Upgrading [Awaken] was immensely tempting. The skill was probably the one with the most potential out of all the ones he had, but he just didn’t fully know what an awakened item would do yet. Getting stronger in the future was important, but Arwin needed to be strong now. It was without a doubt the safest choice – but, at the same time, he could always reforge items if they turned out detrimental, and he had no way to know if upgrading it would make his awakened items better or just reduce his chance of a detrimental trait on them. Then there was [Soul Flame]. It had been the skill Arwin had probably used the most. He’d gained several ways to use it offensively, and the previous time he’d upgraded it had given him some pretty significant boosts. There was a good chance that upgrading it again would make it even stronger in combat. It was a very strong candidate – but upgrading [Arsenal] was equally as tempting. The only thing that gave him pause was that he had absolutely no idea what upgrading it would actually do. The skill already scaled with his Tier, so upgrading it was unlikely to let him bond with more items. It’ll probably give me something that directly relates to my items in some way or another. So, in summary, my options are upgrading future potential, a mixture of crafting and combat, or pure combat. Arwin thought for several minutes, not wanting to rush into anything. As much as he wanted to take [Awaken], the chances of it just giving him a flat improvement to his crafting abilities that would benefit the long run far more than the short were too high. He mentally crossed it off the list. He needed something that would let him fight the Iron Hounds. Both [Soul Flame] and [Arsenal] would do that, and Arwin honestly couldn’t decide which one would be better. The former was probably the safer bet, as he already had several ways to use it and knew that it would come in handy no matter what. But, in the end, curiosity ended up winning out. An upgrade to [Soul Flame] would probably be useful, but Arwin didn’t think it would be useful enough to make the difference between success and failure in a really difficult fight. [Arsenal], on the other hand, was a more combat and item focused ability. Even though he was clueless as to what changing it would do, it was still the skill most likely to give him something immediately useful. He would upgrade [Awaken] the next time he got a chance to. His decision made, Arwin selected the skill. The writing in the air shifted before him as the Mesh tingled within his body. Interestingly enough, the Executioner chest plate didn’t say it was part of a set. Does that mean I need to finish it somehow? Maybe this is actually a 2-part set and the first part just isn’t done yet. I’ve got no clue what I would do to change it, though. Arwin reached up to his head and slid the helmet off, holding it under an arm and standing in silent contemplation for several seconds. If the set had said how many items it was, he’d have been tempted to figure out how to make the correct chestpiece. But that wasn’t how life worked. The set might have been 2 pieces, and it might have been six. There was always a chance it needed rings as well – he just didn’t know, and that meant that focusing on trying to complete it would be a huge gamble. I can work on the set after I get armor for Lillia. We don’t have much time before the Wyrms are born – hell, we don’t even have an exact date. The Iron Hounds need to be dealt with sooner rather than later. Arwin focused on the helm in his hands. It was in his own possession, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t test out the new ability he’d gotten from [Arsenal]. His fingers warmed as the Mesh tingled, and he counted down three seconds in his head before he felt a faint pop in his mind. With a thought, the helmet vanished from Arwin’s hands. He summoned it back, then placed it on his head and repeated the process. It was just as seamless as controlling any of the other items he was bound to, but this connection took longer to establish. Fair enough. How about breaking it? That, as it turned out, was instant. The moment Arwin tried to pull his mind away, his connection to the helm severed and it materialized on him like normal. Arwin re-bonded to it and dismissed the helm once more. Three seconds again. That’s a basis, at least. In a fight, that’s a good bit, but it’s not impossible. Sending one last look around his rather pitiful looking temporary forge, Arwin stepped out into the street and headed for the tavern. It was already midday, so he’d lost a fair portion of time sinking into the helm’s visions. Thank God it didn’t have any detrimental elements. That would have been absolutely infuriating. Actually, now that I think about it, I have no clue if it has detrimental elements. It’s not like they’re marked, so the set ability or the effects of its aura could be bad for me. Oh well. I’m still using the damn thing. I’ll figure it out soon enough. For now, I need to fulfill on my promise. Arwin stepped into the tavern, squinting as his eyes adjusted to the darkness. Reya and Anna both sat at the counter, just barely illuminated by the lantern hanging beside them. There was no sign of Rodrick, but a sizzling from the kitchen told him that Lillia was cooking something. “Did you finish?” Reya asked as she spotted him enter, sliding off her stool. “Yes,” Arwin said. “For the time being, at least.” “Then, if you’re here, I assume there might be something else we can do to help?” Anna guessed, turning to face him and taking a sip from an old wooden mug. Arwin didn’t recognize it, so either Lillia had gotten a new cup at some point or it belonged to Anna. “I’m going to be making something for Lillia, and it might take a few attempts. I don’t think I’ll be quite as… guided as I was this time around,” Arwin said, his thoughts drifting to the visions. The helmet seemed magical, so he wasn’t sure if it had been Stonesinger that had allowed him to get such a vivid picture of what it had wanted to be, but he wasn’t too confident he’d be able to replicate his results for anything intentionally. Not yet, at least. For the time being, the most important thing he could do would be to make Lillia the most effective set of armor as quickly as possible. They didn’t know the exact date the Wyrmlings would show up, so that meant he realistically only had weeks to completely prepare a full set of armor for her as well as make himself some gauntlets. “What can we do?” Reya asked. “Do you need materials? We can hunt.”