The Guardian System: The strongest Summoner's quest to save his family

Reidar dismissed the status window, only to call it up again.

—[«STATUS»]—

Name: Reidar Miller

Level: 85

Health: 770

Mana: 5326,51

C.L.A.S.P.: 153715 / 209800

Available Attribute points: 0,00

Skills: Summon Primal Pack, Summon Guardian Shade, Summon Bone Militia, Mending Touch, Group Rally, Root Grasp, Circle of Renewal, Void Javelin, Elemental Storm, Summon Razor-Gill School , Summon Spectral Knights, Summon Rift-Sprite Contubernium, Wind Barrage, Granite Shard, Aqua Cannon, Fire Bolt, Summon Murk-Fin School, Stone Skin, Chitinous Carapace, Hive Mind Echo, Formic Acid Barrier, Corrosive Demise, Summon Vorathid Foragers

Equipment: Shepherd's Crook of the Wild, Summoner's Cowl, Summoner's Mantle, Summoner's Leggings, Summoner's Handwraps, Summoner's Treads, Summoner's Bracers, Summoner's Cloak, Summoner's Sash, Aqua Sprite Pendant, Ember Sprite Ring, Stone Sprite Ring

Proficiencies: Basic Combat (100%), Velia's Regional Map (35%), Velia's Monster Compendium (39%), Fundamental Spellcraft (66%), Combat Instinct (55%)

Attributes:(S.H.I.E.L.D.: 7,7), (A.C.U.M.E.N.: 35,3), (F.L.A.I.R. : 6,5), (F.L.I.P.: 8,7)

Minions: Primal Pack (10 units)

Survival Points:1.486.509

Trait: Skill Sharing

Perks: Arcane Potency (6/6), Mana Attunement (5/5), Mana Font (6/6), Focused Mind (5/5), Rapid Learning (4/5), Arcane Resilience (4/4), Empowered Effects (5/5), Arcane Leech (5/5), Spell Control (5/5)

Perk Points:6

Titles: The First Killer, The First Apprentice, The Pioneer, Creature Slayer IV, Rift-Sprite Hunter IV, The Exterminator, Guardian of the Innocents, Adept Learner, Abyssal Caller

Profession: Tailoring (LVL11), Woodworking (LVL11), Enchanting (LVL11)

—[«END»]—

<Six perk points.>

It was a handful, but it was very important. The problem was that Reidar had a surplus of choices, not only from the Mage tree but also from the Survivor, Fighter, and Crafter trees. They all offered tempting paths forward.

—[«Survivor tree»]—

Hardened Resilience: Increases your maximum Health. (+2% per point)

Efficient Scavenger: Chance to find extra materials when looting. (+4% per point)

Intuitive Navigation: Increases the range and detail of your mini-map. (+6% per point)

Social Grace: Improves prices when buying from and selling to Vendors. (+5% per point)

…

…

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—[«Fighter tree»]—

Physical Fortitude: Increases resistance to physical status effects. (+4% per point)

Armor Clad: Increases the effectiveness of all armor you wear. (+5% per point)

Second Wind: Increases Health recovered from all healing sources. (+5% per point)

…

…

…

—[«Crafter tree»]—

Master Gatherer: Chance to harvest double resources. (+4% per point)

Field Repair: Boosts repair efficiency outside workshop. (+6% per point)

Appraiser's Eye: Better identification of item properties and value. (+6% per point)

…

…

…

—[«END»]—

He looked at the options and tried to figure out what could work best in his situation. Intuitive Navigation promised a more detailed map, a godsend for a journey through a world that rewrote its own geography daily.

Social Grace would make his interactions with vendors like Morv'axil more profitable, making his use of Survival Points better.

The Fighter tree had its own allure. Physical Fortitude offered resistance against the poisons and bleeding effects that seemed so common in the monster population, while Armor Clad would make his current Summoner's set even better, although he didn't know if the perk's effect worked also on the armor's skill. Second Wind would amplify his healing spells among all things, which was a direct benefit for him, although he hoped he would not get injured at all.

But that could always happen.

Then there was the Crafter tree, a path to true self-sufficiency. Master Gatherer would be good if he found rich resource nodes. Of course, that was related to ores, but even tree and stone gathering would see benefits.

Clearly his primary source of materials was combat. Monsters dropped resources, and the bodies, whenever they didn't get destroyed, could be used for crafting.

Appraiser's Eye would let him find out the true worth of looted gear and materials, potentially uncovering hidden properties. It wasn't something to overlook given the state of things.

However, Reidar kept coming back to two perks. Efficient Scavenger from the Survivor tree, and Field Repair from the Crafter tree.

The reason was simple. He was pushing further into the unknown, far from any settlement, although he tried to go through them as much as he could, at least to restock and buy skills. A critical equipment failure could be a death sentence, so having better chances at repairing his gear was a not only important, but vital.

That was the core. Efficient Scavenger offered a chance at extra loot from every single kill. More monster parts, more crystals, more everything.

Those materials were the foundation for crafting, for enchanting, and for repairing his gear, and since Reidar dealt with a ton of monsters, his loot was usually high. Even now, he was filled with materials, weapons, armor and items he couldn't and didn't know how to use.

In truth, that was because most of the new gear he got, despite being higher level, did improve his summoned creatures, as they were thought for melee fighters and ranged casters.

Most of the equipment Reidar got, he gave it to Lena, who was sporting level 70 gear plus a new pair of daggers she and Reidar got from having slain the queen Vorathid Ant, and that were seemingly made from some of her appendages.

Most of this stuff, Reidar was going to sell it as soon as he found a vendor. Most of the materials were going to be sold too, because Reidar had enchanting, woodworking and tailoring as professions, and most of that stuff could not be used for those professions.

Regardless, getting more resources from every fight was an investment that would compound with every battle, growing his wealth and resource stockpile exponentially.

Then he made his decision. Getting more resources was going to be more important. If something broke, he would at least be able to craft something new.

Reidar's focus sharpened on the screen. He navigated to the Survivor tree and selected Efficient Scavenger. He pushed one point in, then another, until all six were gone.

[Perk 'Efficient Scavenger' increased by 6 points.]

[Chance of finding extra materials when looting increased by 24%.]

He closed the interface. The phantom screen vanished.

"Are you done?"

Reidar turned, only to find Lena roasting meat on the fire.

"I did."