1032. Midnight Deals
Under the cover of the night, a group of masked figures met on a peak, with a view of the massive tree in the distance. Some wore clothing of the Voracious Cloud Continent, others had completely hidden themselves with dark cloaks.
"How many people did we manage to smuggle into the actual city?" one of the cultivators asked. The half-faced silver mask did little to really hide his face, instead, it accentuated his charm in the starlit night.
"We have our people inside. Do not worry, they won't be the problem. What about your side?" one of the completely cloaked people asked instead.
"With the recent incidents, especially Stalking Cicada and the death of Elder Gack, we were able to rope in several families in addition to the Silk River sect who is getting ready for a full-on war. Until the final, we will probably gain even more allies," a different cultivator, wearing a golden monkey mask explained.
"And what about your side?" the cloaked figure asked another cloaked figure.
"Our preparations in Gamma and Delta will come to fruition soon. We will be ready," the other said stoically.
"Do you really think you can do it in time?" another cloak asked with a growling voice. This cloak was massive and bulky. The fabric couldn't hide the inhuman proportions.
"Don't worry. As long as your information is correct, there won't be any problems.
The group of cloaks fell silent, looking at each other. Although formed a shaky alliance to shatter Minas Mar, there was no trust among them. Although they worked together now, they would probably become enemies right after their common goal was achieved.
"I will take my leave then," Silver mask finally said, vanishing into thin air. Monkey-mask just nodded, following the example. Quickly, the group scattered one by one until only the regular cloak that spoke first and the bulky group were left.
"How are the preparations going? Did you get everything for the formation?" Cloak asked Bulky Cloak.
"That you aren't satisfied after swallowing the merchandise of several soul traders... " he said with a shaking head. "It was hard since we used a lot on the one in Y-City, but yeah. We have enough for a smaller one. It should be able to just fit."
"Good," Cloak said satisfied.
"Don't forget the price." Bulky threatened.
"Don't worry, I will capture Tano'Mol for you." the regular cloak promised confidently. "He probably won't leave Emerald City. If it wasn't currently on lockdown, my men would have already apprehended him."
"Can't you just-"
"Break in, get him, and run off? No, they actually believed that bullshit from Minas Mar. They are giving the barrier all their power and attention. Even if they forced their way in, my men would not get out anymore..." Cloak interrupted Bulky.
"Tsk, fine. I will take my leave then, " Bulky finally said and vanished in a cloud of black smoke.
"That I would have to work with such animals..." Cloak sighed and left, too.
The peak finally fell silent again.
---The Unclaimed Mountains---
But not all news was bad that night.
Deep in the frozen, wind-beaten depths of the Unclaimed Mountains waited a scene of destruction. Swept-away valleys and washed-out mountains bore witness to a terrifying battle. Sitting on the peak of a rock needle, that was once a massive mountain, was a dim Ceres, looking down into the valley.
Trapped to the hips in floods of water, frozen to glacial ice laid a terrifying foe, finally still. A giant made of metal and bone, the battered shell covered in burned flesh and and a black sludge. Frozen by the icy weather, he looked like he had been preserved here for thousands of years.
Yet, it had been fighting for days with the storm elemental until Ceres managed to trap it in massive floods and the lightning strikes finally burned through the isolating layer the creature was covered in.
Blotches slowly approached the solitary eagle. Even the Questing Beast was forced to seek safety in the distances, when they fight came to its peak. With the fatigue, the lightning body had grown dimmer, but inside Ceres was overjoyed.
It had not just gotten a chance to test the power gained after ascension but also defeated a powerful and very annoying opponent.
"Blotches, you take the flying saucer, I grab this thing. I bet Master will want to take a look at this." it finally spoke after remaining silent for a day and a night. The giant had not moved and the Parrot of Doom had recovered his gleam.
The questing beast nodded and trudged away, looking for the flying machine the giant had used to come here. It was swept away by the torrential rain, several days ago. Meanwhile, the eagle's mighty claws tore into the dead machine, ripping it from its cold trap.
He had been gone for a long time, unable to contact Seth, but he would at least bring a present when he finally returned.
"It spouted a lot of nonsense about Mike having brought its apostles to Emerald City. Let's return there first," Ceres instructed when Blotches returned, pulling something like a hovercraft behind it.
With this, the Parrot of Doom finally started returning home.
…
---Little Gamma, the Next Day---
<Ding! You have finished a special item! +100p Power of Existence>
Early in the morning, Seth and Sivri were back at the workshop and finally finished the Usekh.
Although just following the blueprints was a little different from the excitement of making something himself, since he had less impact on the final effect, he had fun sharing this kind of work with Sivri.
Looking at the armor pieces they were a good example for the direction Seth was trying to pursue, focusing on a limited number of effects, but enhancing those to the max. Excluding his soul armaments, Mike would probably have even higher specs than Seth, one he donned this set.
Checking its final stats, the Usekh was truly the core part of the set, that supplied it with power and had the greatest impact on the skills of Maahes and magic in general.
<Slaughter's Usekh< p>
Special
Slaughter's -Set 1/8
Durability: 4444
Phys.-Defense: 2600
Mag.-Defense: 3100
1.+200% Power of Maahes' Divine Skills
2. Skill and Magic Costs are halved.
3.+130 Willpower
4.+130 Intelligence
5. Lion's Mane
6. Passive Skill: Mana Well
7. 10% Overall Power up under the open Sky.
Set Effects:
...
Usekh: x/8
Skills of set items have no cost, only cooldown.
<Royal Decree> is enhanced by 25% if the crown is equipped.
…
An Usekh made of special materials and created by the hands of Master Smith, the first Master Blacksmith, Master Enchanter, and Master Goldsmith on Urth. A holy armament of Maahes and Part of the Slaughterer's Set, designed by Ptah, the Heliopolian God of Craftsmen.
Requirements: Chosen of Maahes
>
Like the other items, the Usekh had a skill and a special effect, apart from basic improvements and the power of the materials Seth added. Just like the scale armor, it was influenced by the <Sky Silk> and gained the full improvements from Seth's <Composer of Fusion>.
The special effect "Lion's Mane" added an additional 25% Light Attribute damage when attacking with magic, so it was similar to the "Wielder of the Knife", which did something similar with bleeding damage over time.
The active skill was <Mana Well>, which allowed the user or one of his allies to quickly recover their Mana. Although it caused a 1h cooldown on all skills of the set, it was a powerful skill, that could come in handy in various situations.
"Congratz!" Sivri exclaimed and they shook hands upon finish such a great work. Seeing how only the belt and the crown were now missing, Sivri and Seth decided to ride the wave of success and continue with big steps.
They were ready for a final push. Today, they would finish the Slaughterer's Set! Since Sivri was not a blacksmith, she went ahead and started preparing the various parts of the belt, who was similar in nature to the Usekh. Meanwhile, Seth started by forging the crown.
A rounded band of the red golden metal inlaid with stripes of black gems making it look like a twisted torc of red-gold and black. Wrapping around the head, the two ends of the band joined together in the back, turning into the body of a cobra that thrones on the wearer's head.
The first step was forging the band, after which came setting the black pieces of gem and engraving it with ornamental enchantments. The band itself was no problem, but the snake proved to be a challenge to Seth's lacking talent in artistry.
He was good with practical designs, but when it came to creative motives and sculpting, he had neither much experience nor talent. It always took him extra effort to make something satisfactory.
The struggle was real. Although the basic band was not hard and he saw no trouble with the other steps either, the snake was killing him. Seth could already see that he would spend hours on refining the snake head to get it just right when he had an idea.
Exchange projects!