"I'm surprised I only thought about that while working on the scepter." Making his way to the territory he and Faulus had occupied earlier under the dim moonlight, Valyr recalled the thoughts he had while upgrading the scepter he was currently holding.
Surprisingly, even though all four of them had the capability to fight using magic, only Hal had a magic weapon he could spare to Valyr, while the other three only brought the magic weapon that suited them the most.
Then again, with how Hal could fight under most scenarios, it did not take long for him to think that the weapon the man gave him was something the former would only use if he was restricted to only using magic out of nowhere. Aside from that, Valyr was certain that Hal would mostly rely on his sword in his combat needs.
After that, the four of them went off their separate ways, though Valyr told Faulus to go on ahead first since he still had to upgrade the new weapon he had gotten. Briefly shrugging his shoulders as he thought over Hal's reasons for not bringing the scepter to him for his mass upgrade session yesterday, the young man swiftly got to work.
However, a thought suddenly surfaced in his mind not even a minute into upgrading the scepter.
'Should I use [Breath of Beginnings] on this?' asked the young man himself, commanding the system to bring up the artifact's description. 'After all, with the spear weakening me the longer I use it in combat, this scepter would essentially become my main weapon in this inheritance.'
'Though I don't know if the curse would also affect the scepter or not.' Briefly wishing to the heavens that the curse only applied to spears, the young man widely smiled as he saw the artifact's final skill available for usage.
Swiftly activating the final skill of his artifact, Valyr went through the entire process of enhancement, refinement, as well as advancement as he upgraded the scepter's offensive capabilities. With almost all of his skills related to forging enhanced thanks to his ascension to Rank 3, it did not take long for the scepter to enter a new realm of power, which was bolstered even further with the young man's iconic attribute awakening skill.
Utilizing [Greater Analysis] on the scepter as he gradually got closer to where he and Faulus were fighting against the aberrations, Valyr let out a brief chuckle as he hastened his pace even further. 'I guess the time dilation thing isn't all that bad.'
Ding!
[(+10) Arcane Scepter of Redemption] (Level 55)
Rarity: Rare
Foundation Tier: 1st Tier
Attack: 541 - 901
Additional Attributes:
> AGI + 51
> INT + 81
> WIS + 28
Originally a scepter forged for the purpose of becoming a back-up weapon for a talented individual, this weapon has been given a second life by an incredibly prodigious blacksmith. Tapping into the energy of the Hammer of Beginnings, the innate potential of the materials making up the scepter have all been brought out and refined even further, allowing it to become a weapon even veteran mages would want for themselves.
<Innate Skill 1: Lesser Arcane Mastery - Reduces the user's mana consumption by 10%.>
<Innate Skill 2: Arcane Bolt of Redemption - Allows the user to shoot out a bolt out of mana that deals 300% of the user's Attack stat. The bolt has the ability to bounce onto an enemy at most 5 meters away from the initial target, bouncing up to a maximum of 3 times. Cooldown: 15 seconds. Cost: 500 MP.>
<Innate Skill 3: Second Arcane Wind - Allows the user to restore 80% of their mana pool in an instant. The user's mana regeneration rate is increased by 25% for 1 minute. Cooldown: 10 minutes.>
Remarks: A weapon that greatly complements your abilities in the field of magic.
Though the thought of using [Breath of Beginnings] on the scepter came out of nowhere, Valyr gradually came to understand where the thought had come from while making his way to where Faulus was. With how a day in this place equated to two weeks in the outside world, that more or less meant that he could activate [Breath of Beginnings] within the inheritance every 12 hours, with the action he had done while upgrading the scepter basically confirming that thought.
"Now that I think about it, I could also probably use [Breath of Beginnings] on the other pieces making up my current armor set," muttered Valyr as he thought out loud. "Aside from increasing my defense even further, would it possibly do something to the new innate skill I got on the chestplate?"
"Also…" Continuing on his train of thought, the young man briefly stopped in his tracks as the only accessory he had around his neck briefly glistened. "[Enlightenment]."
Ding!
"I could also use this opportunity to unlock more advancements without having to rely on Technology Points." Smiling as his necklace had unlocked an advancement with the tree's Innovation branch that was related to mana and magic, Valyr continued on his trek, arriving where Faulus was a few minutes later.
…
"To be honest, I thought you'd take a bit longer to finish upgrading." Sensing the presence of a new being within his vicinity, Faulus swiftly dealt with the aberration he was fighting against before turning around. Seeing that the new being was none other than Valyr, the alchemist faintly let out a sigh of relief as he whistled at the sight of the scepter the young man was wielding.
Hearing Faulus' words, Valyr let out a chuckle. "Couldn't let you fight against all of those aberrations by yourself, you know? Especially after remembering how you reacted after the five of us saw our first aberration."
"I was hoping you didn't bring that up." Faulus wryly smiled. "Anyways, I've already gotten my third Key Fragment in total, made a bit of headway to getting the fourth Key Fragment after that."
"Got it." Valyr nodded, only to let out a sigh soon after. "I have a lot of catching up to do."
"Either way, let's get those Key Fragments as quickly as possible," he continued, to which Faulus nodded in agreement. "The sooner we enter the Gates of Enlightenment's trial grounds, the better Loreina's condition would be when we eventually meet her."
With that, the two of them distanced themselves from one another once more as they soon began to go on a killing spree against the aberrations. With the difference in stats and the experience they've accrued in combat, it could be said that there was no difference between the rate at which the two went through the aberrations in their respective territories.
However, with Loreina's gradually worsening condition lingering in their minds, the two of them were more frenzied in their offensive against the aberrations, especially Valyr. Armed with a scepter that bolstered his Attack stat by a great degree, it went without saying that he mowed through all of the aberrations as if they were grass.
In fact, most of the reason as to why his killing efficiency stayed consistent was due to [Second Arcane Wind], the innate skill that came with the scepter. Though, with the effects [Breath of Beginnings] had on items, he was certain he had awakened this skill during the upgrade process.
On the other hand, Faulus' offensive against the aberrations was a bit more relaxed when compared to Valyr's barrage of fiery crimson blades. Nevertheless, with the tips he had obtained from Valyr in their offensive against the aberrations earlier and the time he spent alone fighting the aberrations, the man had begun to pepper a few magic spells here and there, slowly mixing the physical with the arcane into his combat style.
Eventually, by the time the sun had begun to peek out of the horizon, the two had finally obtained the 555 kills in total needed to obtain five Key Fragments from the aberrations, resting on ground untainted by blood for a bit before downing potions that continued to keep them awake.
Taking some time to fulfill their body's daily needs, it was only then did the two begin to head back to the campsite, their speeds considerably increased thanks to Valyr casting [Feather Steps+] and [Lesser Lightweight] on both of them, which were the evolved versions of the support skills he had bought from the pavilion.
"Apologies for taking longer than needed." With the two arriving at the campsite less than an hour later, a wry smile hung on Valyr's face as he saw that Vera and Hal were already at the campsite waiting for them.
Seeing Valyr and Faulus appear at the campsite, both Vera and Hal had visible expressions of relief on their faces as the latter looked at Valyr with a slight smile. "You two really didn't take that long. I only arrived here around half an hour ago, while Vera here arrived twenty minutes after I did."
"Glad to hear." Slightly grinning as he and Faulus sat near the two, all of them swiftly took out the Key Fragments they had collected from killing the aberrations, including the ones they had gotten from their first foray against them.
As he counted the number of fragments they had pooled together, Valyr was about to say that they were still a few fragments short from forming four tokens. Fortunately, Vera and Hal had gotten another Key Fragment respectively during their skirmishes, prompting the young man to inwardly let out a sigh of relief.
'Since Loreina's already entered the trial ground, only fragments attuned to the three other classes appeared, huh.' Looking at the small pile of fragments before them, the four of them grabbed the Key Fragments attuned to their classes one by one, allowing the fragments they took to turn into tokens that fell into the ground.
"Alright." Taking in a deep breath to compose himself, Valyr looked at the others before nodding as all of them thought of the same thing. After that, the four of them simultaneously grabbed the token that was attuned to their respective classes, their bodies soon being covered by a golden light.
"See you guys on the other side."
"Yeah. See you."
Whoosh!
