Sworded Affair

Chapter 110: Full Fathom Five

A final fifty Thrones hit the bowl, vanishing with all the rest.

[Choose 1 of 3 Attributes for your Crystalline Core: (5)

Atom Bomb Baby: This item constantly emits a lethal dose of gamma radiation.

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: This item teleports to a random location every 24 hours.

One Ring to Rule Them All: The bearer of this item cannot wear any other jewellery.]

"Oh thank God," Emma sighed as she read the third and final option. "That was looking really bad for a moment there."

Looking over the five choices before her, it didn't take too long to make her decision.

"Compact is still the best for reliability in all circumstances; extra space isn't worth a five second cast time, and the less said about Explosive the better. Spill the Tea was locked in from the beginning, since the end result needs to be capable of holding living beings; keeping idiots from their hair trigger is just a bonus on top.

Masquerade, because it's better being able to hide than keep extra guns or poisons; I say extra, but I don't even have any of the former, and only what Epitaph puts out for the latter, if that even counts. The Elephant in the Room, for extra storage space and synergy in keeping animals calm; its not like I need to carry corpses, or whatever the hell that third option is.

Finally, One Ring to Rule Them All; the only choice of the three that isn't a dealbreaker."

[Cover the bowl.]

An immediate mental command brought walls of packed earth to the surface, the Earthbound Immortal exerting itself to expedite construction. The summon vanished, returning to Emma's soul with its job done; Sir Bearington immediately appearing in its place such that Emma's empty homunculus landed on his back instead of the hard floor.

It didn't stop the light; not completely, a searing yellow that managed to hurt, even through three feet of earth and a body that shouldn't have been capable of feeling pain. Emma was tempted to activate Null and Void, if not for the suspicion that disrupting the light would also ruin the crafting process. Instead, she settled on Ephemera, and was glad to find that intangibility reduced the pain significantly.

Noah had likewise activated his defences; a transparent blue barrier covering him.

[Shieldwall Spike: All damage taken is dealt five fold to Mana instead of HP. This item breaks when the wearer's mana hits 0.]

"Huh. Where's the spike?" Emma frowned, looking for an item on Noah's body that matched the description, but coming up blank.

[The Spike is applied intravenously, and binds itself to the bearer's bloodstream. This is one of those items that are very much single-use; no refunds or borrowing allowed. Not that it would work on you anyway; the living have a different relationship to mana than the dead.]

"I was thinking it'd be good protection for the homunculus. It almost died by accident last time; and while I don't expect it to become as durable as my main body, that's just laughably bad."

[An option perhaps, if it develops a class with an abundance of mana. The rate of conversion means its only really worthwhile for casters.]

"Wait, the homunculus can gain classes?" Emma blinked. "Do I want to know how it was created?"

[Probably not, and admittedly, they usually wouldn't qualify for the System; a homunculus doesn't have a bloodline in the traditional sense, being entirely artificial. But since this one's yours, I'll just count it as a member of the Knight family and allocate accordingly. It's putting my thumb on the scales a bit, but a bit of nepotism is hardly the end of the world, considering it's the end of the world.]

Emma was about to ask for build suggestions when the light began to taper off. As the last of it faded, so too did the earthen barriers crumble away; soft earth turned to clay and now to dust.

[Eden's Echo: A ring containing fifty cubic meters of storage space, capable of instant item transfer. Living beings stored are held in stasis and gradually healed of any ailments. All sapient creatures are less likely to attack the wearer. This item is invisible except to the wearer, who may not wear any other jewellery.]

It was by any metric an excellent result, barring one small issue that only now presented itself.

"Where's the ring?" Emma frowned, staring down at an empty bowl.

It was only visible to the wearer.

---

A few minutes of careful fumbling later, Emma did eventually find the ring, placing it on the fourth finger of her left hand. Given that one of the effects on her new magic item meant she'd never wear a wedding ring anyway, the selection didn't make much difference, but that had been the preferred finger for hundreds of years so she deferred to prior wisdom.

True to the description, Eden's Echo appeared the moment it slid around her finger; an unassuming band of gold half a centimetre across, with a brilliant green emerald flecked with little streaks of yellow resembling lightning bolts.

[Item - Eden's Echo obtained!

200 EXP gained for obtaining a high-quality storage item.

Bonus Objective: Acquire a storage item that can hold living beings completed.

Integrating with Inventory function.]

Pointing her finger at the homunculus, Emma watched it vanish, a brief distortion that lasted barely a blink before completing.

[Homunculus (Level 0) added to Inventory

Saddlebag added to Inventory

50 Thrones added to Inventory]

"Well, that wasn't too bad," Noah exhaled. "Took a bit longer than expected, but still beats military procurement any day of the week. What's next on the shopping list?"

"Two thousand Thrones from the bank to cover what we owe, then a bit of clothes shopping," Emma decided after a moment's thought. "Let's leave the divine artefact for last, since that will almost certainly be the most difficult, right, Saint?"

Silenced greeted Emma, who waited all of two seconds before looking around the room.

"Saint?"

---

System Update:

Practitioner Emma Knight - Level 12 Damned Apostle

Anima: 4500

EXP: 5810/6000

Abilities

Summon Unholy Sword {Epitaph} (Cost: 20% current Anima)

Toxovolia: Epitaph can transform into a Bow, firing arrows made of anima. The more anima invested, the more powerful the shot; the arrows can also apply the effects of other Weapon Enhancements.

No Pal of Mine: Capture the souls of the worthy, gaining the ability to summon a simulacrum of equal level as the User. Maximum 1 active per 10 levels, rounding up. 1 hour cooldown when simulacrum is defeated.

Captured: The Leech King, Sir Bearington, Earthbound Immortal, Antipode

Weeping Scar: Wounds inflict periodic poison damage until they are healed.

Can I Play with Madness?: The first Wound dealt to an enemy inflicts a random Status Condition.

Oversoul: Instantly possess the body of a living, lower-level target within the user's line of sight. No component of this ability will activate unless the target can be possessed.

Ardent Ephemera (Cost: 1% base Anima /second): Become intangible while active, able to pass unhindered through physical objects and blows.

Angel of Extinction (Cooldown: 12 days): Summon an Angel within line of sight. The Angel is invulnerable and departs after 12 seconds, inflicting Instant Death to anyone who saw it.

Null and Void (Cost: 5% base Anima): Disrupt a spell before casting completes.

Parallel Lives (Cooldown: 1 minute): Swap places with your active Summon.

Return (Cooldown: 24 Hours): Teleport Home.

Traits

Arcanivore: Enemies restore Anima when wounded or slain.

Wolf, Ram and Heart (TOGGLE: OFF): When active, attacks are imbued with Death magic, significantly increasing damage and carrying a [Level]% chance of inflicting Instant Death.

One with Everything (Cooldown: 1 hour): If Anima would be reduced to 0, stop at 1.

It's About Time: Immune to Time Magic (ineffective against casters 30+ Levels higher).

Babble Fish: You are fluent in every language known by the System.

Divine Conduit (Anathema): ?

Inventory - Eden's Echo

A ring containing fifty cubic meters of storage space, capable of instant item transfer. Living beings stored are held in stasis and gradually healed of any ailments. All sapient creatures are less likely to attack the wearer. This item is invisible except to the wearer, who may not wear any other jewellery. Currently contains:

Homunculus (Level 0)

Saddlebag

50 Thrones

Quests

All Mart (Time Limit: 6 Days)

Objective: Acquire a set of formal attire (Eternal Britannian Empire).

Bonus Objective: Acquire a divine artifact compatible with Saint.

Rewards: 500 EXP

Bonus Rewards: Upgrade a random Ability and/or Trait, A large sum of Imperial money, Trait - Babble Fish upgraded to include non-humans.