Overgeared I
"Right then!" Nox tried to get his thoughts in line.
'First, let's check out the drops from the Black Tree and the stuff I gathered from the adventurers I killed in my so called Stygian Beast Form.' He decided.
From the adventurers of the Ikelost familia, the only things of note were a rough map of a section of Knossos and one of those magic items called Daedalus Orb that allowed one to enter Knossos through of of its many gates.
Each of these orbs were crafted from the eyes of one of Daedalus' descendants. Their blood curse did not only include an unstoppable urge to continue his work but also a "D" in one of their eyes that allowed them to freely enter and leave the artificial dungeon.
As for the map, it detailed a relatively small area of Knossos that was connected to the 24th floor, likely a guidance aid for the lesser members of the Ikelos familia who were not authorized to learn more of the layout of Knossos.
'These will come in handy when I plan to invade Knossos and the Daedalus Orb has given me some inspiration for eye based magic and curses.' Nox reviewed.
Next up, were the drops from the Black Tree and these were actually quite plentiful and varied. When the Treasure Tree became a powerful Black Variant Monster, literally every part of its body became a treasure that turned to a drop item after its destruction.
This included not only its Gem Fruits which were greatly improved in quality, but also its flowers, quite a few leaves, braches, bark from the Trunk, a few small roots, a fair bit of resin and finally, a seed.
The last one interested Nox quite a bit and he thought it prudent to very closely study it before doing anythings as his magic senses showed him this seed seemed to be alive, even if in a sort of dormant state.
Beyond that, the rest would go into making his new gear after his transformation destroyed his previous set.
Nox had spares but now that he didn't want to rely on the Bloodcurse to get him out of a pinch or a quick heal or even just a casual buff, he thought upgrading his equipment would be a good way to cover for this.
'After this whole debacle, I want to take some time off from the dungeon so I might at well create some nifty Items and focus on magic development.' Nox thought.
'I can even finally make specialized armor for the girls.' He decided.
And so, he got to work. His next set of gear, even if not permanent, would become the template upon which all his future gear would be built. So long as it went according to plan that is.
'Now that I think of it . . . I didn't even end up testing the Rose of Agony did I?' Nox asked himself.
'Oh well, I'll do it when I get back to dungeoneering after my rest period." He decided.
From then one, Nox did not step one foot into the dungeon until the end of the two months but his productivity was quite impressive.
He created multiple large scale, powerful spells for use in the deeps floors but until he could get back in there, probably on his familia's next expedition, he could not test the spells for their intended use.
Results from his preliminary tests in open areas on the surface showed much promise however and made him look forward to use then of the actual targets he had in mind for them.
Still, there were downsides. Each time he tested one of these spells, he would draw attention from everyone in miles and then had to quickly hide and escape so people didn't find out he was actually the maniac destroying multiple landscapes with powerful spells just for testing purposes.
As for the list of Nox's large scale spells, they were:
Luminous Judgement for the light element.
Dark Channel for the darm element.
Forbidden Sun for the fire element.
Blaze of Glory for the same. It was actually a reproduction of the mightiest magical ability of Nox's flamberge, Prometheus.
Call of Niflheim for the water element, being an ice spell.
Abyssal Summon a pure water spell.
Thunderzone Tribulation for the lightning element.
Heaven's Fall for the earth element.
Grand Seism for the same.
Perfect Storm for the remaining wind element.
As for the particular effects, Nox had to wait for worthy targets to properly evaluate them. Each individual spell had its own specialties, fully taking advantage of its element's characteristics, something which had been lacking in Nox's previous forms of attack magic.
Most of the time however, had been spent in making his gear and, quite unfortunately, he ended up obsessing so much over his own gear and its perfection that by the time the two months ended and he had decided to restart his ventures into the Dungeon, Nox hadn't even got started on the girls' gear.
Not that he'd ever tell them such a thing even took place. He wasn't that stupid.
'It's not like they really need it at this point.' Nox made excuses for himself like a proper person.
'I'll make it up to them by building something real nice.' He swore to himself.
Truth be told, with how much he fell into obsession over his creations and didn't become satisfied until they were perfect or too outrageous, the girls could definitely count of his self made promise to make some of the best in all of Orario for them.
As for his personal gear, Nox was extremely satisfied with the results of his hard work. Truth be told, he had been making plans and preparations for quite a while and now, it was finally the time to put those into practice.
The first layer was a body glove that covered his entire body, head and face included. It was made of an alchemically altered orichalcum alloy and enhanced grant it temperature control, self cleaning and wastes disposal, mostly for sweat and such but it the unlikely event Nox shat himself, it would still work.
It was quite protective by itself but to make it sufficiently, light, malleable and comfortable to wear, the alloy lost a fair bit of the Orichalcum's naturaly magic and physical impact resistance but it was alright since protection was the job of the next layers.
Next up, was a master crafted plate armor that allowed for full articulation. It was actually made from the Black Treasure Tree bark mixed with resing to create light but extremely durable and magic resistant yet soft and comfortable inner plate and a thin extra layer of enchanted Orichalcum for the outer plate.
It was a full plate mail that covered Nox's entire body and the faceplate of the helmet was styled with one of Nox's favourite fictional characters in his past like, Jack of Blades. With the mask being whitish with coloured designs while the rest of the armor was black in color.
It was entirely covered in runes to increase its defense against magic but more importantly, conduct and enhance Nox's own spells, particularly those that enhanced his own body.
The suits left arm, shoulder and chest were particularly well armored with a bit thicker plates to since it would be the side presented to the enemy in most situations and had a lot of cool, magic item base features added onto it.
The gauntlet had a Kratos, God of War style deployable shield made of orichalcum and enchanted to create a powerful barrier if fed with mana. it having to settings. A personal barrier that covered only the user and a "shield wall" that blocked a large area.
The inner part had an assassin's creed style hidden blade based on Nox's infamous FU Dagger and it was jam packed with poison and curses.
There was actually a second one in the right gauntlet as well. Furthermore, it had an enchantment that allowed it to extend for a short distance for surprise attacks.
The true masterpiece of the left gauntlet however, was its magic casting enhancement and assistance function. In other words, it was a gauntlet shaped mage staff or wand.
Orichalcum was a great material for magic conduciveness,one of the best actually, when properly treated and, adding the Gems from the Black Treasure Tree and a magic array created a powerful magic channeling item comparable or even superior to Rivria's staff, the Magna Alfs.
Finally, the last layer was a blood red hooded long coat that left Nox's left arm and peck uncovered.
It had fibers from the Black Treasure Tree integrated into it and it was made from the silk of a powerful spider monster of the deep floors. Its color came from being soaked in Nox's blood in a magical and alchemical hybrid process.
Thanks to his Archon Skill, every part of Nox's body was a veritable treasure, his blood being no exception and, so, he created an item much like the spirit made magical cloths like salamander wool and undine cloths.
This coat had great physical resistance but its main ability was its near immunity to magic. Not only that, it also allowed not to move through water like an undine and swim in lava like a salamander with no problem, among other things.
It helped absorb mana in energy rich environments and even enhanced Nox's elemental magic, making it more efficient and slightly more powerful. That, along with his runic plate armor, boosted Nox's Invictus to a whole new level.
And that was just his armor alone, there was still more to be discussed as Nox had created quite a few other things . . .
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