This time, Hunter resolved to be more intelligent about the way he upgraded his equipment. He stored all of his equipment—with the exception of Goldwrap—into his storage ring. He was going to wear the gear one at a time, and if the cumulative influence of the items started to overwhelm his Willpower, then he would remove it and switch it out for one of the standard weapons in the armory. When all the equipment was stowed, Hunter padded his way toward the arsenal.

It felt like it had been a while since Hunter had been there last. It couldn’t have only been a day or two, but time in the Rift was strange. The days felt like they took twice as long, and the nights flew by too quickly. There wasn’t a clock on Hunter’s HUD, so he couldn’t be sure of the time, but he assumed that it was just the unnatural presence of the Rift and not any time-wimey shenanigans.

When Hunter entered the armory, he took a deep breath. His Covetous Eyes were always active. Now that he was surrounded by identifiable equipment, their descriptions flooded his vision. Hunter had to actively dismiss their presence before a migraine started to develop. The damaged visage was an interesting item, but sometimes it wasn’t practical.

The warrior made some room on one of the wooden tables and then pulled his armaments from their storage. He placed them neatly on the surface and admired them. The glint of gold was soothing to his greedy heart. Willpower or no, humanity had always been attracted to things that shine. The desire was more apparent when shininess had a direct correlation with survival.

Looking at his equipment, Hunter considered the kind of fighting style he wanted to adopt. During his battles, he realized that the Archives depended heavily upon visualization. When Hunter was using mana manipulation, it was important that he imagined the effect his mana would have. Without visualization, his projectiles would explode too early or have random effects that weren’t always positive. He couldn’t be sure if the same process would hold true for his armor, but Hunter wanted to try.

With that thought in mind, he focused on what his armor should be. Ideally, his equipment would compensate for the weaknesses of his attributes. It should provide staying power and defense. Right now, he was a glass cannon that relied on mediocre sword skills, surprise attacks, and his Flames of Avarice. Each item should work together in some way to ensure survivability. It was fine for it to absorb energy, but there were a few effects that did little to help him in combat. He wanted better defense, more stealth, and better firepower.

Hunter started with his most important item, his focus. He used Midas touch to convert the various types of gloves in the armory. Hunter started with the heavier gauntlets because the young warrior wanted a focus that could provide both defense and offense—something halfway between a shield and a magical wand. In between each gauntlet, he fed his item with the focuses from the many imps he had slain.

Hunter fed the focus with one item at a time while visualizing what he wanted. After he ran through a third of his stock of focuses and an equal number of gauntlets, his equipment started to change. The armored glove began by growing a thicker panel of armor along the back of the hand and forearm. It thickened and lengthened until it resembled a quasi-shield on his arm. It hung off of either side of the glove by a couple of inches and extended until it was over where his elbow would be. Each finger ended in an articulated metal with razor-sharp edges.

On the bottom of the palm, a fat emerald blossomed until it took up the majority of his palm. It was a thin layer of gemstone, so it would make gripping things more difficult but not impossible. When the structural changes were complete, the metal shifted from entirely gold to a matte black. Each metal piece was tripped in gold, and Hunter could see tiny curling script on every edge. When it stopped transforming, Hunter checked the description.

Cynosure of Avarice (Lvl 10): The uncommon-tier focus is used to transform mana into a Flame of Avarice. In addition to causing fire damage, Flames of Avarice have the ability to bypass half of the target’s defense to steal mana, health, and stamina. While mana-starved, demonic corruption will be exponentially increased. This item is part of the Mantle of Greed Set. When worn with the rest of the set, this item has the ability to absorb soul energy.

Hunter was surprised by the final entry in the equipment. Thus far, he hadn’t heard anything about soul energy in his travel. The young warrior guessed that soul energy was the gray wisp that his damaged visage stole from enemies. He hadn’t seen much use from the effect. The mask hadn’t repaired itself even though he fed a third of his enemies into its hungry maw.

Shrugging, he strapped the cynosure on his right arm and waited a minute for any ill effects to present themselves. When none did, he continued upgrading his gear one by one and trying them all on before moving to the next. At the end of it, he didn’t feel different, but Hunter also recognized that greed had struck him at the most inopportune moments. Overall, his new equipment was…

badass.

Cynosure of Avarice (Lvl 10): The uncommon-tier focus is used to transform mana into a Flame of Avarice. In addition to causing fire damage, Flames of Avarice have the ability to bypass half of the target’s defense to steal mana, health, and stamina. While mana-starved, demonic corruption will be exponentially increased. This item is part of the Mantle of Greed Set. When worn with the rest of the set, this item has the ability to absorb soul energy. This effect is enhanced with further evolution.

Blanket of Avarice (Lvl 10): This uncommon-tier cloak is used to hide the wearer from detection. While wearing the cloak, the bearers personal information cannot be identified. Additionally, the fabric has the ability to mimic the wearer’s background perfectly. This item is part of the Mantle of Greed Set. When worn with the rest of the set, the bearer gains active control over its camouflage abilities. This effect is enhanced with further evolution.

Grasp of Avarice (Lvl 10): This uncommon-tier gauntlet absorbs mana, health, and stamina from any object it touches. Additionally, weapons used with this gauntlet are twice as effective when ambushing an enemy. This is especially effective against Heavenly or unaffiliated enemies. This item is part of the Mantle of Greed Set. When worn with the rest of the set, this item has the ability to corrupt any target it touches, whether it be living or inert. This effect is enhanced with further evolution.

Trappings of Avarice (Lvl 10): This uncommon-tier padded tunic and pair of trousers are designed to be worn under other forms of armor and helps them to reduce blunt force attacks. When both items are worn together, the bearer’s body temperature is regulated by insulating against all usual environmental effects. Additionally, the fabric has the ability to mimic the wearer’s background perfectly. This item is part of the Mantle of Greed Set. When worn with the rest of the set, the bearer gains active control over its camouflage abilities. This effect is enhanced with further evolution.

Treads of Avarice (Lvl 10): This uncommon-tier pair of boots are designed to ease the strain of travel. While worn, these boots provide a boost to movement-skills, increasing their efficiency and leveling speed, and all footsteps are silenced. This item is a part of the Mantle of Greed Set. When worn with the rest of the set, this item allows the wearer to traverse hazardous terrain as if it were normal ground. This effect is enhanced with further evolution.

Wrap of Avarice (Lvl 10): The uncommon-tier girdle is used to protect the wearer while helping them store their ill-gotten gains. Each pouch is its own Bag of Holding with a higher capacity than a typical Ring of Holding. Each space can be designated with a particular item type, and when an item is placed within a bag, it will automatically be moved to the correct pouch. When a currency is placed within the Goldwrap, it is automatically converted into the next higher denomination. This item is part of the Mantle of Greed Set. When worn with the rest of the set, stolen items do not count against the Goldwrap’s storage capacity.

Bastion of Avarice (Lvl 10): This chainmail, breastplate, and pauldron combination are used to protect the wearer and their spoils. When all items are worn together, they absorb a flat percentage of energy from every incoming attack, whether it be physical or elemental in nature, and reflects it against the attacker. This item is part of the Mantle of Greed Set. When worn with the rest of the set, once a day the Bastion will prevent deadly damage. If this power is activated, wearer's mana and stamina will be drained to zero, and the user will enter a mana-starved state. This effect is enhanced with further evolution.

With the exception of his sword, which only gained levels and didn’t acquire any new effects, every other piece of equipment transformed visually and operationally. Every item was matte black and trimmed in gold. His armor had become more robust and taken on razored edges and taken on diminutive elegant script. It looked both arcane and practical. It was awesome. As for functionality, all of the useless skills had been stripped away and replaced with skills that were more useful to combat. It seemed that visualization when applied to the evolution process was a resounding success.

However, reading the last notification, Hunter realized that it wasn’t all good. If he were hit by an attack that would normally kill him, sure his armor might save him. However, he might be overpowered by demonic influence and become something worse than dead. He really didn’t know. What he was sure of was that he needed to escape the Rift. The more time he spent here, the more life was passing him by in the real world. Hunter had allowed that to go on for long enough before the Archives. He wasn’t willing to let it continue.