Chapter 1403: Not Fazed
Seth was not fazed at all by the number.
Minas Mar had a massive turnover of gear and armor sets. Just the re-equipping of the Orc-golems he had created after his trip to Kozdam, with refitted armors of Spatia's Soldier, had flooded their vault with a mountain of random armor pieces.
However, he didn't intend to just open their coffers and give these angels free choice of armor. Although they were contracted to Paolo, they still served their god, not the Angel Summoner. He couldn't trust them with armor they could just run off with.
“It's okay, we should have enough Oath Sets to equip them,” Seth estimated.
Any member of the Oathguard was a strictly selected person, judged on many factors. Each of them was equipped with an Oath Set, and many were allowed to live in Minas Mar, the tower, not the district. People who were judged this trustworthy were rare, so the overall size of the Oathguard was only growing slowly.
Compared to that, the players equipped with relic-rated armor sets, in variations fit to their class, and free access to the Adventurer guild's Holy Land were outgrowing their armor at a quick pace. After all, the Oath-Part of the armor blocked it from being an even better armor than it was. People switched to better sets and items once they had the means to.
At this point, there were 3000 Oathguards across Minas Mar, and about 500 had switched to better gear taken from the guild vault, or custom gear made by Minas Mar's host of blacksmiths, like Wedan or Tored. This meant there were roughly 500 ownerless oath sets sitting in their storage, waiting for new owners. And the new owner had just arrived.
“You want to give them oath sets, Towe- Seth? Isn't that a little much? I'm sure common or uncommon stuff would be-” Paolo tried to speak up again, but he was interrupted by the struggling Novia.
“Oath Sets?” Novia exclaimed, curious, resisting Paolo's attempt to push her back and unsummon her. “What are they? Are they good?” she spat out, as the priest started wrangling her. After all he heard, he found her speaking surprisingly respectfully to him.
Was it because she wanted something from the blacksmith, or was it the beating she received from Faenys? Seth had heard that she had mangled her quite badly, but no wounds could be seen anymore. Paolo was still a superb healer.He ignored the healer's struggle with his summon, as the summon wanted the same as him.
“They are relic-rated armor sets, although their performance is a little lacking compared to their rating. It's the standard armor for the guild's personal troops, and they come in a few variations to fit different combat specializations,” he simply explained to the angel, who was finally subdued by the priest pressing her on the ground. However, she didn't seem to dislike being under Paolo like that.
“That sounds good, but what does relic-rated mean? Is that better than rare or unique?” she asked
“It's a small step above epic, which is the next rating above rare. It depends on the unique item, whether the Oath Armor is better than it or not,” the tower master readily explained.
“Seth, please stop encouraging her. I can't accept such a big gift,” Paolo gasped, trying to hold her down. Despite what he said, he also didn't seem to dislike Novia. At least not as much as he liked to pretend to.
“Who said anything about a gift? You are giving those back when you start equipping them with your own money. These are only lent out,” the blacksmith said with a snort. No matter how much money accumulated on his own or Minas Mar's account, he wasn't going to just gift away items like this.
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“Ah, oh, yes. That makes more sense...” Paolo said, a little embarrassed.
“Haha, just acknowledge it, now that you know they aren't a gift, you are disappointed. You were totally going to accept it. You should be more honest with your feelings,” Novia mocked him from below.
“Ugh, just stop it. Will you? You are getting what you have been pestering me about all this time, just be happy in silence...” the priest told her and let go. He was unable to resist this topic from beginning to end, since it was technically decided now, there was no need to keep her grounded. He left her on the floor and flopped back on his own seat.
“As for your armor,” Seth said with a chuckle, seeing Paolo grimace again. It was fun seeing him struggle with the sudden influx of an expensive “present”.
“I think you should talk with Neeco. Although your class has changed, you still seem better off wearing fabric or light armor. I may make you a staff or accessories later on, when any material crops up,” the blacksmith gave his verdict.
Since Neeco was experimenting with a support-focused fabric, he was the better choice for a comprehensive loadout, even when it would probably end up looking a little...eccentric. It was a shame that Seth couldn't help him immediately, but items to help healers and priests and quite hard to get. Not only were they rare, but they were also sought after.
“You should show the thing to him. Now is the time,” the angel suddenly said.
“Actually, S-Seth, could I request you to make me a pair of gloves with this?” he asked hesitantly and brought out a crystal from his inventory, showing it to the blacksmith on his flat hand. It was a clear, rose-colored gem.
Special
Impact Quartz that was recklessly injected with a great amount of unclaimed divine power.
Enhances Physical Damage. Enhances the power of divine skills. Converts Physical Force into Mana. >
The blacksmith almost subconsciously appraised the gem that was suddenly shoved under his nose. Paolo was actually wandering around with a special item tucked in his pocket, though a weird one. Seth knew about impact quartz. It was a peculiar gem that could enhance and absorb physical impacts.
Seth had actually looked into these kinds of gems, thinking of Fin's equipment; however, the original was only uncommon, and the effects were not worth chasing. He had tested it, and the effect on a finished item was a rise in the power of a fist strike by 10%, while recovering 20 mana.
But this one was not the normal one. The description clearly stated that it “was recklessly injected with a great amount of unclaimed divine power”, which was an interesting way to formulate it. Although he could imagine what unclaimed divine power was, it was questionable how something like that could even exist.
No matter what, the gem raised his curiosity. The uncommon version was not worth mentioning, but this one was blessed so much that it went from uncommon straight to special. How much would the effect have improved with this kind of upgrade?
“Interesting, and you want a pair of gloves? Because you are also a monk? So you want gloves for punching, right?” The blacksmith quickly made the connection. His class of marble Monk, which he gained during his journey to the Cloud Continent, was the reason he was even able to wrestle his angel to the ground. It was also the reason he suggested seeing Neeco, since it was a class in armorless and light armor fighting.
“Interesting, where did you get this?” Seth asked, curious.
Paolo suddenly looked uncomfortable, while Novia had a cheeky smile on her face.
“I would rather not say...” the young man said, hiding his face by looking straight at the ground.
“I mean, you don't have to. I will make you gloves from this when I have time. Do you want to keep it until then, or are you leaving it with me?” the blacksmith asked.
“Please take it,” Paolo said, still hiding his face but audibly relieved that his request was accepted.
“Thanks, then you can look forward to your gloves. I will definitely finish them before we set off to the continent.”
“Set off to the continent?” Paolo suddenly asked, surprised, and looked up.
“Right, you were gone for a while. Did nobody brief you? The mission you and Marco worked hard for will start soon. We will get our people back, at least the ones who wish to return. We also intend to establish our presence on the Cloud Continent and regulate the influx of their powers,” the blacksmith described roughly.
“Looks like I missed a lot...” Paolo said solemnly. It was obvious that he had a hard time grasping the extent of things that happened and the plans they had made.
“I guess I have some time, how about I bring you up to date?” Seth said with a smile. It was still early when he visited Paolo, but it became late afternoon by the time he finally left the man alone with his thoughts.
Also alone with his own thoughts, Seth's steps took him in the direction of the workshops. There was something else he had wanted to try for a while. It had nothing to do with anyone or the situation; it was purely an idea he wished to follow, since he was currently free.