Sir Pence

Was it because of Craftiest? The upgraded version of Craftier offered easier 'creations' skills and proficiencies, so the needs for the Skill Fusing as well as Quick Crafting from Craftier were probably lowered.

I would imagine the average person who was already lucky enough to acquire Craftier would have to forge the same weapon a couple of times before saving the recipe.

Pushing these thoughts from my mind while gathering the familiars together and going through a quick First-Aid phase to make sure they were ready, I set Lana to work 'mastering' her hands once again before impishly splashing the imps.

[Splash Initiated]

[+10XP]

Surprised, I open my Character menu and then look through my surprisingly long list of skills and perks until I found the most recent Elementalism and tried Appraising it. A large side menu opened out from the skill and revealed my previous elemental spells alongside individual elemental masteries called 'manipulations' such as Fire Manipulation underneath Firebolt. Elementalism was literally just a way to organize those spells into a single spot and get free benefits for it.

After that I tried talking to the imps to see if they could understand me but there seemed to only be little bits and pieces getting across. When I was talking to Cweeper, though, it seemed like our pet and owner bond helped to get more information across but it still was not enough to settle my morals. I needed a way to let these guys know I was going to set them on fire and zap them.

Coming forward away from the group, Cweeper seemed to try to communicate something with hissing grunts and odd gestures but I felt like it was even worse. After a few moments of struggling in this fashion, Cweeper simply walked up and pointed at my hand before holding hers out for it. Like any smart person would, when the monster asked I gave my hand.

She simply pulled the glove off before biting into the palm of her own hand before biting into mine. It. Fucking. Hurt.

[Endurance raised by 1]

[Willpower raised by 1]

Before I could really even react she pushed our bleeding hands together and I suddenly felt my mana being drained from me while another mana flowed in as if to replace it. While my energy could have been described as a warm and soft electrical current when inactive, this mana felt like a cold current of electricity forcing its way into oncoming traffic.

[Endurance raised by 1]

[Willpower raised by 1]

[Endurance raised by 1]

[Willpower raised by 1]

[Endurance raised by 1]

[Willpower raised by 1]

The notification just kept popping up over the course of a full minute while Cweeper's mana switched places with min and then switched back all over again.

[You have been Blood Bound by: Cweeper]

[+100XP]

[You and Cweeper now have an equal partnership rather than master-familiar relationship. Cweeper's highest stats are Intelligence and Willpower with values of 80. Your highest stats are Endurance and Agility with values of ninety-nine and ninety-eight. You receive a permanent +8 to Intelligence and Willpower while Cweeper receives +9 to Agility and Willpower. Because both of you have magic masteries, permanent +30 to both mana pools]

[Received Perk: Unspoken Understanding]

[Unspoken Understanding: Binding familiars and other entities creates a telepathic link between entities, helping one another to communicate over varying distances depending on the strength of your bonds. Current range: (100)ft]

[Acquired Title: Blood Bound]

[+50XP]

[Blood Bound: Rare. Passive. For bonding with another entity or being bound by them, you have been awarded the Blood Bound title. The bonds you have forged and will forge are now slightly easier to manage in light of your new understanding of bonding with another entity. For having been bound by your own familiar, +10 Imperial Reputation]

[Learned Skill: Blood Binding]

[+50XP]

[Blood Binding Uninitiated: Blood Binding, the act of permanently bonding yourself and another person together for life in exchange for sharing your highest stats with one another and other potential gains on top of deepening your bonds by mixing your blood and mana. Cannot be performed by force. Current bonds 1/(2). Bond another being in order to Initiate]

I was not sure how I felt about the reason why I got the increase in world reputation, but the sudden boost to both of my magic stats was everything I could have asked for. The communication perk was exactly what I needed and the Blood Binding skill was just icing on a big fat cake. I was excited to show the others this new discovery, but not until after Cweeper explained to the other imps that they were about to be burnt and electrocuted.

The others quickly came over to figure out why I was attacking and healing their familiars one after the other so I simply asked Melpomene to show them not only my new magic skills and title but also the information on Blood Binding. This did not exactly pacify them but it did buy me enough time to finish all of my non-lethal initiations on their familiars.

Lady Mara ended up rescuing me when Mr. Harlow wheeled her over to see what was happening, pretty much forcing me to show her all of my recent skill and title gains since I had first shown her my Character page. She seemed happier than unhappy about what she saw and actually commended me and always going above and beyond her expectations. From the way she said that, though, I felt like there was an underlying reference or even a threat.

Next she had everyone show her, Mr. Harlow, and Lana their full Character pages which pretty much put their information out there for everyone to see. So, to help them feel more comfortable I also let them see my Character page while I skimmed through all of their crap.

I was surprised to see that they had already collected numerous titles related to their skills and classes as well as perks and abilities that were as outside of the norm as my own. However, I was the only person with legendary titles and I had more perks, titles, and skills overall even though only a few of them could be actively used.

As well, even though the others were all around the points where they were reaching one hundred in their main stat while all of their other stats were hovering around fifty and sixty or even half of that I had the highest average stats even though none of mine were quite yet at on hundred.

When the others started downright interrogating me, I gave in and told them about the different things I had done to raise my stats such as actually reading the books or borderline self mutilation with my familiar. Of course they did not like some of the things they heard, but the tricks I used were obviously effective. If unusual.

"I think it's about time," Lady Mara says after listening to the others harass me with a vague smile. "You're all somewhat low in level but fairly high in ability. I'm sure some of you have certain duties you need to perform for your classes. Take the rest of today to once again handle any affairs you might have. Mr. Hack, you'll be escorting us while we go shopping again and I will be briefing you along the way."

Half an hour after sending the others and their familiars away, Lady Mara pushed by Mr. Harlow led the way into the city. After a while of poignant silence in which I was left wondering what this occasion was, Lady Mara finally breaks the silence with, "You probably would not know this, Mr. Hack, but there's something of an old legend about a knight from the north, a powerful and righteous paladin who devoutly and valiantly served the gods. it's only a few hundred years old so it is still very popular.

"At first, Sir Pence was your common night but he eventually grew so powerful that his natural magical abilities extended his lifespan to twice that of normal mortals," she goes on while still evading the point. "Early on in his career after distinguishing himself fighting covens of dark magic practitioners the gods came together and awarded him with a cape. This cape was called The Aegis Mantle. Thanks to its divine properties of passive healing and universal resistances, Sir Pence was able to become as powerful as he did.

"Move along by a hundred years, Sir Pence was lured into an ambush using a large-scale sacrificial summoning to open a gateway to hell. He died there, along with an entire village, a hundred demons, and a thousand Forsaken fanatics. What was once a small mountainous region was leveled into what is now known as Winter Wood."

Remembering what she and Mr. Harlow had told me about reaching level on hundred, I feel realization dawning on me and say, "It's time for our first expedition or mission, huh? You remembered an old business deal or general discovery that might be a hint about the mantle's whereabouts and you want us to go find it, right?"

"That, among other things," she replies with a pleased voice and a small nod of her head without looking in my direction. "The individual resistances of the mantle are not that powerful, but all of them together on one piece of equipment makes it priceless. However, we are not selling it. You, as the Delai family's guardian, will claim it and the Imperial Knighthood that comes with it. Everything else we will make use of or sell to continue starting up Lana's family."

"Why are you briefing me and not the others?" I ask seriously, knowing there had to be more than just their classes for reasons why they were sent away.

Nodding her head once again, Lady Mara says, "You have a personal relationship with my niece, they do not. I believe you will not betray here even if you would me, but I cannot say the same for them. You will tell them that this is a training expedition to an unfounded rumor and the main goal is to raise your levels while gathering goods from outside of our home region. If you actually find the mantle, I trust you will be able to secure it?"

"My team knows it is smarter to stay with me than stand against me," I assure her simply. One of the reasons why some of them were with me was because they could not kill me, to begin with. It made sense that I would bring them more benefits.

This was also one of the reasons why they knew it was best to stay with me, even other people who could beat them would usually require help when I had proven I could take both Merch and Papi at once in the last game we played together once we all reached the first level cap.

Conversation after that turned to discussing what kind of supplies we would need as well as transportation and the current status of our different equipment. While I tried to assure her that we would be able to procure most of what we needed ourselves, including fresh foods, along the way, she simply did not care and told me everything she intended to buy.

"Would it be possible for me to take Lana hunting?" I ask as we started nearing town and the streets started becoming more populated. "I also want to introduce her to Sir Beryl. I thought I had time but if we're going out on an expedition I would like to do these things soon."

Sighing as if this were something of a painful subject, Lady Mara says, "She pesters me every other hour, asking if she can go hunting lizards and goblins with you. Since Sir Beryl will be involved, I suppose I shall allow it. However, unlike most people I am aware of where he is stationed, if she is not home by midnight at the latest, this will never happen again."

"You have my word that she will be returned to you in even better condition than when she left," I say with a mock formal bow to her back. "If she should sustain any injury then you may take my first life in this world as payment."

Ignoring my promises, Lady Mara simply says, "You may leave once we have finished shopping, if you have everything you need. If not, buy it and go."

*