Chapter 42 – New Equipment

A silver necklace laced with a small green gem and a bronze-colored ring.

Two distinct magic items with different uses.

The shop lady calmly placed a piece of paper containing the general description of the two magic items.

Kyle’s gaze landed on the silver necklace first.

Moonveil Barrier Pendant

Grade: Fine Grade ★★

Enchantment: 2nd Circle Spell — [Arcane Armor]

Uses: 3 times a day.

Price: 10 gold coins

The necklace is a fine-grade magic item, enchanted with [Arcane Armor].

It has a recharge of 1 use every 8 hours. Nerissa said that recharging it with mana can shorten the cooldown, but she doesn’t recommend doing it unless necessary. Manually recharging the necklace will lower its durability.

Its effects can be triggered manually by infusing mana into it or automatically upon sensing hostile magic attacks.

According to her, the armor can generally withstand the equivalent of one 3rd-circle or three 2nd-circle offensive spells. Of course, that’s without counting attack bonuses from classes, magic items, or casting techniques, so Kyle has to carefully use it.

Kyle was very aware of his defensive weakness. His leather armor was starting to fall behind, and he couldn't consider heavy armor because it would slow him down.

Besides, the [Swordsman] class hardly provides any bonus to defense. He could only rely on his foresight and reaction speed to dodge or deflect attacks.

He still gets chills every time he thinks of the abomination's last attack on Doyle. If that attack had landed on him, he would have turned into mincemeat without the slightest doubt.

Thus, Kyle was very determined to strengthen his defense.

He shifted his gaze to the ring, reading its product description.

Emberglow Utility Ring

Grade: Common Grade ★★★

Enchantment:

[Cleanse]

[Create Water]

[Spark]

[Flash]

[Regulate temperature]

Price: 4 gold coins

The ring is inscribed with 5 different useful 0-circle spells/cantrips. Their use corresponds to their name.

It might not improve his combat power directly, but its utility value was no less important than the necklace’s. Especially considering that he’s going on a journey to Vaelkris tomorrow.

With this ring, he would be able to navigate through complex environments and live outdoors much more comfortably.

“Miss Nerissa, are you firm on the price?” Kyle looked at the two magic items in front of him and tried to haggle again.

“Yes, I’ve already removed 1 gold coin from the price of the ring. I can’t go any lower than that.” Nerissa shook her head firmly.

Kyle looked at Nerissa's calm eyes, and only after determining that she was serious did he take the money pouch tucked in his shirt and place it on the counter.

“Fine. Here you go.”

Kyle struggled to stop his hand from trembling. He felt his heart clench in pain as most of his wealth left him before even warming up.

Nerissa pried the money pouch from Kyle’s grasp with a mixture of amusement and exasperation before pushing the two magic items in front of him.

It was only after picking up the two magic items and wearing them that Kyle felt a bit better.

“You’ve bought what you want; now get out of my store.” Nerissa lay back on her chair and waved for Kyle to leave, disinclined to speak to him any further.

“Thanks,” Kyle nodded, then walked out of the store.

Looking at his back as he left, Nerissa had a faint smile of amusement on her face.

“As she said, this little guy is quite interesting.” She muttered playfully, recalling her last conversation with Marielle.

Next to the eastern gate of Mirevale, Kyle nodded to a guard he was relatively familiar with before walking out, heading towards his usual training spot.

He looked at his shriveled money pouch with heartache. After the extensive purchase spree over the past two days, he had less than 1 gold coin left.

However, feeling the smooth touch of the magic items, he felt a bit comforted.

Thinking about the information he got from shopkeeper Nerissa yesterday, Kyle couldn’t help but glance at his sword.

According to the general magic item ranking of:

Common = apprentices

Fine = Rank 1

Extraordinary = Rank 2

Relic = Rank 3

Legendary = Rank 4

Artifact = Divine Artifact = Rank 5+

And the fact that each level is divided into three stars.

His sword was likely a fine grade ★★★.

And this is solely the grade of the blade, without rune inscription or enchantment. Once he found the right enchanter or alchemist, he might be able to raise the grade of his sword to extraordinary grade ★★★.

Unfortunately, he doesn’t have either the money or connections for that at the moment.

Kyle crossed the vast grassland, stopping next to a small hill, his usual training spot.

He raised his arm and channeled mana into the ring. The next moment, a fire spark appeared 3 centimeters above his palm.

“It truly has no combat application, but it should be enough to light a fire,” Kyle muttered, carefully examining the tiny flame above his palm.

He cancelled [Spark] and channeled mana into the [Create Water] inscription.

A small water ball appeared on his palm.

“About 300 ml? I guess it’s about enough for drinking.” Kyle nodded with satisfaction. This will be very useful in environments without a water source.

He subsequently tested the next three cantrips, and the result was exactly within his expectations.

They were all pretty much useless in combat, but very useful in daily life.

Having tested the ring, Kyle shifted his attention to the necklace. He channeled mana into it, and the next second, an energy armor, a few millimeters thick, enveloped his body.

The armor hovered 1 centimeter above his skin, fully protecting every part of his body without affecting his ease of movement.

Kyle used [Phantom Step], his movements leaving afterimages, and the magic armor didn’t even ripple. It also didn’t affect his movement speed or agility one bit.

“I have to admit that mages are indeed extremely clever. Just this 2nd-circle spell has so many intricacies, it’s staggering.” Kyle exclaimed in admiration.

Once again, he couldn’t help but feel a trace of regret at the fact that he didn’t have the talent to be a mage.

“Now, I just need to confirm the duration.” Kyle stopped and looked at the faint magic armor on the surface of his skin.

He silently counted under his breath while watching the magic armor. A few minutes later, the armor slowly faded away, eventually disappearing.

“About 5 minutes? Good enough for combat.” Kyle nodded. His combat style revolves around lightning-fast strikes, so battles don’t usually take long.

5 minutes were enough for now.

“I guess that’s it. Now, onto today’s training.”

Having tested the magic items, Kyle pulled out his sword and channeled mana through his body, activating [Mana Enhancement].

Since completing [Clairvoyant Eyes (F)], he had been focusing on training his mana and physical strength.

After warriors condense a mana core in their heart, every one of their heartbeats pulls mana from the mana core and channels it throughout their body alongside their bloodstream, effectively strengthening it.

Therefore, all rank 1 warriors and above effectively grow stronger with every heartbeat. This is only limited by their talent and the body’s capacity for enhancement.

After more than 3 months, Kyle was now effectively much stronger than when he just became a rank 1 [Swordsman], both in physical strength and mana capacity.

‘Unfortunately, I don’t have a status card or similar items to digitize my growth. That would have been very convenient.’ Kyle thought regretfully.

He’s also broke for now.

Shaking his head, Kyle focused on his training, swinging his sword hundreds of times, then thousands of times. He focused on each swing, trying to perfect his technique and mana control.

It took him over an hour of training to feel that familiar tingling flowing from his head to his entire body.

[Transcendence] has taken effect.

However, Kyle didn’t stop. He continued training for two additional hours before finally sheathing his sword.

Looking at his shaking arm and sweat-filled body.

Kyle used [Cleanse].

The sweat and dust on his body instantly disappeared.

“That’s convenient,” Kyle muttered under his breath.

“But I’m still going to take a shower.”

‘Habits aren’t so easy to break.’

Kyle thought as he walked back towards Mirevale.

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