After the battle had ended, a horrific smell of blood and rotten corpses filled the atmosphere. Even Black Wind was shaking his head. He hated the smell.
However, Abel did not care at all since he loved cleaning up battlefields way too much. He jumped down from the back of Black Wind, stepping on puddles of blood and began to search for any collectible items. Abel was hoping he could find some potions or equipment by exploding, but this hope had been destroyed again and again. Still, Abel was not willing to give up his last bit of hope.
When Abel was feeling more and more hopeless, he suddenly saw one of the dead Fallen shamans on the ground. Abel's eyes began to sparkle. The dead Fallen shaman was holding a magic cane on one of his hands.
It was a magic cane. Even the lowest-ranking ones were considered as a rare treasure in the Holy Continent. This was because the resources required to make a magic cane was way too scarce, so very little magic canes were made in the Holy Continent.
Abel sped up his steps and picked up the magic cane from the ground. He brushed off the blood on its surface and shoved it in the Horadric Cube. He then used his power of the will to focus on it. Some statistics appeared:
Short cane (normal)
Longevity: 18-20
+1 fireball
+50% damage to immortal beings.
My god, that's some real equipment. Now, Abel had learned that equipment didn't come from explosions. Instead, they were also held within the hand of those creatures from hell. So all he needed to do from now on was just to kill those creates from hell, and their weapons will automatically be dropped on the ground for grab.
Although this magic cane was considered as the worst one in Diablo 2 by looking at its attributes, it was a true treasure in the Holy Continent. As long as Abel held this magic cane in his hand, all his 'fireball' spells would increase a rank, making it much more powerful. Furthermore, the +50% damage to immortal beings also allowed him to strike more powerfully against immortal beings.
However, Abel did not show any interest in the other weapon of the Fallen shaman. He didn't even want to touch it. It was an old, worn-out short knife. Over a long time of cutting meat, a stinking smelling covered the surface of the short knife.
Abel walked around the camp for a while. He collected two more magic canes from the Fallen Shamans. He then threw them into the Horadric cube for examination again.
Short cane (normal)
Longevity: 12-20
+50% damage to immortal beings
Short cane (normal)
Longevity: 15-20
+1 spirit transfer
+50% damage to immortal beings
The last magic cane made Abel's eyes sparkle. The + 1 spirit transfer attribute was too good. Spirit transfer was only something an official Wizard could do in the Holy Continent. It was a truly powerful attribute since it was appearing in a magic cane that a novice Wizard could use.
'Spirit transfer' was a spell. It allowed the wizard to control a target from afar within their mind. Through this strange controlling power, a wizard could take things they could not have otherwise or attack enemies from a distance. To a cunning and bad intentioned wizard, this ability could give them a lot of opportunities.
Most of the time, wizards would use this spell to pick up things, trigger mechanisms, and attack their enemies.
You could say the 'spirit transfer' gave wizards a more extended arm. This was the exact spell that Wizard Morton had used to destroy the 'fireball' of Abel when they first met.
Abel did not care about the stains on the short cane. As he the short cane it on his hand, he felt a weird sensation emerging. His power of the will bond to the short cane, and an arrow appeared on the top of the short cane. When he ignited the arrow with his power of the will, the short cane moved forward automatically, and a pattern appeared. Afterward, he felt his mana rushing towards the pattern, and soon it became a spell that was ready to be unleashed at any moment.
Abel's power of the will sensed that he only needed to push forward with his power of the will, and he could unleash this spell on to a target.
He began to stretch out his power of the will. Sixteen points of power of will allowed him to reach beyond his body for 16 meters. However, this time he could reach 17 meters until it stopped. Abel began to question darkly in his heart, had his power of the will increase again? But did not think too much, his curiosity towards the "spirit transfer" spell was the only thing that was on his mind.
His power of the will locked down on a rock, in a flash the rock was surrounded by white light. The rock vanished, and suddenly Abel felt something heavy on his hand. It was a rock.
It was wonderful. Abel was very satisfied by how this spell had turned out. This spell was only used by an official wizard. Every time when Abel saw his teacher Wizard Morton use this spell to take things from his shelf, he couldn't help but get jealous. Now, since he got this magic cane, he too could use this spell.
"Wait!" Abel whispered. He seemed to have just missed something. That's right, Abel had done a quickened spell. There was no spell, no hand gestures. It was the first time Abel had used the 'spirit transfer,' he had never even seen its magic pattern, let alone saying the spell. But just like that, he had unleashed the spell in a quicker way.
The magic cane was not powerful because it increased the attacking power, and definitely not the increased damage to immortal beings or something like that. Its most powerful characteristic in the Holy Continent was the ability to increase quicken spells.
Abel had only seen quicken spells being used by His teacher Wizard Morton. However, he never knew if it was just a technique or an actual quicken spell.
Up to this point, Abel had really underestimated the value of these magic canes. At first, he only thought they could increase magic power. Now, he realized besides that whiteboard magic cane. The other two were treasures. There were still a lot of uses in regards to that whiteboard magic cane. For example, he was using it as studying material or resources. Abel was still very new in regards to these things, so he couldn't think of much on the spot. But he was sure that he would definitely have a use for this whiteboard magic cane.
Abel tested out the 'spirit transfer' and 'fireball' a few more times out of curiosity. After a while, he realized the sacrifice of using the magic cane, and that was doubling the mana consumption. Although he was unsure how much mana 'spirit transfer' would consume, he was very familiar with the 'fireball.' Originally it consumed 2.5 points of mana. Now it consumed 5 points of mana.
To a low ranking wizard, doubling their mana consumption would hugely reduce the time they were Abel to sustain a battle. However, it could also speed up their attacks. Which one was more important? That was up to the situation. But no matter what, a quickened spell was a powerful way to increase the fighting ability of a low ranking wizard.
Abel had just recovered his mana, but after a few testing, he had used up all of them again. Abel was exhilarated after such a big battle. He whispered to Black Wind, "Black Wind, let's go back."
Black Wind jog to the side of Abel, and Abel jumped on to its back. Black Wind didn't even need Abel's command. In a flash, he had sped out of this place full of sickening smell. To a being with a strong sense of smell, a filthy and disgusting place such as the Fallen camp was like hell to Black Wind. If its owner did not command It to stay, Black Wind would leave the place without a second of doubt.
Without using the scroll of town portal, Black Wind had directly run back to the Rogue encampment. Although the portal did not hurt Black Wind, he tried to use it as less as possible. The shock last time deepened his relationship with Black Wind.
When they arrived at the empty fireplace, Abel took out some wood from his Kong Kong spirit portal bag, which he had prepared in advance. He threw the wood floor in the fireplace and dashed out a 'fireball' spell, lighting up the wood. Alongside the bonfire, he took out some meat that he had prepared for himself and Black Wind and began to BBQ at the bonfire.
Black Wind lay on the ground by the side, waiting for his food to be ready. Normally Black Wind wouldn't eat raw meat, and Abel had always stuck to his theory that cooked meat would make Black Wind smarter. Because of this, the number of chefs in his home had increased from 2 to 4. Black Wind needed too much food.
After they filled their stomach up, Abel took Black Wind to the riverside. No one was looking anyway, so Abel took off all his clothes and began to take a shower. Originally he was planning to eat after the shower, but he was way too hungry after such a long battle. Even Black Wind was hungry.
Black Wind jumped into the river, submerging its entire body in the water. The weather in the Rogue encampment was super comfortable. There were no changes in seasons. For the many days that Abel had arrived here, the weather remained in perfect condition. Although the temperature might drop a little after rain, it often returns to normal very quickly.
This weird weather reminded Abel that this world was a training ground divided into heaven and hell.