Three Legendary Items

Returning to Aeternum in the early evening, Zrathno meets with Astur in her workshop.

"Here," Zrathno tosses the storage ring to Astur, "I've already unloaded my mech back onto my ship, so only the spoils from the Church are left in there."

"Aright, come back tomorrow afternoon and your materials should be done. And make sure to bring what I asked for," Asturs says.

"The EXP Potions from my planet and a blueprint. I didn't forget. And do you think I could get one of those rings for myself? I'm not asking for something like that one which can store a mech, but having one is really convenient."

"Just buy one. It's not like you're short on money. It shouldn't be too hard to find in the galaxy."

Zrathno shakes his head, "You have no idea how hard it actually is to find these. During my trip to Vopal, I stopped at a trade hub a couple of star systems away and I saw one for sale, but the price was beyond anything I could afford right now. Besides, the only money I have is what I stole from some pirates that tried to hijack my ship. But this planet is strange. It's full of rare items, that are difficult to find even in the greater universe. I even picked up some things that would fetch a good price in the market on my way back here, an easy few ten thousand Solars."

"If I recall correctly, Solars is the standard currency of the universe. Since you got some good stuff, why not hand some money over to me?" Astur asks.

"Screw off," Zrathno walks over to the door, "I'll be back tomorrow with the stuff you want. If you need me I'll be on my ship."

"It was worth a shot," Astur mutters as she shrugs and brings her attention over to the storage ring.

In all honesty, Astur had zero expectations when she asked Zrathno to raid the cathedrals of the Church. Her main goal was already accomplished after getting Zrathno to waste his time messing with the Church, anything else is just a bonus.

As expected, after taking a closer look at what's inside, most of it is worthless. Most of the items are regular weapons used by the Church. A couple of Spell Books, useful for mages and priests. A few research notes regarding Esper abilities as well as a few methods to increase the mental strength of Psychics. Astur determined that these are best used in the hands of players or the Oulvgar and Warband. Astur herself has little use for most of them.

But a couple of things came as a pleasant surprise. Astur could easily tell these were likely considered real treasures by the Church and the System Interface lists them as Legendary Items. Two of which are directly blessed by the God of Light. There are three items in total.

The first is a long golden sceptre with a beautiful clear blue crystal orb embedded at the top. The important part isn't the sceptre itself, but the crystal orb at the top. While it looks nice, the sceptre is just that, a nice looking rod. But the crystal orb contains the blessings of a God. If a light-based magic spell is channelled through the orb, its effect will be increased by ten. An attack that would do 100 damage would instead deal 1,000 damage and a healing spell that would heal for 100 HP would instead heal for 1,000 HP. An incredibly useful item for anyone who uses light-based magic, unfortunately, this item is of little value to Astur. But it looks pretty so she doesn't mind keeping it around.

The second is a bit less visually impressive but its effects are still good. A scroll of old parchment. The scroll is meant to be a trap, unlike the sceptre which can be used directly. Its purpose is to trap whoever reads its contents in an inescapable prison of light, where the prisoner can't attack through the light barrier, however, people from the outside can attack what's within.

But the last Legendary Item doesn't seem to be connected to the Church and is somewhat strange. It's called the Shard of the Monolith, as the name suggests, its a basically just a rock. Initially, Astur was confused when looking at this item, but as she read the description on the System Interface, she began to make a bit more sense of it. The Shard of the Monolith is described as a fragment of a living being. But that's as far as the description goes before saying that more Shards are needed for more information. As for the actual effect of the item, it will devour minerals that come into contact with it and when doing so it will release a special vapour. This Vapour is toxic if inhaled but it can be absorbed metals and other minerals to raise their durability, specifically raising defence against magic.

Of the three legendary items, the Shard, which at first glance is the most worthless, is actually the one with the most benefits to Astur. Not only is it useful for items she makes in the future, but it can also be used to further strengthen the mech materials that Zrathno asked her for. Yes, further strengthen, Astur had finished Zrathno's request a while before he had returned. Not that she would ever admit it to him, since it would be the same as admitting that she really did just send him off to the Church because she felt like it.

"I've got some test to run. First I'll need to verify the toxicity. I need a lab rat… where did Liz go again?" Astur thinks as she begins to prepare for a variety of tests.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth is working with the Great Tree to expand the city when she suddenly feels a chill down her spine. She stops speaking for a moment and look around confused.

"Is everything alright, Saintess? The Great Tree asks.

"It's fine… I just had a strange feeling. As if something bad was going to happen soon."