Chapter 31 - End of the Grind (1/2)
”Once you capture it and give it to me, I'll make sure to give you a lot of gold.”
...
On the other side of the crystal, a muscular man who had multiple scars on his face couldn't help but laugh at the words spoke by Dane. Every movement done by this muscular man showed clumsiness and joy, but whenever he's in battle, these movements exuded strength, fear, and a power to destroy everything. This man was Artan, a Rank 2 — Battle Warrior, a person who moves for money, and of course, Dane's acquaintance.
”How much gold we are talking about here? 200? 500? Since it's just a stick, think of it as a discount from me!” Artan continued to laugh as he talked in a boisterous manner.
On the other side, Dane thought about the words Prince Vanadir told him before searching for the Wind Walnut Branch that now evolved into a Spiritas of the Wind element.
...
Around a week ago...
”The Wind Walnut Branch,” Dane replied.
”The Wind Walnut Branch? Is it any different from the Wind Branch?” Prince Vanadir inquired because he wanted to add as much special effects to the sword he was going to craft as possible.
Dane then said, ”As I've said before Your Highness, the Wind Walnut Branch is a mana-infused Wind Branch, which means...”
”Not only does it contain the Wind element that allows your future sword to swing faster, it also contains mana which could be used to affix runes on the sword so it could cast spells!”
Vanadir's eyes glistened as he listened to the words Dane said from the other side of the crystal. Thinking about it for a bit, he was shocked as he asked, ”Wait...does that mean that the possible rarity of the sword with the Wind Walnut Branch as the catalyst would be Magic grade?!”
”Not just Magic grade,” Dane lightly chuckled. ”There's also a chance for it to become a Grand grade weapon.”
Normal, Magic, Grand. These are three most basic grades of weapons found within the world of Erudinia. Nonetheless, they still hold immense power that could easily kill sticks.
”Grand grade...” Prince Vanadir was drooling at the thought of having a Grand grade weapon as a Rank 2 Junior Windwalker. Wanting to make sure that the branch was obtained, Vanadir then said to Dane, ”Dane, I'll give you access to 40% of my current assets. Use it wisely so you could grab the Wind Walnut Branch and help me win the throne.”
Being a loyal servant of Prince Vanadir, Dane was going to make sure he would capture the Wind Walnut Branch as fast as possible and even add in special items which could help boost the weapon to Grand grade.
”I shall follow your command, Your Highness!” With an excited expression, Dane replied and hastily ended the call.
...
Dane, who was talking to Artan, was reminded of the assets His Highness gave control to him, which amounted to more or less 100,000 gold. This amount would let any person live a carefree life from birth to death. But Dane was already a successful High Mage of the Arcana Tower, earning hundreds of gold every day. Hence he replied to Artan with the number, ”5000.”
”5000?” Artan's eyes widened on the other side of the crystal, not believing what Dane just said. A figure that large would be equal to the amounts he obtained after killing a Rank 2 or Rank 3 beast and extracting their important parts already! Thinking that the number Dane said was too big, he asked, ”5000? Are you talking about 5000 silver?”
1 gold was equivalent to 10 silver, so Artan was basically asking for 500 gold, a value he asked earlier.
”Nope,” Dane denied Artan's question as he mentioned the number again. ”5000. I'm paying you 5000 gold if you catch that weird branch.”
”5000...?!” Artan couldn't believe what he was hearing. Capturing a branch for 5000 gold was like a godsend to him. Artan went back to his boisterous manner of talking and then said, ”I got it. I'll make sure to capture that branch for you.”
Dane smiled and said his thanks before ending the call, leaving Artan to dream about the amount of gold he could possibly from a simple mission like this. Dane then couldn't help but mutter as he infused mana into the orb, ”I wonder how long it'd take him to grab that branch.”
...
Ding!
After Aurus commanded the system to evolve the max leveled skills he grinded along the way, two notification screens appeared in front of his field of vision, basically telling him that two skills that had a direct evolution path were easily evolved.
'[Lowest Spirit Spell Core (Wind Variant)] has been evolved to [Low Spirit Spell Core (Wind Variant)].'
'[Form Morph] has been evolved to [Greater Form Morph].'
”I'll check out their details later,” Aurus mumbled to himself as three more notification screens appeared in front of him. Now these three notifications all had one thing in common.
Choices.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
________
Please choose the skill you would like [Spirit Energy Core (Wind Variant)] to evolve into:
[Efficient Spirit Energy Core (Wind Variant)]
[Condensed Spirit Energy Core (Wind Variant)]
[Flux Spirit Energy Core (Wind Variant)]
________
”System, identify all of these possible skill evolutions with the most straight to the point information as possible,” Aurus commanded as he had a feeling that the choices were similar to the SP Storage skill evolutions.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
________
[Wide Spirit Energy Core (Wind Variant)]
Grade: B (Mortal)
Gaining proficiency in the condensing of Stick Points into Spirit Points, the core needs less Stick Points to condense into Spirit Points, thus having a larger amount of Spirit Points while having the same potency.
> The amount of usable SP has been decreased by 1/4
> All skills and spells that utilize SP now use SP, thus dealing 10% increased damage
> All skills and spells that utilize SP are imbued with the Wind element
________
________
[Condensed Spirit Energy Core (Wind Variant)]
Grade: B (Mortal)
Instead of using less Stick Points to make one Spirit Point, the core has gained a new method of condensing Stick Points into Spirit Points, wherein the amount of Spirit Points stay the same, yet their purity and potency has been increased.