After two days of travel, he finally reached the teleportation gate to the Wildgarde Stronghold. Just as he crossed it, his Grandma and his little brother were there waiting for him.
"Welcome back Viel. I hope your travel was fruitful." said Vera to Viel as he dismounted from the horse to hug her.
"How are Iris, Uncle, and Alicia doing?" asked Lux while also giving a hug to Viel.
"All of them are doing fine, but I need to talk with you about something concerning Iris." Viel was very serious about Iris' hand in marriage being a prize for the winner of the tournament.
"Ok. We will have time to discuss that later. Now, did you acquire what you needed from Alex?" asked Vera to Viel. If her son didn't help Viel, she would go to smack his ass. It doesn't matter if he is a Saint or whatever.
"Yes. Father gave me a Deimos-rank core from a Living Armor."
"Has he given it to you?! I can still remember him cursing his luck when after all the efforts and the difficulty of killing it, he couldn't consume the Beast Core."
"Big Bro, can you show it to us?" asked Lux as he haven't ever seen the Beast Core of a Deimos monster.
"I don't have the core as I used it already when Father asked me to show him how I create a soul." Viel summoned the soul of Ferto for them to see.
Viel haven't seen it before as Ferto's soul was absorbed by him after subduing it. But now, he could see a chain enveloping the soul along a name tag with 'Ferto' written on it.
"So this is how the soul of a monster looks. I wonder what a mortal one looks like." said Vera as she contemplated Ferto's soul in awe.
"Grandma I will go to return the horse and get the armor from Uncle Rainer. You can wait for me at home if you want."
"Fine Viel. I will make your and Lux's favorite food for dinner tonight."
He left them and head to the stable to return the horse he rented. After that, he headed to Uncle Rainer's Smithy.
When he reached there he found the door closed. He approached it and knocked on the door.
"Hey! It's someone in there?"
After a few seconds of waiting he heard someone answer.
"Boy, enter. The door is unlocked. Come here quickly."
Viel did as he was said to do. When he walked into the smithy he found Rainer shirtless hammering something similar to a helmet on top of an anvil. The temperature was extremely high as the furnace's flames were burning nonstop.
"I'm about to finish, wait there."
As he said this, he gave the helmet a heavy blow that magically caused it to release a sort of sparkle across the room. He dipped it in some liquid and dried it.
With the helmet finished, he just picked it up and put it on top of a full body armor that was on a side of the room. It was a mix of purple with red and has small black engravings all around.
"You are one of my masterpieces. I will name you Arcanum."
When he named it, some sort of light descended from the roof as it baptized the armor.
" Boy, drop some of your blood on it to bond with it. We don't want anyone stealing it, do we?"
Viel got near it, and with a knife in his hand, he made a cut in his finger and dropped some blood on it. After feeling some sort of connection with it, he appraised it.
—-
< Arcanum, Armor of the Arcane Enclave >
Rating: Pseudo Legendary
Requirements: 100 to all stats and Fire Affinity
An armor made by a Grand Master Blacksmith nearing the Zen Mater Blacksmith. He has recognized it as one of his life masterpieces. It is made from High-grade arcanium and other high-grade materials.
+50 to all stats
+250 to Defense
+10.000 to Mana
15% decrease in physical damage
25% decrease in magical damage
– This Armor is bound to Viel Von Kaizer
– Any creature under Viel Von Kaizer's command is capable of equipping this armor.
Active Skills: Arcane Shield, Arcane Nova.
Passive Skills: Blessing of Fire, Blessing of Mana, Auto-Fit, Indestructible
—-
< Arcane Shield >
– Create a powerful magical barrier around the wearer, reducing all incoming damage by 70% for 5 minutes.
– Skill Cooldown: 5 minutes.
< Arcane Nova >
– Releases a powerful burst of magical energy that deals 100% of the Mana Points damage to all enemies in a large radius.
< Blessing of Fire >
This armor has been blessed by the spirits of fire and therefore its wearer as well.
– Imbues the wearer's attacks with flames, dealing additional fire damage to enemies. Also, you will resist 90% of every fire attack.
< Blessing of Mana>
This armor has been blessed by mana and therefore its wearer as well.
– Reduce by 40% the cost of any spell or skill.
Viel was tempted to reserve this armor for himself, but he remembered that Elysium was full of good armor and weapons, and that the most important thing right now was to gear himself with good summons that will help him fight the monsters for Beast Cores in Elysium.
He stored the armor in his Storage Ring and said goodbye to Uncle Rainer.
"Thank you for the armor Uncle, it's amazing. I will bring you your favorite booze next time, bye!"
"It's nothing boy. If you need my help again, don't doubt to come to see me."
Viel left the smithy and got going to his house. It was already very late and the sky was beginning to darken.
When he arrived at his home, he could smell the fragrance of his favorite food, orange blossom rice. It was rice cooked in water distilled from orange blossom, it was superb. Normally it was accompanied by pumpkin seeds, but Viel preferred it with pickled radish.
He entered through the door and found Eriol sitting at the table.
"Eriol, bro, what are you doing here? I thought you have already returned to your place?" Viel didn't expect Eriol to still be here after almost a week, not that it bothered him.
"What? You want me to go or something?" asked Eriol to Viel with a sad tone.
"No, no. Don't get me wrong. I just didn't expect you to still be here."
"Don't worry. I was just teasing you." Eriol laughed as he slapped Viel on the back.
"Hello Viel. Did you get your armor from Reiner's place? How is it?" asked Vera while she entered the room carrying tens of plates full of food.
"Yes, it is an amazing armor." Viel took out the armor, Arcanum, and showed it to all of them. Also to Lux, who just entered the room.
When they see it, they were amazed about its appearance, as it was astonishing. But when they appraised it, they thought someone was pulling their legs.
"Viel, dear, are you sure you aren't wasting it by using it as a vessel for the soul?"
"Don't worry Grandma. It will be really helpful. After all, as I upgrade it will become more and more powerful. Also, Elysium is full of treasures as good or even better than this armor."
Vera reflected on what Viel said and found it true. What is important right now is for him to gain powerful allies and summons. It's not like Elysium doesn't has other treasures. If it was like that, no one will risk their lives there.
"Big Bro, I noticed it before and didn't ask you about it, but what has happened to your eye? It's different."
"Yeah, it's true. I also wanted to ask you about it, but didn't do it due to you needing to go to Rainer's Smithy." Vera also wanted to know what has happened to her grandson.
"Eriol gave me Phoenix Ashes before I went to Barbatos Academy in case I needed them to amplify the power of my soul if the Deimos-rank soul resisted me. I used them and not only did my soul get stronger, but I also gained the trait of a Phoenix. Unfortunately, I don't know what it does." Viel explained.
Eriol glanced at Viel as if asking him what was he talking about. Viel glanced back at him, asking for his cooperation.
"That is very generous of you, I heard that Phoenix Ashes are very precious and hard to come by." Vera thanked Eriol, little by little losing her distrust toward him.
"Well, time to it. Lux has passed his test and Viel has been prepared for a lot, so tomorrow Eriol will take you both to Elysium. Because of this, you must enjoy this meal."
When Vera finished her little speech, all of them began to eat.
–------
After dinner, all of them went to their respective rooms. Making sure they were being silent, Lux left his room and went to Viel's room.
"Don't make noise. You know how big of a light sleeper Grandma is." whispered Viel to Lux as he carefully closed his door.
"Do you really think your grandma doesn't hear you? She is a ranker, she just ignores you and lets you both do as you please." said Eriol who appeared out of nowhere.
"Well, never mind. It's time to give Ferto a vessel."
Viel took out Arcanum from his storage ring and summoned Ferto's soul.
< You have selected Arcanum, Armor of the Arcane Enclave as the vessel for your named soul. >
"Yes"
When Viel answered, the soul left his hand and floated toward the armor.
As Ferto's soul merged with the armor, a bright light emanated from the armor. The light grew brighter and brighter until it engulfed the entire room. Lux shielded his eyes with his arm, while Eriol watched in awe.
Suddenly, the light subsided and the room returned to its normal state. In the eye holes of the helmet, there were two lights, indicating that Ferto had successfully fused with the armor.
Viel approached Arcanum and placed his hand on it. At that moment, he felt a deep connection with the armor.
< Ferto>
"I will protect what needs to be protected"
– Named Living Armor
– Rating: D
– Energy: 50
– Progress (0/500)
Health: 500
Mana: 300
Attack: 20 - 24
Attack Type: Arcane Damage
Strength: 25
Intelligence: 30
Vitality: 20
Agility: 13
Dexterity: 10
Defense: 250
Active Skills: Arcane Shield, Arcane Nova.
Passive Skills: Blessing of Fire, Blessing of Mana
Title: First Guardian
– Ferto is your first Named Creature and has been bestowed the title "First Guardian".
– This Named Creature has gained the ability to evolve.
< First Guardian>
– Regardless of what happens in the future, this Named Creature will be forever loyal to you.
– Attacks made by this creature have a high chance of dealing critical damage.
– All attacks made by this Creature will deal Arcane Damage.
– Arcane Damage ignores the defensive equipment as it affects the mental state of a person, attacks the soul 50% of the time, and ignores part of the non-magical resistance, ignoring completely magical resistance.
– When you use Beast Cores to upgrade Ferto, its effects would be boosted by 50%
Viel was left dumbfounded, all his stats amounted only to 60 while Ferto's stats to 98. With both of his summons, he would become one of the most powerful beginners in Elysium.
'Oh shit, I forgot about little Jör'
Lux summoned Diablo so he could meet Ferto. Both summoned creatures looked into each other eyes as they shook hands. But something happened, they began to apply more force to it to determine who is in charge. After some minutes, Diablos's hand cracked and turned into dust.
'Oh shit, I forgot about little Jör' Viel rapidly summoned him.
Jör was very angry with Viel, he has forgotten him.
"Sorry Jör, I promise it won't happen again. Please, can you forgive me?." Viel extended his hand toward him.
Jör resisted for a moment, but in the end, he gave in and scrub his head in Viel's hand.
Lux was taken aback when a small serpent appeared out of nowhere.
"Lux, Eriol, this is Jörmungandr, Jör for short. He is my second named creature as well as my Soul Familiar."
"Hisss" Jör hissed while he surrounded Viel's neck.
"Hello Jör. I'm Viel's little brother, you can call me Uncle Lux." said Lux as he moved toward him to pat his head.
"Don't be scared Jör, he is family" said Viel to Jör, he looked at Lux and said, "Lux, he can understand you more or less, but he can't talk yet."
"Ah! How silly of me." said Lux while he petted Jör.
"Viel, about what Phoenix Ashes were you talking about? I didn't give you anything."
"I was given a ticket by Himea, Max's angel assistant, that could get me a Legendary Item. I used it and got a vial with Phoenix Ashes."
"Oh, now I get it. Well, anyways, here is your Arondight ring. I already gave Lux his when he completed Vera's trial. Prepare, as tomorrow both of you will start your adventure."
Eriol and Lux left Viel's room. He changed into his pajamas and got into bed.
'Elysium, here I come!'