The Legendary Fool

145:

Tom activated a skill he hadn’t used in a while, calling for a weapon he had mimicked back on the surface. The original Revenant Claw was a bonafide Rare artifact, one that was, if his suspicions were true, stronger than Warrior’s Shardsong and most likely, even Aleph’s rare artifact.

After using his Skill Upgrade Points on Fool’s Gold, Tom could mimic any artifact up to the Rare rarity, keeping 65% of the object’s ability and copying a maximum of two weapon skills. Unfortunately, back when he had used Fool’s Gold Mimic on the Revenant Claw, he could only copy one weapon skill.

Now that he was in the Aerinaculumn, there was no way for him to get access to the original Revenant Claw.

However, Tom had made a discovery that dampened the loss. What he had mimicked was the Revenant Claw, a Rare Artifact in all its glory. And as his Fool’s Gold leveled, keeping the mimicked gauntlet had paid off in dividends.

Now, when he summoned the Revenant Claw, it’s strength would be restored to 65% of the original.

Tom didn’t hesitate.

[Auto-Analyzing…

Gauntlet created by climber’s soul card. Increasing appraisal rank by four grades…

Requirements: Level 10 [The Fool]

Description: A reward for slaying the Revenant King, final boss of the lifeless tower, this is an exquisitely crafted Card Gauntlet that cannot be shattered by any weapons of the Uncommon Rank. The claws of a revenant, known for their piercing sharpness and the life-leech poison (inactive) make for a fearsome melee weapon, whilst the Card Gauntlet itself enhances the wielder's capability in battle to an extreme degree— allowing for a total of eight Deck Cards to be slotted in at once, four up to the Rare Rarity and four up to the Uncommon Rarity (active).

Mimicked Skill:

Greater Enhancement:

Any Uncommon Deck Card channeled via the Revenant Claw has its effectiveness boosted by 48.75%

Any Rare Card channeled via the revenant claw has it’s effectiveness boosted by 32.5%]

‘This would’ve helped against Zeth,’ Tom thought, as he wryly shook his head. He had noticed earlier that the Common Deck card boost that a weaker version of the Revenant Claw had offered him was no longer listed in greater enhancement and now he was almost certain in his conclusion.

The original greater enhancement had to have offered a flat effectiveness boost up to the Rare rarity, while mimic worked in percentages. Fool’s Gold illusions were somehow able to compensate by offering a higher percentage boost for lower rarities, which was far more a boon than a bane. When Tom had been weak, the Revenant Claw’s boost to common cards had been invaluable.

Now, it would serve him in a different form.

Tom reached for the longsword that was laying inert on the table, barely managing to slide his hands into the knuckle guard before he firmly wrapped his hand around the hilt.

The moment the Revenant Claw made contact with Warrior’s Shardsong, Tom’s scalp began to tingle.

He could do it. The two weapon artifacts were of the same rarity and Tom met the requirements for the greater enhancement skill.

With a mental command, Tom activated Fool’s Gold’s subskill, Object Permanance.

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A ghastly, ethereal blue glow enveloped his free hand, causing him to flinch in surprise. Thankfully, he didn’t drop Warrior’s Shardsong— his proprioception stat did a good job at keeping his hands steady.

Tom could feel the pull his free hand felt towards the mimicked revenant claw and he could see no good reason to deny it.

His left hand gingerly crept towards his gauntleted right, Tom’s breathing slowing as he focused himself on the task that was at hand.

Just as he made contact, a system prompt appeared before him.

[If you proceed with using sub-skill Object Permanence on Reverent Claw, it will no longer be able to maintain it’s form and the mimic slot it is occupying will be freed]

“Huh,” Tom muttered as he pulled away just enough for the prompt to disappear. “In an ideal world, I’d wait until I reach 100% and then use it on an artifact that has synergy with the revenant claw. Now though…,” Tom trailed off, before shrugging.

After his battle with Zeth, Tom was done waiting for perfect scenarios. Unlike his free points, Object Permanence wasn’t something he could slot in mid-battle.

“Oh well, I’m sure I’ll find something better to mimic eventually,” Tom said, before he plunged his left hand into the revenant claw.

His eyes widened in surprise and a few moments later, Tom pulled out an orb of shimmering purple, trapped in his clawed fingers.

The revenant claw mimic fizzled out without a sound, leaving behind Tom’s unscathed right hand.

He didn’t dare hesitate any longer as plunged the orb into the sword, lest the magic in it somehow dissipate.

Or atleast, he tried to.

Warrior’s Shardsong completely repelled his attempt.

[Do you wish to add skill Greater Enhancement to Artifact: Warrior’s Shardsong? Note that the skill Greater Enhancement is not suited for a one-handed longsword type weapon and will be modified to fit it’s parameters.

Required cost: 91 SP]

“Take it,” Tom replied snappily, still afraid that the weapon skill clenched in his hands would dissipate.

A wave of weakness washed through Tom as almost all his SP was snapped up in an instant. Thankfully the results were equally quick, as the ethereal blue aura coating his left hand intensified by several degrees.

Tom waited a few seconds to confirm that the aura had reached it’s zenith and only when it’s glow didn’t intensify any further, did he jam the orb into the sword.

This time, it sank in and did so without the slightest iota of resistance.

The intense aura covering his left hand winked out, but Tom didn’t even notice, for his intention was rooted on Warrior’s Shardsong.

He watched as bands of metallic silver ran parallel to the sword’s edge, looping around to cover both sides while interspersed in equal intervals to cover the entire blade.

[Auto-Analyzing…

Failed

Auto-Analyzing…

Failed

Auto-Analyzing…

Blade ownership uncontested. Increasing appraisal rank by two grades…

Warrior’s Shardsong, Rare +/Pseudo Epic

Requirements: 32 Physical, 22 Proprioception, Level 10 (The Fool). This weapon can only be wielded by the one in possession of Ephemeral Ranked Card- The Fool. The Properties of this weapon pertaining to The Fool’s requirements are invulnerable to all detection/scrying/location cards.

Description: An unconventional weapon artifact designed for a specific type of warrior, Warrior’s Shardsong invites its enemies to engage in a symphony of metal on metal, every clash only serving to empower its own tempo. The Warrior’s Shardsong seeks the perfect crescendo, unleashing a wave of scything frost energy that is born out of a combination of kinetic energy from both or multiple parties.

Weapon Skills:

1. Lighten: Greatly reduces the weight of the weapon when wielded by a climber who meets Warrior’s Shardsong’s requirements.
2. Perfect Conversion: Any blow from an enemy that connects with Warrior’s Shardsong along with the strength inputted in by the wielder is converted into frost energy at a lossless rate. The wielder can choose to deploy the frost scythe anytime after Warrior’s Shardsong reaches 5% of its total capacity.
3. Aura of Enhancement: Once in twenty four hours, the wielder can activate the aura of enhancement. The aura of enhancement lasts for one continuous hour and during this hour, the wielder can convert the frost energy stored within Warrior’s Shardsong into a raw effectiveness boost on a selected Deck Card upto 50% on a rarity upto Rare.

The chosen deck card can change as many times as needed within this hour, as long as the frost energy contained within the blade can sustain it.]

“What in the… that’s not even the same skill,” Tom muttered, looking dazed as he finished reading through the description.

[For crafting a Rare Ranked Weapon, you have unlocked Feat: Rare Crafter. For every artifact you craft from here on out, you will be refunded 25-50% of the material costs for under the Epic Rank].

“….excuse me?”