Now that he was wearing these extra items, created solely to extend the effect of the main circuit on the leather jacket, Ashton could now fully cover himself and his staff in the shadowy mist that would hide him once he entered shadows. Now, he also had to take a look at the description of these items. He knew they were going to be rare grade as well, but double-checking was important.
Xantusi Leather Jacket
Grade - Rare
Creator - Ashton Garling
Effect - Imitation Shadow Cloak
The Xantusi Leather Jacket was created to give the wearer access to a Xantusi's innate 'Shadow Cloak' ability. Once the wearer enters darkness with the effect activated, they will slowly begin to disappear. The effect only works fully if the wearer does not move.
Xantusi Leather Belt
Grade - Rare
Creator - Ashton Garling
Effect - Effect Expansion
The Xantusi Leather Belt was created to interact with the magic of the Xantusi Leather Jacket to expand the effect of the 'Imitation Shadow Cloak' fully over the lower body.
Xantusi Leather Gloves
Grade - Rare
Creator - Ashton Garling
Effect - Effect Expansion
The Xantusi Leather Gloves were created to interact with the magic of the Xantusi Leather Jacket to expand the effect of the 'Imitation Shadow Cloak' onto the objects directly held by the wearer.
Ashton looked at what the Pen of Insight had written down and smiled. This was perfect. Well, not 'perfect'. If Ashton had better materials, tools, and more importantly way more time, then he might have been able to get these items to Epic Grade. Then again, that would require much more powerful xantusis with a more powerful version of the effect in the first place. Maybe a few weeks from now, he could upgrade his set.
"I thought you said you were going to try and learn how to cast spells!" Oliver exclaimed, in a tone that implied he was annoyed over Ashton leisurely just making a few more items.
"Hm?" Ashton looked over at him, raising a brow. "I mean, I will, but it's going to take a while so I wanted to do this first."
"... How long is it going to take?"
Ashton thought for a moment, "Sunrise, I guess?"
Oliver groaned loudly in response, "Seriously? But I want to..." he yawned, "... watch if I can."
Jacky and John, who were also clearly quite exhausted by now, also seemed curious about the process of learning spellcasting, but Ashton sadly had to disappoint them.
"It's not something you can watch. I'll be meditating for like 5 or 6 hours. Whether or not I'll be able to cast spells will be decided inside of my head and body, so it's nothing you can watch."
Oliver's shoulders slumped in disappointment. "Aaah, fuck... fine, then I'll just go to bed. I'm exhausted. But I swear, if you can do it, you have to show me some spells!"
"Yeah, yeah, I'll do that. You guys just go to bed, I'll be staying down here."
Being outside here, where there was more ambient mana, wasn't a bad idea. Usually, Ashton would have headed to Market Street to take advantage of the mana well there, even if it should have slowed down by now, but because of Oliver's ritual, the mana here was so clean that it made up for the lacking mana volume a few times over.
"Goodnight, man," John said while tiredly scratching his chest, and Jacky also got up from the table, waving at Ashton before trying to follow her friends. But before she could leave, he stopped her.
"Jacky, could I talk to you for a second?" he asked, and Jacky looked back confused.
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"Sure, what's up?"
The other two also stopped, looking at Ashton curiously, but he waved them away. "I need to talk to Jacky alone for a moment."
His eyes lingered on Oliver for a moment, before he focused back onto Jacky. The other two shrugged and went inside ahead of Jacky.
"Uhm... If this is what I think it is, then I'm flattered, but-"
"I need you to keep an eye out on Oliver," Ashton said bluntly. He made sure that the person in question was out of earshot, and then pulled out a picture from his pocket.
It was one of the instant-print pictures, the one with the blue filter where Oliver was looking dishevelled and was missing an arm.
"I took this picture with an item of mine. I don't know exactly what it shows, but it's either some kind of hidden aspect of Oliver or something to do with his mental state. Or, worst case... his fate," Ashton explained, watching as Jacky stared at the picture.
"Bu-But... why are you showing this to me? Why aren't you showing this to Oliver?" Jacky's face went pale, and Ashton grimaced slightly. He would have liked to tell Oliver directly, but there was an issue with that.
"It's in case this is really his fate. Knowing the paths laid out for you is dangerous. Whether it's a good or bad fate, it's likely going to lead you to stray, and if you don't know how to navigate the thicket beyond your path, it could ruin you. You could get hurt or lost, or... worse." Ashton sighed. "But having someone that's a step removed... to help them navigate, then that's another matter altogether."
Jacky swallowed nervously, as if she was trying to buy time before having to answer.
"I... I, uhm... But why are you... showing this to me? Why not one of the others?"
"Because you're the leader of your group."
Confused, Jacky shook her head. "No, no, we don't have a leader, we-"
"Almost every group has someone that takes charge in some way. You're that person for your party," Ashton replied to her.
"But I don't... I don't know if I can take responsibility for something like this, I..."
"I'm not saying that you need to be responsible. Just... be prepared. I'll prepare some emergency potions for you and some other items that should help out. You just need to be ready and prepared, in case something happens here, okay?"
Jacky slowly nodded her head. "And... if I tell Oliver about this, what happens then?"
Ashton shook his head. "I don't know. I don't even know if this is really a fate thing. I'm going to keep you updated once I find out what the actual case here is, but for now, just be prepared. The 'Occultist' class is useful, and it's not like it's more dangerous than any other class, but... Oliver summoned a primordial god. I don't know what else he might be able to do, and what consequences that might have on him, physically and mentally."
"... I guess in that regard, an archer won't be in too much danger."
With a smile, trying to reassure her at least a little, Ashton replied. "You've got this. You keep a cool head and know how to deal with other people. Sam told me how involved you've been getting with making sure that this place runs properly."
Jacky forced a smile onto her face.
"Thanks. Uhm... I'll head inside for now, if that's all."
"Of course. If you need anything, or if anything happens, please let me know right away."
Though Ashton said that, it didn't seem like Jacky was listening all that much. She was just staring down at the picture in her hand, and slowly made her way into the building. Ashton could feel the stare of the Backpacker, who had popped out of the vessel and was sitting at the table with their phone.
"Don't look at me like that. I know it's not fair to place that burden on her, but she's got a good head on her shoulders. I'm sure she'll be able to figure something out," Ashton said, starting to channel the spirit while speaking. "Plus, I don't think I'm exactly the right person to get involved with fate so directly. It's one thing when I don't know what's supposed to happen, and another when I have to work around fate."
The Backpacker looked up from their phone, and the dark void from behind their cloak seemed even colder than normal.
"Yes, yes, I know. Now that Jacky knows, she's going to influence Oliver's fate as well, that's inevitable. But in my experience, changing another's fate is easier than changing your own. I just don't exactly have good experience with the concept of 'fate', so I'm not going to get involved." Ashton shuddered at the memories he was actively trying to repress from pushing their way forward. The Summoner had at certain points actively used Ashton as a vessel to change fate, and it twisted its flow specifically around Ashton. It had been resolved to some degree long before his time in Lumia was over, but ever since then, Ashton refused to get actively involved in matters of fate. Whether he was trying to make fate flow as normal, or trying to change fate, things would twist in unpredictable, extreme ways.
"Whatever. For now, I really need to get started." Ashton grabbed the small box of food that the Backpacker gave him, offering it to the lesser wisp within his vessel to extend its summoned time for at least a bit.
"You ready to go, bud?" he asked, and the wisp seemed to react happily, giving off a slightly stronger glow for a moment. And so, Ashton and the wisp, with the Backpacker and Poppy in tow, picked a spot in the middle of the camp to sit down. And that wasn't just randomly chosen, either.
His magical senses weren't exactly strong enough to notice this all on his own, but with the help of the wisp, Ashton was able to find the spot where the mana was the most concentrated out here. All the mana in the area seemed to basically be flowing through and between the buildings like water, with different currents coming together and creating these 'hot spots' like the one where Ashton was sitting down.
"Okay, Backpacker, Poppy, if someone tries to bother me while I'm doing this, please stop them. Do wake me up in an emergency, but I'll leave the judgement to you two," Ashton said. The Backpacker briefly nodded, not even really looking up from the phone, while Poppy happily nodded, and her voice rang out as she plopped down on the spirit's head. The Backpacker didn't seem to mind.
And then, Ashton himself sat down, with the wisp right in front of him. He placed his hands onto the magic elemental, as if he were holding a ball. The first step of learning how to cast spells was to get his mana under control better. Using the wisp for that was the right idea. Once he got to a certain level of mana control, it should be possible to bring it into the right form to create a spell circle.
Of course, Ashton didn't exactly know a lot of low-tier spell circles, but there were a handful that he knew were useful. Plus, as long as he cast any spell, the quest should count as completed, and Ashton could engrave the spell into the wisp's body to use it more efficiently anyway.
Just one single time was enough for the time being.