Chapter 79: Support From The Church

POV Cornelius

“But we can also help you in other ways.” <Cardinal>

We looked expectantly.

“We want to make sure you have the best equipment at your disposal. Weapons and armor should be the best you can master at your level right now. But what about items? What do you have in your possession?” <Cardinal>

“I don't have any, do you?” <Cornelius>

“I have a staff that makes fire magic easier for me and improves my spell power.” <Javier>

“I have a necklace that improves my healing magic.” <Eleonore>

“I have and need nothing.” <Ansgar>

“Not so fast, noble hero. As you've heard from your two fellow heroes, there are items that improve your skills by increasing their level. There are also resistance-enhancing items.” <Cardinal>

“That sounds very helpful. Eli, you still have the ring of protection against poisoning, don't you?” <Cornelius>

“That's right. It gives me resistance to weak poisoning up to level 5.” <Eleonore>

“See how helpful accessories like that can be? But there are other types of items too. How do you find an item that increases the EXP you receive?” <Cardinal>

“What? I have to have that!” <Ansgar>

“Hmm, that would be very, very helpful.” <Javier>

“Cardinal, how many of these items can you provide us with?” <Cornelius>

“We have four with +10%. We also have some with +25%, but you can't use them at your current level without suffering side effects.” <Cardinal>

“Then we'll take the four +10%. Leveling up faster helps us enormously.” <Cornelius>

“Hmm, what skills are there improvements for?” <Javier>

“There are generally different categories. For weapons, the improvements serve to increase damage and durability. Examples of this are flames or ice, which lie across the blade when activated. There are also weapons that can bypass armor or trigger other effects on impact. For these, however, you must first improve your class or increase your level to 40. Armor can be equipped with spells that either increase protection or grant resistance. Armor also includes helmets, gloves, shoes and cloaks.

Then there are all kinds of accessories such as necklaces, bracelets and rings. They can be equipped with a wide variety of improvements. Increases in skills and EXP are possible, as well as characteristics. However, there are also certain restrictions. Each individual value can only be improved once. Then, for some reason unknown to us, the total amount of equipment with enhancements is limited. Our research shows 1 item per 10 levels. There is also a bonus depending on the level in Artifact Control and the value in Intelligence. The particularly powerful items require more than 1 point of this limit. If you carry more than the maximum value, some of the items negate themselves and lose their effect or even explode. Each item beyond this limit negates another." <Cardinal>

“That means we can all wear three enhanced items at the moment.” <Cornelius>

“Hmm, I'm not much short of the next one then, since I have artifact control. We should plan well what equipment we upgrade and take with us to increase our effectiveness.” <Javier>

“I'll take a weapon and armor with the ring.” <Ansgar>

“Hmm, I'm interested in Identify Item and Identify Monster in addition to the elemental magics.” <Javier>

“I don't care about that. I'll take anything Cornelius thinks is useful.” <Eleonore>

“For weapons and armor, I'm sure you'll find some good ones in the Imperial Armory. You should always pay attention to the requirements, but you already know that. For your priestess, we still have items for every single form of light magic. In general, we have some rings for Dark and Mind Resistance. These will help you in the dungeons. We also have equipment in various strengths for Poison Resistance. Let me know your current Intelligence and I'll have the appropriate items brought to you.” Cardinal

“You also mentioned that we can increase our attributes. What are these useful for? The differences should be small.” Cornelius

“That's right, most of them increase a trait by just 10-20. But when it comes to improving a skill, they can raise you to the trait value you need. This may not make much of a difference if you have time, but after a boss fight with the stele for upgrading a skill, it's important to have the required value at the time. You should take one ring for each of the six characteristics and then put them on when you need them." Cardinal

“Then that's what we'll do. Thank you very much for your help and support.” Cornelius

“Very gladly, noble heroes. It is our pleasure to be of service to our God and his chosen heroes. Do not be afraid to call on our help at any time.” Cardinal

With that, we said goodbye to the cardinal and left the cathedral. Our next route took us straight to the imperial armory, where many accessories were stored. A Mind Resistance Ring was mandatory for each of us. Eli took enhancements to her various light magic forms and Javier took the two Identify enhancements in addition to a necklace that improved his mana regeneration. Ansgar and I took better weapons and armor. The items that were not placed in the armory were delivered to us the next day.

After that we planned our departure towards Tyros to the nature dungeon. Within the next few days we had all our equipment together. In addition to the items from the church, this time we took a lot more mana potions with us to be better prepared. Fortunately, the proximity of the dungeon to the city meant that we could return every evening and sleep in a warm bed. As long as we had this opportunity, we took advantage of every luxury we could got.