Magic Items

Day of Thura, 2:03 p.m.

Vivian's eyes suddenly opened.

She found herself lying on her bed inside the dorm room. And as usual, she was all alone.

She raised her right hand in front of her face and did a close and open motion.

Her lips slowly curled up into a smile.

I'm not sick…

Her eyes glanced at the window.

Thank God there's still light…

She immediately got up and did her morning routine.

***

Vivian entered the Blacksmith Shop and was wearing her usual attire.

She wore her brown cloak with a gold necklace that had a vertically stretched-out sun pendant along with her Copper I rank pendant. And beneath her cloak was leather armor with a black fitting and stretchable long-sleeve shirt and pants, a pair of fingerless gloves, and also a pair of worn-out leather boots with a metal plate covering its tips. There was also a water pouch and a small sack on her waist. Meanwhile, for her weapons, she was carrying a poleaxe which she used like a walking staff and had a kitchen knife hidden inside her left boot.

"Hello, sister. How may we help you?" the male clerk asked.

Inside the shop were the usual clerks, the male and female. And if Vivian was paying attention the last time she came here with Marie, the male's name was Sike.

"Hi, brother, I wanted to ask if you're selling magic items here, something that can boost mana recovery."

"Just mana recovery?"

"Yes."

"We do sell such items. What type of equipment do you want and what metal grade?"

"What's the lowest?"

"When it comes to metal grade, the lowest is mithril. And for equipment, we have rings, amulets, earrings and whatnot."

"Which is the best and how much is it?"

"It depends on the wearer."

"But if you were to choose, what type of equipment would you use?"

"Personally, I'd choose a ring because it's much safer. However, the problem is when you're in the middle of a battle and you lose your arm that had your ring, it can be a hassle to equip."

"The others?"

"When it comes to earrings and amulets, if it isn't covered with armor, enemies can pull it out."

"So ring then?"

"Yes. And if it's a mithril ring with a mana boost recovery that you're looking for, it would cost 50 gold coins."

Vivian's face twitched a bit.

"Can I buy it with a loan?"

She dangled the pendant of her necklace.

"Of course, and it will cost you 60 gold coins."

Vivian's face twitched a bit once again.

An additional 10 gold coins…?!

She suddenly remembered what Lance from the Vault Room told her regarding the bank of the Temple of Priests.

There are no monthly interests in keeping her coins and items.

There won't be any loan sharks to hound her about her loan.

The loan can only be paid from the rewards of the Holy Missions.

Tch!

She clicked her tongue mentally.

That lanky bastard tricked me…!

Although she didn't want to take any credit, she had no choice. Despite her x5 boost, leveling up her Magic Art is already taking too much time.

I can only imagine what would happen if I quit being a Priest…!

"Can I ask one more question?"

"Of course, what is it, sister?"

"This mana recovery, how much boost do I get? Or how much mana can I recover?"

Sike thought about it for a minute.

"According to the research done by scholars, after casting, like, let's say the [Heal] spell, it takes around 40 minutes to recover the mana used in casting that spell. But if one were to equip a mana recovery item, it would be reduced to around 30 minutes."

"And if I equip 2 mana recovery items it would be 20 minutes?"

"Unfortunately, one can't equip 2 items with the same effect, only 1 effect will work. However, there is our Class Magic skill [Halo] which also boosts mana recovery. Combined with that, it will only take a Priest 20 minutes to recover the mana used in the [Heal] spell."

"Are there no other options aside from equipment and [Halo] to boost mana recovery?"

Sike thought for a minute once again.

"As far as I know, there's a Class Magic spell called [Balad] by the Bard class which boosts mana recovery. But it is an active skill, not a passive one. There's also [Magic Spirit] from the Wizard Class and it's a passive one." 

"Is [Halo] a passive skill?"

"The mana recovery is passive, but it has an active skill that acts like a charm effect --"

"A charm effect?!"

Sike and the woman beside him were startled by Vivian's unexpected reaction. 

"Y-Yes. However, it's not like it can mind-control anyone. It only makes the owner a little more trustworthy and it only works on targets with lower magic power."

"Do you have the [Halo] skill?"

"Yes."

"Can you show it to me?"

Hesitation appeared on Sike's face before he answered.

"Sister, you see, the active skill of [Halo] isn't exactly a prohibited skill. But at the same time, we're also not allowed to use it casually in the presence of other people unless the situation calls for it."

Vivian's brows knitted together.

It's that dangerous...?

Now I want to see it even more...!

"Please, brother. I want to see it so that I can understand Magic Items more."

After a moment of hesitation, Sike finally gave in.

"Okay."

He activated [Halo] and a golden halo appeared behind his back.

Vivian blinked her eyes, trying to see or feel something.

And she did.

The more she stared at the man, the more trustworthy he seemed.

"It can also be used as a light source, great for navigating in dark spaces, like caves," said Sike.

And hearing Sike speak, his voice also sounded quite soothing.

He turned off his [Halo] skill.

"But sister, please be warned that not everyone, especially those who are aware of this skill's effect, would not take it kindly if you use [Halo] in front of them. They will see it as a provocation. So be careful. I only used it in front of you because you asked me to."

It was then an image Joshua basked in a golden halo during the time she went to the Temple of Priests to inquire and ended up joining flashed inside her head.

Was I duped by that bastard…?!

She gritted her teeth.

But after remembering that there were people in front of her, she immediately wiped it away and put on a calm and friendly demeanor.

I really have to get as strong as fast as possible no matter what…!

"Thank you, brother, but how do you learn [Halo]?"

"By easing the pain and suffering of others."

Tch!

"I see," said Vivian. "By the way, do you have magic items that allow you to see at night, or carry more things, or to fly?"

"We have items that allow the wearer to see at night and it costs 50 gold coins."

"And if I buy it with a loan, how much will it cost me?"

"That would be 60 gold coins."

Tch!

So there really is an interest in buying things with a loan...

And as far as she can remember, a Brown Cloak can only loan up to 100 gold coins.

"And the others?"

"You mean an item that allows you to carry more weight and fly?"

"When it comes to carrying more weight, we have items that can boost physical strength --"

"No, what I'm talking about is something like or that allows the owner to carry many items in a small bag."

"Sorry sister, we don't have such an item."

"What about fly?"

"As far as I know, scholars are still doing research about fly magic. For now, we only have items that allow the owner to glide through the air to lessen the impact when they land."

"Huh? That's it? Not even something like a double jump or stepping on air?"

"I've heard about magic that allows a person to step on air, but I'm not sure if it's an item, a Magic Art or Lore Magic. But for doing a double jump, well, there is something similar to it."

"What do you mean?"

"Instead of a double jump effect, a person can increase their vertical jump by using the Physical Art [Power Leg]."

"What?! Really?!"

"Yes, and it works well with the glide magic."

"Oh…"

"However, there's a problem -- Well, 2 problems actually…

"The first one is that it costs mana so you can't use it continuously. Aside from [Power Leg], you also have to use mana for the gliding effect.

"Secondly, depending on the metal grade of the shoe, boot or footwear and the owner's Physical Force, it puts a lot of stress on the owner's footwear, causing to speed up the footwear's destruction. 

"Because of this, most people would only this trick for emergency situations, like during a fight or escaping."

"Oh…"

Sike nodded.

"Do you sell used items here, specifically with magic effects?"

"We don't. But you can try to buy from our brothers and sisters if they would sell to you."

Vivian thought about it for a minute.

An image of Marie and Criselle flashed inside her head.

She shook her head mentally.

I can't afford to owe them too much…

Just with Marie alone, she found out about my [Nemesis of Beast] so now I have to pretend to be extra nice to her until I'm very powerful…

On top of that, I don't have time to waste going around searching to buy cheap items…

FUCKING HELL…

"Brother, I would like to buy the ring that comes with a boost in mana recovery through a loan. 60 gold coins, right?"

"Yes, for mithril grade."

"Oh, one last question: Let's say I equipped the ring on my right hand and I used a Physical Art like [Power Fist] with my right hand. Would it damage the ring?"

"Assuming that your Physical Force is around or greater than mithril grade, the quicker it will break. Meanwhile, even if your Physical Force is lower than mithril, the more you use it, eventually it will also break."

Vivian thought about her x5 boost skill.

Yup, it's useless to me…

"What about earrings?"

"Assuming you can cover your head with a helmet to protect your earrings getting pulled, yes."

"So there's no Physical Art like [Power Head] or something that uses the head?"

"Not that I know of."

"Okay, I want the earrings instead. Mithril and with mana recovery. 60 gold coins, right?"

"Yes. Any particular design you want?"

"Design?"

Sike pulled out a box underneath the counter and placed it on top.

"Most people who buy the earring -- it's only a single, not a pair -- are women, so the Blacksmiths added some aesthetic designs."

There were 8 earrings in front of Vivian and sported different colors, designs and gems. However, each one had tiny red symbols or rune-like words on them. 

"What are these words?"

Vivian already learned the Zonian alphabet but these words looked nothing like it so she couldn't read it.

"Those are runes crafted by the Temple of Blacksmiths."

"Oh... So it's a Class Magic skill that only Blacksmiths can do?"

"Not necessarily. However, they have a Class Magic skill called [Magic Item Crafting] which boosts their success rate in making magic items. And the higher the metal grade and number of magic effects bestowed on the item, the lower the chance of success."

"Oh… I see, I see…"

Vivian thought about it for a moment before finally making a decision.

"I want this."

The earring she pointed had a gold-colored body with a tiny red gem and red runes on it. It also had a screw-like lock to prevent it from falling off.

So they were really serious about people pulling out earrings, huh…