Chapter 45: A Lesser Merge

Kaius rolled the ring around in his hand, staring at the light that bounced off its polished exterior. Resizing.. It was a minor enchantment. Usually used so that artificers wouldn’t have to waste their precious time on measuring clients for non commissioned pieces.

He honestly had no idea how far the enchantment could be pushed. If it was artisan made he wouldn’t even try, but items from the Depths tended to be a little stronger, and a lot more weird than those made by people. Only the best enchanters would be able to scribe runes as dense and small as the ones that lined the ring, and they certainly wouldn’t put that much effort into a Common item.

His friend responded to his call, trotting over.

“Yes?”

“I think I might have found you some loot after all?” he said, holding up the shining ring with a grin.

Porkchop looked at him quizzically. “That thing? What am I supposed to do, tie it to my fur?”

“Just give your paw you dolt.” Kaius said, gesturing impatiently with his hand. Porkchop chuffed, putting one of his front paws on Kaius’s knee. It was massive, easily half the size of his torso. “Oof. You’re a heavy bastard, aren’t you?”

He got a throaty growl in response to his jibe. Laughing back at his friend, Kaius brought the ring closer to one of Porkchop’s thick claws. They were frightening things, as long as his hand and built like the curved tip of a pick.

The ring expanded. Growing in his hands until it would fit loosely around two of his fingers. Kaius grinned, happy that he was right, and slid it down Porkchop’s middle digit. It would be more out of the way there.

The ring shrunk, tightening to sit snug against the base of Porkchop’s digit. He yelped in surprise, the insignia of a closed fist flashing once.

Once he got over his initial shock, Porkchop held his paw up curiously, eying the artefact. “What does it do? I feel a little jittery.” He asked curiously.

“The jitters might be from some Strength, though I don’t know the effect personally. It also does something else. Do you trust me?”

“Of course.” Porkchop responded without hesitation.

“Give me your paw again.”

Porkchop placed his paw back on Kaius’s lap. To his friend’s credit, the furry lump only flinched a little when he drew his hunting knife. Bringing the edge of the blade to Porkchop’s pad, he dragged it across sharply. Porkchop let out a huff of surprise. The honed edge skittered across his friend’s paw, leaving no sign of a mark in its wake.

Pulling his paw back, Porkchop stared at it with open fascination.

“I doubt the enchantment is strong enough to deal a heavy blow from an enchanted axe or anything, but I thought maybe you would get less cut up if you could smack away swords without worrying about being cut to ribbons. I’d bet it makes your paws hit way harder too.” Kaius explained, watching as his friend turned his paw back and forth.

“I think we should start looking for the next Champion,” Porkchop said. “It is very important we get more loot.”

Kaius let out a laugh from deep in his belly. “I knew I could get you to see it my way! I’ve just got a couple of things I want to do first. Checking those artefacts brought Appraise up to twenty, and I’d like to merge Identify and get my last skill before we go galavanting off.” With everything else already capped for his next legacy skill, Kaius had been growing impatient. The level of Appraise couldn’t have come at a better time.

“Watch over me?” he asked.

Porkchop chuffed in acceptance, and Kaius closed his eyes – dropping into his soul space.

The glowing bonfire of his soul shone in his mental sight, revealing the skill shards that orbited it. He quickly spotted Appraise and Inspect. He doubted he would have any difficulty with the merge, even with the escalating mental strain with each successive legacy skill. The skills were supremely compatible, and there were only two.

He wove a rope of soul-fire, the strand coming away with ease. Connecting it to Inspect took moments. An encyclopaedia of sights washed through him. A catalogue of a thousand beasts, and a thousand classes. Similarities, simple categorisations. It wasn’t an indepth look, but even a short entry to a growing book of knowledge had value.

The choir of his legacy skills screamed for his attention, but before they could get their avaricious hooks in him, he was already moving.

He drew another thread of soul fire, sending it questing for Appraise. This skill was similar to its cousin, but avaricious. The merchant to the curious researcher before. Simple pottery through to the rarest of legendary blades. All were stripped back, quantified. Appraised.

A third thread connected the skills. They all but smashed into each other, so eager was their desire for union.

**Ding! Skill Merged! Identify obtained!**

Kaius opened his eyes with a smile, bringing up the description of his latest skill.

Identify:

Level 1

Rare

Even a little knowledge can make a world of difference in the right hands.

Skill that enables slight insight into all things that fall under the purview of the system. Higher rarities, levels, and power disparities are more difficult to Identify. Enchantments and skills can block this insight

Each level slightly increases the skills ability to overcome insight blocking effects.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Merged from: Inspect, Appraise

It was a simple merge, one that combined the effects of both skills with very little in the way of new capabilities. It was also amongst the few that were ‘only’ Rare, though in his mind that was a fair assessment. It was still very useful, and one he was glad to have. Tactical insight and an understanding of the effects of their gear was vital.

Now he had room for his last skill. Eagle Eye.

“All done?” Porkchop asked, clearly eager to get moving.

“Just a minute, big guy, just going to get this skill.” Kaius mumbled, training his eyes on one of the hanging lanterns that drifted aimlessly in the slight breeze. It was a far one, situated near where they had entered the cavern. Distant enough that it was barely a smudged glowing pinpoint of light to his eyes.

He grabbed hold of his Mana, going through the now familiar process of suffusing his eyes with the mystic resource. Stinging irritation brought tears to his eyes, in no way helped by his unblinking focus. He ignored the pain, it had been growing less intense with every infusion. His body growing used to the presence of mana in his flesh.

**Ding! General Skill Available! Would you like to learn: Eagle Eye (Rare)?**

With a snap the hanging lantern suddenly focused in his sight. Still just as far, still just as small, but he could see every ripple in the strange fibrous membrane that acted as windows to the lanterns glowing interior. As the vine swayed gently in the breeze Kaius watched liquid slosh inside the bubble, roiling and flashing in the movement.