Chapter 34 Chapter 34 - Onward to Capital (1/2)
CHAPTER 34
ONWARD TO CAPITAL
[Celestial Rod – Unique]
Level: 52
Damage: 985-1040
Magic Damage: 611-613
Special effect: Three-pronged item.
Special Effect: <First Form> - can fire {Magic Darts} from a small hole at the tip of the Rod. {Magic Darts} must be crafted separately. Maximum limit: 15 (Weapon's Magic Damage dealt remains neutral despite the Darts' element)
Special Effect: <Second Form> - can be quickly elongated into a massive pole by consuming energy from the [Magic Core]. Minimum elongation is 10m while the maximum is 300m. If imbued with Qi, pole gains 20% penetrative effect. Damage dealt is 2x weapon's Damage.
Special Effect: <Third Form> - infusing flame-attributed Qi into the bottom part of the Rod channels immense burst of flames within 1m, dealing 3x weapon's Magic Damage (element is converted purely to 'Fire'). Requires 24h cooldown period; if cast within 24h, there's a chance of damaging the item.
Special Effect: Due to the uniqueness of the design, the weapon can be further upgraded and re-forged, either replacing current forms or adding additional ones.
Special Effect: Due to having underwent the First Upgrade, [Celestial Rod] cannot be destroyed by any item beneath Level 300.
Note: Created by a complete novice – upgraded by the up-and-coming Master Blacksmith. Uniqueness of the design and adequate materials used ensures the possibility of future upgrades.
Lino stared at his 'new' creation with a faint smile on his face. [Celestial Rod's] upgrade went far better than he expected, though he did pour quite a bit of resources from the Patriarch Varick's collection into it. Damage values from before and now are simply incomparable to the point that Lino himself had trouble believing the numbers. What surprised him the most, though, was the increased maximum limit of Magic Darts that the rod could store. An unfortunate thing was that he didn't have any specialized material for crafting needle-sized bullets of destruction, so the potency of this form couldn't be fully unleashed just yet. Third Form, though barely complete, could be used as a last resort to surprise an enemy, but Lino wasn't too keen on using it as it was simply too unstable.
He let out a deep breath and sat down, wiping the sweat off his forehead. He'd done all he could for the time being. There was simply no time for him to either craft or modify anything else before departing for the Capital. Another boon for him, though, was that he reached Level 45 due to crafting ceaselessly ever since coming back to Bridge Village, exhausting and replenishing his Qi in unceasing cycle. Looking at his stats without having any equipment on, he was both startled and surprised:
[Lyonel Qa'yi – Human – Level 45]
Titles: Adept of Writ (???), Empyrean Soldier (???)
Occupations: Beggar (Level 10), Blacksmith (Level 56), Cultivator (Level 2)
Martial Arts: Empyrean Will (Level 1), Peerless Empyrean Spear Scripture (Level 1)
Primal Spirits: Ra, Ye, Gu, Li, Glog, Tet
Damage: 461
Defense: 231
Named Creations: Celestial Rod (Unique), Celestial Plate (Unique), Bisected Soul Set ((Chest) Soul Armor), Cleft Shadow(Epic)
He had to look at the numbers a few times just to make sure he didn't see wrongly. Both Damage and Defense – raw, without any equipment – were simply insane. Technically, his fists were as strong as a top-tier Level 45 equipment in terms of damage, while his body was as sturdy as top-tier Level 35 armor! He could probably beat everyone within Bridge Village – with the exception of Ella and Eggor, of course – with his bare fists! Taking a deep breath, he once again reaffirmed that mpyrean Writ> is simply too mysterious. The scariest part was that he hadn't felt any direct changes occurring on his body. That is to say that all change was extremely gradual to the point that he'd adapt to it before even noticing anything unusual.
In addition, he'd gained another occupation: Cultivator. Though he had no clue why he received it just recently, he knew the reason why it was only Level 2 – because he was still a mere Core Realm cultivator. Mortal Realm should be Level 1, Soul Realm Level 3, Mystic Realm Level 4, Purity Realm Level 5 and so on. Sighing, he moved on from vainly staring at his prowess and chuckled lowly. He felt much more reassured about the trip after seeing just how sturdy his body became; with [Bisected Defender Plate] equipped, his defense would spike to over a 1000! That would mean that any weapon that dealt less than 1100 fixed damage would literally be unable to even scratch him!
Defense and Damage stats are accumulation of thousands, millions of other stats and they are woven tightly together – that is to say that they operate in a symbiotic relationship. If one person can deal 5 Damage with each hit, and another has 5 Defense, it would be extremely difficult to break that defense down. Such coordinated relationship extends beyond just humans; for instance, Lino read in one of the books that the ancient Beasts, like Behemoth Turtle, would have defensive values with almost ten zeroes, making it nigh impossible to break. For instance, his [Radiant Dragon Spear] can, on average, deal 2000 Damage. However, that number isn't fixed; if it were to go up against a piece of armor that has 1000 Defense, though it would break it eventually, Damage values would be lowered considerably before the armor is broken.
Even Lino himself has yet to understand the exact principle under which these two 'general stats' operate and their direct relationship with one another. He knew that in order to understand it fully, he'd have to dwell into the numbers beneath the surface, and he simply wasn't interested in wasting his time on that.
The following days passed by quickly in silence and Eggor soon returned, signaling the day of their departure from the Bridge Village. Though the village was relatively close to the Umbra Capital, it would still take roughly two days via carriage to arrive there, and considering that they'd have to find lodging amidst the chaos in the city, they decided to depart for the Capital whole five days before the official start of the Annual Festival.
Eggor appeared rather exhausted, with black circles around his slightly bloodshot eyes and disheveled hair. Though Lino asked him about it, the old man refused to say anything, so the former could only let it go. As there were many people departing for the Capital, it didn't take them long to find a carriage to pull them – alongside four other people. Unlike the four, Lino and Eggor seemingly didn't pack anything, as all they needed was neatly stored either in some Void storage item or Void World. Of the four passengers, three were youths slightly older than Lino, clearly excited, while the last was a woman in her early thirties, a solitary traveler.
”Damn bro!” one of the youths exclaimed as the six people got seated in the carriage. His black eyes were slightly widened as he stared at Lino. ”You look younger than me, but why are you so buffed?! Oi, tell me, honestly, what did you eat? Huh? Do you work out? How much? Can you show me?”
”…” Lino's brows twitched lightly; he didn't think he'd encounter a chit-chat fella of all possible personalities. ”Hm, there's this neat place in the western part of the village, a bit hidden behind some alleys. The sign is old and rotten, but windows are clean and—”
”You're talking about Merlyn's Sprout? He he, no wonder you're so buff! Aah, my wife forbade me from going there… no wonder I can't pile up any muscle!” the youth exclaimed yet again.
”Eh? When have you ever been there Jon?” the youth's friend, a slightly shorter fella with rather unique hair color – purple – asked. ”Jamie actually married you while knowing you've been out and about? Eh, what a fine lady.”
”Shush, bastard!” the youth, Jon, berated his friend quickly. ”Of course she's a fine lady! For her, I'd given up Jessie, Wanda, Snow, Gizzela, Sermona—”
”Holy shit dude!!” Jon's other friend exclaimed. ”Is there any girl in there you haven't drilled?”
”Eh, there was that fat chick, Vela,” Jon said as he scratched his nose in embarrassment. ”Honestly, I wanted to check them all off my list, but damn… my little friend just couldn't heave up when she stripped… it was virtually impossible to tell the difference between her nipple and her bellybutton!”
”Pfft…” Lino snorted in laughter while Eggor shook his head, disappointed with vulgar youths.
”Lads, can't you see that we have a lady accompanying us?” Eggor said. ”Can't you be more proper?”
”Ah!” Jon and his friends exclaimed as though they finally remembered. ”My bad, my bad,” Jon said as he smiled toward the woman apologetically. ”We got carried away there. How do you do? I'm Jon, this here is Harry,” he pointed at the purple-haired youth next to him. ”And this other fella is William.” he pointed at his other friend. ”We're headed for Capital to participate in brawling, what about you?”
”…” the woman merely nodded at them with a faint smile, but said nothing.
”Ah, no wonder you've screwed the whole brothel,” Lino said, smiling lightly. ”You having a wife should be mantled as an additional world's wonder.” Harry, William and the woman laughed lightly while Jon couldn't do anything but smile in faint embarrassment.
”Ah, you jest my friend!” Jon exclaimed. ”My wife and I are very happy, and I'll have you know that she very much appreciates my charms.”