LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 281: Zach
Gear
Zach and Naha entered a large room, following just behind Harkon, their trainer. They hadn’t yet finished their time in the training chamber, but their gear was finished, or at least most of it was. And Harkon wanted them to get some training with it too, get familiar with it. Zach agreed with the sentiment. Gear could change one’s style a lot depending on what it did, which was why he had tried to get gear with less restrictive effects so far. He didn’t know what the Empire had created for them, their crafters had been given clear instructions by the Growth Guides on what they needed.
Inside the room were two large tables put together, behind them were large crates, and one kreacean standing with his lower arms leaned on the tables.
“Welcome,” he bowed at Harkon, then looked at Naha and Zach. “Guests, we have a lot of things for you today. I am Noht, I will be showing you your new gear.”
“Naha,” she introduced herself.
Zach followed, doing the same.
“Let’s get started,” Harkon said. “We don’t have a lot of time to waste. There is a lot more training to be done.”
They walked up to the table and the man, Noht leaned beneath the table and pulled out two small rectangular crates. He opened the first up and spoke. “Here we have the standard potion supplies for our high tiered individuals, slightly altered to fit you better, of course.”
There were dozens of potions inside. Zach could see healing and stamina regeneration potions, recognizing them from their colors. Others were less obvious.
The man pointed at a grouping and looked at Zach. “These are for you, mostly strength and dexterity increases. One Potion of Perk Reset, which will reset your perk’s cooldown but will work only on some of your Class Perks, you will see which ones it won’t work on when you read its description. A few cooldown reduction potions as well.”
He turned to Naha. “For you we have potions that will diminish your presence, and one Potion of Grand Obfuscation which will prevent you from being detected by any powers for a certain amount of time. The length will depend on the powers trying to find you, the stronger they are the less time it will protect you from them. Along with that we have a spread of attribute boosting potions as well.”
It wasn’t much, though some of the potions were powerful.
The man obviously noticed something in Zach’s expression, because he spoke again. “It is as much as we can spare. Potions and elixirs are what has been keeping our regular soldiers alive on the Wall, more than anything else.”
Zach nodded his head. “Of course,” he said, he didn’t mean to come out as ungrateful.
“If you want something more, there are a few high tiered individuals in the city who are still selling their services. Though a lot of their time is taken up brewing potions for the army. Who knows, if you offer them enough they might find the time.”
He clapped with his upper hands. “Now, let us move to the real thing.”
He turned and opened one of the big crates. From it he pulled out two objects, one long and one short, both were wrapped in green cloth. He put them on the table and slowly unwrapped them. Zach saw two weapons, a rapier and a dagger. They seemed like they were part of a set, both made out of the same dark material, black metal that seemed to almost pull light into it. The rapier’s guard was silver in color, round and with a long knuckle guard. The pommel was round, with a red gem set into it.
The dagger was about half the length of Zach’s forearm, also black, with curved edge and a small cross-guard that was sliver. The pommel had the same red gem set into it as the rapier did.
Harkon took over as he took the two weapons in his hands. “It became clear to me that the two of you prefer to fight together, and that you are good at it. Also, both of you fight with your awakened weapons, and because of that we’ve decided that this is the best way to proceed.”
He offered the rapier to Zach and the dagger to Naha. Zach took it in his hand and pulled out a window with its description to look at.
Wicked Rapier of Conquering
+540 to Dexterity
Every strike that injures your opponent applies one stack of Burning Hate on target up to the maximum of 3. Each stack increases all damage that the bearer of the Wicked Rapier of Conquering and/or the Wicked Dagger of Conquering deals to the target by 5%. Each stack lasts 3 seconds and applying a new one refreshes the whole stack. If the bearer of Wicked Dagger of Conquering is not the same as the one of the rapier, then all the damage increases are doubled for the bearer of the dagger.
Zach frowned, it was a relic rarity weapon, and it was great as a dedicated weapon for his left hand. It increased the damage that his target took from him, but… He glanced at Naha, and saw her raise her head to look at him at the same time. She offered the dagger and he took it while giving her the rapier.
Wicked Dagger of Conquering
+540 to Dexterity
Every strike that deals damage against the target applies one stack of Cold Hate on target up to the maximum of 3. Each stack reduces all damage that the bearer of the Wicked Rapier of Conquering and/or the Wicked Dagger of Conquering receives from the target by 5%. Each stack lasts 3 seconds and applying a new one refreshes the whole stack. If the bearer of Wicked Rapier of Conquering is not the same as the one of the dagger, then all the damage reduction are doubled for the bearer of the rapier.
He saw now what Harkon meant. These were items that could be wielded together by the same person, but wielded by two… They would be much stronger. Also, they were very well suited to them.
“I like this,” Naha said after a moment.
Harkon nodded. “One of you likes to lurk in the shadows and strike when the opportunity presents itself. The other is more flashy and tries to occupy your opponents attention. The weapons will fit well in that style.”
Zach agreed. “We are going to need to train on how to best make use of the effects.”
“Of course,” Harkon said, then gestured to Noht.
The man opened another big crate and pulled out something else. He placed several pieces of clothing on the table. They were black, looked as if they were entirely made out of leather, but on a second look it seemed to be a mix of cloth and leather.
“These are for you,” Harkon told Naha. “Making armor for shapeshifters is… notoriously difficult. These pieces can shift with all of your forms. That should make things easier.”
Naha walked over and looked the pieces over. They were… The main piece would barely cover her chest, just a wrap around it. Aside from that she had pants that were thin, gloves, small slipper like shoes and a cap for her head. The gear was unimpressive, at least to look at. And it wouldn’t provide any protection. Armor protected based on the materials it was created of, there wasn’t an armor stat or defensive rating. How much the armor could take equaled how much it could protect you from. The material her gear was crafted out of might be tough, but it wouldn’t help if it didn’t cover all of her body.
She finished inspecting them and then motioned Zach over. “Come take a look,” she told him.
He got closer to the table and picked up the pieces, inspecting each in turn.
Hidden Shifting Shadow (chest)
+400 to Vitality
+320 to Dexterity
Your presence is reduced, making you harder to notice by 50%. This bonus increases to 180% when you are in the shadows. Equip, repair, durability, form shift.
Part of Suit of Shadow Shifting Set; If all five pieces are worn you gain Shadow Stalker.
Sinister Shifting Shadow (gloves)
+400 to Strength
+320 to Dexterity
Your first three attacks from stealth deal 85% more damage and 200% if the target was completely unaware of your presence. Equip, repair, durability, form shift.
Part of Suit of Shadow Shifting Set; If all five pieces are worn you gain Shadow Stalker.
Predator’s Shifting Shadow (cap)
+400 to Intelligence
+320 to Dexterity
All of your senses are improved by 100% when in stealth. This effect is increased to 200% if you are in the shadows. Equip, repair, durability, form shift.
Part of Suit of Shadow Shifting Set; If all five pieces are worn you gain Shadow Stalker.
Nimble Shifting Shadow (pants)
+400 to Dexterity
+320 to Strength
While in stealth your physical speed is increased by 150% and 200% while in the shadows. The effect persists for 5 seconds after you’ve left stealth. Equip, repair, durability, form shift.
Part of Suit of Shadow Shifting Set; If all five pieces are worn you gain Shadow Stalker.
Furious Shifting Shadow (shoes)
+400 to Dexterity
+320 to Endurance
Entering stealth instantly reduces your remaining ability cooldowns by half the remaining time. Equip, repair, durability, form shift.
Part of Suit of Shadow Shifting Set; If all five pieces are worn you gain Shadow Stalker.
It was… exactly what she needed. A masterwork gear that fits her style of combat precisely and enhanced her strengths. It had little defense aside from making her harder to notice but… She had other ways of protecting herself, her shifting powers could offset that weakness. He reached and pulled out the description for the set bonus and read through that too.
Suit of Shadow Shifting Set:
Shadow Stalker
When all five set pieces of armor are worn you gain Shadow Stalker buff.
Shadow Stalker: When shrouded in shadows all your shifting effects are hastened by 200%. Every time you leave stealth you gain an instance of Stalker which grants you an increase of 100 to base strength and dexterity, this effect can stack up to 10.
Zach blinked at the bonus. Making her shifting faster was a nice addition, but gaining bonus to her base stats? That was incredibly powerful.
“It suits you,” he said.
“It does,” Naha responded.
There was no surprise in her tone, it seemed like she had expected the Empire to be able to create things that would fit them and be in line with their powers.
Zach turned to the man behind the tables, not eager to see what they had for him. Noht saw and turned around, opening another crate. He started pulling a much larger and heavier gear from it than what Naha had received.
He placed each piece on the table and allowed Zach to inspect his armor. It was full plate armor, which Zach wasn’t surprised nor worried about. It was a misconception that full plate armor was somehow restrictive and cumbersome, it wasn’t. Even on Earth knights could do nearly everything that they could do without armor, roll, jump, have full range of movement. And in the Infinite Realm that was improved further, materials and rules here were different.
His armor was made out of some kind of metal that had a rough almost grainy texture for most of the surface of it, the rest was smooth and reflective. The main part was black while the accents were painted gold, with red cloth pieces attached to it. There was an artistry to it. The main part included pauldrons on both shoulders, wide with gold spikes coming out of them. The helmet was black with what looked like three pronged golden crown on top, the slits for his eyes weren’t there which confused him, but he didn’t ask what it was about. The gauntlets were long and ended in clawed fingertips, nothing extravagant but he was certain that it would hurt if he used them. A red cloth half dress came down from the waist, open at the front. The greaves covered the front of his legs while only straps were on the back. The boots came up to half way to his knees with the greaves covering the rest. It was obvious that he could and probably should wear something beneath, a tight fitting pants and a shirt perhaps. Still, it looked… incredible.
He reached for each piece and inspected them.
Grand Gift of Aegis (chest)
+420 to Endurance
+300 to Vitality
Every strike against you increases your damage resistance against that aspect type of damage by 2.5% to a maximum of 25%, the resistance lasts for 10 seconds after a received strike or until a strike of a different type. Equip, repair, durability.
Part of Suit of Aspects Set; If all five pieces are worn activate Aspect Tyrant.
Grand Gift of Onslaught (gauntlets)
+720 to Strength
Every continuous strike of the same aspect type within 0.5 seconds of the last deals 2.5% more damage to a maximum of 25%. The effect persist for 5 seconds after you end the chain. Equip, repair, durability.
Part of Suit of Aspects Set; If all five pieces are worn activate Aspect Tyrant.
Grand Gift of Alacrity (boots)
+720 to Dexterity
Every step you take in the same direction without interruption within 0.5 seconds increases your physical speed by 2.5% to the maximum of 25%. The effect persists for 5 seconds after you change direction. Equip, repair, durability.
Part of Suit of Aspects Set; If all five pieces are worn activate Aspect Tyrant.
Grand Gift of Resilience (greaves)
+400 to Vitality
+320 to Endurance
Every time you spend stamina in quick succession, within 1 second, increase that type of your stamina regeneration by 2.5% to the maximum of 25%.
The effect persists for 5 seconds after you spend different type of stamina. Equip, repair, durability.
Part of Suit of Aspects Set; If all five pieces are worn activate Aspect Tyrant.
Grand Gift of Power (helm)
+400 to Intelligence
+320 to Wisdom
Every time you use your abilities increase their effectiveness by 5% to a maximum of 25%, each ability has a separate stack, but the stacks will vanish if the ability is not used within 5 seconds of it coming off cooldown. Equip, repair, durability, clearsight.
Part of Suit of Aspects Set; If all five pieces are worn you gain Aspect Tyrant.
It was… amazing. A masterwork armor just like Naha’s gear. The clearsight on the helmet probably had something to do with the way he was supposed to look out of it. It was impressive, and best of all it would provide a lot of protection, or at least he hoped it would. Zach turned to Noht and spoke.
“What is it made out of?”
The man tapped on the helmet. “Dark scarletite, with some orihalcon alloys added in. It is very durable, I am told that it could take a direct hit from extremely high tiered opponents fully strength invested and not even get scratched. It took a team of our best smiths and refiners just to work the metals. It will serve you well, perhaps for the rest of your life. I am told that the only reason why its rarity wasn’t higher was because our crafters struggled to infuse it with more effects. It is a hard metal to work.”
Zach looked at the armor in awe, then finally he reached for the set bonus and pulled out the description for it.
Suit of Aspects Set:
Aspect Tyrant
When all five set pieces of armor are worn you gain Aspect Tyrant buff.
Aspect Tyrant: Gain one instance of Tyrant after landing an attack, increasing the effectiveness of all your powers that share the attacks Aspect by 10% while reducing the effectiveness of your opponent’s powers if they share the same Aspect by 5%. After the first strike you gain new Tyrant stacks every ten seconds while in combat, to the maximum of 10.
It suited him well, though it would take some training to get used to the way that it worked. Of course that was why they had come to get their gear now.
Harkon interrupted his admiring. “Good, now that you’ve gotten your gear, it is time for us to train. Come, we don’t have a moment to waste.”
The man turned while Zach and Naha struggled to grab all of their gear and store it before following behind. The training had been constant and hard, but… both of them had improved, both in their fighting styles and their skills. Neither of them wanted to waste this opportunity, Harkon was a great teacher, and Zach knew that there was a lot more to learn.