Chương 57: Upgrades

After the food I figured it was time to finally upgrade something, and since I got that sword from the bwotnik it didn't take a genius to figure out what build I was going with. Now that I also had an extra free upgrade point ready to use, I didn't care as much about wasting my own; I'd just pop the one from the hoard and save mine for later if I ever found some better gear and offerings. Right now going with a fire resistant build seemed like a good idea since the people here loved throwing fireballs at me.

I met Vasil and Kasia in the war room. Kasia had asked to come along, and I thought it would be a good learning experience for her. Maybe even give her ideas of what kind of class she'd like for herself. I'd grabbed the [Flame Adept]'s hand and Flameowl's Cry to use as offerings. I'd also brought Flamegrip and Karn's Face so I'd be able to see what the complete build would look like. After dumping everything on the stone desk I noticed that the hand had somehow gotten less stinky.

Maybe those clay jars had some kind of magical preservation properties?

"So how does this consumable skill upgrade point work?" I asked Vasil.

"You do not have these in Graecia?" I tossed the marble into the air and caught it.

"We have upgrade points, yeah, but they come in vials and you drink them. As far as I know only gods give them out, and only rarely."

"Hmm. Well, this one you simply crush between your fingers." I immediately crushed it. [You have gained 1 skill upgrade point.] Vasil's eyes widened.

"Why did you do that?"

"You just told me people kill for these things! I don't want to give them even more reasons to kill me! Besides, if I use it now I already have the extra upgrade point. No sense carrying it around waiting to get murdered for it."

"But you could have given it to someone else."

"Why would I do that?" I scoffed.

"Very well," he said.

"So, have you given any thought to what you might upgrade?"

"Oh yeah. I just have to decide between [All is One] and [Headhunter]." I offered the hand and the sword and read the text aloud. [All is One - upgrade preview] Offering: [Lubomir Drevek, Flame Adept - Hand] Offering: [Flameowl's Cry - Sword] Resulting modifiers: You gain the [Flame Breath] ability. Toggle: +5% chance to apply [Pyroclasm] on hit. This is doubled while on fire. +20 Attunement. Scales with level. +10% Mana regeneration. Scales with level. +40% Attack Speed while on fire. Scales with level.

+40% Movement Speed while on fire. Scales with level. +40% Damage while on fire. Scales with level. +20% Fire Damage. Scales with level. +10% Fire Resistance. Scales with level. +10% Fire Absorption. Scales with level. -10% to enemy Fire Resistance. Scales with level.

"Woahhh," Kasia said.

"Goodness," Vasil said.

"That is ridiculous." I pointed at him.

"And ridiculous is exactly what I need." I paused.

"But what if the [Headhunter] upgrade is even more ridiculous?" [Headhunter - upgrade preview] Offering: [Lubomir Drevek, Flame Adept - Hand] Offering: [Flameowl's Cry - Sword] Resulting modifiers: Totems bound to gear give: +20 Attunement +10% Mana regeneration +20% Mana regeneration while on fire +10% Resistance to Fire +10% Fire Absorption Totems bound to weapons give: Toggle: +5% chance to apply [Pyroclasm] on hit. This is doubled while on fire. +20 Attunement +10% Mana stolen per hit. +20% Attack Speed.

+20% Damage. I tapped my chin.

"So, [All in One] is the clear winner here. Especially if I'm on fire."

"Wouldn't that hurt?" Kasia asked.

"I sure hope not, but I guess we'll find out."

"[Headhunter] would give you significantly more Attunement though," Vasil said.

"And Mana steal. And have you thought about how you would set yourself on fire?"

"Attunement isn't everything, Vasil. Plus I have another solution for restoring Mana in mind. Setting myself on fire is simple as well; I can just shoot a flaming bullet close to my hair or clothes." Kasia's mouth fell open.

"That's crazy." Was it crazy? As long as the actual bullet didn't hit me I should be fine, right? My aim was perfect anyway, so it's not like I'd accidentally blow my brains out or anything. Buuuut if someone bumped into me right as I fired, I could be in trouble… If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. I shrugged.

"Or I could just wait for someone to [Fireball] me in the face?" Kasia still looked horrified.

"Wouldn't that be… dangerous?" I nodded solemnly.

"I always say: you either live dangerously, or not at all. If you do the same lame stuff as everyone else, you get the same lame results as everyone else." Vasil raised a frogbrow.

"Aren't you basically copying that [Flame Adept]'s build?" I raised a finger.

"First of all, I am improving his build. In the end it's more like a subtle nod to his build. And by subtle nod I mean it isn't anything like his build at all. The differences are night and day."

"You are wearing all his gear, and—""Second of all," I interrupted.

"He did not have the sword! He did not have cool guns! He didn't even have hair for the love of the gods!"

"I also do not have hair."

"Yeah! Exactly. The man was basically a frog. As you can see, my build is nothing like his." Damn. My build was very much like his, but obviously I wasn't going to admit that. I mean, it was better, of course, but still. Old Lubomir was clearly using the build wrong, else he wouldn't be dead right now. Vasil himself had said people use whatever items they could get their hands on, so why was he accusing me of being unoriginal? Speaking of items… I did still have the scythe and another hand.

Maybe I could use them as well and show them just how original—and most of all, clever—I was. It would have to be something Vasil hadn't thought of yet. I pursed my lips. But what could it be? And then the perfect idea presented itself to me. What if I offered the scythe and the [Concussionist]'s hand to upgrade [Reload]? Would that add their bonuses to every single bullet created by [Reload]? Now that would be something to behold. I put on my best sad face.

"I actually had something else in mind. Something I totally didn't just think of. It was supposed to be a surprise, but you ruined it." Vasil cocked his head.

"What surprise?"

"A very clever one," I said.

"But now the moment is gone." Kasia looked between us, unsure whether she was supposed to comment.

"Hecate…" Vasil said.

"Ohhh, alright then. Give me a minute," I said as I quickly sprinted off to retrieve the hand and the scythe. When I returned I threw them on the desk.

"Behold!"

"I thought those did not match you?" Vasil said.

"Strength also does not benefit your class." I shook my head, pretending to be disappointed.

"You need to learn to use your imagination, Vasil. These are for upgrading [Reload]." His eyes widened. I gave him a little smile. Definitely not a smirk.

"Yeah. That's what I thought. Check this out." [Reload - upgrade preview] Offering: [Stefan Kanski, Concussionist - Hand] Offering: [Lady Midday - Scythe] Resulting modifiers: Each bullet created by [Reload] gains the following bonuses: +100% Kinetic force +25% Damage +5% Life or Barrier stolen per hit Thank the gods, it was actually amazing! Yes, yes, yes! I would have looked pretty stupid if it hadn't worked. Vasil just sat there staring. He was clearly awestruck by my genius. I gave a single nod.

"This was my plan all along. You combine those two upgrades, and I'm a monster." I paused.

"Not an actual monster. I mean I'm… I'm… good. Powerful." After a couple of seconds Vasil finally spoke.

"That is actually very clever, Hecate. Well done." I inclined my head.

"Thank you." Then I inhaled deeply. It was finally time for my first (and second) upgrade. I accepted the offerings and waited. With a soft plop they disappeared. That was it. Very anticlimactic. Kasia leaned forward.

"Did… did it work?" I quickly checked [Reload] and saw it now had the added bonuses.

"Yep. It worked." Next I grabbed the other hand and the sword. Another plop later and [All is One] had also been upgraded. I switched out the Stag Beetle bracelets for the Flamegrip bracers and put on Karn's Face. Then I took a look at my stats. Strength: 1 (1 + 0) Dexterity: 21 (18 + 3) Barrier: 1 (1 + 0) Attunement: 89 (21 + 68) Stamina: 1 (1 + 0) Luck: 1 (1 + 0) Chaos: 1 (1 + 0) Headhunter Totems Equipped: 2/2 89 Attunement. Wow. That was enough to cast [Clean Entry] eleven times.

I felt pretty good about myself and my decision-making capabilities. What about Fire Resistance? Only 94%, but with the 10% Fire Absorb, fire could no longer harm me. I was a little bit scared that it would still hurt me though.

"Alright," I said.

"Tomorrow we should go find a town with some inquisitors so I can test the build." Kasia perked up.

"Can I come?"

"No," I said immediately.

"It wouldn't be safe." She looked at me with big pleading eyes. I sighed.

"…Fine. But don't die. I would feel bad if you died." She smiled.

"Now," I said, clapping my hands, "if that was all, I'd like to take a nice, long, warm bath and then get a good night's rest before the trek through the swamp tomorrow."

"Are you sure?" Vasil asked.

"Yes. We have to be proactive. I'm not going to get stronger sitting around here." And I want more stuff, I thought.

"You are not wrong about that." I headed toward my room. When I opened the door, I stopped. All the floorboards had been replaced. Every single one of them was smooth and clean. The rest of the room was still a mess, but the floor looked great. And against the wall stood a brand-new bed. It didn't have a mattress—just the makeshift bedding Skelly had put together—but I wasn't complaining. After a long bath, I climbed into bed. Warm relief spread through me. Finally a real bed. It was solid. Kuba had done good work.

I made a mental note to give him a big compliment after I woke up. I stared up at the ceiling, listening to the quiet creaks of the cathedral settling around me and the distant sounds of the swamp. I wondered what my parents were doing. If they were okay. If the Order of Keraion hadn't retaliated against them for what I'd done. No one would believe Perry could have killed Menandros—everyone knew a classless wasn't capable of something like that. But would they blame my parents for raising me?

Then again, it was probably hard to believe someone at level one could kill him too. I always felt like I was a disappointment to my mother, but I'd come pretty far since leaving home. Gotten a lot stronger. I even had a cathedral now, and friends. I'd helped people. Stood up for what I thought was right. I wondered if she'd be proud of me now. I missed my parents. I missed Asteria. I missed kefalaki. I even missed the Sisters of Mēnē, as strange as that was.

I never thought I'd miss their whining and judgement, or Daphne's terrible jokes. Actually, I didn't miss Daphne's jokes. I wished my parents could have come with me to Silesia. But it wasn't allowed. Besides, they had responsibilities, and my mother probably wouldn't have wanted to leave Asteria anyway. I rolled over, pulling the blanket up to my chin. Tomorrow I'd go test my new build on some inquisitors. Get even stronger. Get even better gear.

Menekrates was probably counting on me to return, which meant I had work to do. And then there was the Church, who I'd managed to piss off twice already. They were probably preparing something for me as well. I sighed. I really needed to kill more people.

======================== [Hecate, Gunwitch Level 10] STATS Strength: 1 (1 + 0) Dexterity: 21 (18 + 3) Barrier: 1 (1 + 0) Attunement: 89 (21 + 68) Stamina: 1 (1 + 0) Luck: 1 (1 + 0) Chaos: 1 (1 + 0) Headhunter Totems Equipped: 2/2 SKILLS Quickdraw Omniglot Clean Entry Soul Index Artifact Index Headhunter Blink Reload* Each bullet created by [Reload] gains the following bonuses: +100% Kinetic force +25% Damage +5% Life or Barrier stolen per hit All is One* You gain the [Flame Breath] ability.

Toggle: +5% chance to apply [Pyroclasm] on hit. This is doubled while on fire. +20 Attunement. Scales with level. +10% Mana regeneration. Scales with level. +40% Attack Speed while on fire. Scales with level. +40% Movement Speed while on fire. Scales with level. +40% Damage while on fire. Scales with level. +20% Fire Damage. Scales with level. +10% Fire Resistance. Scales with level. +10% Fire Absorption. Scales with level. -10% to enemy Fire Resistance. Scales with level.

EQUIPMENT Head [Karn's Face - Helmet] +15% All Resistances 35% Of damage taken goes to mana 5% Chance to cast [Fear] on hit Torso Summer Dress of Eternal Cleanliness This dress can never get dirty. Hands [Flamegrip - Bracers, ethereal] These bracers can not be repaired. +10 Attunement +20% Fire Resistance +5% Mana stolen per hit +5% chance to summon a [Flame Serpent] on hit.

Feet [Russet Boots of Attunement - Boots] + 20% Fire Resistance + 5 Attunement -10% Stamina drain Amulet [Blessing of the Firemind - Amulet] Killing an enemy restores 10% of maximum Mana +20% Fire Damage +20% Fire Resistance +10 Attunement Ring1 [Ring of Kindling - Ring] When you ignite an enemy, nearby enemies have a 25% chance to also ignite +10% Fire Damage +7 Attunement Ring2 [Russet Damage Conversion Ring - Ring] 12% of Damage is converted into Barrier +9% Fire Resistance +6 Attunement Main hand [Hecate's Revolver 1] Totem: Bear +100% Damage +5% Critical Hit Chance -25% Weapon weight Offhand [Hecate's Revolver 2] Totem: Lubomir Drevek, Flame Adept Weapon fires flaming projectiles Deal +30% damage to burning targets.

Killing a burning target restores a small amount of Mana +10 Attunement +20% Mana Regeneration Sidearm [Stabigail - Dagger] When unsheathed, the dagger momentarily emits a blinding white glow and releases a puff of glittery smoke accompanied by a dramatic choral note. +3 Dexterity ========================