'Too expensive… it's like a black hole of resources,' placing Vestr down on the desk, Aoni frowned and felt slightly helpless about his current predicament.
It had cost 17.5 points to upgrade a single stat, and there were still two more things to use his Attribute on; if that wasn't bad enough, Aoni had only gotten back 3 points.
On the upside, his weapon finally showed some physical signs of improvement, albeit not much.
Oddly enough, it seemed, at least to him, that it was made of an entirely different material.
Before the upgrades, it resembled some type of bronze, extremely brittle and rough to the touch, as you'd expect from a crude weapon forged many years ago, but now, it seemed to be newer and formed from a version of Iron…
That thought alone caused Aoni to realize something. If his Attribute was not only scaling up the metaphorical materials used in upgrading the weapon, doesn't that mean that, technically speaking, he was able to turn the weapon or tool summoned with his Flume into a "Fake" Growth Weapon?
Growth weapons were extremely valuable and would cause a fuss whenever they came on the market, either online or in auctions.
The reason being that they were able to well…grow or get stronger. Mind you, there were plenty of restrictions on doing so, but the fact still stands that, unlike normal, static weapons, Growth Weapons were vastly superior and generally had special skills or effects.
'It's not just weapons either… there's a chance I could potentially obtain some armor or accessories from my Summons, in which case they too should be upgradable just like Vestr.'
'However…unless I get moving and stay active, there's no point dreaming about powerful gear because I won't have the Progress Points to get them upgraded in the first place.' Heaving a sigh, Aoni looked over his shoulder at the Flume and stood up.
'Enough thinking for now, let's get this over with. I may not be ambidextrous, but it would be nice to have the twin for Vestr,'
Although Hook Blades weren't exactly well-known weapons or even actually suited for real combat, Aoni had seen them multiple times in different games, and they always came in pairs. With Vestr being an obvious left-handed weapon, that meant there was a right-handed one existing somewhere out there…and if he could get his hands on it, well, shouldn't he try to?
Sure, he'd have to train his ass off to learn how to use two swords and whatnot, but Aoni didn't mind; it wasn't like he had a whole lot going on, so training was par for the course.
One Ritual, some humming, and a flash of light later, the Lad stood ramrod straight, staring at the mouth of the Flume with wide eyes.
| 5.0 PP earned |
"No way…" the words seemed to spill out of his mouth because, surprisingly enough, something Aoni had wished for…actually happened.
Laying there on the ground was a mirror image of his first weapon, only, in contrast to the original Hook blade, this one's hook was slightly curved to the Right.
Soon enough, Aoni found himself standing in the center of the cave, holding the new right-handed hook blade in his right hand and Vestr in his left hand, comparing them in size, weight, and composition.
'Now that I don't have to rely on memory, it's fairly clear how much Vestr has changed by only increasing its Durability a Stage, its more lustrous, and a lighter color.'
The blade in Aoni's right hand, whom he had dubbed Austr, or East in that dead language found online, was a deep shade of rusty brown, indicating it was indeed made from a variant type of bronze metal, whereas Vestr was a dark shade of Gray, meaning Iron.
'Going by this, if I were to upgrade them to E, would they be steel or something like that? Right?' Aoni thought while giving both of them a little twirl before realizing just how weak his non-dominant right hand was.
Being left-handed, he was pretty used to pushing his right hand into danger; thus, Aoni had extended it first to Glacia when she was summoned, and it was also the one he'd generally extend to shake hands…but now that he was holding a hefty weapon in it and trying to spin the blade around his shoulder like he would his left, Aoni finally understood how far he'd need to grow if he were going to dual wield them both in combat.
Even with his newly increased Attack stat boosting his physical strength and his Speed Stat increasing flexibility, Aoni still felt clunky and off each time he twirled or slashed with the new right-handed weapon.
However, with each movement, the Lad noticed a bit of fluidity emerging as he adapted to using something with his non-dominant hand.
In comparison, Aoni felt in full control of Vestr; the slashes and spins were by no means elegant or even effective since he hadn't trained an extensive amount of time in swordsmanship, but it was still far better than what he could do with Austr.
For over an hour, Aoni stood shirtless in the middle of the cave, swinging the swords around in an attempt to get used to using them. After a few close calls, where the dunce nearly hooked his leg out from under his body and avoided multiple instances of almost losing a limb, Aoni started getting the hang of using the two weapons.
He hadn't spent a lot of time doing any specific form of training, but it had been enough that his arms felt like noodles, and as such, the Lad was slick with sweat.
To Aoni, though, who would struggle with combat classes and training, it was far longer than he used to last, which, even though tiring, was also thrilling.
"Gao?" Right as he finished up training and placed the two blades up on the top shelf of the bookshelf, Aoni heard the emergency blanket rustle as a small furry head popped out from under and gave a questioning look.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't the sleepy princess who finally woke up from her nap," Aoni said with a chuckle while walking over to give the now hyper summon some head pats.
"Gaooo oooOooo," rubbing up against his hand for added effect, Glacia seemed a bit overly excited, so Aoni just laughed and gave her some more attention before glancing out of the cave and noticing that for the first time in three days, the storm seemed to be calming down.
With most of his preparations complete, Aoni couldn't help but think that maybe…it was time to go and explore the land that now belonged to him.