“Dharkiss, how are things going with you today?” I asked as I walked in to his shop.

“Doin’ well, Angus. Are you ready for your commission?”

“That’s why I’m here.” I said with a smile. Dharkiss disappeared into the back, and came back with the apprentice in tow. He froze for a second when he saw me, but immediately closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Continuing forward, he placed a veiled item on the counter and spoke.

“Here’s your commission sir, please check it over to make sure it meets your satisfaction.” With a flick of his wrist, the blanket covering it was removed and I finally saw my shield. It was only three feet tall and two feet wide, so it wouldn’t completely cover me but that was fine. It was also flat instead of curved to deflect blows, which was perfect for my needs. The front had no work done on it whatsoever, covered in hammer marks and slight divots, it was exactly what I had in mind. I flipped it over, and it was exactly how Dharkiss had described it. Three clay containers were hanging from leather straps, and there was a handle for my left hand only.

Modified iron shield

This shield has been heavily modified, and will not provide as much protection from force. There are places for three potions to be attached.

Defense: 10

Block chance: 5%

Durability: 500/500

“It looks exactly like I imagined, thank you. The durability looks like it will hold up for what I need it to. Well done.” I said, smiling at the apprentice.

“Thank you sir, and please come back again for any special commissions you need.”

Nodding at him, I stored the shield in my inventory and started to head out, before skidding to a stop. “Before I go, would you guys happen to have a few armor piercing bolts?” Dharkiss nodded, and for a silver per bolt I ended up buying 20. “Thanks again guys. I’ll see you later.” This time I really headed over to the leatherworkers. I had completely forgotten about my new armor set, though they forgave me once I offered a few extra silver for them holding it for me.

Wormskin leather body armor

Set (1/5)

Created from the skin of a single tunneling worm, this thick leather armor retains some of the original creature’s resistances, and has been enchanted to aid in stealth.

Defense: 150

Durability: 1500/1500

Slashing damage reduced by +15%

20% harder to detect while in stealth

Wormskin leather gauntlets

Set (1/5)

Created from the skin of a single tunneling worm, this thick leather armor retains some of the original creature’s resistances, and has been enchanted to increase the damage done by critical strikes.

Defense: 20

Durability: 750/750

Adds 30 earth damage to unarmed attacks

Critical hit damage increased by 50%

Wormskin leather belt

Set (1/5)

Created from the skin of a single tunneling worm, this belt retains some of the original creature’s resistances. It has been enchanted to increase evasion.

Defense: 10

Durability: 100/100

Resist earth +10%

Chance to dodge increased by 10%

Wormskin leather pants

Set (1/5)

Created from the skin of a single tunneling worm, these pants retain some of the original creature’s abilities. It has been enchanted to give the wearer longer staying power.

Defense: 30

Durability: 1000/1000

Increases chance of discovering moving enemies by 25%

Stamina consumption decreased by 10%

Wormskin leather skullcap

Set (1/5)

Created from the skin of a single tunneling worm, this head armor retains some of the original creature’s resistances. It has been enchanted to aid in striking true.

Defense: 60

Durability: 500/500

Earth resistance +25%

Critical hit chance +25%

Wormskin leather set completed!

Wearing pieces of this set will provide the following bonuses:

Earth attack bonus applies to weapons (3 of 5)

Doubles earth attack bonus (4 of 5)

Maximum earth resistance increased by 15% (5 of 5)

Resist earth +15% (5 of 5)

This armor set was spectacular. To make physical damage reduction believable, the game limited you to a combined maximum of 30%. This could be split however you wanted among piercing, crushing, or slashing. Magic resistances were capped at 75% per element, since there were so many elements to protect against it was impossible to max all your resistances. Raising the resistance cap was incredibly rare, and when I finally outgrew this set it would fetch a hefty price on the market. Right now I was looking good with an earth resistance of 80% when everything was equipped.

Fully equipped, I had just enough time to head back and finish up my potions for the plans I had. Each of the clay jars attached to the shield were carefully filled with the gelatinous pyrophoria potion. Djarleen tried not to pry, but I caught her several times checking out my shield from the corner of her eye. “I’ll let you know how it works when I get back Djarleen.” I said without looking directly at her, smiling as she flinched before shaking her head at me. Preparations complete, I headed out to hunt a frog and a crawfish.

Though they were lower level than I was, I still killed most of the monsters I came across. The experience was less important than just having an escape route for when things went wonky. The first boss I came across was the stormlord toad, and I smiled as I snuck up behind him. Once I was close enough, I activated [Mystic vision] in the hopes that it would have an obvious mana core somewhere, but I was out of luck. I did see a fairly straightforward network of purple mana lines that would spiral up each of the protrusions on its back and head, as well as several brown lines.

Disheartened, I canceled my skill and backed away slowly. Thirty feet was just a little too close for comfort when the toad was around. Once I had doubled the distance, I pulled out my shield, and gently set it on the ground. Taking aim with my crossbow, I decided on attempting a crippling shot to the lower part of the leg instead of going for an eye. Unlike the thunder ram variant, this toad had eye ridges that looked like a cloud blowing along a wind. Not knowing how strong they were was too much of a risk.

*Thwack* The bolt buried itself into the back of the toad’s knee, and it grunted in annoyance. Turning to look at me, I had just gotten my shield raised before *thunk* the tongue shot out and slammed into it. The bottom of the shield screeched as it slid back a few inches, but I managed to keep it upright. Once I felt a tug on it, I gave it a slight shove to ensure it fell forward and didn’t crush the jars prematurely. The toad drew its tongue back in, and immediately started chomping down on what it thought was the small creature that dared to hurt it.

“EEEEEEEEEEEEEYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!” I didn’t know that toads could scream, but this one did once the jars were crushed. It was a beautiful sight, the toad opened its mouth to crush down one more time only to have everything burst into bright flames. Flames that clung to the tongue and dribbled down the boss’ throat. Flapping its mouth and tongue, it started launching massive arcs of electricity as its health rapidly dwindled. Once it hit half health, it leapt to the ceiling and did the mother of all lightning infused headbutts into the ground. Even as far away as I was, I had to take a second to stabilize myself from the shaking of the impact. Unfortunately for the toad, it didn’t have enough time to flip down, and its stomach was exposed to me, so I fired a quick bolt into it, happy with a center of mass shot. I took the risk to charge in, as I noticed a lack of those electrical protrusions on the stomach. Pulling out my hammerscythe, I put everything into a leaping attack. “FOR THANATOS! [REAPER’S EDGE]!” My body slammed into the toad’s, and gravity helped me disembowel it as I slid down.

Thanatos finds your offering acceptable.

For sacrificing an acceptable offering, you gain 10 favor.

For sacrificing a miniboss type monster, you gain 25 extra favor.

For slaying a miniboss type offering with [Reaper’s edge], you gain 20 favor.

You have gained the requisite favor required, stop by the church for your rewards.

I sat back on my heels, and exhaled in relief. Damn, but that was kinda fun. Smiling, I reached out and almost looted the body before remembering that deaths offered to a god couldn’t be looted. Shrugging, I relaxed and let my stamina recover instead. Once I recovered, the hunt resumed.

There it was. I was just out of its viewing radius, but I was also unable to get close enough to use my own magical sight. Sighing, I headed out to hunt one more crayclaw. The strategy was simple, but this time I varied it slightly. I started out like normal, taking out the legs on one side with an ambush strike as it ran away from a falling mana potion. Instead of immediately taking out the armor on the back and attacking its vitals, I circled around and used a [Keen edge] to disable the larger claw. It could still close it, but the arm couldn’t move. I walked around to face it head on, activating [Mystic vision]. Sure enough, two inches below the peak of its head was a concentration of mana, that had to be where the sensory organ was. As I was studying the face of the creature, I noticed a slight glow from that massive claw. Looking over, the edges were lined in a light blue mana, and once it concentrated enough the claw slammed shut and a blue bubble shot off into the distance. Huh, so that’s how they did it, by manipulating air mana and effectively firing an air bullet. Turning back, I finished the downed creature with two mana shockwave enhanced blasts to the head. Once that was done, I headed back for the final round with the albino kingclaw.

This time, I wasn’t nearly as worried as I was. I loaded one of my armor piercing bolts, and waited for my opportunity. “KREEEEEEEE!” an earsplitting wail from the creature indicated a successful shot, and it blindly started firing off air bullets, which were much easier to dodge with the aid of [Mystic vision]. I was really starting to enjoy that skill. Keeping low, as the monster tended to fire off air bullets at about my head height, I got in close enough that a [Keen edge] could disable one of the arms. Smiling, I simply kept dancing back and forth out of its immediate reach to prevent trampling as I systematically disabled all the legs on one side. Once that was done, I disabled the other major claw. From there it was a simple matter to crush its head. Once it fell, I gained a level and looked to the loot. Two pieces of claw and tail meat, two oversized claw blades, and one piece of albino carapace. On a whim, I looked at the carapace with [Mystic vision], surprised to see hexagonal earth mana lines regularly repeating throughout the piece. I would see what Dharkiss could make of it, and see if those lines translated into enhanced earth resistance.

New ability acquired!

Your weapon is linked to your own growth, and is eligible to obtain a new bonus every ten levels. Recent actions have unlocked your second bonus. For systematically dismantling armored opponents and their champion, you have unlocked the following:

Heavy Armor Bane

Ignore 10% of opponent’s armor if heavily armored, Enemy heavy armor takes 50% more durability damage

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

By the time I got back to the city, I only had enough time for one stop before I would need to log out. Instead of heading to see Dharkiss, I went over to the temple of Thanatos, as I was curious about those notifications.

“AAAARRGH!” I cried out in pain, covering my eyes. I had gotten used to walking around with [Mystic vision] activated, but the sheer magnitude of the mana coming off the temple torches blinded me. I made sure the skill was deactivated, and gently opened my eyes. Things were only slightly blurry, and should clear up in two minutes according to the debuff notification. I was incredibly glad that I had this happen in town, as this would have been a death sentence out in battle. Hell, I didn’t even think that it could be overwhelmed, which in hindsight was rather stupid. Shaking my head, I walked through the door.

“Greetings brother, are you busy?” I asked, finally seeing the high priest before he could sneak up on me.

“I can always help out a fellow member of the church. What can I do for you?”

“Well, today I got a notification that I had passed over 100 favor with the church. I was wondering what that means?”

“So soon? Thanatos must have been pleased with your offerings. Come, brother. Place your hands on the altar.”

I walked up and did as he asked. The flames started dancing faster, and I felt a familiar burning in my chest.

Church rank upgraded!

You have progressed in the church of Thanatos. Congratulations, you are now an Initiate. As an initiate, you have been granted deeper insight into the mysteries of death. Check your skills section for your new ability. Nothing is for free, however. You will need to provide more suitable offerings per week, and more favor is required to unlock higher positions within the church.

Current favor: 29/250

Champion level monsters sacrificed: 1/3

Current weekly kills: 1/10

New skill acquired!

Unflinching Gaze of Death (Death’s gaze)

Death’s Raiment (2 of 4)

It is said that once the reaper has a target in his sight, he will never blink until the final blow is struck. His gaze reveals the perfect place to strike, and he never misses. You have been granted a lesser form of this ability. Once activated, you will be able to see the best place to strike for a critical attack. This will be enhanced by your anatomy knowledge, to the point that having it mastered will show not only the location but proper angle with which to strike in order to do maximum damage. This effect lasts until either you strike your target or blink your eyes.

Activation cost: 100 mana

Cooldown: 5 minutes

“Congratulations on your advancement, brother. You will find that when checking your tattoo, it has merely gained depth and shading.”

“Thank you brother, but what is this notification about champion level monsters sacrificed?”

“In order to progress to becoming a priest, you not only have to gain the proper favor, but sacrifice three champion level monsters. In case you aren’t aware, they generate far more favor than a regular sacrifice.”

“Thanks for the tip, but I had figured that out. Probably something about them being a more fitting sacrifice?”

“Indeed. Now, how are you progressing in your ability to start the quest for Thanatos?”

“I leave for that tomorrow. I have gained mystic vision, and have a general idea of where to start.”

“Excellent. I wish you luck, and speed on your endeavors. Remember, things need the cycle of death in order to maintain balance.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. Unfortunately, I have to go now. Thank you for your assistance.” Walking out of the temple, I headed back to the inn to logout.