Healer Book 5 -- Chapter 29

Chapter 29

The solution to Thaden’s problem with accessing his Growth items while in a dungeon was so simple he felt like an idiot once he figured it out, but it still took an innocent question by Sadia once they were in the second Adversary-infested dungeon to spark the idea.  It was another Medial difficulty dungeon, which meant that there wasn’t much chance of the Party having any trouble eliminating all the monsters even without him, and he had lamented that he, once again, couldn’t access his Inventory to switch out his equipment.

“Why can’t you just take them out before you enter the dungeon and carry them inside?  Or, perhaps I can carry them for you?” the giant squirrel asked.

Thaden thought about it for a moment.  “I mean, sure, I could do that, but that seems unnecessarily cumbersome,” he finally replied, thinking about either of them trying to carry a bunch of stuff in their arms.  But it was that thought that literally had him slapping his forehead in disbelief at his stupidity.  “Oh, duh, I could simply wear a backpack.”

Thankfully, he’d still kept his old backpack in his Inventory from when he’d first arrived on Tarth and didn’t know he had an internal storage system at his beck and call.  Ever since he’d learned of his Inventory, he’d basically forgotten all about other forms of storage, as it didn’t seem important; none of the other Contenders used anything but their Inventory, after all, so it wasn’t like it was a common sight to see someone wearing a backpack. 

But it certainly worked in a pinch when access to an Inventory was denied.  The Aelveen looked at him like he was crazy for a minute or so once he slipped the backpack’s straps around his arms, as if they’d never seen such a thing before, but they quickly understood the reasoning for it once he explained.  Lyn and Che actually expressed a desire for one as well, which they would hopefully be able to pick up once they stopped at another town; that would probably be the next day, however, because they were extremely busy with all the dungeons they had to cleanse of the Adversary’s taint.  For some reason, the prevalence of the condensed Adversarial energy seemed to have spiked significantly from one day to the next, and they could barely go a few miles before they felt another compromised dungeon nearby.

When he finally had a chance to change out of his Lucky Vagabond set of equipment, as well as his hodgepodge of random accessories, it was in the fourth dungeon they had visited since they set out from Darkwood Vale, as the third dungeon had been Maximal difficulty and required as much of his power as possible to see them through successfully.  It had actually been another Legion Commander at the end, which had been worrying to the Wardens, as one of them had been bad enough; with a second one in a dungeon, they could only assume that there would be additional ones after that.  More than that, it was also a possibility that the Charee Wardens would run into one, and if they weren’t prepared well enough, they might not be able to survive the dungeon and kill the Commander.

Fortunately, with Thaden present, they had absolutely no trouble killing the Adversarial monster.  He didn’t even attack it himself and acted in a Support role, preventing any damage from getting through to the Aelveen as they fought.  The fight took nearly 20 minutes to take the Level 545 Commander down, but the victory also served to bolster the confidence of the Wardens even further after their last poor showing against the powerful Elite.

But in the fourth dungeon, he was barely needed.  Therefore, to the consternation of the Aelveen because they had to wait for him, he swapped all of his equipment and then removed and installed the AMPs on the new growth items.  All in all, it took about 15 minutes because the Plates took a bit to take off and place; after he looked at the bonuses on his gear, he realized it wouldn’t really make much difference to have them on at all.  Unfortunately, unless he was wearing equipment with the Plates on them, Sadia wasn’t able to manifest properly, even if they were in his backpack.  Therefore, it was a necessary expense of time in order to make sure everything was done properly.

There was a significant drop in his stats when he was wearing his new items.  All told, there were 11 pieces with the Growth property that he was wearing, and all of them were “Simple” items “of the Healer”, with most of them made of white cloth or cheap-looking metals like copper.  There was a robe, some shoes, a pair of gloves, a round hat, a superhero-looking mask, and a long cape as well as a copper bracelet, ring, and necklace with no adornments, a simple braided white cloth belt, and a focus stone made of what looked like a shiny white rock one might pick up on the side of the road.  In other words, the items were extremely unimpressive and the Aelveen expressed more than a little disdain for their appearance, but when he explained that they were Growth items he needed to Level-up, they changed their tune rather quickly.

“That’s… so unfair,” Fer remarked after hearing what they were.  “I know of a few Wardens who have a single Growth item in their repertoire from before they became Wardens, but they are extremely rare; unfortunately, while the System provides the Wardens with powerful equipment once we accept our position, Growth items are not one of them.  And here you have a full set of them!”

He didn’t have the heart to tell the Wardens that he didn’t just have a single full set; he also had 2 additional sets of normal “armor-based” equipment and 3 additional sets of accessories. 

As far as what bonuses were on his Growth items at Level 1, almost all of them had a few points of Celerity and slightly more Mentality – even the accessories.  When added up, with his AMPs adding to them, he had a total of +23 to Celerity and +51 to Mentality – and that was it.  With his AMPs on them, he basically multiplied those numbers by 5, as he had 54 AMPs to spread through the 11 items, so he had +114 Celerity and +251 Mentality to add to his stats from his equipment.  When compared to his other gear, those bonuses could barely match the weakest stats of a single one of his accessories; worse than that, though, was the fact that he didn’t have any of the bonuses to spell effectiveness, Mana cost, cooldowns, and casting time. 

Of course, Thaden still had some innate bonuses gained either through his Class or Competency Advancements, but he felt inordinately weak compared to before.  Most importantly, as far as he was concerned, he was still confident he could kill the Aelveen if they attacked him again, but their deaths wouldn’t be as swift and there was a danger that they could actually hurt him before that happened.  Thankfully, it appeared as though the Wardens were inclined to leave him alone in that respect, especially after a few dungeons where they saw him help to kill the Adversary’s minions.  Still, it was a risk and he was more than cognizant that he would have to be doubly vigilant against a random attack by the powerful Aelveen, even if they seemed to have accepted him as an ally rather than an enemy working for the Adversary.

Before he entered the dungeon, and shortly before he had placed the Growth items in his backpack, he had followed Sadia’s advice to adjust the amount of PICK they would accumulate from what he earned.  Thankfully, it was a fairly simple matter to change the absorption rate, as it was a simple slide bar that popped up in a window in front of him when he held one of the items.

Simple Shoes of the Healer

Rarity: Artifact

Imprinted User Restriction: #32599999-E

Level Restriction: 1

Physical Damage Resistance: 1

Magical Damage Resistance: 2

Durability: Indestructible

Special Properties: Growth

+3 Celerity

+4 Mentality

PICK Absorption:

0% [------------I------------] 100%

All it took to change it was to mentally move the PICK Absorption slider all the way to 100%, which would then ensure that all of the PICK he earned would go to making it stronger.

“With multiple Growth items, however,” Sadia informed him, “you’ll be splitting it up between all of them.  For instance, to make it simple, if you earn 1,100 PICK, each of the 11 items would gain 100 PICK, so it’ll take a lot more PICK to bring all of these items up to your Level than if all of them received the full allotment of PICK you earn.  In addition, if I’m understanding what my connection to the System is telling me, the amount of PICK needed for these items to Level-up doesn’t match up with what it takes for you to Level.  Therefore, it might take less… but it could easily take more.”

After the fourth dungeon was done, Thaden quickly discovered the answer to the amount of PICK it would take to Level them up was, indeed, more.  The dungeon they had visited was Minimal difficulty, and while the monsters inside had been around Level 200, the Nexus Corrupter they fought at the end was Level 350.  It was only because of that last monster that Thaden ended up getting an additional 25,000 PICK to his haul, netting him 25,516 PICK in total.

When he checked his message feed as soon as he got out, he felt the PICK he earned begin to enter him before being redirected to his equipment.  It was an interesting feeling, as he could somehow sense the items he was wearing absorbing the energy that he normally would’ve stored away in his body, and also that they were growing from it.  Not in a sense of them becoming larger, of course; it was more that their simple materials were becoming more refined. 

In total, each item received approximately 2,319 PICK to put toward their growth; if he remembered the progression of his own Levels and their requirements correctly, 2,200 PICK would be enough for him to get to Level 5.  When he checked his items, however, the advancement to the next Level was a bit less, meaning that it was going to take even more PICK to Level them up.

Simple Shoes of the Healer

Rarity: Artifact

Imprinted User Restriction: #32599999-E

Level Restriction: 3

Physical Damage Resistance: 1

Magical Damage Resistance: 3

Durability: Indestructible

Special Properties: Growth

+4 Celerity

+5 Mentality

+1% increase in Defensive spell effectiveness on targets besides caster

Instead of Level 5, the items he had were all now Level 3; unfortunately, there wasn’t a gauge that he could look at to see how much more PICK it would take to raise it to Level 4, but again he could sense that it wasn’t too much more. 

When he looked at the changes the Level-up brought with it, there was another point in Celerity and Mentality, as well as an additional point in Magical Resistance, but that wasn’t all.  Each piece now had a bonus +1% increase to Defensive spell effectiveness – but only on targets other than himself.

As he saw that, Thaden grew slightly concerned.

“How did you say that these Growth items worked again?  Specifically, how they adapt to the way I fight?” he asked his Squirrel companion.

She looked at his equipment and saw why he was asking immediately.  “Ah, I see.  I should’ve seen that coming.”  With a sigh, she waved toward his gear.  “Growth items work to shore up any weaknesses and bolster your strengths, utilizing what they experience during your fights.  Since you acted as a true Support with your Party inside the dungeon, they only saw you casting defensive spells and possibly some healing on the Aelveen, so that is what they see as being one of your strengths.  Later on, if you continue to wear these only during dungeons like this with your Party, they might end up giving bonuses to Resistances to shore up some of your perceived weaknesses, though with your base stats I’m not sure if it would consider you to be deficient in that area.  More likely, it would simply focus on making your Defensive and healing spells as powerful as possible when cast on another target, as well cutting down on your Mana costs and cooldowns, so that you never run out of Mana to keep them alive or have to wait long to extend a life-saving spell toward one of your allies.”

“So, what you’re saying is that these new Growth items are great for being in a Party, but they would essentially suck when I’m solo?”

“They wouldn’t necessarily suck, as you put it,” she replied, shaking her head, “as they’d still be useful in solo situations, but I don’t know that they would be any better for you, when you’re by yourself, than what your other set of equipment can currently offer.  Probably a lot more stats, but the bonuses would be more catered toward helping your Party rather than you.”

That was essentially the opposite of what he wanted out of these Growth items.  While he enjoyed being in a Party sometimes, even if it was with some people who just the day before wanted to kill him, he still felt like he was much better off by himself; for his equipment to be geared toward being an incredible Support Class by helping increase the effectiveness of multi-target or non-caster-targeted spells was great, but it would effectively kill his solo capabilities.

“And if I wear these items when I’m solo, as well, will they start to lean toward helping with that aspect of my capabilities?”

“Sure, but those types of bonuses would be diluted by the bonuses meant for Parties.  You could definitely go that route, of course, by having these items be a decent, all-around addition to your repertoire that would be good for whatever challenge you encounter, but you have another option.”

It took him a second to realize what she was talking about.  “Oh.  My other Growth items.  I can have more than one set, is that what you’re saying?”

“Absolutely.  You could have a set that is ideal for when you’re in a Party, another one that is perfect for when you’re solo, and possibly one that is good for both?  Or you could specialize them another way, if you chose to.”

“Specialize how?”

“Well, for instance, if you were to primarily fight against monsters that were fire or flame-based, they might gain a bonus to Fire Resistance; or, if you only fought monsters that were at least 50 Levels higher than your own, you might get a bonus to damage toward high-Level monsters.  I don’t think there’s any limit to what you can get as far as bonuses go, though I’m sure some specific ones would be harder to achieve than others.”

That wasn’t something that Thaden had considered before this, so he needed to think what he wanted to do.  For now, he would likely continue trying to Level-up this particular set while he was with his Party of Aelveen, which should eventually become easier as the Growth items Leveled-up.  If he got the opportunity to do another solo run through a dungeon, then he would have to see change to another full set of equipment so that he didn’t dilute what was happening with the other set.

It felt strange thinking about having multiple sets of equipment for separate situations, but he supposed that the same thing happened in the MMORPGs he briefly played back on Earth.  Thaden hadn’t played any of them long enough to have multiple sets of his own gear in those games, but he was aware that it was a whole thing, at least.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t sure if he was going to have much chance to work on his solo set of Growth items anytime soon, as the frequency of compromised dungeons only seemed to increase as time went on.  It quickly morphed from having to only travel a few miles to find another dungeon in need of cleansing to being able to detect another one just as soon as they walked out of the previous one.  Either they were finding a large concentration of them that they hadn’t noticed before, or the presence of the Adversary in so many dungeons was having a cascading effect, as it spread faster than they could easily handle.

Despite that, they continued to clear out any trace of the Adversary from the dungeons they encountered, moving through them as quickly as possible.  Thaden got better at changing out his outfits so that it only took a few minutes instead of 15 or 20, so they were able to progress at a much faster rate – and his Party set of equipment continued to grow, though at a relatively slow progression necessitated by the fact that they didn’t face anything too strong while he was wearing the set.

Fortunately, every dungeon they cleared seemed to stay that way, or at least that’s what appeared to be the case when they backtracked a few times.  That meant that they would eventually be able to get through all of them in the Region, though with how many of them there were, it would likely take weeks, even with the Charee Warden group helping. 

Unfortunately, just as they thought things were going well, a full week into their hunt for Adversarial energy inside the dungeons with dozens of them cleared by that point, the dangerous threat they had first considered when they saw the Legion Commander finally came about.

For Thaden, if there was any solace to be found in the whole situation, it was that the potential destruction of the Region came in the form of a Quest….