B2 Chapter 225: Payment, pt. 2
byKaius grinned as he looked at the stacked boxes on the table—the first of their rewards, and a source of gear they would otherwise likely not have the funds or connections to get ahold of.
He’d hoped that they would be able to get some today, but after Ro and Rieker had warned them that it might take more than one mission, Kaius hadn’t wanted to get his hopes up.
A quick glance at his team showed him they must have been feeling similarly excited, both Ianmus and Porkchop looking on with undisguised avarice.
“Between the platinum piece, and the extra hundred gold for the mineral seam finders fee—which was unfortunately reduced due to the current difficulties in exploiting that resource—we were able to pick out some good pieces for you.” Rieker said, smiling at their obvious anticipation.
“We were even able to come up with a little work around for our problem with finding if Kaius’s blade would resonate with any of our materials on hand.” he continued, eyes flicking to Kaius. “Or at least, Ro was able to.”
Ro nodded, though she frowned at the latched box at the bottom of the pile—the same expression he’d seen her make every time administrative work came up. Sometimes, he wondered what she was doing here as a manager. It clearly didn’t suit her.
“Took two days of asking around, and combing through our records, but it turns out we’re within our right to create samples. That bottom box contains a scrapping of everything we have on hand—if your blade resonates with any of them, we’ll either give it to you now, or reserve it until you’ve completed enough missions to earn it.” Ro said.
Kaius nodded, staring at the box with open yearning. To know that it potentially held all that he needed to finally awaken his blade made him want to dash out of his seat and snatch it up immediately. It took considerable will, and squeezing his own knees in a deathgrip, to stay still.
After all, it made sense for him to go last. His teammates were getting hand-picked gear, and it would be cruel to make them sit through him rifling through who knows how many materials.
“You two pick between yourselves who goes first.” he said.
The looks of gratitude were almost enough to quell the hoarding dragon inside of him that squealed in outrage at the prospect of waiting.
“Ianmus can go first, it’s his first time getting loot. At least the good kind.” Porkchop said, nodding to the mage.
“Are you sure?” Ianmus asked, surprised that Porkchop had forfeited without a fight.
Porkchop rolled his eyes. “Just hurry up! I don’t want to wait all day.”
Ianmus nodded, and approached the desk.
Rieker and Ro watched them with wry smiles, clearly amused and well used to the antics of a delving team deciding their loot rotation. The guildmaster nudged one box forward, indicating to Ianmus which one he should take.
The box was long—by far the largest of all of the boxes at what looked to be just over six strides, though it lacked the heft and depth of the lacquered box holding Kaius’s materials.
Hurrying back to his seat, Ianmus lifted the thin pine top, revealing an interior wrapped in cotton padding.
Laying inside was a staff.
Kaius thought it was a pretty thing, the wood somehow grown in a tightly bound spiral—like the braiding of a rope. At its top, the strands of honey coloured wood unravelled, weaving themselves into a cage that had tightly bound some sort of stone streaked with seams of glittering yellow.
Runes covered the faceted stone by the dozens, dense workings revealing few secrets—the telltale script of the Depths hiding its intent from even Kaius’s trained eyes.
Ianmus reached out with a shaking hand, touching the inset stone with what looked to be awe.
“Infused sunstone…” he muttered to himself, lifting his new staff out of the box, and setting its container on the floor.
As his friend turned his newest focus over in his hands, Kaius took the opportunity to analyse it with Truesight, curious at what had gotten Ianmus so excited.
Staff of the Woven Corona:
Unusual – Tier I
A Dawn Maple, waiting for purpose. The essence of the sun, waiting for a home. Sacred to the weaver, their destiny is made manifest—a union of the disparate, and an act of worship.
Made from Dawn Maple, directed to grow around a faceted chunk of high grade sunstone, this staff has been lacquered with an infused stain. Being made of materials that are almost exclusively aligned to the solar affinity, this staff provides an exceptional boost to mana control and channeling speed when using that affinity. Solar spells cast through this staff are empowered, and it has been inscribed with a meta magic to drastically increase the speed at which tier I solar beam spells may be cast, at the expense of drastically reducing their range.
Depths-wrought Artefact.
Casting Focus – Staff
Durability I, Solar Empowerment I, Solar Focus III, Self Repair I, Quickened Ray II
Kaius nodded in appreciation of the artifact. Even just the simple increase to the efficiency of Ianmus’s casting would have been a potent boon, but the fact that it also allowed the mage to cast more swiftly in close quarters was astounding.
“That one was a lucky find—there’s a delve near Deadacre with a Solar themed biome at the fifteenth layer. Most avoid it, due to the difficulty of dealing with enemies that have attacks that are difficult to block or dodge.” Rieker explained.
“How’d you get it, then?” Ianmus asked, getting a feel for the staff’s balance.
“Had a Steel team with a mirror mage come through a few years back, they were uniquely suited to it. Let me tell you, that mage was apoplectic when their best Champion reward was a staff that he couldn’t use.” Rieker chuckled, shaking his head at the memory.
Stolen story; please report.
“I can understand why—it’s an amazing piece. I’d be furious if I got something like this, but found out it was useless to me.” Ianmus mumbled, still cradling the staff like it was made of glass.
Ro waved him off. “Don’t feel too bad, he managed to trade it in for an amulet that increased the potency of abilities that deflected or redirected attacks—he made out like a bandit.”
She paused for a moment, looking to where Porkchop was ‘patiently’ waiting. His brother looked like he was using all of his concentration to avoid tearing Rieker’s carpet to shreds with his honed jade claws as he continually readjusted—restless anticipation flooding across their bond in waves.
“Perhaps we let Porkchop check his reward, before Rieker’s floor gets ruined, eh?” she continued.
Ianmus jumped, before he looked to the side and shuffled his chair to give Porkchop room.
“Sorry!”
“It’s okay!” Porkchop replied, before he loomed up on his hind legs, towering over everyone else in the room.




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