Chương 48: Stvora Provides

I picked up the runestone and squinted at it. I'd be keeping a very close eye out for more of these. It did make me wonder. If I slotted runestones into my weapons… what would happen? Would the effects just work normally? Would the power merge with me the way the guns had? Would I start looking different then? So far [All is One] hadn't changed me much, besides my revolvers literally being part of me now. If I took [Finger Guns] as well… would I turn into a finger? I obviously wouldn't want that.

What I did want was to find more runestones, and I was very curious to see how they would interact with [All is One].

"What's the shortest combination?" I asked.

"How many stones do I need?"

"The smallest combinations use two runestones. The longest I'm aware of goes up to six."

"So I'd need at least one more for anything useful."

"At minimum, yes. But the only two stone combination that includes Flame that I am aware of is not particularly strong or useful." He paused.

"Also, there's something important I forgot to mention. Runestones can only be slotted into non-magical items. If the weapon or armor is already enchanted in any way, it will not work. The magic conflicts." I frowned.

"So aside from my revolvers, my current gear is useless for this?"

"Correct."

"Great. At least non magical stuff is easy to come by." I put the runestone back into my satchel. The hands were starting to get a bit stinky. I should probably store them in one of those jars next to the other hand I got from that spirit. Would Mēnē care if they were a bit… ripe? Probably not. I hoped not. It was the thought that counted, right? It would be unreasonable to expect me to use my hard-earned offerings right away and accidentally get a subpar upgrade. Actually, wait.

I should check if they do anything nice for [All is One] or [Headhunter]. [All is One - upgrade preview] Offering: [Stefan Kanski, Concussionist - Hand] Resulting modifiers: Your mind can influence the trajectory of your projectiles. Scales with level. Headshots deal 100% bonus damage. Scales with level. +10 Strength. Scales with level. +100% Kinetic Force. Scales with level. +10% Faster Hit Recovery. Scales with level. Yeah. Alright. That's pretty sweet. Except for the Strength.

What was I going to do with Strength? I was no barbarian. I didn't punch people. I shot them, like a civilized person. I didn't need to lift heavy stuff, and the jars here were easy to open already. But the rest... the rest was good. Being able to curve bullets around cover? Doubling headshot damage? Tripling it at level twenty? And that Kinetic Force—my bullets would hit like hammers. Maybe it would help with penetration. Shoot through multiple enemies at once.

Faster Hit Recovery meant I'd be harder to stagger if something actually managed to hit me. Which, ideally, wouldn't happen. But if it did, I'd recover faster. The trajectory control was the real prize, though. Adjusting bullets mid-flight seemed extremely busted, depending on how much I'd actually be able to influence them. What about old Lubi's hand though? [All is One - upgrade preview] Offering: [Lubomir Drevek, Flame Adept - Hand] Resulting modifiers: This story is posted elsewhere by the author.

Help them out by reading the authentic version. +10 Attunement. Scales with level. +10% Mana regeneration. Scales with level. +20% Attack Speed while on fire. Scales with level. +20% Damage while on fire. Scales with level. +20% Fire Damage. Scales with level. +10% Fire Resistance. Scales with level. -10% to enemy Fire Resistance. Scales with level. Wow. That's a big list. More Attunement is always welcome. Mana regen as well. And all the fire bonuses...

if I could get my Fire Resistance high enough to actually set myself on fire without dying, the damage would be insane. Attack speed and damage both up by twenty percent? Plus another twenty percent fire damage on top of that? Probably shouldn't set myself on fire without having full immunity with those extra boosts. Were there any downsides? I mean, I'd have to actually be on fire to get the best bonuses. But I was already potentially at, what, seventy-four percent Fire Resistance with all my current gear?

Get that up to a hundred percent, and I could just walk around on fire all the time. That would probably look really cool, actually. If one [Flame Adept] could give me all this, what else was out there? How many Inquisitors were walking around with gear this good? How many unique classes had abilities I'd never even heard of? All that power, just waiting to be liberated from people who clearly didn't appreciate it enough to not get shot. Really, I was doing the world a favor.

Letting them keep it would be irresponsible. Power like this should be in the hands of more competent people. People like me. I was starting to get a bit excited to see what the Church would give me next. Stvora did provide! On to the [Headhunter] upgrades. [Headhunter - upgrade preview] Offering: [Stefan Kanski, Concussionist - Hand] Resulting modifiers: Totems bound to gear give: +9 Strength +15% Resistance to physical damage +15% Resistance to being moved +15% Chance to resist getting stunned.

Totems bound to weapons give: +9 Strength +50% Kinetic force +5% chance to apply 1 second [Stun] on hit The totem bonuses were actually better than the [All is One] upgrade. Physical damage resistance would help me not die, and resistance to being moved meant I wouldn't get knocked around as easily. And the chance to stun… one second didn't sound like much, but in a fight, one second was long enough to kill someone twice. Unfortunately it gave Strength, which was less than ideal.

[Headhunter - upgrade preview] Offering: [Lubomir Drevek, Flame Adept - Hand] Resulting modifiers: Totems bound to gear give: +12 Attunement +10% Mana regeneration +20% Mana regeneration while on fire +10% Resistance to Fire Totems bound to weapons give: +12 Attunement +10% mana regeneration +5% chance to apply [Pyroclasm] on hit Now that was more like it. More Attunement, more mana regen, and even more regen while on fire. The [Pyroclasm] was interesting—essentially chain lightning, but with fireballs.

(I don't want to hear anyone say I didn't pay attention in school). One shot could bounce between multiple enemies, setting them all on fire. I really needed to get something good for Ambelios one of these days so I could start upgrading my skills properly. But for now...

"I'm going to put the hands away," I told Vasil.

"Sure," he said. I headed toward the lower level. On the way through the main hall, I noticed Kasia standing in front of the painting above the altar, staring up at it.

"You look so beautiful here," she said softly.

"Uh, that's not me," I said.

"That belonged to the previous owner of this place."

"Really? You look so much alike."

"Yeah, but I'm sure there are a lot of people who look like me." Kasia covered her mouth and let out a laugh. I frowned. I didn't get what was so funny. I hadn't made a joke.

"Anyway," I said, holding up the satchel.

"Can you help me put these hands in a jar? Next to the one that says 'Rude Lady'?" Kasia's eyes went wide.

"Rude Lady? Hecate, you aren't… killing people you find rude, right?" Oh no. She thought I was just killing people I found rude now. I mean, I was. But usually I wasn't.

"No, no! It was some kind of rude evil spirit. Not people. I just forgot the actual name and didn't want to ask Vasil and look stupid." I paused.

"But now that I've told you this, I do feel stupid." I paused again. Wait. I could've just looked at the hand in my System and seen what the name was. I felt even more stupid. Must be the swamp gas. And lack of sleep. And, you know, the generally rough life with rough events. It's been a wild ride. That would affect anyone's mind. I should really start taking better care of myself and prioritize getting a healthy amount of sleep.

"Anyway," I muttered, holding up the two stinky hands.

"Here they are. Where's Kuba?"

"He went out to gather wood," Kasia said.

"He should've been back by now, actually." I sighed.

"I better go check if he hasn't been eaten by some kind of monster." Kasia gasped.

"Do you think he—""No," I said.

"Probably not. I mean—of course not!" Though it's certainly possible, I thought. I suppressed another sigh. I felt like I'd barely gotten back and already had to solve another problem. I'd hoped that with more people in the cathedral I'd have more time to rest. Maybe even have some time to figure out if I'd be able to crack the vault or find a way into one of those mysterious doors. Apparently none of these things would be happening today, though.

I headed toward the doorhole (Kuba hadn't finished building the doors yet). Time to go find him before something else did.