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“Ah, there you are!” he said cheerfully. “The others are in the back with everything ready. Do you want to head back there and get this started?”

“Let’s get to it,” Jake smiled beneath his mask.

“Great! I must say, it is a wonderful item you brought us with a very interesting if admittedly not that unique, type of enchantment. However, it is rare that the system gives out such specialized equipment. Hence why it is such a great frame of reference when making our own similar enchants,” the man gladly explained as they walked to the back.

Entering the workshop of the building, Jake saw three other beastfolk gathered around a tub filled with some odd semi-golden liquid. His bow was hanging above it with some kind of oily substance covering it. The three beastfolk were talking as they turned and saw the two newcomers.

“Ah, you’re here!” the largest of the beastfolk said with a huge grin.

Jake looked at the beastman he knew was in charge, a large muscular guy with a mane for a beard and very obvious lion-like features.

“So, how are things?” Jake asked, looking at the bow and tub.

“Good, good. We have finished all we can on our end and need your assistance to get across the finish line,” the man said.

Jake nodded, motioning for him to continue.

“Two challenges,” the lion man explained. “First of all, the bow is Soulbound, which requires your direct consent for us to make any alterations or improvements. Also, let me make it clear, upgrading its rarity isn’t something we are capable of, and I dare claim you won’t find anyone in the Order of the Malefic Viper able to. System-given items like this are notoriously difficult to mess with unless you want to risk breaking them.”

Jake nodded in understanding. It was also one of the reasons no one tried to mess with things like unique natural treasures outside of just extracting the energy or in rituals. It was borderline impossible. “What is the second issue?”

“The energy the bow itself has adapted to. You said it was your arcane affinity, right? Due to the way the enchantment works, it integrates a particular type of energy and becomes adapted to that, but if the energy experience significant change, this in-built adaptation may become an obstacle. Your evolution to C-grade fundamentally changed your energy signature and thus your arcane energy, resulting in whatever the bow was attuned to now working against you, and my guess is that you then forced too much energy it was not adapted to through it, leading to its current shape.”

“I see,” Jake realized. While it was true the bow had felt different after his evolution, he had just written that up to the evolution itself and his change in energy. Now he realized it was in part due to how the bow worked. “So, what is the plan?”

“As I said, then this is one-hundred percent a repair job, but seeing as you have evolved and it is a Soulbound weapon, you may as well view it as an upgrade. The oil currently coating the bow is meant to soften it up a little, while the liquid below will drill into the bow and momentarily fill the bow with new life, allowing the wood to regrow. As the wood grows, it will also be strengthened throughout, but for this to happen, we need to eliminate the current energy adaptation and do a soft reset for you to re-adapt it afterward. We need you for this, as we quite frankly can’t get rid of your affinity without risking breaking the bow,” the lion man shook his head helplessly.

“Aight, can I remove it now?” Jake asked.

“You would have to before we can begin,” the man nodded. “If you need anything to help you extract it, we have some tools.”

“Should be fine,” Jake said as he walked over to the bow. He felt the energy trapped within and held his hand out toward it. Firstly, he changed the energy to be far more stable in order to not destroy the bow as he extracted it, and then he simply led the arcane energy out through all the small fractures. Strings of arcane energy exited the bow as Jake made it unstable once outside, allowing it to dissipate in mid-air. The entire thing only took a few minutes before the bow was cleaned out.

“Ya know, if you had done that before you began using it after your evolution, it would not be in the sorry state it is now.”

Jake felt called out but could only scratch the back of his head in embarrassment.

“No matter,” the craftsman shook his head. “You boys ready?”

The three other lion men cheered as the leader looked at Jake. “We are starting now. Remember to consent, or the bow is screwed.”

Nodding, Jake knew how this worked, having done it with his necklace already. With a Soulbound item, you had to actively consent when any crafter tried to make changes, or all they would do was harm the thing.

Without further ado, the crafters got started. The bow got a quick treatment of the oily substance again, as Jake’s extraction had destroyed some of it. Then, the bow was lowered as four runes activated on the tub, each crafter responsible for one. Jake guessed the entire tub functioned a bit like a cauldron, and the runes allowed all four of them to work on it at once. He also knew how difficult collaborative projects like this were and how much skill it took to not fuck it up.

Jake accepted their attempt to change the Soulbound item the moment it entered the tub, and he stared intently as the process began. The golden liquid slowly got absorbed by the bow as he watched on nervously. He hated this kind of thing where he could only be an onlooker. Nothing he could do would change the outcome, which was frustrating as hell to him. His nerves were strained, and all he could focus on was not distracting the beastfolk. He just hoped it would be quick…

It wasn’t.

Eleven fucking hours, that is how long it took with Jake just standing there staring, the lion men all with their eyes closed as they focused. Jake thought they were done at several points, but the process just continued as the bow absorbed more and more energy. What was a bit freaky was how the liquid did not seem to act like a liquid within the tub.

After a lot had been absorbed, it began floating around the bow. Like the bow was a sponge, it all entered it, and by the end of the process, not a single drop remained within the large tub. The bow had absorbed hundreds of times its own mass in liquid, and yet all that had changed was all the cracks slowly disappearing.

The wood that grew back in the cracks was slightly lighter than its surroundings but looked just as strong. At the end of the eleven hours, the crafters did one final push as the leader took out a handful of some sort of dust substance and threw it into the tub. The dust instantly whirled around the bow and entered it, resulting in a small blast of energy getting released.

“Great success!” the leader exclaimed as all four of them roared like the lion men they were.

Jake walked over and, after getting a nod from the lion man leader, picked up the bow. He used Identify on it and saw a very similar description.

[Bow of the Apex Hunter (Legendary)] – A bow offered directly by the system due to Earth’s performance during the Treasure Hunt event. Once broken, now reforged, the bow is more durable than ever and has an even higher level of mana conductivity. This is a bow for an apex hunter who only seeks to challenge worthy foes and effortlessly strikes down those inferior that dare impede his quest. Increases damage done against foes dependent on level disparity – both lower and higher – up to a certain threshold. This effect is based on Perception. The bow is incredibly durable and will adapt to energy infused into it, beginning to take on its properties and empowering attacks using the adapted energy. Enchantments: Apex Hunter. Requirements: Soulbound

The only change was one sentence being added about it being reforged and how it was now stronger than ever. However, that far from told the whole story. Jake felt the bow’s higher level of power as he held it. Infusing a bit of his energy, he felt the bow greedily absorb it, and as he did, the lighter wood where all the cracks had been subtly lit up with the color of his arcane energy.

That looks badass, Jake objectively concluded. All in all, he felt damn happy with the upgrade and felt like the bow would serve him for a long time, maybe even all of C-grade. One thing was for sure, it was now even better than it had been before, and the bowyers had gone above and beyond anything he could have expected.

He turned to them and smiled.

“For the payment-“ Jake began as the lion man waved him off.

“Take it as an early gift,” the leader grinned and shook his head. “Sadly, our Patron will not be able to attend the ceremony, so we hope this will be adequate.”

Jake frowned at the man’s words. He had used Identify on all of them when he had first entered the shop, but none of them had any Blessings, and even now, it didn’t show they had any. Did they have skills to hide it? As for who the god was…

“And what god do I have to thank?” Jake asked, not sure who it could be.

“Gwyndyr of the Crimson Flame Pantheon,” the lion man said with much respect in his voice.

The same one who blessed Maria back on Earth, Jake thought, remembering the fire archer back on Earth who had worked as a mercenary for the Holy Church. Whatever happened to her, actually? Jake hadn’t heard anything in a while… oh well.

“Funny, this is the second time he has helped me get a bow,” Jake shook his head.

“I hope the Chosen takes no offense that we knew his identity without disclosing it.”

“I am not that petty,” Jake said and admired the bow a bit more. “Now, if you had ruined my bow, it would be an entirely different story.”

“Good thing we didn’t then,” one of the other beastfolk smiled, looking relieved.

After a few more pleasantries, Jake left the place with his improved bow, not a single Credit lighter. His next target before he would call it a day was the Loot Tower of the Malefic Viper, as he had decided to refer to it. It was where he had gotten the gloves and where he hoped to go and turn them in for new ones.

He didn’t make any unnecessary detours but headed straight for where he remembered the grand tower being located. It took him a bit to get there as he only went to the wrong place twice. He could already imagine how many days, if not weeks, he would have spent wandering around trying to find non-shit crafters without Irin giving him a hand.

Nevertheless, he reached his target location in a reasonable amount of time and stopped as he stared up at the massive construction. Jake went through the usual process as last time to prove he carried a Blessing, and for a few moments, he wondered if the one in charge knew he was the Chosen as he felt the attention of someone powerful on him, but it faded pretty quickly.

Jake was led to another area than last time – one for C-grades – where he met up with the same person he spoke to last time.

“You return quickly, having evolved faster than I would have expected,” the attendant said as he entered the room that Jake was waiting in. “Would I be right to assume the young master is here due to this evolution and potentially looking to replace some equipment?”

“That assumption is indeed correct,” Jake nodded at the hooded attendant. “I also remember the rule of only one piece of equipment per person… if I return the gloves I have right now, will I be able to get a new item?”

“As long as the gloves are still intact, then yes, they can be returned and a new item chosen. In fact, this is quite customary,” the attendant confirmed.

“Great,” Jake grinned. “I would prefer new gloves if that is available. Ones for new C-grades considering I recently evolved.”

Jake had taken his gloves off at this point and begun the unbinding process that one had to do with all items to allow others to use them. As he did this, he felt the stats slowly drain out of his body, which he had to admit was a bit uncomfortable, but it had to be done.

The attendant accepted the gloves and inspected them briefly before he answered. “We do indeed have more gloves. What is the young master looking for in particular? If he so wishes, we have more gloves in the same series.”

“Same series?” Jake asked in surprise.

“The same crafter who made the gloves you used in D-grade created a total of seventy-eight legendary gloves with level requirements between level 100 and 345, all part of the same series and all effectively identical,” the attendant answered.

Bloody hell, Jake thought. “Yeah, a straight upgrade would be more than fine.”

“Very well. However, before we can do the exchange, I will have to confirm you have Scales of the Malefic Viper at legendary rarity,” the attendant nodded.

“I could use the old gloves?” Jake asked, confused as he used Identity on his old pair the attendant was holding. Yep, they were the same, except for one thing…

Requirements: lvl 175+ in any humanoid race. Skill: Scales of the Malefic Viper (Ancient+).

Jake wondered when the hell that had changed, but after thinking about it, it made sense with the skill downgrades.

“Ah, sorry,” Jake quickly corrected himself as the hooded attendant gave him a weird look. “I must have misunderstood. Yeah, I still have it at legendary rarity.”

“I see,” the attendant said, clearly not believing Jake’s bullshit. The gloves in his hands disappeared, only to be replaced with new ones a second later. They looked mostly the same, except the color was slightly different, and the scales were a bit larger and tougher-looking. As he used Identity, he understood why.

[Gloves of the Malefic One’s Grace (Legendary)] – By the grace of the Malefic One, your scales shall be your instrument of invincibility. Created by an incredibly skilled crafter possessing the Blessing of the Malefic Viper, these gloves contain but a fragment of the Primordial’s Records. Made from the hide and scales of a young True Dragon specializing in venoms, infused with its toxic blood, and enhanced by a powerful, refined core, these gloves are incredibly resilient. Allows Scales of the Malefic Viper to be cast directly upon the gloves at a significantly increased effect. While using Scales of the Malefic Viper, the effect of all stat points granted by these gloves are increased by a significant amount. Only one who has shown sufficient proficiency in Scales of the Malefic Viper may wear these gloves. Enchantments: +500 Toughness, +500 Vitality, +500 Strength, +500 Agility, +500 Endurance. Scaled Hands of the Malefic OneRequirements: lvl 200+ in any humanoid race. Skill: Scales of the Malefic Viper (Legendary+).

The item was pretty much the same except for all the stats it gave being 200 higher, resulting in a thousand more stats total, which was frankly insane. It made Jake sure this was also a “better” legendary item than the ones he had before.

As for the change in scales… this one was from a True Dragon. A young one, maybe, but a True Dragon nevertheless.

Jake smiled as he accepted the gloves and didn’t even get mad at the attendant waiting for Jake to actually bind the item and put them on before he seemed to believe Jake actually met the requirements.

“Thanks, mate,” Jake smiled at the guy.

The attendant bowed. “I wish you luck, he who is blessed by the Malefic One. You can always come and trade for more items, but please be advised there is a limit.”

Jake nodded. “Won’t bother you too often.”

With that, Jake left the Loot Tower of the Malefic Viper and headed home after a tough day of screwing around and screwing around.