The first step: Bonecharms.

{Author's Note: Watch out for '**' marks I've left in the chapter… The 'Paragraph Comment' on them has an image of the said thing… just in case, I wasn't clear enough.}

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*Argus's Narration*

In the game, Bonecharms were mystical objects hidden throughout the Empire of the Isles, and granted the players Passive Effects like… Agile Recovery- Recover from falls slightly faster.

A simple Bonecharm is basically a cylindrical piece of WhaleBone, studded in a socket.

**

While there are two more- Corrupted Bonecharms and Black Bonecharms.

**

Corrupted Bonecharms are like a deal with the devil, they gave some of the best passive effects but also cursed the user with a negative one.

An example of Corrupted Bonecharm is Witch's Skin- When taking damage, your mana is drained before your health. The side effect- your mana doesn't regenerate.

Black Bonecharms are more powerful and unique than standard cylindrical Bonecharms. The downside to them is that- they cannot be customized.

And players in the game could equip up to 10 Bonecharms to boost the character's stats in a variety of ways.

But that's not all… far from it, actually.

In the second installment- Dishonored 2, players got to create their own Custom Bonecharms, and a single Custom Bonecharm could have up to 4 unique traits, or a single trait could be stacked together to create an extremely powerful passive effect.

Did you get a Bonecharm that gives a 20% increase in movement speed?

Then you can make a 4-Way Bonecharm- In a 4-Way Bonecharm, you have the choice to either stack the 20% speed and increase it up to four times for an 80% increase in speed. Or you can make it a 4-in-1 Bonecharm and save 3 slots.

Although these 4-Way Bonecharms runs a minor risk of Corruption.

Corruption will basically add a Negative Effect to the Bonecharm like… You take more damage from enemies, or your footsteps are louder. This 'curse' could be minor or major, depending upon your play-style. I personally loved to massacre my way with no detections. Exactly what I'm doing right now.

And it was not just 4-Way Bonecharms… Players got to choose how many Passive Effect, or to be more accurately called, 'Traits' they want in a Bonecharm, but 4 was the limit.

These OP pieces of passive effects didn't come for free though… WhaleBones were the currency Bonecharm Crafting demanded.

A 2-way, or say a 2-trait Bonecharm cost 3 WhaleBones to make… while a 4-trait took 5 WhaleBones.

To create one, a player first had to 'Sacrifice' the desired Bonecharm… that'd destroy it and save it in the 'Craft Bonecharms' section for later customizations, and the Sacrifice will also give the player 1 WhaleBone.

Note that the game doesn't allow players to CHANGE the trait itself… the player can only stack it up, or mix-match the trait with other traits and make a Many-in-1 Bonecharm.

While the currency needed to do, this is WhaleBone.

WhaleBones could be found or collected in three ways…

1. Sacrificing Bonecharms to get 1 WhaleBone.

2. Scavenge them around the map.

3. Sacrifice Runes for 8 WhaleBones.

And the Bonecharm I got was… Whirlwind- Sword attack speed is slightly faster. One of the strongest classic Bonecharms!

[And that's freakin OP!] Was the only thing echoing in my mind as I sat on Caneo's bed- feet kicking back and forth, trying my best to get a hold of the butterflies' break dancing in my stomach.

My upgrade Interface was up and running, and just beside the 'Powers' was the 'Bonecharms' section.

**

My eyes shone even brighter as I tapped on it… and it was beautiful. Exactly like in the game!

The entire Bonecharm section was divided into two separate sections- 'Equip Bonecharms' and 'Craft Bonecharms', was written in elegance below each.

On my left was the Equip Bonecharms with a portrait of me…

And damn! I looked sexy~.

Beside the photo were 10 circular sockets, surrounding me in two semi-circles of fives. These sockets were where I'll be equipping the Bonecharms in.

Below my photo was written 'Equip Bonecharms'.

And on my right was 'Craft Bonecharms', with a 3-way 'Y' shaped Bonecharm for an icon.

**

And right now, I was on 'Equip Bonecharms', giggling like an idiot.

But I didn't equip it right away… I had big plans for it!

It was rather generous of 'Sparkles' to give me a fully unlocked Bonecharms section, otherwise, it would've taken me… I forgot how many Runes… but the point is, completely unlocking the Bonecharms section was one expensive endeavor. But thanks to him, I was free to do as I pleased.

And I did as I pleased~

Backing away from 'Equip Bonecharms', I tapped on 'Craft Bonecharms'

Given my current state of affairs… 'slightly faster' sword speed just won't do. I was going to make 'slightly faster', 'extremely fast'.

As Craft Bonecharms opened up, I was greeted with another page divided into two sections.

One of the two was BONECHARMS, and it had 4 options under it, Sacrifice Bonecharms- Craft Bonecharms with 2 traits- Craft Bonecharms with 3 traits- Craft Bonecharms with 4 traits.

And the other was Runes, it only had 2 options, Sacrifice Runes- Craft Runes.

And below both the sections, was a dynamic display that showed- The number of traits available to choose from- Traits required to craft a certain Bonecharm (Required 4, if I'm crafting a 4-Way Bonecharm)- Raw WhaleBones (The currency) I have on me, and the WhaleBones required to craft the chosen Bonecharm.

Basically a tally of everything.

***

And currently, everything other than 'Sacrifice Bonecharms', and 'Sacrifice Runes' was dark as I had no WhaleBones on me at the moment.

But that's gonna change in a sec. For I had a Rune.

As I Tapped on the 'Sacrifice Rune' a message popped up confirming, 'Sacrifice Rune to gain 8 Raw Whalebone?'

And with no hesitation what so ever, I tapped 'Yes'…

And BOOM! I got 8 WhaleBones in an instant.

Next up was to sacrifice the Bonecharm I just got.

'Sacrifice Bonecharms' opened the entire list of the Bonecharms I had collected so far… which happened to only one- Whirlwind.

**

Another confirmation popped up, another 'Yes' I tapped on, turning the Bonecharm into a Trait.

And Booga-Booga! Whirlwind was ready to be stacked up 4 times.

I now had all the ingredients I needed to craft meself a custom Bonecharm.

"Here's hoping it doesn't get corrupt…" Fingers crossed, I tapped 'Craft Bonecharm with 4 traits'.

And here it was… that darling Magic Circle I had spent who knows how many hours in-game. In the middle of the intricate Magic Circle was an 'X' shaped diagram of a 4-Way Bonecharm, and at the end of the 4 lines were empty sockets for me to fill.

***

As I tapped on one of the empty sockets, another list opened up, displaying all the sacrificed Bonecharms I had on me… which again, just so happened to be the Whirlwind.

***

And the list disappeared the second I tapped on Whirlwind, and I was back on the Magic Circle. What differed was that the socket I tapped on now had Whirlwind in it.

Tapping on another socket, the list opened again, but the Whirlwind now had a '/' shaped cut beside it, signifying that it has been used once. I can only use a trait for 4 times- that's the maximum limit, and it completely depends upon me, how I want to use it.

***

And so the process repeated itself three more times, filling the once empty sockets with Whirlwind, lighting up the Magic Circle bluish in the process.

***

That Magic Circle lit up even brighter as I tapped and held my finger at the center while a thin blue line began making a circle around the whole thing. It passed through every socket, glimmering up the traits in them.

And the second it made a full circle, a blinding flash erupted from the Magic Circle, forcing my eyes shut while a gonging sound of a bell drummed loud in my ears.

As the lights went down, and the sound… I cracked my eyes open, and there it was- CRAFTED BONECHARM 1

**

/ Wow… I never thought a day would come when we'll be crafting a Bonecharm in real-life… You do realize that it's a dark art, right? /

[And who said that? Those fanatics of The Abbey of the Everyman?... Get a Loli, Miss-Goody-Two-Shoes~ Jeez!]

/Just what the… no… No comments. Nope! None at all. /

While I cackled like a kid with a jumbo ice-cream as I hopped back to the main Bonecharm section and tapped on 'Equip Bonecharms'.

My portrait enlarged while the 10 empty sockets surrounded it in a circle, and below the portrait were- 'Equipped Bonecharms 0/10', and 'Bonecharms Owned 1'.

**

And when I tapped on a random empty socket, another list popped open which too had 2 separate sections- 'Found', and 'Crafted'.

From which I choose, Crafted.

**

And there it was… 'CRAFTED BONECHARM 1', my sweet little cross of bones~

All it took was a single tap, and I felt the power surging!

This ridiculous speed! This indescribable intensity of absolute dominance over everything and anything! I felt as though there was no head I couldn't rip off!

Just kidding…

I felt no different.

With the Bonecharm equipped and in effect, it was now time to test the results.

And test the results I did!

Corvo's Blade Flickered in my right hand, and I swung it sharply in the air-

-FOOSH!

And the sword ripped through the air, faster than I ever imagined… faster than I ever swung.

I could see the tearing of wind with my eyes as clear as Caneo's bolt studded body lying on the floor.

The sword never felt so light… my slashes were never so fast- so precise.

For just another guy to be able to make slashes this fast…

That was the power of a Custom Bonecharm!

Those butterflies in my stomach literally started a riot when I imagined the other 9 sockets filled with 4-Way Custom Bonecharms.

Now that's a sight worth drooling over.

[Can I do this with my Karambit too or the Axe? What about the other swords? Or it's just Corvo's Blade exclusive…]

/ I suggest you conduct every experiment that's in your mind right now… Although the description clearly stated swords. Just do not forget you're standing at the heart of Soma Familia's Home Base. /

[Yes mam!] So with that, I Flickered-Out the blades and began slicing and slashing in the air.

And 'SHE' was right… Karambit and the Axe came as negative while the Gladius swooshed through the air. Which was fine… Karambit is for executions and grapples, I don't really need extra speed for it. And Axe was never my thing.

Truth to be told, this Bonecharm sky-rocketed my confidence in taking down Soma Familia. I now feared no one.

When it comes down to swords… speed is what gets more slashes done. Speed equals the cutting power your strikes have… yes, a strong grip matters too, but I believed speed mattered more.

The heads I wouldn't have been able to chop off then… now felt as easy as cutting veggies.

So with the dominance of those cultivation protagonists, and hands behind my back… chest all puffed up with a blaze filled to the brim with sheer confidence, and the will to dominate and annihilate these motherfuckers who hurt Lili, I gazed at the door leading out.

As though having conquered the heavens themselves, I smirked and activated Dark Vision.

The first pulse went out… and there were at least 8 orange silhouettes cluttered outside the door and a guy about to kick the door open. And the next second, he did.

-BAM!

"There he is! That cunt!" he barged in, yelling the moment our eyes met.

/ Well… there you have it. Now go get'em, tiger! /

[Fuck!]