +15) (AS -.25) (PTC +12) (ACU +12) (PHY +12) (Durability 200/200) Innate passive - Channeled elemental damage increased by 15%)]

[Immaculate Damascus 2-H Sword: Lustrous Blue - LVL 15: (AP +85) (PTC +19) (ACU +7) (PHY +10) (Durability 180/180)]

As if being fully decked in Lustrous Blue gear of his level wasn’t enough, there were nine additional weapons that he didn’t need as their attributes didn’t align with his build. He organized the abundance of basic regeneration potions from the chests for later use. Finally, he moved on to the best rewards from the mystic land: The four items he snagged from the armoire.

[Locket of Rendition - Lustrous Blue: (Durability 75/75) (Innate skill - Returners Privilege: Teleports the wearer to any location they visited in the last 5 minutes) (Cooldown: Once per day)]

I would have gone through the mystic land three times with no other rewards than this and been ecstatic. What an amazing life-saving treasure.

Raine equipped it immediately, enjoying the feeling of the cold metal draped around his neck. It had a locket in the shape of a watch. Opening it, he was greeted with a moving image of where he'd been five minutes ago. With a confident smile, he tucked it beneath his armor.

[Fruit of Innate Aptitude - Lustrous Blue - Consumable: Grants the imbiber 1 General Skill Point]

What an absolute gold mine!

In the past, there had been a number of rare fruits and plants that people consumed the moment they found them. To a man, those hasty fools regretted their actions. Once personal residences were included after the second expansion, fruits and seeds could be planted, producing an endless supply. Gold coins glistened Raine’s eyes as he moved to the next item.

[Race Change Stone (Gromut): Allows the holder to change their race. The Gromut are a proud race of pseudo giants. Boosts physical size, force multipliers, Potency, and Physique at the expense of Finesse and Acuity (Charges remaining: 15)]

As far as playable races, the Gromut aren't bad. Especially for tanks. Bosses that send a tank flying can be a real pain. A Gromut could take the same blow head-on. I'll save it as a reward for guildies who perform well.

[Stone of the End: Contains the hopes and dreams of a race lost to time. Activate to construct a new home for the scattered descendants of these once proud and prosperous people]

Now this, this is something truly special. 

Raine's grin turned evil as he imagined the first of his enemies learning the hard way how foolish it would be to pick a fight with his future guild.

***

Raine flew high in the sky, catching the largest and most powerful wind chutes while maintaining his altitude with Lunge. Since he no longer needed the lifts, he took the most direct route northwest. The mountains flowed gracefully into plains cut by dozens of streams. They eventually combined into one large river that led to a distant lake.

On foot, even utilizing the roads, the journey to Silverlight City would have taken nearly a day. The sprawling central metropolis of the Tri-glades came into view in a quarter that time. The royal palace at its heart dominated a large river island, towering over the rest of the city. Crystal clear water flowed around its tall walls, trade hubs and fisheries sprinkled along its outer shores. Spreading out in all directions, buildings of various sizes and styles could be found as far as the eye could see, even from Raine’s aerial vantage.

Not wanting to cause a fuss and get tossed in a cell for a day, Raine angled to land well before the outermost gates of the city, several kilometers short of the palace. His boots crunched into the hard-packed gravel of the main road. He bent his knees lightly, thrilling in how easily the impact was absorbed.

He sprinted by a line of farmers and hunters come to sell goods, the wind whistling in his ears. He danced through his new martial steps, shuffling, sidestepping, and dashing in a blur. With a maxed out Leap, he backflipped seven times and landed near the massive gates with a huge, sloppy grin. Several guards had taken notice of his antics, one approaching with a sensual smile.

“Hail Traveler! Halt for inspection!” The large female guard raised a palm his way, a spear butt thudding into the stones at her feet. Raine complied and the woman in half-plate approached, “Identification and purpose of visit?”

[Elite Human Sentry: Level 100 - ????/????]

Even if she were lower level, Raine wouldn’t have any desire to cause trouble, “Alaric. Class acquisition and residency, ma’am.”

“Very well. Temporary residency is ten silver, paid now. Permanent requires an additional registration at the guildhall of your choice with a further fee determined by them,” she held out her hand and Raine promptly dropped a slip of paper into it. She furrowed her brows for a short second before her eyes widened. “You found the stolen weapon shipment?”

[Lost Weapons Manifesto: Return this slip to the guards of Silverlight City for a reward]

“They were in the hands of a village of crogs in the mirror lake territory,” Raine withdrew one of the hard iron weapons he hadn’t sold yet and passed it to her. 

She examined it, quickly finding the silverlight seal, “Please, follow me, sir.” With quick steps, she guided Raine into a side door after the portcullis. They walked down a long hallway inside the wall, coming to a heavy wooden door. She rapped it three times, then waited patiently until a gruff voice called for them to enter.

Inside, a harrowed middle-aged man with a scraggly beard and mustache glanced up at them. He twirled a feather pen in his hand, then resumed scribbling a few more notes on a sheaf of waxy paper. Dropping the feather in a vial of ink, he motioned the sentry forward. She handed him the manifesto and repeated Raine’s description of the weapons’ location.

“Well, nothing we can do about them. They’re in the wrong direction and at least they’re not in the hands of the Dantinians. Still, we’ll pass along news to the scout forces in case they want to do something about the situation. As for you, Traveler. Consider your temporary registration fee waived,” he grabbed a new sheet and hastily scribbled a few words before passing it to the sentry. “This is a general introduction for whichever guildhall you wish to apply for citizenship with. Don’t expect another discount, but it’ll get you through the front door at least.”

“Thank you, sir,” Raine’s simple response was met with a shooing motion from the captain’s hand. He followed the sentry out, adding the note to his inventory. Like the man said, it wouldn’t save him any coins, but it would allow him to skip several introductory fetch quests designed to familiarize him with the city.

Outside, he nodded politely to the sentry, then hustled down the main street. 

I’ve got to pick Mel up in three hours and I need to get to Shillids for a refitting before then. I should have just enough time to get a few things done.

Bustling activity was all around him, despite the road being somewhat empty. There wasn’t another player in sight, which wasn’t a surprise. There was room for fifty million players in the current Silverlight City, and less than half that number of Vaaterran’s. The reason for the commotion wouldn’t be readily obvious to most newcomers, but Raine knew it was due to a war with the neighboring Dantinian Empire. 

He could have questioned the captain and started a short chain quest for more information, and to gain some reputation with the royals and army, but there were much faster ways to go about that. The war itself would need to be dealt with eventually as it had the potential to cause untold headaches to the region. There was little point worrying about it until the guilds managed to build up sufficient forces and unite long enough to push back the Imperial tide. 

In his last life, the Tri-glades had lost and the Celendine Dynasty had been wiped out. Losing had a significant impact on the flexibility of grinding zones and access to vital trade goods, leading to less than optimal growth for the city and its guilds. Raine had no intention of allowing that to happen again.

There were several vendors he wanted to visit, but many of them wouldn’t speak to him until he was a citizen. Before digging into that, he wanted to finalize his class choices. He stopped at the first tavern and bought a glass of water for a single copper. 

[New resurrection location bound: Silverlight City (Commoners district)]

Raine left the tavern, standing on the street he whistled loudly and a hand-drawn carriage came zipping around a corner, pulled by two young men. He jumped aboard, “Zeletin Academy.”

“Very well, sir. Five silva if ya’d be so kind,” the boy on the left responded.

Raine paid and they were off, rushing through the streets at a pace that would have gotten him arrested if he tried it himself. He sat back, his mind buzzing over what to do.

My class change token will let me start one class, buy a few skills, then change to the class I actually want. My brawler build is mapped out to perfection, and almost any class has starter skills that would have drastically boosted it. But now…

The skills the armsman demonstrated were way too powerful to ignore. The question is, do I take armsman first, grab the skills, then swap to brawler? Or, do I pick something that compliments what I’ve seen of armsman first, and go down an entirely unknown path?

There are benefits both ways. Sticking to brawler will guarantee success. I’m confident in unlocking a Lustrous Blue upgrade at level fifty, but that's the best I could possibly do with a basic class. An advanced might be able to move straight to Marvelous Gold, but that’s just a guess. I know the class has solid skills, but I don’t know if I’ll have access to them right away, or how much AT they’ll cost.

Then there’s the question of what would pair best with armsman, and brawler is at the end of the list. Am I really considering scrapping my entire build? Mage, berserker, stealth, scout, any would likely pair well with it. Or, stick to what I know… What path should I take?

Raine had spent much of his ride ruminating over the same thoughts. He scraped his memories for every rumor about hidden basic classes, wondering if one would pair so well with armsman it would be worth gambling his future over.

All too soon, the academy came into view and he hopped off the handcart. He boldly walked through the open gate. The two guards posted outside didn’t try to stop him. He was greeted by an open training yard surrounded by low walls. It was packed with young cadets in training. They were led by several sergeants, snapping orders and leading their groups through drills. The air was filled to the brim with manly energy, and Raine itched to join them.

He cut to the right, briskly walking along the wall until he reached a large, bleached-stone building. Outside, a man in royal livery stood boredly, staring at the sky. “Hail, Master Trainer. I’ve come to choose my destiny.”