[Voidknight Ascension] Chapter 57: Abjuration

The pile of loot grew as Matt pulled out piece after piece of treasure from his Inventory. Sometimes he shoveled out coins by the handful, and other times they came out in big clunking messes as several precious metals had been melted into one wax-like glob.

“All yours,” Matt said without the slightest wince.

Sam was impressed. He would have expected the man to put up some sort of fight or try to get something favorable out of it… but he had just given up everything he had found.

Which was a hell of a lot more loot than Sam managed, even counting his pending decision for the Dark Vault. A decision, he promised himself, that he would get to as soon as he was done sorting through Matt’s gift.

And maybe putting down the Settlement Core.

With Komachi’s help, Sam began to sort the pile into three distinct mounds: one was treasure that had no magical endowments of any kind, another was equipment, and the last was filled with magical items of all sorts that didn’t fall into the previous categories.

Komachi was, oddly enough, very skilled at sorting. Once she understood what the mounds were for, she dove into the task with aplomb. She hummed to herself all the while. Once he recognized the song, it brought a smile to his face.

The pile for loot was quite a lot larger than the others. There were gilded gauntlets that were intended for jewelry rather than armor. They didn’t even have any rarity. As Matt had mentioned, there were several goblets, coins, jewels of varying cut and design, and finally a small pile of this Shardrune Realm’s currency, rel.

What Sam was most interested in was the equipment pile. And while it wasn’t very large, he spied several interesting-looking pieces. Some he hoped he would be able to put to use considering he was still missing a right-handed gauntlet, any sort of neck or head protection, as well as some pants.

While there were several odds-and-ends that held no value for Sam or any of his group, there were a few scattered pieces that might be usable.

Most importantly, there were 2 sets of equipment that immediately drew his eye.

The Magus set seemed to be built exclusively for either mages or other light and nimble Jobs with its high magic defense and sturdy shimmering cloth.

In other words, not for Sam.

Still, he was intrigued and examined each of them in turn alongside the others.

[Magus Coat]

(Light Armor) (F-Class)

(★☆Uncommon I)

Enhancements

Magical Defense V | Elemental Defense II

Physical Defense I | Stun Resistance II

+5 Agility | +5 Resonance

Woven from Strandlight Thread, this armor set is designed for those who must react quickly to threats. Strandlight, a naturally mana-rich fiber, amplifies the maneuverability of those with sufficient Arcane. While others can wear this equipment if they lack the required Arcane amount, they gain no additional stat benefits that are fueled by the latent energy of the wearer’s Arcane. This coat’s tight weave imparts a decent resistance to being stunned, the bane of all Mages.

Requires: >26 Arcane

[Magus Boots]

(Light Armor) (F-Class)

(★☆Uncommon I)

Enhancements

Magical Defense IV | Elemental Defense I

Physical Defense I | Spellcasting Movement II

+5 Agility | +5 Resonance

Woven from Strandlight Thread, this armor set is designed for those who must react quickly to threats. Strandlight, a naturally mana-rich fiber, amplifies the maneuverability of those with sufficient Arcane. While others can wear this equipment if they lack the required Arcane amount, they gain no additional stat benefits that are fueled by the latent energy of the wearer’s Arcane. Light as a feather, these boots provide enhanced movement speed while casting magic.

Requires: >26 Arcane

“Hey, that has Resonance on it!” Komachi pointed out. “Da heck does dat do? I know it’s a magical stat but…”

“If the physical and magical stats mirror each other,” Raiko began. “Then it’s speed based. How fast you can cast.”

“It’s how quickly you can acclimatize to mana, including your own and those that your spells use,” Matt said. He looked up at the curious faces. “I may not be very strong, but I was able to piece that together, being a mage in hostile territory on my own. It quickens your spellcasting for one, but also makes you more efficient with mana, while Mind increases your mana reserves. Probably does other stuff, but I have no idea what.”

Komachi looked at him, then at the boots with hunger. She whispered to herself, “Gotta go fast.”

Sam couldn’t help but imagine Komachi rolling into a ball and zipping around the place, utterly incapable of being hit. She already practiced her “chonk rolling”. Maybe with the Magus gear she could be a fast chonk roller.

[Magus Pants]

(Light Armor) (F-Class)

(★☆Uncommon II)

Enhancements:

Magical Defense VI | Elemental Defense II

Physical Defense I | Slashing Defense I

Spellcasting Range I

+7 Arcane | +7 Mind

Woven from Strandlight Thread, this armor set is designed for those who must react quickly to threats. Strandlight, a naturally mana-rich fiber, amplifies the maneuverability of those with sufficient Arcane. While others can wear this equipment if they lack the required Arcane amount, they gain no additional stat benefits that are fueled by the latent energy of the wearer’s Arcane. Airy and supple, these pants enhance the effective range of spells.

Requires: >28 Arcane

Sam figured that Raiko wasn’t able to equip any of this, so it meant that either Komachi or Matt would take it. He doubted Kai would accept it, but even if he did Sam wasn’t sure it was what a Cleric usually wore considering the starting coffer they received.

Rather than the typical light robes and paper-thin defense that Mages had, it seemed Clerics were built of sturdier stuff and preferred their equipment to reflect that aspect.

Though, Komachi was an oddity in that regard.

In the end, it would fall to Sam to choose who would get what. There were still a few odds-and-ends, but nothing quite as good or interesting as the Magus or Thanas set.

It’s almost as if they meant to name it Thanos or Thanatos and butchered it, Sam thought.

Seeing as Sam had taken Komachi’s armor, essentially forcing her to live in his armor to prevent her from getting hurt, he offered the set to her first.

When he gave Matt an apologetic glance, the older man waved his concern away. “I don’t even have that much Arcane, and I’m a Mage. Maybe in a few levels. I’ll have to spend every bonus point I have, but even then I’m not sure it’d be a great idea for me to take it.”

“Why not?” Sam asked.

“Because I have some Mage-specific gear of my own,” Matt confided. “It’s not as great as the Magus stuff, but it boosts my Arcane, which this set doesn’t seem to do. Mine is more of a ‘glass cannon’ style, which means I benefit from people like you and Komachi being around. And the more defenses our healer has, the better.”

Hard to argue with that. I need to start thinking of the big picture, about how somebody else’s equipment could impact the group’s survival rather than the individual.

Plus, he was curious what would happen if Komachi wore the Magus set and still hung out in his armor. Would any magic that got sent his way be absorbed by her armor?

Komachi seemed to read his mind. “I will be unstoppable!”

[Magus Gloves]

(Light Armor) (F-Class)

(★☆Uncommon I)

Enhancements

Magical Defense III | Elemental Defense I

Physical Defense I | Magic Critical Chance II

+5 Arcane | +5 Control

Woven from Strandlight Thread, this armor set is designed for those who must react quickly to threats. Strandlight, a naturally mana-rich fiber, amplifies the maneuverability of those with sufficient Arcane. While others can wear this equipment if they lack the required Arcane amount, they gain no additional stat benefits that are fueled by the latent energy of the wearer’s Arcane.

Requires: >26 Arcane

Komachi danced around, slipping into the oversized garments, much to the amusement of all. She rolled around, wrestled with the coat the wrong way, struggled to find a hole for her tail, and otherwise just flopped about as the armor shrank to fit her perfectly.

“I want to help her, and yet it’s so adorable watching her struggle,” Raiko whispered.

Once Komachi was fully decked out, she simply stayed frozen to the spot. Sam gently prodded her side, and she fell over, stiff as a statue.

“This is like the time I put one of those harnesses on her so we could go for a walk without it taking a thousand years,” Sam said. “You ever see those videos where you put something on a cat and they freeze up and forget how to walk? It was like that.”

Sam put Komachi back onto her paws. “Come on, Komachi. You’ve put on worse before. You know how to walk.”

“Komachi!” she wailed like a kitten.

Meanwhile the Thanas set seemed to be built around heavy hitters like Sam. It boasted a noticeable improvement over his Cleric-given body armor but lacked the spell enhancements of either his Fireblast glove, or his greaves.

But the stat bonuses it provided were staggeringly large, making Sam forget all about the spell-enchanted equipment.

His mouth went dry just looking at the dark patina of the armor. It was not only beautiful, but far more knightly looking than he had expected.

While his Job was Swordsman, he couldn’t help but dream of what his Third Order or even Fourth Order Job might be like. If there were Swordsmen, maybe there would be Knights as well?

A boy could dream.

[Thanas Cuirass]

(Heavy Armor) (F-Class)

(★☆Uncommon II)

Enhancements

Physical Defense V | Slashing Defense III

Magical Defense I | Deathblow Resistance II

+7 Strength | +7 Vigor

A rare set of armor created from tempered Dark Bronze. It has been saturated with the menacing aura of an ogre for so long that it has taken on some of the ogre’s strength, imparting a variety of stat bonuses to the wearer. While heavy and unimbued, this armor boasts impressive defenses and enhancements. Those who do not meet the minimum Strength requirement will find the armor cumbersome and difficult to move in. Endowed with the indefatigable might of an ogre, this cuirass increases the wearer’s resistance to damage that would bring them below 1 HP.

Requires: >38 Strength

Sam double-checked his Strength. Barring his current equipment, he was at 41. Only a few points beyond the requirement, but above all the same.

He idly wondered whether wearing the equipment itself would boost anybody’s Strength high enough to be able to wear the full set unencumbered.

Something he very much doubted, as that seemed to violate some fundamental rule. If that was the case, you could just stack equipment with high requirements that also gave a lot of that stat and be totally fine.

He was tempted to put a piece on Komachi, but didn’t want to risk leaving the equipment permanently downsized, or worse, potentially hurting her from its sheer weight.

Getting that Deathblow Resistance seemed like a natural extension of his [Endure] trait.

Sam wasted no time in taking his battered [Bronze Half-plate] body piece off. It was still intact, which meant it was still useful, but the dark patina of the [Thanas Cuirass] was elegant and sleek, with far more protective plating and beautiful edging.

Komachi sniffed at the [Bronze Half-plate] in interest. Considering she’d spent a long time in there, she probably had a connection to it.

“Sweaty!”

“…What?” Raiko asked.

“Uh, she’s just doing Komachi things,” Sam hastily put in, petting her heavily to distract her.

Not my fault there aren’t any showers here! I battled a fucking golem and a monster the size of a house in that armor. So what if I got sweaty?

“Hmm, good thing I can’t smell.” Raiko shook her head.

“I can.” Matt sounded miserable.