Arthur popped the Skill Bolus into his mouth, savoring the strawberry goodness. The cake-pop taste was gone all too quickly, replaced by a System screen.

  

  New Skill!

  [Phalanx Demesne]: Conjure a single-sided barrier within your area of influence. Use on yourself to gain [Shield Dam] for a longer cooldown.

  [True Heart of Devotion] Applicable.

  * [Shield Dam]: Create a large wall of force anytime you raise your shield with the intention to block an attack. Buff lasts for 20 minutes.

  It seemed like a good skill. It would allow him to protect his party members even when he wasn’t right next to them, and if he needed more surface area on his shield, he could use it on himself. He could already think of several situations where it would be of great help, like defending from a rockfall or a big laser of some kind.

  With his new skill added to his arsenal, he moved on to the Equipment Chests in his inventory. Embarrassingly, he’d forgotten about them until now, as there had been so many things happening so quickly. Thankful for his first moment since the dungeon to slow down, he pressed the icon on his Vault screen.

  A tiny chest fell into his lap. It was the same color as the System screens, light blue and almost holographic. He noted that instead of there being two of them, the chest simply had an “x2” above it, indicating it accounted for two boxes. He opened it, eager to see what was inside.

  

  Rewards received!

  [Sharkskin Doublet] (Rare): A long doublet made from the skin of the Sharktopus Horror. It offers fair defenses, but also boasts special powers.

  

  Charm Capacity: Low

  - [Armored Shirt]: Grants slight damage reduction.

  - [Sharkskin]: Reflects a small amount of damage dealt to the user.

  It was a long doublet that looked more like a vest. Despite how useful the skill it had looked, Arthur doubted it would’ve helped him much in his fight with the Bull. His attacks were so titanic that his only chance was to dodge them, making the special effect on the armor useless. Thankful it wasn’t something that could’ve helped and make him feel even dumber for not getting it sooner, he put the doublet into his Vault, then dragged it to his still open Identity Screen. Placing it over the humanoid body figure that represented his equipped items, the doublet appeared on his actual body with a small, light blue flash. It was under his clothes, so he had to take his torn up shirt off to inspect it fully.

  After he was finished, he used the box’s second charge, opening it again.

  

  Rewards received!

  [Boots of Grand Passion] (Exceptional): Boots made by a cobbler who adored their craft. After passing away, these boots were given to the person closest to them. As the years went on, they passed through hand after hand, but not even time could dull the love sown into its creation.

  

  Charm Capacity: High

  - [Armored Shoes]: Grants slight damage reduction.

  - [Passion]: Grants a slight boost to all support-type skills.

  - [Fleet of Foot]: Grants +10 DEX.

  Arthur looked in awe at it for a while, unable to believe his eyes. This was… really, really good, right? Most of the effects it seemed to give were slight, but it still gave 3 entire buffs on one piece of armor. Not only that, but the second effect seemed very strong for someone like him. His True Heart of Devotion boosted his support skills already, so another boost to stack on top would make his best skills even more effective. The heightened dexterity wouldn’t help him much, but the Passion effect alone was reason enough to use it.

  Looking at it, he sighed happily, knowing what to do next. He put it in his Vault, but didn’t equip it. Instead, he took his Accessory box out, and opened it the same way.

  

  Rewards received!

  [Bangle of the Myriad Arsenal] (Legendary): A large yet simple iron loop. Many consider its plain front fallacious in nature, but in reality, it simply mirrors its creator’s simplicity.

  

  - [Arsenal]: Allows the user to open their Vault freely during combat, without a cooldown. Grants additional storage in the user’s Vault.

  The Bangle of the Myriad Arsenal. An elaborate name and high rarity, yet it only did one thing.

  Normally, the Vault was only usable every 5 minutes during combat. As items and gear could be strong enough to change a build in the blink of an eye, the System made the rule as a balancing measure. If it hadn’t, people across the Macrocosm could switch their gear and build back and forth. If they were wealthy enough, they could potentially leverage a massive amount of builds for any given situation. While the System had severe flaws, it would never allow for such lopsided unfairness.

  The Bangle would circumvent that rule, however. Whomever gained one could use their Vault however they liked, meaning whomever owned one could do exactly what was mentioned earlier. Judging from its rarity, they seemed to be extremely scarce, which made sense. Any gear that a citizen of the Macrocosm made would be replicated by the System and sent out into the cosmos for others to use as well, and the amount that was made and distributed was based on the items’ rarity. Legendary would mean that very few were out there, and it was likely that way because of its nature. The Boots of Grand Passion was an example of something simply being so powerful that it was restricted in its multiplication, rather than the Bangle being so high of rarity because it broke the rules. Mercy’s Kiss was also a good example of this, but rather than being a duplicate, there was only one of its kind, bestowing on it the highest rarity possible.

  Arthur couldn’t help but feel that such an item was wasted on him. The only thing he’d use it for would be to store and retrieve his weapons. At least, that’s all he could think of at the moment. Maybe there’d be more uses later.

  The other accessory was far more simple.

  

  [Necklace of Moderate Defense] (Rare): An elaborate silver neck piece. It opens like a locket, though the space inside is small.

  

  - [Moderate Defense]: Grants +15 DEF.

  A normal silver necklace that granted defense. Short and sweet, it was more than enough for Arthur. Putting both accessories into his Vault, he equipped them both from there. The bangle and the necklace appeared on his body much the same way that the armor did, a small flash of light blue light signifying their successful attachment.

  

  DEF: 312 ? 327

  Arthur tilted his head. Since his defense had a percentage boost like his vitality, he half expected the jump from his equipment to be higher, like it was when he allocated points in it. Honestly, he hoped it’d be that way, but it didn’t seem to be.

  Arthur had a hypothesis about his True Heart of Devotion percentage boosts. Since it seemed to boost along with stat allocation but not with equipment boosts, he figured that the percentage boosts were calculated before any other external input. This meant that whenever he raised his base stat, the percentage boost would rise as well, but it would not rise when he added stat boosts from other sources. He wondered if it was the same for his strength stat percentage boost, but unfortunately he lacked any equipment to test out his theory with.

  Finally, he moved on to the last new items in his inventory. Arthur pressed the icon representing the Tower Shield of Aspects on his Vault screen. A large, long metal shield fell into his arms, glinting in the moonlight. It had a satisfying heft to it, and Arthur lifted it up to inspect it.

  The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  It was stylized like an elongated kite shield, the entire front a shining silver. The lining was a mundane but shiny steel with small notches at regular intervals, and a half circular recessed groove near the top for the wielder to see past the large shield. The back was padded luxuriously, much like the inside of his armor, and the handle boasted several configurations that would allow for different grips and angles to block. The most notable feature, however, was the iridescent gem sitting comfortably in the middle front of the shield. It had a special film covering it that Arthur couldn’t place. The base color seemed to be pure white, but when looking at it from different angles, it was a different color each time.

  

  [Tower Shield of Aspects] (Exceptional): A tall shield made of Soul Silver. Created by nobles who sought to bolster their family’s defender, its weight makes it difficult to use. Its effectiveness is undeniable for those who can.

  

  Charm Capacity: Medium

  - [Defensive Stance]: Grants enhanced damage reduction from the front.

  - [Aspect Shield]: Grants you and all party members slightly enhanced attribute resistance.

  - [Density]: Grants item enhanced weight. Slightly boosts blunt damage dealt with this item.

  Arthur looked at the shield with reverence. This was by far the best item for his build that he’d ever seen, and that was including the boots. The first ability was the same as the Wooden Bulwark, which was something he assumed was something all shields shared. The second effect, however, was something much better.

  Arthur already had several skills that enhanced his party members. According to both Mira and Ema, they were boosts that were nearly unparalleled. One of the best things about them was their passive nature, making them always active no matter what was going on. No skill could negate them, and as long as they stayed in Arthur’s party, they would never go away. Adding another way to boost his party members, no matter what it was, could be huge for his build.

  All of that was just for the shield’s second effect. The third was yet again something that would synergize well with him.

  Normally, having enhanced weight was a toss up of whether it could be a good or bad thing. If your weight tolerance was too low, you wouldn’t even be able to lift the item. For Arthur, however, it was an indisputably good thing, as his weight tolerance was under his large vitality stat. After fighting the Bull, he was hesitant to call it large, but it was big enough that the shield felt no heavier than a comfortably weighted backpack. He could hold it up for hours with no problem. The weight would also make him harder to move, though he imagined those who could move him in the first place wouldn’t worry much about a little extra weight. Arthur also assumed that since it had extra weight, and the name of the effect was Density, it was also harder to destroy. If he was right, the effect would even synergize with his Mighty Escutcheon passive, making the shield practically indestructible in specifically his hands.

  Not only that, but the same ability had an effect that boosted blunt damage dealt with the item. He imagined that this was an effect of the enhanced weight, and would apply to even a coffee mug with the Density effect. Since it was on a shield, and it was, once again, in Arthur’s hands, that offhand effect of the ability was a lot more relevant.

  [Aegis Arts]: Attack an enemy with your shield using various methodology.

  - Method 1: A wide swing of the shield to slam the enemy. Deals moderate to high blunt damage but results in a moderate cooldown.

  - Method 2: A quick and short jab of the shield while keeping your guard up. Stuns the enemy for half a second. Short cooldown, but only usable when an enemy strikes your shield.

  - Method 3: Shield tackle an enemy as an initiation. High chance to stagger the enemy. Deals moderate to high blunt damage but requires a running start.

  - Method 4: Charge with your shield out front. High chance to stagger any enemy struck. You are much harder to stop during this attack. Deals high blunt damage but requires a running start.

  - Method 5: Swing at an enemy with the edge of your shield. Does greater or lesser bludgeoning damage depending on the spot struck.

  Arthur would deal more damage with every method he used with this shield. The effect itself specified it was only slightly more blunt damage, but even slightly more was still impactful when almost every attack you made used blunt damage.

  Arthur held the shield in his hands with a slight smile, thankful that he got something so good for him despite how badly he’d messed up. Standing up, he put the shield on his arm to test how it felt. The same comfortable weight was true even with only one arm, proving how overpowering his weight tolerance was. With a mental command, he used the Bangle to store it in his Vault. It disappeared seamlessly, then reappeared on his arm in the exact same position. Since he wasn’t in combat, he couldn’t test the combat feature, but he assumed it would work the same way.

  After admiring it for a while longer, he placed his new shield back in his inventory. Lastly, he took the Soul Restore out of his Vault. It looked much like the Soul Bind, a mystery liquid in a flask. Instead of being purple, however, it was bright blue, like hyper focused reef water.

  

  Soul Restore: Restore one soul to a complete state.

  Arthur looked at it curiously, turning it about in his hand. He could see no outstanding features on the flask itself; though the liquid inside moved in a strange way, like liquid sand. Unsure of what to do with it for now, he put it back into his Vault.

  

  All rewards received!

  Arthur sat back onto the bed, unsure of what to do now. To do what he wanted to do next he’d have to wait until morning, so instead he looked over his skills absently.

  During his modern doomscrolling, he came across a skill that gave him pause.

  

  [Audacity Tempering]: Expend varying stacks of [Audacity] to enhance other facets of your power. Limits apply.

  The skill had saved his life during the battle with the Bull; there was no way around it. If he didn’t have it, the Bull would’ve eventually overpowered him with his ever-increasing stats.

  

  Neither you nor your [True Heart of Devotion] will falter when between an enemy and an ally. +40% natural HP regeneration when in a party. +45% natural HP regeneration to allies within your party. Enhanced damage reduction when in a party.

  

  - [Audacity Tempering]: Expend 10 stacks of [Audacity] to grant a burst of healing over time to yourself and all allies in your party. Expend 20 stacks of [Audacity] to grant yourself or your allies significantly enhanced damage reduction and base damage. 15 minute uptime, expend additional [Audacity] with mounting cost for longer uptime.

  It was Audacity stack expensive, but it granted powerful effects. It’d given such a boost to his base damage and damage reduction that he’d gone from being tossed around to being able to trade blows directly with the Bull. The healing over time wasn’t as powerful as Ema, but it still helped in a pinch. He didn’t know yet if it had a cooldown, but he could feel that Audacity Tempering did not. As long as he had the stacks, he could use it any time.

  What… exactly was Audacity? It was almost like an ecosystem of its own, independent of Arthur’s class or skills, regardless of the fact that it was its supposed origin. How did it do what it did, enhancing things that had nothing to do with it? It was almost like…

  Arthur’s eyes widened. During a previous conversation with Gordeau, he’d explained that attributes could enhance outside factors that had nothing to do with the actual attribute. Attributes were, in essence, different types of elements. There was a Fire attribute, a Water attribute, Ice, Wood, Wind and so on. Gideon was one such user of the Earth attribute, as well as Aurora with her Lightning attribute. Setting a tree on fire was basically a war between two attributes, being Fire and Wood. One could also use their attribute to enhance their weapons, or bolster their skills, like a flaming sword or adding fire damage to your lightning bolts.

  With this in mind… was Audacity an attribute? An extremely rare and exclusive attribute? Or… at least an essence that behaved like an attribute?

  Arthur activated Audacity Tempering for the second time that day. Once again he sunk into himself, his conciousness floating in the infinity that represented his soul. The stars representing his powers lit up one after another, with some new additions joining the old ones. There was a star for his Sharkskin Doublet now, looking like a planet of water. There was also a star representing the Bangle of the Myriad Arsenal, looking like a planet of steel, iron, gold and mythril. Even the star cluster representing his True Heart of Devotion was present, but he knew he didn’t have close to enough stacks to unlock another effect. He simply floated there for a moment, weightlessly floating through the void and admiring the beauty. He could see more stars in the distance; universes and galaxies so far away it appalled him that their light reached his disembodied self. His only thoughts for a long time was how nice it looked, unknowing that the beauty of the space was based on his own soul.

  Finally, he tracked down the star he desired. Another one of the new ones, the star representing the Tower Shield of Aspects was multicolored, unabashedly shining all the colors of the rainbow at once, with a solid white border completely surrounding it.

  The Tower Shield of Aspects was an item that was meant to work with attributes. Its secondary skill was exclusively about protection against attributes, but… he wondered what would happen if he introduced it to an attribute-based skill designed to enhance the item.

  

  Would you like to use

  [Audacity Tempering]

  On your

  [Tower Shield of Aspects]?

  Yes – No

  He let out a metaphorical breath. He wasn’t sure if he’d be able to do it because he had so little Audacity stacks left, but at least for this item, it seemed to be accepting of the amount he currently had. He girded himself… and mentally assented.

  Something… snapped. The star opened like an unquenchable vacuum, sucking at his very soul. The Audacity stacks were drained from his spirit, mixing with the star almost… too well.

  

  [Audacity] stacks: 28 ? 8

  The vacuum stopped, almost as though forced closed by an outside force. The star began to shine furiously, like a fire had been set inside of it. Even his metaphorical self could feel the heat coming from it as it grew in size, until finally stopping, once again, almost forcefully. The new star representing the Tower Shield of Aspects was huge and imposing, the white border around it previously completely gone.

  

  [Tower Shield of Aspects] (Legendary): A tall shield made of Soul Silver. Created by a noblewoman who sought to bolster their family’s defender, who died protecting them. Slain by a superior opponent during The Quine, no one knew about the secret love for his Lady he’d smothered until it became envy. Though he was hailed as a hero after his defeat, no one knew about the night and half day his Lady spent weeping for her lost hero.

  

  Charm Capacity: High

  - [Greater Defensive Stance]: Grants enhanced damage reduction from all sides.

  - [Aspect Shield]: Grants you and all party members moderately enhanced attribute resistance.

  - [Density]: Grants item enhanced weight. Slightly boosts blunt damage dealt with this item.

  

  - [Audacity] Tempering: Grants you and all party members moderately enhanced attribute damage. Grants you and all party members reduced cooldowns related to attribute-attuned skills.