As I ducked under a large sweep of the Knight's Warhammer I asked a question.
"How would I even go about doing the damage increase?" I asked stepping back as the Knight followed up his attack with another one the gust from his attack. The Knight stopped his attack momentum an instant and regained his resting stance with his hammer resting on his shoulder ready to strike.
"The Damage Increase, is a System-Concept, it means that it is intrinsically artificial in its inception, typically speaking Concepts are formed in a similar fashion to Divinity in that it's the collective understanding and misunderstandings about a given object or idea, unlike deities though concepts are not Sapient and are merely truths to be understood, due to the System's age it to has affected the collective psychy, people's misunderstandings of how the System works gave it functions it could not before, so in order to tap into the Concept you must believe that the System has given you the ability to defy reality and to do more damage, nothing more and nothing less" the Knight spoke his voice carrying a hint of flowery speech like that of a soap opera.
"Wait but why would I need to believe in Truths if these Concepts are truths of the universe?" All this stuff reminded of something you'd here from some guy or gal selling a self help course.
"You are under the understanding that entraps many from new worlds low in innate Mana where reality is unchanging and absolute, here in System-Space, Reality and henceforth Truth is ever-changing either by millions over the course of eons or the sheer power of a single person, Reality does change and when I say that you have understand these truths I mean you must create your own understanding and be unyielding to the point where reality gives" the Knight stated with force before bringing his hammer down in an attack. Using my shield I redirected the force of the blow and tried to counterattack but due to me not actually parrying my opponent recovered and moved with surprising agility.
I dwelt on it as feints, strikes, blocks, and ever changing foot work that created a tapestry on the forest floor. A few times I was killed and we had to restart and even fewer sometimes I would get a lucky blow and kill the Knight. I figured it was like video game, their was no reason why forging a thousand daggers would somehow make someone a master at also crafting jewelery, and yet some games it did. It was a game, this was a game, I am playing a VR game right now. I have an ability that increases my attack after completing a combo. So I'll first parry, the NPC'S hammer knocked off course and then follow through with a strike, at the same time active the root spell, and the armour ignorance ability and voila!
...
[Skill Gained!]
You have gained the Epic [Active] skill: [Nature's Riposte].
...
-[Nature's Riposte] Lvl: 1
Epic Active General Skill
After a successful parry of an Opponents attack you can Temporarily summon roots from the ground of their feet and hold them in place before Striking. Increase in Damage on successful hit and Ignore any armor made of forged metal.
...
"I see you have stepped on the road of mastery Scion, I thank you for letting me be apart of your path" the Knight stated before kneeling as the forest melted away and once again I was on the ruins of a pyramid with no time seemingly have elapsed.
Before me neatly packaged where my [Magical Resource] reward. Carefully pealing the first one that was in fact a fang, long and kinda of like a sabertooth weeping a black smoke.
...
[Shadowcat Fang]
Half-Step Rank Two Natural Treasure
This Fang comes from a Shadowcat a notoriously hard species to track down capable of alluding even those above it in tier due to its unique set of racial abilities which lay dormant inside of this fang.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
...
The second item was pouch filled with a few small cuttings of a pale white nearly translucent little plantlets.
...
[Mother of the Dark Thousand Plantlet]
Half-Step Rank Three Natural Treasure
These plants rarely grow true seeds rather it tends to grow small Plantlets along the ridges of their leaves that grow heavy and fall off. When Planted in fertile soil with thick Mana concentration these plants grow rapidly improving the Mana concentration and helping propagate other toxic plants nearby. All parts of this plant is toxic when ingested however when taken in small enough quantities this plants poison are known to stimulate Toxic abilities and Resistances
Traits: [Spawn of Thousands], [Concentrate Mana], [Empower Toxicity], and [Stimulating Poison]
-[Spawn of Thousands]
When In the Right conditions this plant will begin to spread its progeny through plantlets.
-[Concentrate Mana]
Nearby Ambient Mana Is attracted and nurtured by this plant when fully grown.
-[Empower Toxicity]
Stimulates the Toxic abilities of nearby plants.
-[Stimulating Poison]
When ingested in small quantities empowers Toxic Related Abilities.
...
Hell Yes! These things were awesome, and the fact that they preferred to grow underground was great to. Its other abilities were both good and troublesome and I would have to make sure these bad boys didn't spread too much as having a bunch of poison enhancing plants sounded like a plan for disaster. Placing the pouch of seeds safely in my pocket I picked up the last Resource that was heavy and as I peeled it packaging back I saw it was lump of ore that shined with intensity.
[Fire Salamander's Nest Rock]
Rank Two Natural Treasure
This ore has been the resting rock of a young Fire Salamander that has since out grown out of it. Bathed in its magical energies and that of its nearby magma this ore is brimming with fire mana.
Traits: [Nurturing Fire], [Heart of the Mount], and [Burning Potential]
-[Nurturing Fire]
This Ore is able to nourish Fire Aspected Creatures helping them grow.
-[Heart of the Mount]
This Ore contains a sliver of Wisdom from an Ancient Mountain that will guide any craftsman into creating the ideal form for this weapon.
-[Burning Potential]
This Ore Is Aspected to [Fire] all Fire Related concepts and abilities when channeled through this ore are magnified.
...
Oh boy, I see some forging in my Future that is for sure! Carefully repackaging the Ore before tucking it another pocket away from the Plantlets. I had decided to give the gang to Anastasia first to see if she could do something with, a thank you for saving me. However looking at the state of body I was reminded that I was fucking mess. Carving a throne, because why the fuck not, from my magic I say down and began to take inventory over the damages to my armor and to do list before bouncing to Juxia.
First I had to get the Scalefolk squared away, then I had to make sure that the other cities trade routes had actual roads, repair the walls of all the cities. Then finally check up on Saer and his kids before finally going to a place with a bed and hopefully some more answers.
...
The Scalefolk situation was complicated, turns out that their was a whole Mage and Noble caste that were supposed to protect the people. Essentially one in twenty were born with a mutation that allowed them to have innate Mana pools these formed the Mages. These five percent which came from both the poor and the rich formed a council. The Noble houses were those who had hereditary mutations that were useful in some way. The Noble houses and the Mages formed a council alongside the Temple. The Quetzal was from a sacred line and when his Predecessor died young the Noble Families scammered to influence or kill the child Quetzal while the Mages minded their own business. Eventually there was civil war of sorts and all of martial Noble houses were killed and the crafter one enslaved. The Quetzal now blood thirsty killed and subjugated the Mages and from there started his conquest.
The old triarchy political system wasn't inherently good or bad it didn't openly oppress the common people but it didn't exactly allow for social mobility outside of lucky breaks. So I had to craft a new one that wasn't completely unfamiliar to the people but wouldn't easily allow for a return of the power hungry maniac. First off even though Noble was spreading his/our worship in order to gain power I wasn't about to exchange the temple for one about me so I replaced the Temple with an elected group form the common people. Second the head of the government would be a Prime minister elected by the Nobility, the Mages, and the Common Representatives.
Their was twelve seats for each, due to their being only twelve mages and twelve houses remaining. So in total their was going to thirty-six seats with room to grow. Also in place of the Pyramid I built a Council Building a large circular structure with the offices of the Representatives, the Mage Towers, and the Noble Mansions sprinkled about with the cheap housing so that their homes would be right next to the poor. Although hopefully it wouldn't get to that point.
That was headache, several Noble Houses and influential freedom fighters tried to make them selves into a divine royal family or Dictator which I promptly blocked. Finally though I rebuilt the walls that were torn down and made sure that Under city was properly supported so it didn't collapse before I moved on to the city of the Turtenani to check up on them.
