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Chapter 69: The Howl

It was a very strong candidate – but upgrading [Arsenal] was equally as tempting. The only thing that gave him pause was that he had absolutely no idea what upgrading it would actually do. The skill already scaled with his Tier, so upgrading it was unlikely to let him bond with more items.

It’ll probably give me something that directly relates to my items in some way or another. So, in summary, my options are upgrading future potential, a mixture of crafting and combat, or pure combat.

Arwin thought for several minutes, not wanting to rush into anything. As much as he wanted to take [Awaken], the chances of it just giving him a flat improvement to his crafting abilities that would benefit the long run far more than the short were too high. He mentally crossed it off the list. He needed something that would let him fight the Iron Hounds.

Both [Soul Flame] and [Arsenal] would do that, and Arwin honestly couldn’t decide which one would be better. The former was probably the safer bet, as he already had several ways to use it and knew that it would come in handy no matter what.

But, in the end, curiosity ended up winning out. An upgrade to [Soul Flame] would probably be useful, but Arwin didn’t think it would be useful enough to make the difference between success and failure in a really difficult fight.

[Arsenal], on the other hand, was a more combat and item focused ability. Even though he was clueless as to what changing it would do, it was still the skill most likely to give him something immediately useful. He would upgrade [Awaken] the next time he got a chance to.

His decision made, Arwin selected the skill. The writing in the air shifted before him as the Mesh tingled within his body.

[Arsenal] – You live and die on your equipment, so you might as well make it part of yourself. Bind yourself to [3] pieces of equipment, summoning and dismissing it at will. The number of equipment you can bind to scales with your Tier, up to a total of 10. Unbinding a piece of Equipment will make this skill inactive for 1 day. You may temporarily bind yourself to 1 extra piece of equipment after holding it for an amount of time scaling with the difference between your current Tier and the Tier of the item’s holder. Breaking this bond will not deactivate [Arsenal].

It took Arwin a few seconds to read the new description of [Arsenal], and then a few more to actually figure out what it meant. The original function of the skill hadn’t changed at all. It still did exactly the same thing that it did before, but it now had a new addition.

A temporary bond to an item, particularly that someone else was holding. That sounded like another way to say that Arwin could functionally steal someone’s weapon if he managed to get his hands on it for long enough.

I can already see how that would be useful. It’s not the direct offense ability I thought it would be, and everything will depend on how long it actually takes for me to bond with something. But, if the time is within reason… this could be really nasty.

Arwin wasn’t quite in the mood to grin but gave himself a satisfied nod. If he came across anyone that was a significant enough threat to need to steal gear from them, it would probably be difficult to hold onto them for long enough to steal anything. There were always ways to get around difficulties, though. An extra tool to rely on with the potential to turn a fight around as drastically as this wasn’t one he was going to complain about.

But now that the Mesh had loosed him from its grip, Arwin’s attention was back to what it had been on originally. He peered into his newly formed helm, and the Mesh bloomed before him for the second time.

Ivory Executioner’s Howl: Rare[?] Quality

[Awoken]: This item has taken on life of its own. Forged in an apprentice’s joy and quenched in his master’s sorrow, this item resonates with the echoes of the past and burns with fury that may never be sated.

[Molten Gaze]: The flame of a broken promise burns within this item. After this item’s wielder kills an opponent, it will ignite with magical power and release an aura that hinders the casting of magic nearby. This effect is magnified with every consecutive kill.

[Forged For One]: This item was forged specifically for Arwin Tyrr. Its abilities will not function for any other users.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

[What Could Have Been]: This item’s information is hidden from prying eyes until the time when it is whole once more.

[Armor of the Executioner]: This is a set item of [?] pieces. When the entire set is worn, a concealed property will be unlocked.

[?]: This item’s potential has not been fully tapped. It’s full potential and rarity will update upon the completion of its set.

“Would you look at that,” Arwin said, a soft laugh slipping from his lips. The sides of his eyes prickled as he read the description and he blinked to clear them. “I guess you were right after all, Zeke. That’s the first time I’ve made anything better than Average Quality, much less something with the potential to be even stronger than Rare.”

Well, some of my Unique items were much better than normal Average items, but Unique isn’t on the rarity scale. It’s an item that can either be utter shit, incredible, or anything in between. Rare, on the other hand, is a promise – and it’s a step closer to truly understanding what I’m doing. My work needs to be replicable, not just one-off creations where I roll the dice and pray it turns out well.

Arwin slipped the helmet onto his head. It, unsurprisingly, fit perfectly. He could still tell he was wearing a helmet, but it was far more comfortable than it had any right being. Arwin looked around the forge, testing his field of view, but it didn’t seem to be as impaired as it had been when he’d worn the mask normally.

Unfortunately, it didn’t seem like he’d made the entire Armor of the Executioner set yet. That was hardly a surprise, as sets were generally at least three pieces. This one probably needed appropriate greaves and possibly gauntlets as well to be completed.

Interestingly enough, the Executioner chest plate didn’t say it was part of a set. Does that mean I need to finish it somehow? Maybe this is actually a 2-part set and the first part just isn’t done yet. I’ve got no clue what I would do to change it, though.

Arwin reached up to his head and slid the helmet off, holding it under an arm and standing in silent contemplation for several seconds. If the set had said how many items it was, he’d have been tempted to figure out how to make the correct chestpiece.

But that wasn’t how life worked. The set might have been 2 pieces, and it might have been six. There was always a chance it needed rings as well – he just didn’t know, and that meant that focusing on trying to complete it would be a huge gamble.

I can work on the set after I get armor for Lillia. We don’t have much time before the Wyrms are born – hell, we don’t even have an exact date. The Iron Hounds need to be dealt with sooner rather than later.

Arwin focused on the helm in his hands. It was in his own possession, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t test out the new ability he’d gotten from [Arsenal]. His fingers warmed as the Mesh tingled, and he counted down three seconds in his head before he felt a faint pop in his mind.

With a thought, the helmet vanished from Arwin’s hands. He summoned it back, then placed it on his head and repeated the process. It was just as seamless as controlling any of the other items he was bound to, but this connection took longer to establish.

Fair enough. How about breaking it?

That, as it turned out, was instant. The moment Arwin tried to pull his mind away, his connection to the helm severed and it materialized on him like normal. Arwin re-bonded to it and dismissed the helm once more.

Three seconds again. That’s a basis, at least. In a fight, that’s a good bit, but it’s not impossible.

Sending one last look around his rather pitiful looking temporary forge, Arwin stepped out into the street and headed for the tavern. It was already midday, so he’d lost a fair portion of time sinking into the helm’s visions.

Thank God it didn’t have any detrimental elements. That would have been absolutely infuriating. Actually, now that I think about it, I have no clue if it has detrimental elements. It’s not like they’re marked, so the set ability or the effects of its aura could be bad for me.

Oh well. I’m still using the damn thing. I’ll figure it out soon enough. For now, I need to fulfill on my promise.

Arwin stepped into the tavern, squinting as his eyes adjusted to the darkness. Reya and Anna both sat at the counter, just barely illuminated by the lantern hanging beside them. There was no sign of Rodrick, but a sizzling from the kitchen told him that Lillia was cooking something.

“Did you finish?” Reya asked as she spotted him enter, sliding off her stool.

“Yes,” Arwin said. “For the time being, at least.”

“Then, if you’re here, I assume there might be something else we can do to help?” Anna guessed, turning to face him and taking a sip from an old wooden mug. Arwin didn’t recognize it, so either Lillia had gotten a new cup at some point or it belonged to Anna.

“I’m going to be making something for Lillia, and it might take a few attempts. I don’t think I’ll be quite as… guided as I was this time around,” Arwin said, his thoughts drifting to the visions.

The helmet seemed magical, so he wasn’t sure if it had been Stonesinger that had allowed him to get such a vivid picture of what it had wanted to be, but he wasn’t too confident he’d be able to replicate his results for anything intentionally. Not yet, at least.

For the time being, the most important thing he could do would be to make Lillia the most effective set of armor as quickly as possible. They didn’t know the exact date the Wyrmlings would show up, so that meant he realistically only had weeks to completely prepare a full set of armor for her as well as make himself some gauntlets.

“What can we do?” Reya asked. “Do you need materials? We can hunt.”

“We already discussed how that would be a little too dangerous,” Arwin said with a shake of his head. “But there are a lot of things in the forge that go faster when I’ve got some assistance. Do you want to help me make Lillia’s armor? We can have people rotate out.”

Reya gave Arwin a sharp nod. “Yeah. I’m in.”

“Good,” Arwin said, turning on his heel and jerking his chin toward the street. “We’ve got a lot of work to do and not very much time to do it. There will be more than enough work for both you and Lillia to help, so you can aid in the initial parts and she can help finish it off.”

“I will. But… what am I supposed to do? I’ve never worked a forge before.”

“Whatever I tell you to,” Arwin replied with a flicker of a smile. “Come on. We’ve got some armor to forge.”