Eric choked back a fresh groan. Before he dared do anything else… he had repairs of his own to attend to.

He glared down at the ruptured handful of crimson scales making up his armor, not even surprised to see them slipping into place and repairing themselves before his eyes with the tiniest trickle of his excess potency. He didn’t even need to go into his ES Space to alter his soul-bound equipment anymore, such was the connection to his armor and his growing Flesh Sculptor Proficiency. Yet his ability to repair it wasn't the issue. It was the fact that his elite Greater Lizard hide armor had broken at all.

He grimaced and spat coppery-tasting bile before lurching into a thankfully abandoned building, a quick glare all around reviewing no trace of lurking humans or anyone else, his ears picking up no soft, shadowy footsteps presaging an ambush.

Still, he made sure to fasten the chain lock of the residence he had thought nothing of breaking into as he shoved a bed in front of the tiny bedroom he now found himself in, tuning out the screams and roars in the distance, the sounds of distant gunfire, as well as the still shockingly painful regrowth of mangled organs as he glared down at the former rent in his armor.

"Too fucking weak. I nearly got killed by a single spear throw to the gut, from an asshole who couldn't have been more than level fifteen." He chuckled bitterly, shaking his head. "I need to get stronger. But what the hell else is new?" He sighed, wanting nothing more than to crack open an ice-cold brew, before thinking better of pouring alcohol into a perforated intestine.

He then placed his hand on his armor and leaned back, a part of him desperate to fall asleep, but he knew he had absolutely no time.

So instead, he pulled out his bone bow, his lips curving into a bitter smile at the graphic depictions of torment that had been etched into its surface. No longer the twisted musings of a fallen lich, it now showcased tiny crimson effigies of the orcs he had butchered.

He forced himself to focus and ignore the awful abdominal pain before flexing the weapon, sensing the fearsome power coiled within. A power that allowed it to shoot arrows with such speed that they could crack the sound barrier.

He spent long moments contemplating the artifact in its hands, trusting his gut sense that somehow, this weapon held the key.

His fingers brushed limbs capable of such power when he infused them with the Essence of Wrath before compelling them to spring back with a fierce surge of will.

Willpower linked to his Flesh Sculptor skill, which was itself just one branch along the Path of Dominion within the dark tree of Necromancy that came so naturally to him. A branch that now held affinity to both his essence, and his craft.

His eyes abruptly widened, an excited smile coming to his exhausted features as fatigue was replaced with exhilaration. An exhilaration that nearly matched the incredible relief he felt when his shredded entails and ruptured organ finally twisted back into place, awful grinding agony and confusion instantly replaced by sweetest relief and brilliant comprehension.

Because it was so obvious.

His bow, infused with the Essence of Wrath, even as it bent to his will and maintained its shape. A bow that should have shattered many times over, with the amount of strain he was putting it under, were it not also infused with the very Essence of Dominion, just as much as it was the Essence of Wrath.

Essence he now attempted to infuse into the scale armor he wore, eyes alighting with something close to awe when he sensed the scales gain a weight, a presence, they never had before.

Even as his temporary Soul Reserves began to dwindle, and his Potency reserves as well.

Congratulations! You have unlocked a new Essence related skill!

Dominion’s Resilience will allow you to pour a bit of your potential into the object of your choice, giving it a strength and resiliency unmatched by any mundane equivalent, allowing no inferior object to violate the integrity of its domain! You will find it far easier to strengthen artifacts with ties to your soul!

You have successfully infused 57 scales with unparalleled resilience!

Potency cost: 57% of Level 9 reserves!

Dominion’s Resilience is now Rank 2!

Eric felt a fierce sense of satisfaction even as his experience pool drained once more at an alarming rate, somehow certain that each of the now pearlescent scales he had poured so much of himself into would stand up to even a Javelineer’s armor piercing throw. Or at least, to the degree that he had faced up to now. He shuddered at the thought of ever facing level 30 Javelineers or worse, but was almost certain that at least the scales he had reinforced would be able to endure anything below that degree of killing force.

He shook his head, gazing down at the armor he had disrobed and placed on the ground before him with a singular act of will. His fingers gently brushed the larger scales comprising the chest and front half of his barbute style helm, having also made sure to infuse the bone frame of his helmet, and the half-gorget seemlessly incorporated into his exquisitely flexible armor, assuring that even his neck had decent protection. But as for the rest of his armor, countless hundreds of much smaller and not quite as critical scales, he lacked the time, Soul Reserves, or experience pool to pour himself into strengthening.

He chuckled bitterly.

Because he hadn't even had a chance to strengthen the hundreds of fine scales protecting his mid and lower abdomen, such that the very disemboweling blow he had suffered earlier he could so easily suffer again.

But at least now, a spear thrust to his chest by a powerful classer wouldn’t mean instant death.

At least now, he had a chance.

And if he was right… even musket fire would fail to penetrate, though he suspected that had already been the case, at least for the lead shot. And bones that would surely crack under even a kevlar vest would hopefully hardly feel a twinge at 26 Vitality.

He then pulled out his precious shield, comprised of a single massive heart-scale, having waited until he had at least leveled up his skill once and got a better feel how to instinctively use it before daring to saturate his shield with so much of his life force that he felt his experience pool rapidly plummeting to zero.

It was all he could do not to panic and lose all focus under the weight of dread at the thought of losing more months or years of his life, before the massive plummet finally began to level off, his interface dinging with a message the a filled him with both joy and relief.

You have successfully infused Soul-linked heart-scale shield with the Essence of Dominion. Your artifact is now Inviolate!

Dominion’s Resilience is now Rank 3!

Insights gleaned while learning to harness the Essence of Dominion and multiple acts involving the manipulation of your creations has enhanced your necromantic arts as a whole!

Rituals of Summoning and Binding is now Rank 15!