Grand Game 478: To the Victor goes the Spoils (Patreon)

My next stop after Jone was the storeroom, and I wasted no time hurrying in its direction. I was not on the clock per se, but there were too many unknowns in the current situation for me to be comfortable with taking matters slowly.

With my luck, Mammon might finally decide to turn up. Or Riders from another sector. Or Blythe. Or even those Reapers Tyelin had mentioned. 

I shook my head, imagining the possibilities. I wanted no more surprises. And that meant doing things in a strict order of priority so I could leave on a moment’s notice if it became necessary.

Reaching the storeroom, I headed straight for Tyelin’s corpse, half-expecting to find it missing.

But no, the Blade envoy’s remains were still present—and exactly how Malikor had left it. Bending over the corpse, I studied his gear. 

… This shirt may only be worn by a Sworn of Blythe. You are unable to discern its other properties.

… This ring may only be worn by a Sworn of Blythe. You are unable to discern its other properties.

… This blade may only be wielded by a Sworn of Blythe. You are unable to discern its other properties.

I groaned unhappily. First Malikor. Now Tyelin. 

“Damnable Sworn-locked items,” I grumbled. Still, there was nothing I could do to alter the situation. Curbing my disappointment, I focused on the equipment that wasn’t Sworn-locked.

There were five such items.

Four of which were legendary pieces.

That implied something, but I dismissed the thought for later consideration, too fascinated by the pieces themselves. One item in particular held my attention, and I knew immediately it was the one I would take.

Unfastening the piece, I tugged it free from the corpse.

You have acquired a Tiamaten Scalemail Vest. This item is indestructible and is part of the legendary light armor set: Tiamat’s Shadow. 

Tiamat was one of the last black dragons. Though slain many eons ago, he is still unforgotten. The slayers of the great dragon harvested every last ingredient from his corpse, fashioning items from them that to this day remain unbroken. 

This vest has been crafted from black dragonscale hide, making it both lightweight and indestructible while at the same time affording its user protection that is nearly on par with a heavy amor suit. It reduces the physical damage you sustain by 32%, increases your Constitution by +4 ranks, and grants you the slip-through-shadows trait, which increases your chance of evading area of effect damage by +20%. 

Find the other 4 pieces in the set to increase the benefits received. 

“Well, well,” I murmured, hefting the vest in my hand. It was barely as heavy as ebonheart, yet provided nearly the same damage reduction as all five pieces of the ranger’s kit I currently wore. 

I definitely need to acquire the full set.

My gaze flickered back to Tyelin’s body. The Blade envoy hadn’t been wearing the full Tiamaten set, but he did have its arm and leg pieces too, and for a moment—just a moment—I was tempted to strip them off the corpse as well.

No can do. 

A promise was a promise. Turning away regretfully, I went looking for the other elites’ corpses. 

✵ ✵ ✵

You have unequipped a ranger’s kit vest, losing 16% physical damage reduction and the set bonus lost: 4 ranks of stealth.

You have equipped a tiamaten scalemail vest, gaining +32% physical damage reduction, +4 Constitution, and the slip-through-shadows trait.

As was the case with the envoys, the gear of Haiken, Bern, Lune, Auris, Leafbright, and Zultan was also mostly Sworn-locked. 

“Bloody hell,” I cursed, no longer able to ignore the disturbing pattern revealed. 

It seemed the Game’s elite had ways of protecting their equipment. They couldn’t stop others from looting their gear, but they could definitely stop unfriendly players from using them.

Sitting down cross-legged, I studied the two piles before me. The first, consisting of four items, were the pieces I’d selected from the Blade elites, and the second, much larger pile, was the Rider elites’ possessions.

I picked up the first item, the one I’d looted from Haiken.

You have acquired the rank 5 item: the scoundrel’s wristband. This item can be used to configure traps of master tier and below. Additionally, it grants you +5 ranks in thieving.

 Each trap can consist of a maximum of 5 components, using any combination of triggers, elements, guides, and keys. Keys can be used to set a trap as dormant. Dormant traps are harder to detect and will not trigger under any circumstances.

Currently stored trap-making crystals: 0 / 300. 

Available triggers: pressure plates (for use on floors), sound glasses (omnidirectional), tripwires (between two points), motion pins (cone), remote control (manual trigger), spell detectors (omnidirectional), and psi detectors (omnidirectional).

Available elements: lightning, poison clouds, fire, spring-coiled daggers, bear-trap clamps, small explosives, blots of darkness, ice, spiked-pits, and hallucinogenic mists.

Available guides: reflect (redirects an element in the desired direction), split (divide and reflect an element), and funnel (concentrates and directs an element in the desired direction). Note, guides only stay materialized for 5 seconds. 

Available keys: remote keys (manual activation) and timed keys (delay-based activation). 

As expected, the rank five scoundrel’s wristband was an upgrade over my own tier four item. It stored more components and provided greater options when it came to triggers, elements, and the overall trap configurations. 

The biggest difference, though, was the addition of the trap keys whose use I’d observed earlier. They, more than anything else, would increase the versatility of my traps. However, since the wristband was currently empty of trap crystals, equipping it would have to wait for later.

Stowing away the item, I picked up the piece I’d looted from Bern. He’d actually had a better wristband than the one I’d taken from Haiken, however something else on the rogue’s corpse had piqued my interest far more.

Picking up the item in question, I inspected it anew.

You have acquired the Seeking Eye of Sylvana.  This item is indestructible and is part of the Slyvanain Hunter Seeker legendary device set. 

There was no more formidable hunter in the annals of history than Sylvanna. She is said to have killed thousands of players and elite monsters during her lifetime. Yet it is not for the quantity of her kills that the huntress is famous, but for her success rate. No prey ever escaped once Sylvana was on its trail. The huntress herself attributed much of her success to the hunter seekers she forged with her own hands.

This item is a tracking and scouting device designed to find and follow a subject by a variety of means, including scent, sight, sound, spirit signature, or mental imprint. The Eye itself is invisible and has no signature or imprint of its own, making it virtually undetectable. 

And while the device can communicate and travel an unlimited distance from its owner—within the same sector—its internal store of mana is fixed. After 4 hours of continuous use, the Eye will automatically deactivate, revealing itself.

Available modes of operation: tracking mode (where the Eye automatically searches for the target spirit signature or mental imprint) and scout mode (in which the Eye is manually piloted). Note, the device is more vulnerable to detection in scout mode.

Find the other piece in the set to increase the benefits received. 

I rolled the small orb around in the palm of my hand. The artifact was small enough to fit, but in no other way did it resemble an actual eye. Currently inert—and very much visible—the orb was dull gray and inscribed with tiny runes. Rubbing my chin, I considered the small object more carefully.

In many ways, the Seeking Eye was identical to the hunter eyes the mantises in Nexus had used—or rather, the mantises’ devices were replicas of it.

Attempted replicas. 

There was no doubt the artifact I held in my hand was the superior product. Its invisibility alone assured that. Then there was the Eye’s other half, the piece needed to complete the legendary set. I could only imagine how powerful the device would become thereafter.

Let’s see it in action, I thought, unable to rein in my anticipation. Reaching out to the orb with my mind, I willed it to life.

You have failed to activate a Seeking Eye. 

Before the Eye can be used it must be attuned to its new owner. Equip the item to begin the process. Expected duration: 8 hours.

“Ah damn,” I muttered. Testing my new toy would have to wait for later and I slipped it into one of my pockets.

You have equipped a Seeking Eye. Attunement commenced.

Ignoring the Adjudicator’s message, I picked up the next item: Lune’s artifact.

Only for it to fall out of my hand. 

Huh? I thought, staring in surprise at the item on the floor. It was not clumsiness that had caused me to drop it. 

What’s going on now? 

A Game alert was flashing for attention, and hoping for enlightenment, I focused on it.

Warning: You cannot equip this item at this time. Doing so will exceed the maximum number of 30 wearable Game items. 

Note, consumables do not count to this limit.

Urgh.

I’d know about the thirty-item limit, of course. Ceruvax and Adriel had mentioned it during their lectures on the Game, but I had thought nothing of it at the time, thinking myself nowhere close to reaching it. But examining the Game gear I had equipped—non-player items didn’t count—I saw that I was indeed on the limit and sighed again.

“Something the matter, Prime?” Ghost asked from where she sat resting near the north entrance.

I waved aside her concern. “Nothing important. I just have to unequip some things,” I grumbled.

Inspecting my gear, I quickly identified a few older pieces that could be removed from active use. 

You have unequipped the gift of the unbound, losing immunity to tier 2 entanglement spells, the band of stillness, losing immunity to tier 2 mind spells, and a pioneer’s compass.

Equipped items: 27 / 30.

Three free item slots were not enough for comfort, but for now they would have to do. When time permitted, I would review my loadout in more detail. Storing the unequipped items in my backpack, I picked up the dropped item again. 

This time the Game did not protest. 

You have acquired the rank 6 item:  icefang. This item increases your water resistance by +20% and grants you the ability: icy steel. Icy steel is an activated ability that allows you to summon a +6 magical weapon of your choice into being. The weapon will be formed wholly from ice and will deal water damage.

Lune’s item—cold to the touch and resembling an actual fang—was straightforward enough. It allowed me to summon a magical blade that would inflict more damage than either faithful or ebonheart. It was less for this that I had chosen it though, and more for the fact that it gave me another attacking option. The additional water resistance was nice too.

Slipping the fang into another pocket, I inspect Auris’ item next. It was a wallet-like object made of leather and about the size of a large book.

You have acquired an elite poisoning kit. This is a rank 6 item capable of storing, manufacturing, and applying tier 6 poisons as well as the alchemical ingredients employed in their creation. Additionally, the kit grants you +6 ranks in poisoning. 

Stored poisons: 23 / 100. Stored ingredients: 301 / 500.

The kit was of little use to me, of course, but it would serve Nyra well, if not today, then some day in the future, and I stored it in my bag of holding. 

Right, that takes care of the Blades’ loot. Turning fractionally, I faced the remaining pile. Now for the Riders’.

You have acquired a cache of 3 legendary items and 50 miscellaneous items reserved for use by Mammon’s Sworn.

Unsurprisingly, Leafbright and Zultan’s gear was less suited to me. That applied to most of their non-Sworn gear too. Still, there were two items that I found noteworthy.

You have acquired a bishop’s ring, +12 Faith.

You have acquired the rank 7 item: Jeweled Pet. This ring strengthens the bond between a player and his pet, be they a companion, familiar, or tamed creature. While wearing the ring, your primary pet gains the trait: mirrored jewelry. 

Mirrored jewelry shares with your pet many of the benefits you derive from rank 7 and below jeweled items—rings, bracelets, necklaces, and such. Note, not all benefits are transferable. 

This item requires a minimum Magic or Faith of 50 to use.

The bishop’s ring was nice, and before realizing how close I was to the item limit, I would’ve equipped it without a second’s thought. If nothing else, the ring would have increased the size of my mana pool. Now, though, I simply stored it in my backpack.

The Jeweled Pet ring, which I’d taken from Leafbright, was more intriguing. For starters, it was the only usable rank seven artifact I’d come across—ever. For another, its minimum requirements had more than doubled from that of a rank six item. Beyond that, the ring offered some interesting possibilities for Ghost—assuming it worked the way I imagined it would.

Only one way to find out.

“Ghost,” I murmured, holding the ring in the palm of my hand, “you’re ready for this?”

The pyre wolf yawned, revealing glistening magma teeth. “Yes, Prime,” she replied, sounding more disinterested than I thought she had any right to be. We’d discussed the ring earlier but the possibilities it offered didn’t seem to intrigue Ghost as much as it did me.

Shaking my head at her indifference—how could the ring’s potential not excite her?—I put it on.

You have equipped the Jeweled Pet ring, granting your familiar the mirrored jewelry trait.

Ghost has gained +8 Strength, +4 Perception, +8 Constitution, +4 Mind, +10 Magic, +6% physical damage reduction, and the ability: spellhold. Note the benefits from your psi bracelet, farspeaker bracelet, simple potion bracelet, and aetherstone bracelet are not transferable.

“Ah,” I exclaimed, rocking back. Ghost had learned spellhold, just as I’d hoped. In of itself, spellhold was of limited use to the pyre wolf—she only had one spell to store—but it was the fact that she’d gained the ability in the first place that interested me. 

It meant I could expand Ghost’s repertoire of spells using items I wore. That was not all, though. 

There was something else to consider—a unique possibility that only spellhold offered. Might offer, I amended. Much depended on how the ability was being shared between us.

“Ghost, how do you feel?”

“Stronger. Faster. Tougher,” she replied. “You were right, Prime. The differences are appreciable.”

I nodded. “What about spellhold? Do you understand the spell?”

“I do.”

“Use it,” I instructed.

Her ears pricked up in confusion. “Use it? Why?”

“You’ll see in a moment.” I hope. 

“But I only have one spell,” she protested, “and it’s not even something—”

“I know. But humor me, please. Go ahead and store draining bite.”

“Alright,” she replied, sounding dubious.

Stopping myself from fiddling, I waited for the expectant Game message. 

It was not long in coming.

Spellhold enchantment activated.

Ghost has successfully stored the draining bite spell in the ring, mage’s surprise. This spell may now be trigger-cast when required.

“Done,” Ghost pronounced.

I nodded excitedly. “It worked!”

Ghost scratched the back of one ear with a hindleg. “I don’t understand the reason for all the fuss, Prime,” she confessed. “I can activate draining bite through that ring of yours instead of directly. So what? How does that help me?”

“It doesn’t,” I breathed. “But in this instance, it may help me.” Exhaling in anticipation, I reached into the ring on my right hand and released the spell stored within.

You have trigger-cast draining bite.

You can now leech a portion of your foes’ life with each bite.

I laughed out aloud at the Adjudicator’s response. 

Draining bite was less than useful to me, but that might not always be the case. Once we upgraded the ability sufficiently, it might turn into something I could use—without needing to bite my foes.

And that was only the beginning of the possibilities spellhold offered. Ghost, though, was still looking perplexed. Taking pity on her, I explained, “Mage’s surprise—the ring whose benefits you are now receiving—has only one storage slot. I didn’t expect your new trait to change that, and it didn’t.”

I paused for breath. “What that means is that we’re sharing the slot. And that in turn has led to some unintended consequences. Beyond me using your spells, I can now use spellhold to transfer my stolen spells to you.”

It took Ghost a moment to process all that. “So… I could cast something like nature unchained?”

“If it were stored in the ring, then yes.”

“Oh.” She lowered her head onto her paws. “I get it now.”

Grinning, I rose to my feet. “We’ll speak more on the matter later. But for now, let’s see to those mercenaries.”