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Frank equipped his new Mask, replacing the old spider one he had, which he had used for a long time.

​​

He glanced at the spider mask, feeling a bit bitter by seeing it go away now… but it was a mere item at the end, and items were used for him to grow stronger, it was normal in an MMO to replace an old item for something better, right?

Nonetheless, it made him felt quite bitter…

"Well, this is as far as we go… Similar to the farmer clothes, I have to sooner or later replace you guys. Thanks for… giving me a bit more of help through this journey…" sighed Frank, as he quickly sent the item inside of his Inventory and equipped the new one, which he watched its stats.

…

[Necrotic Lich Overlord Skull Mask of Death (B)]

Stat Bonuses: [+150 Defense], [+150 Resistance], [+300 Speed], [+40% Stealth Effectiveness]

Skill Bonuses: [Death Glare: Level 1]

Special Effects: Enhanced Magic Damage Resistance, Enhanced Speed, Enhanced Stealth Effectiveness, Enhanced Necromancy Proficiency.

Rune Orifices: [1: Empty], [2: Empty], [3: Empty]

…

It was indeed way stronger than the other one… And it even came with a powerful Skill that helped him drain life from anything he could see within a certain range around him.

"Alright…"

Frank quickly took three C-Rank Runes and inserted them into the mask.

The runes were a Speed Rune that gave +125 Speed, a Magic Rune that gave +92 Magic, and a Mana Rune that gave +85 Mana.

…

[Tiamat's Scaled Bracelet of Blessings (A)]

Stat Bonuses: [+1000 Defense], [+1000 Resistance], [+1000 Mana]

Skill Bonuses: [Tiamat's Dragon Barrier: Level 1]

Special Effects: Enhanced Magic Damage Resistance, Enhanced Physical Damage Resistance, Enhanced Magical Damage Resistance.

Rune Orifices: [1: Empty], [2: Empty], [3: Empty], [4: Empty]

…

The next item Frank desired to equip was this one, a beautiful bracelet made entirely out of small and thin, brown-colored scales which shined brightly with a metallic luster.

It released a draconic aura from within as if it were truly crafted with the scales of the Dragon Goddess Tiamat… By just glancing at the item, Frank felt a similar feeling to when he saw the pendant of Zeus, this item was truly A-Rank.

The moment he equipped it, Frank received a large boost on his defenses immediately, it was almost instantaneously. It was as if he had a transparent armor of scales covering his skin all across his body…

Alongside this, Frank acquired the ability to use the [Tiamat's Dragon Barrier: Level 1], which let him transform these invisible scales around his body into a moldable barrier. Which he could use to protect others around him. The barrier itself was not incredibly potent against physical attacks but it mitigated elemental damage to an extent.

Frank added four C-Rank Runes, which he decided to be about HP and Defense to go with the bracelet, which he could lend to others whenever he wanted them to be more resilient, for example, his wife Gwendolyn.

For a moment, he had even considered gifting it to her as he didn't truly need as much defense as a hybrid-class like her who used both magic and physical attacks at close combat and was not as resilient nor was showered on so many powers such as him.

Frank loved Gwendolyn a lot, and she was great emotional support for him… gifting this was coming sincerely out of his heart, so he decided to instead of leaving it for him greedily, gift it to her after he inserted the runes.

After all, what was wrong with being committed to your lover and wanting to gift her something that could help her in battle?

If she intended to stay at Frank's side even in the monstrous battles to come, Frank wanted to give her as much help as possible.

Although everyone around him worked incredibly hard and acquired most of their power through hard work while Frank only granted them the opportunity to acquire it, gifting something to his lover didn't make him an idiot, but a considerate man.

Afterward, Frank glanced at the next item.

…

[Cthulhu's Ring of Effervescent Insanity (A)]

Stat Bonuses: [+1000 Resistance], [+500 Defense], [+1000 Magic], [+500 Mana]

Skill Bonuses: [Cthulhu's Call: Level 1]

Special Effects: Enhanced Magic Damage Resistance, Enhanced Physical Damage Resistance, Enhanced Magical Damage Resistance.

Rune Orifices: [1: Empty], [2: Empty], [3: Empty], [4: Empty]

…

The ring Frank grabbed was of beautiful silver metal, with a bright green jewel with a small tattoo that resembled an octopus with its tentacles erected and scarlet-colored.

It seemed to also have the name after the entity from within Lovecraftian Myths… Which Frank thought was simply fiction and fantasy created by HP Lovecraft on earth…

But could there be the possibility for such entities to actually exist in real life?

Perhaps… Lovecraft didn't create these things, but actually experienced oracles and other visions caused by these entities?

However, this was no time to question if such a man that lived long ago had seen these entities or not.

Aside from the amazing boost in power, the ring unleashed a strong and dark aura. The moment Frank grasped it, the ring's aura began to coil around his finger, almost forcing him to wear it!

Frank felt like something could be wrong about this, but decided to wear it, nonetheless. If there was something wrong, he would simply cut his finger and regrow a new one.

Flash!

The moment Frank equipped the ring, the ring glowed brightly as it connected to his soul, something that every piece of equipment above B-Rank could do.

However, he immediately acquired the power of using the Ring's Skill, Cthulhu's Call, which let him… transform into a monstrous humanoid octopus creature with large bat-like wings!

"What?!"

Frank almost jumped out of surprise about the ridiculousness of this Skill, but it seemed to bring him a lot of temporary power while using it, although the transformation slowly consumed his sanity and had a duration time as well.

After inspecting everything a bit more, Frank realized that there was no entity trying to take over his brain or something, so he let the ring equipped and quickly gave it four C-Rank runes.

The runes were two Health Points Runes that gave him +140 and +136 Health Points respectively, and two Defense Runes that gave him +95 and +90 Defense.

…

[Hermes Sacred Wind Boots (S)]

Stat Bonuses: [+2500 Speed], [+500 Strength], [+500 Defense ], [+500 Resistance]

Skill Bonuses: [Hermes' Flashing Speed: Level 1]

Special Effects: Enhanced Magic Damage Resistance, Enhanced Speed.

Rune Orifices: [1: Empty], [2: Empty], [3: Empty], [4: Empty]

…

The boots that Frank grabbed with his hands immediately began to release golden winds everywhere, blowing his hair.

The golden-colored boots were beautifully crafted, as if made by a God itself, and they carried upon the mighty speed of Hermes.

The powerful item granted Frank with an immense amount of bonus speed, a whopping 2500! With that, wasn't he the speediest man alive?

Frank contained the urges of muttering "I am… speed", as he quickly equipped the boots without even doubting it for a second, receiving the powerful speed boost and the smaller boost on the other stats.

And as if this amazing equipment weren't good enough with its bonus stats, it came with four Rune orifices and a powerful Skill, Hermes Flashing Speed.

With this Skill, Frank had the power to increase his speed even further beyond for only 10 seconds, with a cooldown of 10 minutes!

However, he was able to increase his speed by ten times!

The cooldown and the duration increased as the Skill leveled up as well, making the Skill even more insane…

This was definitely a gift of the Gods.

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