HC: Pacifist | Ch. 218 - Blessings

“Le-legendary S-s-skills?!” yammered Roth.

Blessing of the Cat (Legendary)

Description: Oli, the cat, has taught you how to circumvent any lock.

Effects:

Passive. You can open any lock;

+1 skill slot.

Blessing of the Panther (Legendary)

Description: Shadow, the panther, has taught you how to become invisible.

Effects:

Passive. Upgrades [Camouflage];

+1 skill slot.

Blessing of the Caracal (Legendary)

Description: Nira, the caracal, has taught you to defy gravity.

Effects:

Passive. Become weightless;

+1 skill slot.

Blessing of the Tiger (Legendary)

Description: Maudib, the tiger, has taught you how to pulverize your enemies.

Effects:

Passive. Crits deal four times more damage;

+1 skill slot.

Blessing of the Lioness (Legendary)

Description: Sawabi, the lioness, has taught you how to hunt.

Effects:

Passive. Attacks can’t miss;

+1 skill slot.

Blessing of the Lion (Legendary)

Description: Zion, the lion, has taught you how to roar.

Effects:

Passive. Voice skills are empowered.

+1 skill slot.

Roth couldn't believe it. He could choose one of six different legendary skills! He didn't care about [Blessing of the Tiger] or [Blessing of the Lioness]. These skills would favor much more those who engaged in combat. But still, old berserker Roth would have turned heaven and earth upside down to get a hold of such skills.

Each skill offered one extra skill slot, which meant it was free. Even if all his skills were occupied, he could still equip it. These skills were heavenly just on that point alone. Plus, some of these effects were utterly broken. He studied one at a time.

The first one offered the possibility of getting Oli's blessing. Not surprisingly, it was a bonus that helped with thievery. Was that a path he wanted to take? He scratched his head. Even though being able to open any door sounded alluring, it couldn't be as simple as that, could it?

He probably couldn't instantly open any door if he took this skill. Some locks would probably take longer to get through than others. Oli had hinted at this earlier. Didn’t he say that without his help, Lin would have had a tough time cracking Loki's vault? He couldn't imagine that there were many coffers with precious treasures inside that were left unguarded. Even if he used [Peace Decree] to buy himself some time, it would require work and a skill tree geared toward treasure looting. He twisted his mouth. This wasn’t his style. He would set this option aside for now.

After this, there was [Blessing of the Panther], which upgraded his camouflage. Roth guessed that this brought [Camouflage] to a whole new level. How handy would this skill have been when he infiltrated Loki’s lair? If he had this blessing, Loki would never have been able to spot him unless he chose to reveal himself.

What followed was [Blessing of the Caracal]. The only cat that could be the caracal was that one with long legs and long ears. Its long legs hint at speed and jumping ability. The granted skill mentioned that its user would become weightless. What did that mean? Would he become able to fly or jump over mountains? Or did it mean he would gain attack speed since he didn't have to worry about his body weight? Or… did it mean he could carry all the cargo he wanted?

Now, that made it alluring: if a broker could make all his cargo weightless, then his only limitation would be how much product customers were willing to purchase and how many items were in stock. Even so, he couldn't be sure that a player's inventory would become weightless instead of the player himself. He suspected that that would be the case; otherwise, the skill might be too weak. But it could also be a trap. What a nightmare to have to choose between these superb skills.

He already had discarded [Blessing of the Tiger] and [Blessing of the Lioness], which only left the [Blessing of the Lion] to consider. King Zion had left a profound impact on Roth. He remembered the king’s arrival at the auction house and how he’d obliterated some of the best players in the game with a single roar. Plus, it had been such an incredible sensation when Roth used the borrowed [Lion's Breath] skill to open the portal.

Roth had three voice skills: [Peace Decree], [Screeching Terror], and [Taunting Bellow]. These were his bread-and-butter skills, which he used to protect others, scare them, or negate damage. Empowering them with this last legendary skill sounded appealing.

He reread each skill and made a mental list of pros and cons. This was such a difficult decision to make. He had to start narrowing down his choices. The first blessing to join the list of discarded choices was [Blessing of the Caracal]. It was just too big of a risk to invest in this blessing and then realize that he couldn’t make cargo weightless. There were also other ways of moving cargo, and he was gaining more and more weight-carry capacity.

The next skill he discarded was [Blessing of the Cat]. He already had a little thief in the making and didn't think he needed to become his partner in crime. As it were, something told him that Lin would get him into plenty of trouble already.

Finally, Roth had to choose between [Blessing of the Panther] and [Blessing of the Lion]. He looked at the two and finally made his choice. The fact that [Blessing of the Lion] related to the ruler of the cats had to mean something, right? Besides, voice skills were some of the only active skills he could use. Even though there were plenty of ways to improve one’s weight-carry capacity and invisibility, there were few ways to improve vocal power.

“I choose [Blessing of the Lion],” he told Oli.

“So be it.”

You've learned [Blessing of the Lion].

[Blessing of the Lion] resonates with your nature affinity.

[Blessing of the Lion] has become [Blessing of the Lion King].

Roth had completely forgotten about this new affinity and how it upgraded nature-related skills! He had never imagined that he would be upgrading a legendary skill.

Blessing of the Lion King (Legendary)

Description: Zion, the lion, has taught you how to roar and rule.

Effects:

Passive. Voice skills are empowered;

+50 charisma

+2 skill slot.

Not only had he received an extra skill slot, but he received an incredible boost to his charisma. What kind of skill granted 50 charisma? It was enough to gain one new stat bonus! Roth couldn't believe it. He had just won the jackpot. From now on, vocal skills would become unstoppable. On top of that, this bonus to charisma would make gaining friendships with others easier and help him improve in his broker profession.

Shortly after Roth chose his reward, an announcement rang across AstroTerra.

Region Announcement: The interregional event [The Rise of the Hive King] has ended.

Collect all your rewards from the event store in the next 48 hours; after that, all event tickets will be rendered obsolete.

Roth hadn’t received a single event ticket, but looking at his incredible new skill, he didn’t feel he needed any. He had come on the winning side. Not only did he now have a dual affinity, but he had also gotten a legendary skill. When he received [Lion's Breath], he was so happy, even though it was a skill that could only be used once. This skill, however, was a permanent, legendary passive skill. He was over the moon.

Legendary passive skills were among the most coveted treasures in New Earth. Roth couldn't believe he had received one at level 31… well, level 39 after turning this quest. Roth looked northward. With this, he felt confident in moving on to the next adventure.

He debated whether he should return to Antioch to try to purchase some items from the reputation store. He had planned to do so, but when he saw the Ogrelords, he freaked out. He decided against it. He had already delayed his trip to Rock Canyon many times. He would keep his trade routes going and earn reputation points. Once he reached [Adored] status with more factions, he would return and see if there was any new flag or other exciting things to buy.

He turned to say goodbye to Oli and then remembered something. “Oli, do you mind if Lin visits your incredible collection?”

Oli squinted at him and then looked at Lin. Roth wondered whether he was afraid of bringing another thief into his lair. After all, if Lin kept growing this fast, he would probably become Oli's rival one day.

“That's an excellent idea. I can show my disciple how incredible a life of adventure can be!”.

Roth choked. Disciple? When had Lin become this thief's disciple? And a life of adventure? Seriously? What he was calling a life of adventure was a life of crime!

“Sure, let's show him how incredible your life choices are,” he said sarcastically.

Oli appreciates your commendation.

+2 reputation with Oli.

Roth’s jaw dropped. Had he just talked his way into getting reputation points from Oli? Was this already the effect of the [Blessing of the Lion King]? If so, even legendary NPCs couldn't resist his charm anymore. He rubbed his hands happily.

“Let's go in. I can't wait to show Lin all the incredible objects that you've… That you’ve…” Roth found himself at a loss of words. That you’ve stolen? Robbed? Appropriated? Ripped off? He couldn’t say that, could he?

Oli stepped in to help. “Collected?”

“Yes, collected.”

“Of course! Wait till you see what I’ve got here, little kitten! It will blow your socks off! Let's go in!”

The seamless trunk of the tree revealed a door through which Oli walked comfortably. Roth had to hunch over to get in while Lin, being so small, made the small door look like a gate to a luxurious palace by comparison.

The only light inside the hollow tree emanated from the object that brought Roth here. The painting featuring Oli and his old master looked brighter than the last time he saw it. However, for some reason, today, the painting wasn’t moving. Even though the light wasn’t intense by any means, thanks to his perception stat and all his training in Antioch, it was enough for Roth to see bright as day.

“Very well, my disciple. Prepare for the tour of your life. Pay close attention to everything I say because it’s gold,” Oli started enthusiastically. Usually, Oli was passionless and cold in every interaction. This was the first time that Roth saw him so excited about something. Seeing that the cat was distracted, Roth turned toward the painting.

Before he even took a step, Oli had appeared and stood between him and the painting. “Martyr? What are you doing?”

“Uh… I just wanted to take a closer look at the painting.”

Oli looked over his shoulder toward his long-gone master, even though Roth knew that Oli couldn’t see anything in it but black. “Is there anything different about it?”

“No…”

He seemed to consider Roth’s request. “I suppose it’s OK,” he answered magnanimously, “but that’s not how I planned the tour,” he whined.

“Plan? It was my suggestion. I made it not one minute ago.”

“One minute is plenty to do planning. I have already planned the whole tour. I don’t want you to get ahead of yourself. That’ll ruin my disciple's experience.”

Why was Roth getting similar vibes to when Aramis had given him a tour of the tapestry room in the Throne Room of the Rat Cave? Seeing all the treasures around him, now that Roth thought about it, what did he have to lose? There was probably some interesting stuff lying around here. Maybe there were even hidden clues to legendary treasures and quests.

“Count me in! I want to have the full tour, too. I’ll let you show us the ropes in the order you intended.”

+3 reputation with Oli, the Cat.

“Splendid. Follow me then.” Even though Oli made it sound like they were about to cross a great distance, it was only three steps until they reached the case Oli had chosen to start the tour. There was an ancient-looking scroll made of papyrus encased in glass. There was a sharp black stroke in it, which, at first glance, looked like a simple, mindless stroke made by a careless painter. The more he looked at it, the more it captivated him. Something about this shape evoked awe and fear in Roth’s heart. What kind of item was this?

“Shall we begin, then?” asked Oli.

Ch. 217 - Grooming

INDEX

Ch. 219 - Stealing for Dummies