Civilization

After getting everything finished, I approach the statue of the goddess of Luck once again. Why you might ask? Well, it is time for some gacha! I had received the notification earlier for the server maintenance gift, however, chose to ignore it in order to finalize some ideas for tonight's plan of action, after all, it is going to become more difficult. Looking at the small blue minimized box in the bottom right of my vision, I pull up the system notification.

[ Sorry for the inconvenience our server maintenance may have caused. In order to reward those that have been patient with us, we have decided to give everyone a small gift. ]

[ For the first player who has met a legendary being we have prepared an additional reward.]

In front of me, two small boxes appeared. The usual white box with a golden ribbon tied around it appears and beside it is a similarly sized black box with a silver ribbon. Grabbing onto both boxes and placing the white box on top of the black box in my left hand, I proceed to untie the first box.

Drawing all my luck as I pry the lid of the white box open, I observe the golden glittering fragments of light escape from inside the box. Smiling, I toss the lid of the box up and away revealing the gift, a small circular bronze badge with a pearl white logo of a shield with 2 spears crossing behind it. Curious, I pick up the badge allowing for the game to bring up the system information about the item.

[ Hoplite Bodyguard Emblem

Skill: To Arms!

Summon 5 Hoplites for 30 minutes or until they lose all their HP. Hoplites will protect the summoner's life at all costs, never retreating unless ordered to do so. Hoplites will also only listen to the summoner's orders and will ignore everyone else. Cooldown 24 hours.

A small badge reminiscence of an ancient shield design from a past civilization. Their warriors have been known to be exceptionally sturdy and were once a force to be reckoned with, however, only a few of their warriors remain, soul bound to the emblem. ]

"I can summon the original users of the Phalanx formation!? This is perfect! I can ask them any questions as well as have them train Gobi and Howard but 30 minutes… It's too short of a time to learn everything and the 24-hour cooldown is extremely long. Hmm… I would love to have them teach my NPCs, but their strength might be vital in the upcoming battles, so I shouldn't waste the item." - Ian

Mumbling to myself while holding onto the emblem, I try to reason my way into not using the emblem immediately in order to preserve the strength of the skill. Having an additional 5 trained NPCs will definitely be important when I am in combat with any General-class enemies. After all, they would never expect 5 warriors to appear out of nowhere and attack them.

Turning the badge around, I see that there is a small metal pin, which I use to place the badge on the pouch with Mumei's berries. The white box disappears, and it was time to open the black box. Observing the design of the black box, I could tell it had a different atmosphere to it, with small dark gold runes on the ribbon. It felt mysterious and somewhat forbidden despite it just being a holder of an item but regardless I pull on the ribbon untying it and lifting the lid.

A scarlet red light emits from the box shining brighter than the gold light from the white box and causing me to turn away slightly letting the light dim down before turning back. Peering inside the black box, I see a clear crystal ball the size of a golf ball. It sparkles as the setting sunlight bounces around its edges. Picking up the ball, I look at the system information about it and unconsciously let out a whistle.

[ Cleansing Orb

A clear orb filled with holy energy. It cleanses cursed items and as well as amplifies the original effects without the negatives. Its powerful abilities make the item heavily sorted out by all being however, it loses its powers once it is activated. Use this item wisely! ]

Looking at the description I knew instantly what to use this orb for and immediately dash towards my house. Bursting through the door, I look to my left where I had placed the Orb of Darkness on a shelf next to a pot plant. Since the Orb of Darkness was slightly shady not just from the description but also the name, I have not used it or allowed anyone else near it but now that I have the Cleansing Orb, it changes everything.

Picking up the Orb of Darkness in my left hand, I slowly bring the Cleansing Orb in my right-hand closer until both orbs touch. Almost instantly, the Cleansing Orb reacts in my hand, absorbing a black miasma from the Orb of Darkness slowly turning from clear crystal to a jet black pearl.

In return, the Orb of Darkness slightly changed to a deep violet color instead of a pure black. It also shone a light purple as if it was an amethyst. One could get lost staring into the orb… Bringing my eyes away from the orb and instead, looking at the system information on both items, I notice some slight changes in the descriptions.

[ Cleansing Orb ( Nullified )

After absorbing the energy from a cursed item, the orb has now solidified into a cursed mass. Breaking the orb will cause the curse to disappear, however, if left for too long and the curse might come back. It is best to destroy the item as soon as possible! ]

[ Improved Orb of Darkness

An orb filled with condensed dark element magic. If a person were to absorb the orb they will be able to gain a dark-element-related skill as well as an additional 10 Intelligence. ]

After reading the new description for the Cleansing Orb, I immediately follow the directions and drop the orb to the ground, smashing it with my foot and shattering it into pieces. A small cloud of black dust scatters into the air before disappearing. At the same time, I think of the different people that would benefit from the orb.

Stellar, Lynn, Gyumi, me, and even Solar if we are looking at it from a potential skill objective rather than a religious perspective. However, I scrap the idea of giving a dark-element skill to Solar since all of her skills revolve around light. That leaves the 2 mages, a dark elf, and myself who has become an all-rounder with the various skills I have acquired from changing races.

Lynn would benefit from the skill as it would increase the number of magic skills she would be able to use as well as add more variation to her attacks. However, I did just give her the Amber Tear Drop Earring which gives her Intelligence as well as a new skill. Gyumi still has her archery as well as the lightning-based attacks which focus more on her agility and positioning rather than her magic, which makes it somewhat awkward to give her a skill that might conflict with her attack style.

Then we have Stellar who already uses dark-element skills to support her assassin job. This skill which can be acquired from the orb might compliment her skill set, but it might also add an unnecessary skill that she might not use. I scratch my head thinking about it but ultimately decide on myself since there is nothing wrong with gaining more skills and stats. I need to become stronger in the first place in order to project HavenFall into prosperity.

Gripping onto the orb with my right left hand, I squeeze it tight shattering it in my palm. The violet light escapes from the orb wrapping around my hand and slowly creeping up my arm. Closing my eyes, I feel the dark energy flow around my arm and into my chest. Breathing slowly, I let the energy slowly seep into my skin and spread around my body following my blood flow and letting it explore everywhere even my spider legs.

After a series of inhaling and exhaling, I open my eyes to a small translucent blue system message that displayed what I had gained from the Orb of Darkness.

[ Congratulations on absorbing the energy from the Improved Orb of Darkness. You have acquired the skill Bone Totem as well as 10 Intelligence. ]

I bring up my status screen in order to observe the increase in stats as well as the new skill.

Name: Ian

Race: Arachne

Faith: 7689/10,000 ( Reach 10,000 to pick a Religion )

Happiness: 30  ( Happy ) 360/5000( Reach 5000 for a Golden Age )

Culture: 80 / 950 ( Reach 900 to choose the first Social Policy in Tradition )

Health Points (HP): 90/90

Mana Points (MP): 27/27

Strength: 45

Vitality: 45

Intelligence: 55

Dexterity: 30

Agility: 55

Luck: 36

Skill: Enhanced Agility, Quickstep, Cleave, Charge, Stealth, Emerald Gaze, Earth Spike, Bone Totem, Eye of the Roc (Passive), Predator Instinct (Passive), Limb Regrowth (Passive), Buffalo Horns (Passive), Miasma Protection (Passive),

Equipment: Lucky Goblin Totem Necklace, Araneae Ring, Vomva Bronze Trident, Skala Mail, Copper Chest Plate, Copper Arm Guard, Copper Leg Guard, Code of Hammurabi, Night Gloves, Hoplite Bodyguard Emblem

Bone Totem (Active) (1-5) MP + (1-5) Bone Fragments -  Sacrificing both MP and Bone Fragments, the user is able to create a totem of bones which gives nearby allied units +(2-10)% Dark Resistance and +(2-10)% increased damage to Skeleton related enemies. Depending on the amount of MP and Bone Fragment sacrificed, it will increase the strength of the totem as well as increase the duration of the skill. Duration (10-50) minutes. Cooldown (1-5) hours.

Happy with the new skill and item, I set off for the cave as the sun dips below the horizon and the Pillar of Lights shines brighter. I can just tell that the monsters were spawning, and it was finally time to use the traps which we had set up.

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