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Crimson Fang

Katana - Epic

Scaling:

Strength: X 32 Dexterity: X 28

Endurance: X 15 Charisma: X 10

Active Skills:

Crimson Deluge: Channel Crimson Fang for 5 seconds, releasing a wave of blood energy that damages and knocks back all enemies in a cone-shaped area. The damage dealt equals 20% of the damage you suffered in the last 5 minutes.

Cooldown: 5 minutes

Blood Sacrifice:

By reapplying all the damage you have received at the last minute, you can trigger a devastating attack that ignores 50% of the target's defense.

Killing people with Blood Sacrifice grants while at max frenzy stacks a permanent +1% damage bonus to Crimson Fang, stacking up to 50 times.

Cooldown: 3 minutes

Current damage bonus: 50%

Passive Skills:

Blood Thirst: Each attack with the Crimson Fang that is able to draw blood gives it a frenzy stack, increasing its size by damage by 5% and the scaling by 1%, stacking up to 25 times. When the frenzy stack reaches 25, the next skill deals an additional 50% damage, and the blade returns to the original size. When Crimson Fang reaches its maximum size, the blade glows red.

Crimson Edge: Every critical hit with Crimson Fang applies a bleeding debuff to the target, dealing damage over time for 5 seconds. The damage dealt is equal to 10% of the initial critical hit damage.

Corrupted Blood:

Bleeding effects caused by this weapon change how the target behaves in relation to healing. The area around the bleeding becomes corrupted, and any healing will instead damage that wound.

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Hera was staring at the katana on the ground. The team had gathered the corpses and brought them to their temporary camp. They needed a safer place to go through all of their things. For now, the Empress was unsure if she should add this weapon to her court. It was powerful, but it killed a lot of people. Also, it was unique enough to possibly cause problems. Not many people walked around with a completely black katana, from the scabbard to blade, with only a thin red line going along the cutting edge as if it had just drawn blood. The [Blood Sacrifice] skill bothered her since it talked specifically about defeating and killing people. The human could've gone to a dungeon that had people to stack that buff, but she doubted. However, what made her even more uncomfortable was the cloak that was beside it.

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Crimson Embrace - Cloak - Absorption

Active Skills:

Scarlet Shroud: Wrap the cloak around any weapon, causing it to grow in size and gain increased damage for 10 seconds. The bonus damage scales with the user's Strength, and the duration increases with the weapon's size.

Cooldown: 2 minutes

Blood Pact: By taking 20% of the damage you received at the last minute, you can bind the cloak to a nearby ally again, sharing a portion of the damage you take for 30 seconds. While linked, both wearer and ally gain a +10% bonus to movement speed and attack speed.

Defeating enemies while Blood Pact is active grants a stacking +1% damage reduction to the cloak, up to a maximum of 5%.

Cooldown: 5 minutes

Passive Skills:

Crimson Bulwark: When taking damage, the cloak absorbs a portion (20%) and converts it into a temporary shield that lasts for 5 seconds. The shield's strength scales with the user's Endurance.

Vampiric Bite: Whenever the wearer is severely injured and strikes an enemy, the wearer siphons a small amount of life force to heal themselves:

1% life steal per successful strike.

Bloodied Fury: As the wearer takes damage, the cloak's red hue deepens. Each threshold of damage grants a 2% bonus to Strength and Dexterity, stacking up to 5 times. This bonus resets upon healing by other means than the ones given by the Crimson Embrace.

The cloak pulsates with a faint red light in combat, increasing the user's chance to parry or dodge attacks by 5%.

Echoes of the Fallen:

Upon landing a killing blow in an intelligence species that leaves a corpse behind, part of the slain enemy is absorbed by Crimson Embrace, granting a temporary buff based on the enemy type for 1 day. Each effect can stack up to 10 times.

Buffs:

Human: +10% Attack speed

Beastmen + 2% Critical hit chance

Dwarf +10% Defense

Elf: + 10 % magic damage

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All in all, it was a great cloak, but that last skill made her stomach turn. If there were any doubts about what was considered an 'intelligent species,' the list of known buffs spelled things out for her. This was an item made for killers, for people who quite literally wanted to use others to get stronger. In a way, it was hypocritical of her to judge them for this, but at the same time, her reason for killing them was different. Or at least, that's what she had to tell herself.

"That is one nasty item," Flint, who was also staring at the cloak, mumbled.

"Yeah… but why are Triton, Children of the Sky, and Ophidianite not on the list?" Neria frowned.

"I think this means that he, or whoever used this cloak, never killed one of us," Hera replied.

"And… I don't want to be the one to say this, but this feels a bit racist. It's not just because it's something that gets stronger if it kills us. But why does every beastmen give the same buff?" Roan grumbled.

"I know what you mean. Elves giving extra magic damage is so stereotypical that it hurts," Skyler crossed her arms.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"Yeah. The other skills seem pretty great, but I can't think about using it," the Empress sighed.

"How about the katana? Are you going to use or should I melt it down?" Flint turned to the Ophidianite.

"That one I'm more ok with using. The idea of having to kill people to make it stronger is not great, but maybe it can be done inside a dungeon. After all, there is no mention of 'leaving a corpse behind' in that one."

"Fair enough. How about the rest?" Flint gestured to the other weapons the humans used, a longsword, a spear, a pair of daggers, and a pair of gauntlets. They had checked their attributes, but none of them was particularly interesting. They had mostly movement abilities. Things made to help you escape. Unfortunately for them, their job was to carry the box, and without it, they couldn't just try to run.

"Does anyone want this girl's pants?" Skyler was looking at the body of one of the two women in the human group. She stopped after seeing everyone's odd looks, "I know this sounds really bad, and I'm not going to wear this right now. Not before washing this thoroughly! But her pants have some good skills. Besides, they are pretty and my size."

"Don't… people crap their pants when they die? I remember hearing about that, and by the smell, it seems to be the case," Vash turned to the dead bodies.

"I said, I'm washing this thoroughly!" Skyler huffed.

"Are the skills really that good to make them worth all this trouble?" Neria looked over the bodies. More than anyone, she wasn't taking their actions well. Even if the triton understood that they had to do this, it still wasn't easy.

"Yeah, two movement-based skills. One of them is great for running away and an auditory illusion skill to make it seem like the sound I make comes from a different place. Considering the type of magic I use, those are amazing, especially on pants," Skyler explained.

In fact, they had found a handful of interesting items. Mostly accessories since the katana was the only weapon the team decided to take for themselves. They also had some potions and other consumables that could be useful or give them some insight into what the humans were up to. But the most important find, well, the two most important finds, were Forge, being able to remember what happened with the Spirit, and a couple of handwritten notebooks that were in the box. Those were hidden inside a thicker side of the metal case. Unfortunately, a good part of that material was encoded, which stopped any of the team members from understanding it. But that was a problem for the Alliance. They were the ones who had to figure out. All the Harmony Guardians had to do was find these materials and take them to them.

After getting every potentially useful item from the humans and leaving them behind in their underwear and cloaks came the next and more gruesome part. Nimbus carried the bodies one by one, flying around in the room, and dropped them near various monsters. They were close enough to make it seem like they were caught by creatures and then dragged around. In addition, the team also used some fire and acid spells to damage the bodies and the black cloaks that had no skills. This was suggested by Neria since finding traces of bodies but not their clothes would be strange. Then again, even if some of the monsters here were capable of using acid, their spell wouldn't be all that powerful. It was very likely that the first thing the humans would think was foul play.

Still, it wasn't like they wouldn't think the Alliance was the reason for this group to disappear. Doing this with the bodies was just a way to stall for time, remove the evidence, and make it harder for anyone to figure out who they were and where they were going. In addition, to leave the room, they had another plan. Nimbus would carry everyone, one by one, to the doorway they would take to reach the closest Alliance-controlled city. Vash didn't need that help, but everyone else did.

They all crossed to the next room, with Hera being the last one to go. Before heading out, she had one more thing to do, "Nimbus, get back to the legacy. Forge, you come out. Daskka and Dusa, both of you, should also be in the legacy. Just in case."

Everyone obeyed the Empress. Vulcan reappeared in front of her while the rest of the members of the court vanished.

"How are you feeling?" Hera asked.

"Fine," Forge grumbled, already knowing what was about to happen.

"OK then. Are you ready? Do you have any questions about what we are doing?"

"I do have a question. Nothing to do with this. Why did you give me the title of Vulcan? Everyone else has a 'The something.' Why was I different?"

"Oh?" Hera was taken aback by that question, "Honestly. I just felt like it fit. Like Forge is less of a name than what everyone else has. If I could change, I would've swapped. Called you 'Vulcan the Forge.' But that wasn't an option. Once you become part of the legacy, I can't change your name later. I'm sorry if it bothered you."

"No… that is … quite nice actually. You gave me a name that I can use with others. People can address me as Vulcan, thinking I'm a person like the rest of the court. Thank you."

"To be fair, Crimson is not exactly a name, and Viper works more as a nickname."

"Don't you have a friend called Blue? How is Crimson different?" Vulcan stared at Hera like she was crazy.

"Fair point. But I'm glad you liked your title/name. Would you prefer if we called you Vulcan or Forge?"

"Vulcan. It makes me feel more on the same level as the others."

"Will do. I'll ask the court and the team to do the same," Hera smiled before glancing at the doorway again, "Now, do you mind if we do that? I don't want to leave the others waiting too much."

"Of course," Vulcan nodded and turned around. He took a deep breath and activated the [Daemon Form] skill. His fur started to change to a deep red as his muscles inflated in an unnatural way. The areas of his face that were not scarred and wounded shifted to mirror the other side. Rows of teeth became exposed on the side of his face that was usually hidden by his cheeks, and the apron turned red, unraveling from his body and warping around the hammer, making the handle longer.

Forge roared and slammed his weapon on the ground, saliva dripping from his mouth like an animal with rabies. He jumped forward, trying to swing at the air, then at the nearby ruins, lashing out wildly.

"Vulcan? Can you hear me?"

"Yeah!" he growled, his eyes filled with rage.

Hera called Dusa on her head, testing to see if Forge would attack something she was wearing. The titled blade didn't seem to mind and just continued slamming the surrounding area. The Empress still wanted to do more tests, but she realized that the marks could become a problem. Maybe the humans would notice this and connect the dots that they left through here.

"Vulcan, we'll test more later. Come back now."

Forge returned to the legacy, and Hera turned around to cross to a new room. Before she touched the notification to start the transfer, she realized she could already call Vulcan again. This probably meant that the [Hearth of a Phoenix] skill would still work when using the [Daemon Form]. That was one more test she could cross out, but there were still many more to go.