Chương 1430: 1429. Perch of Nyctimene

---Next Day---"It's a trip! It's a trip!" Fin cheered as they all got their thing read for their trip to Perrerian. Their representatives had looked up the info after Jane had contacted them. Apparently, there was a monster fitting the description of a gorgon; however, the information the Perican Empire had was limited. About one year ago, the empire had lost all contact with a place called the Auk Archipelago. From the stories of the survivors, they concluded that it was a dungeon break event.

Several high-level dungeons broke at once, flooding the group of islands with monsters. They had launched several scouting expeditions to find out more, but none returned. The couple of ships that managed to escape the initial event were the last source of information on what happened at the archipelago. One of the most terrifying stories the survivors brought back talked of a creature with snakes for hair that was able to turn people into statues.

It had wreaked havoc, turning public streets into museums of marble statues with a single glance. Now this was a story from over a year ago, but it was currently their best bet. After Jane informed their representative of their plans, the other side quickly started preparing. Although the were diplomatic concerns, the empire was more than happy to welcome them. Why wouldn't they?

Minas Mar offered to send some of their strongest to explore the archipelago they had lost contact with and were unable to reach themselves. With both sides eager to send Minas Mar's expedition to the Auk Archipelago, things moved very quickly, and their departure was set for today in the evening. So, while they prepared the travel of their illustrious guests, the blacksmith also had to start packing quickly. Seth needed to come along to harvest the soul of the beast.

When he told Mina and Fin about it, the conversation somehow ended with the decision that all of them were going together. Now, all three of them were packing stuff like it was a vacation.

"Do you think I need a bathing suit?" Mina asked, holding up a bikini she had from who knows where. They were treating it more like a holiday to catch a break than a dangerous adventure.

"It is called an Archiplago, so it should have beaches, right? Seth, did you hear about how warm that place is?" Fin tried to answer Mina's question.

"Well, I think Jane mentioned that it was a tourism spot, but aren't you guys forgetting something? The whole place is filled with monsters. I doubt we will get a chance to go swimming at the beach," Seth argued, although he also secretly packed some trunks.

"If there are a bunch of monsters, we just have to kill them," Mina said confidently, ready to carve out some beach time. If it had to be carved out of monster flesh and blood, even better.

"Hmm, I guess you are not wrong, " Seth agreed with a shrug. If the place was dangerous, they just had to make it safe. With that in mind, he also grabbed a small sphere of what looked like dark, polished wood from the vault and put it in his pack. A couple of hours later, the team, now consisting of Mina, Fin, Monique, and Seth, assembled in the entrance hall of the magic tower. They were all in full gear.

Mina wore her new leather armor, Fin her new accessories, and Monique wore the almost completed Regalia of Athena. The only things the Chosen of the war goddess were missing now were her gauntlets and the Aegis. On that note, she was quite happy with the development of the armor so far. Even though it was not finished yet, it was already better than her previous relic-rated set. Looking at her wearing the finished parts, Seth found that the whole thing was really coming together.

The spaulders and the shirt of plate and mail looked especially good together. The left was called the Perch of Nyctimene, while the right was the Shoulder of Athena. Now it made sense why the left had Wings of the Owl, it was the shoulder where Athena's owl was usually seated, so it gained a different power and name than its mirror image on the other shoulder. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

Not only did their names differ, but they were also not their own subset. Although that meant there was no set effect between the two, they were strong in their own ways. He was quite happy with his gamble on the synergies. The doubling down on Minor Olympian Strength had created the effect of Might of Athena, which raised Strength by 250 and the phys. attack multiplier by 5 for every point of strength. It had also gained the effect Practice of Athena.

Practice of Athena was like a mix of <Simple Strikes> and <Warrior's Spirit>. The effect raised the power of armed attacks in combat by 50%, as long as the weapon handling skill for the weapon was Expert or above. For someone like Monique, who even got the class of Spear Demon, it was obvious that she cleared that condition with ease, at least for the spear. The changes to Perch of Nyctimene were already great, but that was not the end.

Shoulder of Athena had also improved compared to the effects Seth could have expected. Surprisingly, Minor Olympian Strength and Basic Olympian Health had fused into Athena's Health. And effect that raised Strength by 150 points, Endurance by 50, Health Regeneration by 65% and raised the Multiplier for Health Regen per Endurance by 30%. Although Monique didn't originally excel in the self-recovery sector, like Jonah, for example, with this she could recover from almost anything given some time.

Unless someone burned off a limb or directly decapitated her, she would probably be fine. Apart from that, there was another new effect, simply called Blood Stride. It seemed to have been influenced by <Berserker's Blood Rush>, the skill that was granted by the trait. When walking on a field of battle, where the ground was drenched with blood, the wearer's strength would increase by 10% and their attack power by 25%.

The skill really fit a goddess of war, even when Athena was usually described as a little milder than Ares. Apart from that, the two skills the souls brought with them had also changed. <Warrior Strike> had turned into <Athena's Wrathful Strike>, doubling it's power. Now the power of the next attack would be multiplied by 10. <Warrior's Attack>, which raised the power of all skills performed with a weapon by 15%, became <Weapon Handling of Athena> and raised the power by 30% now.

Although Seth's own skills and Luck were also playing into the mix, the overall improvements to the skills were still moderately unhinged.

"Wouldn't it have been better to finish the armor before setting off?" Mina suddenly asked, looking at the only blemish currently sticking to Monique's body. Since the gauntlets were yet to be done, Monique had to wear a substitute pair. She had gotten a pair of epic gauntlets from the guild vault, because they were better than her old relic-rated gloves without their set effect.

However, ignoring their performance, they were stained black by the dungeon power that influenced the item and looked garish in comparison to the rest of her current armor.

"I get what you mean, but no need to worry. I will finish the gauntlets by the time we see proper action," the blacksmith said carefree.

"Oh, so you are going to do it on the way, like in the good old times?" Fin asked, excited for another chance to watch Seth craft on the go.

"Wait, you are going to make my gloves on the way there? Then why didn't you stop me from exchanging these substitutes?" Monique asked, feeling a little betrayed.

"It's not a bad idea to be prepared, in case something happens on the way, right?" Seth said with a shrug, as if they intended to leave the fighting to Monique alone, while some of the strongest fighters of Minas Mar kicked back and watched her. Although it sounded ridiculous, Monique couldn't help but feel that this was exactly their intention.

"Then let's hope nothing happens during the journey..." she said with a meek smile.

<Perch of Nyctimene Special Regalia of Athena Set Set 1/X Phys. Def.: 1600 Mag: Def: 1900 Durability: 9000 1. Wings of the Owl 2. +50% Power on Skills and Spells 3. 40% Damage Reflection 4. Might of Athena 5. Practice of Athena 6. Passive Skill: Simple Strikes 7. Passive Skill: Warrior's Spirit 8. Passive Skill: Warrior Strength Regalia of Athena: To be updated. One of two spaulders filled with the Might of Athena. It was created by Master Smith, the first Master Blacksmith and Master Enchanter of Urth.

Using mysterious and divine means, he created an item to empower those blessed by the goddess. Requirements: Blessing of Athena, Master Smith> <Shoulder of Athena Special Regalia of Athena Set Set 1/X Phys. Def.: 1600 Mag: Def: 1900 Durability: 9000 1. Double the Power of Spear Skills 2. +50% Power on Skills and Spells 3. 40% Damage Reflection 4. Athena's Health 5. Blood Stride 6. Trait: Berserker's Blood Rush 7. Active Skill: Athena's Wrathful Strike-> 10x damage on next attack. 8.

Passive Skill: Weapon Practice of Athena-> 25% to all skill with a weapon Regalia of Athena: To be updated. One of two spaulders filled with the Might of Athena. It was created by Master Smith, the first Master Blacksmith and Master Enchanter of Urth. Using mysterious and divine means, he created an item to empower those blessed by the goddess. Requirements: Blessing of Athena, Master Smith >