Then he sat cross legged and began to Engrave Using the greaves because that was what he had the most of remaining Randidly tried each of the 4 new runes It wasn’t a long process as his control and efficiency in manipulating the mana within himself had improved overmuch which Randidly believed to be a product of his leveled Battle Intent Something about that mental weapon carried over to Engraving and he was able to do it much more efficiently
Although this was just his first time for each of them all came out with an efficacy in the high 30s Which was disappointing in a way because they had very little value to Randidly below 40 but he supposed he shouldn’t be too put off His first attempt all that time ago had turned out below 20 And each additional point could only be earned by the weight of repetition and experience as his understanding of Engraving grew
Almost as a warm up the next Engraving that Randidly did was a Shadow V To his delight it reached a 67% efficacy which was his highest ever with that rune He could feel himself progressing on understanding the method for smoothing and filling the energy in a way that made him slightly excited His mind was still so clear and he focused it to a razor edge
Now was the time
After breathing and steadying himself Randidly began to Engrave much more carefully and thoroughly than he had done with the previous Engravings Not because he wasn’t taking them seriously but because he honestly didn’t understand the nuances in those runes yet It was impossible for him to tell which portions were important to emphasize That was why Engraving was such a tedious process The important areas in the runes were different Sometimes attention should be given to the swirls and curves making sure they are smooth Sometimes what you needed to do was focus on the straight stretches making them immaculate Sometimes the extra effort should go towards places where the lines cross ensuring that energy at that location was exceedingly deep
There were a million small details that couldn’t truly be learned through the manuals but they would make the information retention much easier No the foundation had to be made through effort and repetition
And in terms of Engraving for Randidly the Dragonfly symbol was the one with which he was most familiar So as the rain fell on his skin prickling like tiny chilled needles he calmly and evenly Engraved a Dragonfly onto a bracer
Almost instinctively his breathing became extremely even and slow to the point where a normal human would have suffocated But for Randidly with his exceedingly high Vitality it wasn’t even something that he would notice in such a short period
Even though he took his time the Engraving was finished in 15 minutes and he held the completed work up for his examined by his animated expectation a spark of excitement in Randidly’s heart
Apprentice’s Leather Bracer Lvl 25 Leather armor worked by an Apprentice but made with poor materials Vit +2 Health +26 Rain Engraved II
Engraving of Dragonfly 80% ® The wind seems to move with the wearer aiding in both offensive and defensive speed A thin layer of air is wrapped around the wearer protecting them like an armor Wearer gains Aspect of Dragonfly III
Aspect of Dragonfly III Reaction +7 Agility +10
Rain Engraved II The Engraver has developed his own basic personal process of Engraving and benefits begin to accrue within the armor Mana +15 Focus +3
The bracer seemed small and worn but to Randidly it was the culmination of two long years of effort Engraving might be a support skill but he would never have been able to prepare so many potion materials without the money he earned from it Let alone breaking out of the Prison even freeing Shal would have been impossible without the Shadow rune and the benefits that it provided to him
Randidly made a mental note that the debt that he owed the Willow Tree Spear Style was even larger than he thought and carefully placed the newfound bracer into his inventory Although he would make his own armor soon Randidly was confident now that he could repeat this accomplishment
Seeing that the rest were still occupied with the material dumping Randidly informed a frowning Divveltian of his plan and then headed out across the nearby boats heading for Claptrap’s boat It was a rather short trip and when he arrived Randidly hesitated briefly because it was clear that Claptrap was meeting with someone else He honestly didn’t really know what to do about it
But Randidly’s natural social awkwardness had been greatly ground down by his two years in the prison training so Randidly just shrugged and pushed through the door
Both the figures looked up at him the figures being Claptrap with his rather skinny fat body and a rather slim man who wore a smile on his face When Randidly entered Claptrap’s eyes widened and his smile stretched from ear to ear
You’re still alive He squeaked running over to Randidly and giving him a large hug Randidly awkwardly patted him on the back Sure they were kinda business partners but this level of affection seemed a bit insane Maybe Claptrap was more emotionally needy than Randidly had originally anticipated
The smiling man laughed and walked over Ah you are the wonderful Engraver who has so helped my Style I am Artisan Dwei of the Crashing Wave Style Claptrap was just assuring me that you would arrive with the new batch of armor any day now
Randidly’s eyes twitched almost imperceptibly Was there a hint of a threat there Randidly wasn’t sure of what the man’s actual strength was but he was an Artisan which made him wary Again all the people inside of the prison at the Artisan level had been stronger than Randidly but they had been there training through constant combat for dozens of years as they served out their various sentences
Still with access to dungeons who knew how much this man had trained
Then Randidly shook his head banishing the thoughts and shook Artisan Dwei’s hand It was better to not make more trouble than he had to deal with especially now
Yes here Randidly unceremoniously dumped the 300 or so Engraved armors on the ground careful to keep his few Shadow rune attempts to himself Still there were quite of bit of each kind with most being over 60% efficacy His eyes glittering Artisan Dwei stepped forward and began to check them all
Claptrap sprinted over with a ledger his eyes glittering drool coming out of his mouth and Randidly hesitated for a second but grabbed his arm Then with a flourish Randidly produced his 80% efficacy bracer and offered it to Claptrap Perhaps this level of efficacy would cause problems for them the same way the Shadow Rune would but Randidly figured that while the efficacy problem might be more of an issue it didn’t have much more room to grow As long as the rune was still relatively basic the Engraving Guilds would likely respond but take their time doing so
A rune on the level of the Shadow Rune might draw undue attention much faster
Oh Oh oh oh Claptrap said his face flushing red His hands trembled reverently as he looked down at the thing It might seem like a small boost after all the 60% bracers usually gave somewhere between 10 and 14 extra stats while this gave 20 plus the extra mana But the two highest stats were very relevant to the combat focused nation that they were a part of
In addition to get an extra 10 stats from only a single piece of armor It was an accomplishment that people were willing to pay money for Money on the order of a few hundred Silver
Randidly leaned back slightly reassured by the fervor and enthusiasm with which Claptrap entered into negotiations with Artisan Dwei for the bracer They quickly outstripped their previous cost structure and began talking in a very direct way about values and what markets Claptrap would have for have for such a powerful piece of Engraving apart from the Crashing Wave Style