By the time Hirrus made his way out through the hole he’d melted through the estate’s outer wall, he felt significantly more powerful than he had when he came in. The spoils of the battle were both numerous and potent. Nearly every raider had possessed all legendary equipment, explaining how they were able to endure blows that had slain lesser foes outright.

Hirrus only needed chest armor to have a full set of legendaries.

Alric would have been excited.

After going through the gear of the dead carefully, Hirrus was unsurprised to find that the sleeveless shirt and furred mantle that Cerberus had worn proved the most powerful.

Hector’s Top

Chest

Ilvl 70 (Legendary)

+350 BUR

+350 TEN

+700 Cooldown Reduction Rating

+700 Critical Damage Rating

Special: Healing received is increased by 50%

He felt slightly silly with his upper arms exposed, while wearing the fur-lined white gauntlets he’d peeled off of the officers of Last of the Strong, but he couldn’t deny that the extra healing would be immensely useful. A significant portion of his power was coming from the sustain offered by the Cosmic Barrette.

Amplifying that healing was going to make him all the more indomitable.

The only exception to his now full set of legendary gear was his wedding band. It offered no benefits, but he couldn’t stomach the idea of taking it off, let alone replacing it.

He gathered up the armor from the other raiders. With it, combined with everything else he had collected, he suspected Nidra’s entire army would be decked out well enough to take on any adventurers remaining in the city, even without his help.

These had been the best of the best. Their equipment easily reflected that, though Hirrus had become too accustomed to the advantages offered by his current gear to replace anything.

But the real power he gained was in the Arcana. The group had thrown immeasurable power at him, and nearly every new item he examined on his inactive list was good enough to instantly find a place for it on his active list.

Glacier Freeze

+15 GLE, +125 Cleave Rating

Damage: 2xATT + 1xRES

Cast time: 0.25 seconds

Cooldown: 30 seconds

Added Effect: Applies a 50% slow for 10 seconds.

Erratic Flutter

+8 SUP, +35 Attack Speed Rating

Utility

Cast time: 0.5 seconds

Cooldown: 45 seconds

Effect: Increase movement speed and attack speed by 15% for 20 seconds. Creates a displacement aura that gives enemies a 10% miss chance.

Foul Waters

+5 ATT, +15 Cast Speed Rating

Damage: 1xBUR + 1xSUP

Cast time: 0.125 seconds

Cooldown: 50 seconds

Added Effect: Damage is applied as a DoT aura, healing the caster for 50% of the damage done. While active, reduce all incoming damage by 5% per enemy or ally in range.

Animating Wail

+15 TEN, +45 Cleave Rating

Utility

Cast time: 0.5 seconds

Cooldown: 25 seconds

Effect: Increase movement speed by 40% for 20 seconds.

RE:Generation II

+1 GLE, +15 Cooldown Reduction Rating

Utility

Cast time: 1 second

Cooldown: 100 seconds

Effect: Restore 1% of max HP per second for 100 seconds. Does not stack with itself.

Over Power

+6 TEN, +35 Double Strike Rating

Damage: 1.75xBUR + 0.75xRES

Cast time: Instant

Cooldown: 12 seconds

Added Effect: Applies a 5% slow for 20 seconds. Stacks up to 4 times, refreshing duration when re-applied.

These Arcana had come from the two durable frontline fighters, and went a long way to explain their longevity and the strategic abilities they brought to the fight. Neither were potent fighters in their own right - their damage output was negligible - but they were fast-moving, durable, and could control the movement of enemies. Or, at least, they could control the movement of enemies with fewer tools than Hirrus had.

Following that was the Arcana from the group’s healers. Most of their abilities were negligible. Hirrus didn’t anticipate directly healing himself with any of them, as he had both the power of his Cosmic Barrette, as well as the new Re:Generation Arcana, which would be substantially more potent for him than it had been for its original user. But two caught his eye, and earned a spot on his active list:.

Pineapple Smells

+6 RES, +25 Cooldown Reduction Rating

Utility

Cast time: 0.125 seconds

Cooldown: 25 seconds

Effect: Heals an ally for 1xATT + 2xRES, and increases their TEN and GLE by 20% for 6 seconds.

Blessed Rains

+12 RES, +15 Cast Speed Rating

Utility

Cast time: 2 seconds

Cooldown: 60 seconds

Effect: Designate a large area in which you bless the rains for 30 seconds. 100 allies (or more) within the affected area will heal for 0.5% of their maximum HP every 0.5 seconds, curing what’s deep inside.

The additional defensive benefit offered by the Pineapple Smells Arcana would help him to endure big damage if he could anticipate it. The other Arcana was, again, healing as a percentage of maximum hit points. But more than that, it would give a similarly disproportionately strong heal to all of Nidra’s forces, if he found himself fighting alongside them, without requiring his stats to be distributed to ATT and RES.

Hirrus didn’t like the strange wording on the description for Blessed Rains.

It was the thing that bothered him the most about Arcana.

Despite being fundamental magics of this world, many times the descriptions and power level of each individual ability seemed like they had been independently created by dozens of different hands.

He anticipated getting good use out of the next group of abilities. These Arcana had been brought to bear by those whose task had been to bring Hirrus down. They seemed exceptionally powerful, when compared to most of his abilities, and he expected that with their powers added to his own, no foe would stand against him for long.

Chilled Breath

+1 TEN, +30 Cast Speed Rating

Damage: 2xBUR + 1xSUP

Cast time: 0.25 seconds

Cooldown: 60 seconds

Added effect: Affected enemies are afflicted with Frost (debuffID 1618) dealing an additional 10% damage and reducing GLE by 5% for 30 seconds.

The Rioting Chill

+5 BUR, +120 Crit Rating

Utility

Cast time: 0.25 seconds

Cooldown: 120 seconds

Effect: Increases SUP by 20% for 60 seconds. During this time, weapon attacks apply frost (debuff 1618) decreasing GLE by 5% for 30 seconds and deal 10% additional damage over the duration.

Belly Drum

+6 BUR, +38 Critical Damage Rating

Utility

Cast time: 1 second

Cooldown: 5 seconds

Effect: Increases BUR and SUP by 5% for 20 seconds. While active, cast time is doubled. Stacks up to 10 times.

Trace

+6 SUP, +25 Attack Speed Rating

Utility

Cast time: Instant

Cooldown: 30 seconds

Effect: Dash 5 feet in any direction instantly. Can be used three times before triggering the cooldown.

Jolted Breath

+1 TEN, +30 Cooldown Reduction Rating

Damage: 2xBUR + 1xSUP

Cast time: 0.25 seconds

Cooldown: 60 seconds

Added effect: Affected enemies are afflicted with Shock (debuffID 1615) dealing an additional 10% damage and reducing RES by 5% for 30 seconds.

Harsh Winds

+12 SUP, +120 Critical Damage Rating

Utility

Cast time: 0.5 seconds

Cooldown: 2 seconds

Effect: Increases Critical Damage by 10%. Wears off after dealing a critical strike with any attack. Stacks up to 25 times.

Iaido Strike

+6 SUP, +120 Cooldown Reduction Rating

Damage: 4xBUR + 4xSUP

Cast time: 1.25 seconds

Cooldown: 60 seconds

Added effect: Requires a sheathed weapon. A weapon attack is made as a part of this Arcana, which is automatically a Critical Strike, Double Strike, and Cleave attack.

Megagun

+2 TEN, +50 Cast Speed Rating

Damage: 0.01xBUR + 0.01xSUP

Cast time: Channeled

Cooldown: 2 seconds

Added effect: Fires 166.666 damaging pellets every second. That’s ten thousand rounds per minute. Cannot move while firing.

Subduction

+6 TEN, +20 Cast Speed Rating

Damage: 2xATT + 1xRES

Cast time: 0.25 seconds

Cooldown: 20 seconds

Added effect: Ignores shadows, blinks, shields, dodges, and iframes.

Bitter Grip From Beyond

+2 GLE, +15 Cooldown Reduction Rating

Utility

Cast time: 0.25 seconds

Cooldown: 90 seconds

Effect: Call up the Obelisk from Beyond, unerringly shackling the nearest enemy to it. While Shackled, they cannot move farther from the obelisk than they were at the time of casting.

Ice Break

+3 ATT, +25 Cast Speed Rating

Damage: 1xATT + 0.75xSUP

Cast time: 0.125 seconds

Cooldown: 6 seconds

Added effect: Artillery Range. When damaging an enemy, gain 2.5% ATT for 60 seconds. This buff stacks with itself, but when stacking it inherits the duration from the existing buff.

There were a handful of other Arcana that Hirrus didn’t see as valuable. The woman in black leathers had only used buff Arcana that were single-use buffs to ATT and RES that would only apply to the next damaging Arcana cast, but with much lower multipliers than Ioun Flechette. Similarly, the man in purple robes had some potent ATT buffs, but their durations were too short - no doubt intended for use with a single killing-blow Arcana that he never got to employ. When Hirrus committed to the use of his magical damage abilities, he needed power that would apply to more than a single ability.

Those Arcana would simply have to remain on his inactive list.

The final six Arcana he got all went into his list immediately. They were the tools Cerberus had used, and each was formidable.

All together, they had made her nearly a match for him, if he had lacked the specific tools to lock down her Arcana use. In his hands - combined with his existing powers and inflated stats - he would be able to use them to make short work of any challenge to come.

Mighty Guard

+10 GLE, +120 Double Strike Rating

Utility

Cast time: 0.25 seconds

Cooldown: 300 seconds

Effect: Increase TEN and GLE by 100% for 120 seconds. This Arcana is unaffected by Cooldown Reduction Rating.

Carcharian Verve

+8 BUR, +32 Cooldown Reduction Rating

Utility

Cast time: 0.25 seconds

Cooldown: 60 seconds

Effect: Increase BUR by 50% and movement speed by 30% for 50 seconds.

Bloodrake

+140 HP, +113 Critical Damage Rating

Damage: 2xBUR + 1xSUP

Cast time: 0.25 seconds

Cooldown: 20 seconds

Added effect: Command Grab. Heal for 100% of damage done.

Chakram

+6 SUP, +20 Cast Speed Rating

Damage: 0.5xBUR + 1xSUP

Cast time: 0.125 seconds

Cooldown: 12 seconds

Added effect: When striking a solid surface, it bounces towards the nearest enemy target.

Gates of Hades

+15 TEN, +30 Crit Rating

Damage: 2xBUR + 1xSUP

Cast time: 1 second

Cooldown: 35 seconds

Added effect: Become invulnerable during the cast time of this Arcana. Deals double damage to undead.

Swat

+1 TEN, +13 Double Strike Rating

Damage: 0.75xBUR + 0.75xSUP

Cast time: 0.125 seconds

Cooldown: 45 seconds

Added effect: Creates a Reflector in the air shortly after the cast, lingering for another 0.25 seconds.

Cerberus’s power had been undeniable, and the variety and potency of her Arcana had given her immeasurable power. Her gear had been heavily stacked with cooldown reduction gear, which would let her change between any number of strategies freely. In his hands, these Arcana alone could make him unstoppable. Added to his already potent arsenal, he suspected that he was as powerful as he could ever possibly be.

As he made his way through the Upper Town, through the northwest gate to return to the warehouse, Hirrus took a moment to make a note of his overall statistics. His level had increased as well, and he wanted to keep apprised of his strengths.

Level 30

HP (Hitpoints): 73440

BUR (Burliness): 1750

SUP (Suppleness): 1890

TEN (Tenacity): 2475

ATT (Attenuation): 565

RES (Responsiveness): 1242

GLE (Gleylike): 2100

The potency of the passive statistics on his new Arcana had dramatically increased his secondary stats. His Critical chance and Cleave chance - unmodified by active Arcana - were both at forty-five percent. His critical hits would have their damage increased by sixty-eight percent, while his attack speed was passively increased by an impressive twenty-five percent.

Hirrus’s double-strike chance was only twenty-two percent, but whenever he wanted to lean on that kind of power, Iron Typhoon would set it to a flat fifty percent chance. His cast speed was only increased by twenty percent, but his cooldown reduction had become over thirty percent. His ability to keep his buffs active was tremendously increased by the cooldown reduction, but it also meant that when he needed to fight at a distance, he could employ the most powerful Arcana in his arsenal much more frequently.

Hirrus worried about how afraid of the next guild Nidra had been. She was convinced that their financial power would be enough to sink his combat strength. But with all of these tools in his arsenal, Hirrus was confident that he could rise to any challenge.

That was, until he rounded the corner along the river and their warehouse base came into view.