Accidental Reaver

Luke sucked in his teeth when he read over Whispering Tome's second form. He truly created another partner for himself. He pushed himself against one of the pagoda's pillars, cracking it and catching Xera in the process, ensuring the artifact didn't clatter to the floor from his lap. After laying her against the red pillar, Luke overviewed the ethereal, star-like blade.

[Ghost Blade] (Two Faced)

Level: 50

Stats: +75 Elemental Damage

Active - Vengeful Wail: A wail pervades to all who can hear it. Disorients, interrupting all attacks, regardless of type. Unaffected by tier, level, or resistances. Primary target will experience ruined balance and altered body function for five seconds. Shares cooldown with Silent Domain. (2 Minute Cooldown)

Passive - Dual Wield: Ghost Blade is weightless and assists the wielder's coordination, dual wield penalty is brought to the minimum. Slightly alters wielder's swing style. Ghost Blade may float at will.

Passive - Two Faced: Ghost Blade returns to Whispering Tome when no longer affected by wielder's illusions. Elemental talents will produce a reasonably different appearance, currently, ice to water. May adapt if wielder becomes competent in a second element.

Passive - Ghost Enchant: Ghost Blade responds to the wielder's intentions through its barest sentience, runes will swirl around it in a cyclone while enchanting, acting as a stabilizer and passive assistant, bringing enchanting difficulty down through streamlining and simplicity.

Requirements: Level 50, Tier 1, Mana or Essence Based Class

The spirit of a black blade forms the core of this ethereal weapon.

If Rune wasn't his Runic Enchanting identity before, it was now. Ghost Enchant would make the process easier than before. In combination with Xera's and Wayfinder's support in that profession, Luke felt the preconceived barriers shatter before he met them. His only way to apply illusions to Whispering Tome would be the Black Metal Mask—bringing about Ghost Blade.

For a short time, he got up and did a sword dance around the pagoda, trying to envision the differences compared to his subconscious style. The arcs were sharper; he found wielding the weapon difficult without connecting to it through frost.

As described, when he brought frost forth, it turned into water visually, swirling around the blade, allowing a firm grip over the ghostly weapon. In the peaceful realm bereft of any hostile targets, he decided to practice Vengeful Wail later. The lack of weight took some getting used to, but the swing speed eclipsed what he could perform with Xera. The Reaver looked forward to figuring out how Ghost Enchant would assist in future crafting sessions.

He released Ghost Blade, causing it to float peacefully next to him, incomprehensible whispers came from the artifact. Unmasking himself, Ghost Blade returned to its Whispering Tome appearance, a tome etched with a black blade on either cover. Swapping to his typical gear setup, Luke put the artifacts in their usual positions and stored away his other possessions, except the Armor Tokens. After the recent Blood Forge hogging spree, and the four arena challengers, he possessed over twenty, more than enough for his purposes.

Reviewing any gear he had that could be upgraded by the item, rare quality items level 40 or below, Luke applied the tokens to Asani's Jerkin, and Patchwork Ring, the only applicable items. Hunter's Ice Blessed Trousers, and its boots counterpart in a set were exceptional quality, unable to be upgraded by the Vampire Smith Armor Tokens. Luke made a note to visit Dejen later, in case something could be done about it.

Patchwork Ring didn't previously have an item level assigned to it, but after three Armor Tokens, it stopped upgrading, leading Luke to believe it previously required level twenty-five or thereabouts to use it. Asani's Jerkin required four tokens, beefing it up from a level 20 rare to a level 40 one. He examined both items.

[Asani's Jerkin]

Quality: Rare

Armor: 18

Stats: +22 Agility +22 Intellect

Passive- Asani's Creation: Grants 15 Poison Resistance as long as Asani's Jerkin is equipped. Slowly weaves itself back together from all but the most heinous fabric damage.

Requirements: Level 40

[Patchwork Ring]

Quality: Rare

Stats: +20 Strength

Active - Patchwork: When a bodily area is severely wounded, patches it back together, good as new. May only activate once a day.

Requirements: Level 40

He'd received additional armor, five poison resistance, and another handful of agility, intellect, and strength for his efforts. Luke stowed away the leftover Armor Tokens. Their usefulness ran its course. Since he'd recently visited Sooty, Luke wanted to hold off on going into the illusion training realm. Practicing Essence Lance or Essence Fissure until the abilities leveled up became a tempting idea. Coming back in the evening with enough Beast Crystals to gift Sooty another passive ability fit with Luke.

He exited Musai's isolated realm, entering the usual ground floor. The attendants busied about on their work. Luke ate a small meal in the cafeteria before going past the Black Arch. As soon as he did, something felt off. He scanned the conjoined room separating the two branches. The Defier portraits, artificial blue sun in the vaulted ceiling, benches, request board, and other various furniture were the same as usual. A minority of hunters glanced at him, but no one seemed to be boring a hole into the back of his neck as he felt.

Writing it off as tension, but not entirely convinced, Luke slowly exited the building, passing by the four founding Defier statues. Across the night sky, the twin moons showed signs of fading, pointing to the last night hour. The streets and stores remained scantly populated, the earliest morning workers, business owners preparing to open their shops, and the obviously tired guard patrols going down their lanes. Heavy humidity remained in the air, causing damp water to form around Luke, which froze without any effort from him. He consciously tried to prevent it from happening once the interaction started to take place.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Keeping a hand on Xera's hilt, Luke strode into the streets, hanging about the right side. Since the Four Armormen alleyway happened to be between where he was and the portal building around the Defier's Guild, he checked in there. Knocking on the blue metal door, a sliding eye gate slid, revealing yellow feline eyes scrutinizing Luke.

The Reaver held up the token to grant him access. Kelic, the ornery Tora doorman, hissed in disapproval, but otherwise let Luke through.

As he walked by, Kelic sat down on his wooden, creaky chair, crossing his arms, kicking a leg up over the opposite knee. He wore some low-quality black leather get-up that revealed plenty of his grey fur around the arms, upper chest, and lower legs. The uniform was different from the last time he saw him.

Glancing at the four stores within the cul-de-sac, Luke asked Kelic, "Dejen coming in today? Or working already?"

Consistent with disdain toward Luke, Kelic shut an eye, slightly turning his head away, "Use your eyes, fool. Are the lights on in the store? It's this late at night-"

"Extra early in the morning," Luke countered

The tora's fur bristled all over as his mouth broke into a snarl, "Don't you put words in my mouth, furless boy. Count yourself lucky that I tolerate your stupidity,"

"Shut up, dumb cat! I'll blast that angry look right off your face. Luke, wand me up, please." Xera said, her crystal rapidly oscillating.

Kelic motioned to stand up from his chair, hand on his weapon again. His tail flicked about. Honestly, Luke still was dumbfounded by the cat's hostile behavior over minor reasons.

Luke internally sighed, Getting along with this one is impossible, just one question set him off. Do I appear so easily walked over?

Trying not to commit murder in the morning, Luke flash froze the tora from the shoulders down. One moment, Kelic was hearty and hale, the next, solid ice entombed him.

"Conflict is inevitable with you, Kelic. Just answer the question, will you? Is Dejen here? If not, will he be here soon?"

Met with silence, Luke almost respected the tora's persistent refusal to what should've been a simple request. Snapping a finger, the Reaver commanded frost to inch across the rest of Kelic's body, "A gander on my own it is, enjoy the refreshing cold."

Sounds of struggle came from within the ice and frost cocoon, but the key component of cracking ice remained absent. Kelic's strength too low to break free anytime soon. The Reaver would let the needlessly stupid tora go when his business got dealt with.

Checking on the leatherworking store, Luke knocked on the door for a time, but there was no reaction. When doubts started to creep into his mind, Luke overheard a scampering movement on the other side of the door. A tora—with a more amicable personality—answered the door, with reddened eyes from lack of sleep.

"Master Defier, it's you. Ordinarily, shop hours don't open for another two hours, but I'll make an exception in your case, my daughter's savior. How can I help you?"

"The two items you made for me are still among my best pieces. Is there a way to get them upgraded in item level? Preferably level 50 if possible."

The door opened up further as Dejen said, "Master Defier, come inside if you will."

Trying not to make the old wooden floor creak too much, Luke stepped inside the store, the displays across the room had been updated recently. Dejen tapped on some wall crystal, and low light glittered from the plaster roof. Leaning against the front desk used to attend to customers, Dejen pointed to a leather chair nearby and said, "Can I get you anything to drink, Master Defier? And please, make yourself comfortable with the chair."

Well hydrated, and not in the mood for anything along the lines of coffee, Luke declined, but seated himself on the older leather chair, "Thanks for the offer. I'm not thirsty, currently."

Nodding, Dejen said, "Ask anytime if you change your mind. The two items you wear remain my best pieces so far. Working day and night since then, my skill level has improved, and with the correct materials, I could raise them to level thirty-five myself."

The tora picked up a piece of scrap leather, his claws slicing into it, "As a prideful craftsman, a lackluster result like that is far from repaying you for what you did for my family. While my skill currently doesn't meet your needs, the shop owner, Kelthula, could head the project, with me as an assistant, turning those items into level 50 quality should take us no more than six hours once we start."

Resting a cheek against a fist while tiling his head, Luke questioned, "Anything you need for it? Kelthula isn't—hold on," Luke closed an eye, trying to sense the area around him, other than the feeling of being watched, no other living beings were within the store, "she's not here. Any idea when she'll show?"

"She leaves the morning hours lately to me. Lester comes in at the official start time. Since becoming the junior third crafter, the opening is my duty. If you are in a hurry, I can contact her, master hunter, and have her come in." Setting down the shredded scrap leather, Dejen appeared to be making mental calculations, glancing at the boots and leg items Luke wore, "We would need various rare quality leather and clothing working materials, with one 'core piece' to be used to upgrade your set items. Do you have anything of that quality? We have the rare quality leather on hand. The core piece is something that would take days to procure otherwise."

Dejen seemed apologetic that he couldn't immediately resolve the issue for Luke. If the Reaver had to pay for the other supporting materials, he would gladly do so. When Dejen mentioned a core material, one object came to mind. Even if it didn't fit the bill, Luke believed it could be swapped for something that did.

A twisted spine bone, black and red, summoned itself to Luke's hand. The Reaver offered it up to Dejen, saying, "I picked this off of Arjanax. Do you think you could use this to trade for what you need?"

Dejen cautiously touched the object, before wrenching his hand back in shock, "Arjanax's Core Bone? Master hunter, this item is much too valuable to entrust to me, I-"

"I'm entrusting it to you because it's you, Dejen. The value is of little consequence. The important thing is to turn what I have into immediate strength. Using this thing up a little ineffectively is worth it if I'm better prepared for the Tide."

Bowing, the tora said, "The owner of either the chain specialization store or plate store would be elated to offer their best materials if it could get their hands on Arjanax's Core Bone. You'd be making them owe you a favor. This will be all we need; we can gather the rest on short notice."

The Reaver tossed Arjanax's Core Bone to Dejen, who scrambled to catch it, treating it like a precious diamond. "If I come by later in the morning, will everything be ready for me to hand off the Hunter's Ice Blessed Boots and Pants you made for me?"

"Absolutely, master Defier. Every maker involved will prepare things as fast as possible. I'll begin contacting the proper parties to swap for the perfect core material needed for the job, and alert Kelthula of your need."

Getting up and putting a hand on Dejen's left shoulder, Luke said, "Counting on you, Dejen. Don't let me down here. Be back after sweeping out some pockets at the arena." Not waiting for a response, Luke left the shop, walked right by the still-frozen Kelic, and only allowed the unreasonable cat to thaw long after he exited the crafter's enclave.

Rolling gray mists sifted along the road horizontally, despite it being a usually well used side road, not a soul was in sight. The fringes of night still clung to the sky. Shimmering magic played with reality at the edges of Luke's sight.

This isn't natural. Luke's keen senses were going off.

Unsheathing Xera, Luke subconsciously applied Infusion and Essence Bond to the artifact before she was fully unveiled to the world.

Glancing all about himself, Luke sneered, "How much longer are we going to play this game? I feel your disgusting gaze in every step I take. Come out."