Matt’s curiosity was piqued, and he really wanted to ask, but by the cheeky look on Tara’s face, he believed she wouldn’t tell him, which was also fine by him since he liked surprises. Some surprises were just… scarier than others.
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With a mental command, he chose yes, crossing his fingers in hopes he wouldn’t regret that decision.
As soon as he did, his shoes disappeared, reappearing a breath later in front of Tara and Kara.
He stared at his most prized possession with a mixture of anticipation, concern, and dread. Being a gift meant it was supposed to be a good thing, but he also remembered that cats brought dead mice as a gift. Also, there was always that nagging voice in the back of his mind telling him, ‘what if it goes wrong?’ so instead, he chose a more… cautious approach, mixed in with some hopeful optimism.
Tara closed her eyes, and a dark bubble engulfed the shoes, hiding what was happening from Matt’s eyes.
A few minutes passed in tense silence, with Tara’s face remaining impassive the entire time. Matt didn’t know if talking was fine or if it would break her concentration, so instead he decided to spend the time designing his future, portable farmhouse in his head. Because if there was one thing for sure, it was that a portable house in a ring was definitely on the menu.
Five uneventful minutes later, Tara finally breathed out in relief before the dark bubble vanished, making way for his grey and dark green shoes, now almost shining from how clean they looked, and signaling the completion of whatever she had been doing.
“All good?” Matt checked up on the cat. He wanted to check his shoes, but manners weren’t lost on him… yet.
“Go ahead,” she said, motioning for him to check the shoes, a hint of pride in her voice.
Matt, not needing to be told twice, identified the newly minted item.
Shoes of the Endless Journey (rare)
Soulbound
Growth item
Upgradeable
The effect of this item is yet undetermined. Using the shoes pushes it further on its path. Actions and decisions made while wearing the shoes influences its path. Once its path is complete, an effect is unlocked that fits the user’s needs. No restrictions or limitations on possible effects. This item is indestructible while on the path.
+2 agility
+1 endurance
To Matt, the description had boiled down to, ‘indestructible, but will probably do something one day,’ which was both exciting and confusing.
“Thanks… but I’m not even sure what I’m looking at,” he warily said to the cat.
Tara chuckled at his response before explaining. “While we are strongly encouraged to provide a reward, we are also limited by the system and trial rules, which means we can only give utility items up to rare, and consumables up to uncommon.”
Matt nodded, following along.
“I know you were in need of an offensive item, and while we can’t provide that, if you continue abusing your footwear like you do, who knows what it could become,” she finished with a wink.
Matt was honestly lost for words. Not only had she made his still insanely comfortable shoes indestructible, she also skirted the rules to tailor the item to his needs. It was the kind of gift where someone truly went above and beyond for you. “Thank you, I’ll make sure to give it the time of its life.”
Tara nodded before their eyes turned to Kara who seemed to actually be excited, which surprised Matt.
“I had no reward in mind to provide you, but after seeing your new gloves, and Tara’s personalized gift, I do have an idea,” she said with a grin before extending a paw towards him as if motioning for him to give her the gloves.
Matt looked warily at the open paw before asking, “Don’t I get a rundown of the idea first?”
“Why do I have to when Tara didn’t?”
“You look way too excited. It’s worrying me,” Matt answered with narrowed eyes.
“I’ll have you know, it’s something extremely beneficial, and you’d be lucky to have it,” she huffed at him.
Matt kept staring at the cat who didn’t break away from his gaze. The stare-down lasted for a few seconds before he sighed, taking out his gloves and handing them over to the cat.
Gloves of Glorious Sacrifice (rare)
A pair of gloves crafted by a talented leatherworker and enchanted by a genius blood mage.
Enchant: [Glorious Sacrifice].
+2 strength
+2 endurance
[Glorious Sacrifice]: When activated, the user’s health drains at a rate of 1% current health every 3 seconds. In return, the user gains a 25% stat boost that remains as long as the health drain persists.
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“I had no idea there were stat boosting items outside of the S room,” Tara muttered as she and her sister looked at the gloves, turning them around mid-air
“I believe there are a few bracers in the A+ room, but definitely no gloves outside of the S room,” Kara interjected.
“Still, the downside isn’t that steep for being only rare and tier 9. I can sense that it’s on the brink too. Whoever made it must’ve gone through hell to keep it at rare. Just breathing on it is enough to push it to epic,” Tara said, her attention fully on the gloves like nothing else existed.
Matt stared at the two cats discussing his item, getting more and more lost by the minute. He looked at Lara, who was standing a few feet away from him, still minding her own business. Her attitude had definitely mellowed down, which he was thankful for. Too much had happened for him to have to worry about dealing with a bratty cat.
Bratty catty, he snorted in a chuckle at what he thought was a clever joke.
After a few more minutes, Kara closed her eyes, focusing on the gloves the same way Tara had done, although this time no dark bubble of nothingness surrounded his item.
Tara had left her sister to do her thing, moving next to him and thankfully giving him some insight into what was happening.
“Upgrading an item’s rarity is usually enough as a gift. The gloves, though, are at the absolute limit of theirs, which almost never happens since holding back that much while crafting to ensure a certain rarity is extremely taxing and inefficient. It’s like having to limit and dilute your skills and expertise just to create a subpar item. Definitely not worth it,” she explained, with Matt keeping up so far. “This creates a problem for Kara, since anything done to the item will upgrade it to epic, making it outside the limit of what she could gift.”
Tara’s words only served to worry Matt. Would the cat get punished again? Would the item be confiscated? It was a scary thought, but thankfully, Tara seemed to notice his worries.
“Don’t worry. There is a solution, it’s just not easy,” she said in a calm voice that sounded not concerned in the least.
Matt took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. He had to admit, there had been something cathartic about watching the cats discuss crafting. It reminded him of how sometimes he would spend all night with Jackson and Izzy, discussing solutions and workarounds during projects. Clients always had crazy ideas, and to them ‘it’s not possible’ meant you were not doing your job right. They only wanted to hear a price quote because in their head, they could imagine it, which meant to them, it was possible. Watching Kara and Tara as they had the same passionate discussion just showed how much they loved what they were doing.
He kept an eye on the entire process during the time, thankful nothing was obstructing his view. He saw as streaks of blue, green and red started rotating around his brown, leather gloves before disappearing inside of it, followed by sparkling dust appearing on the back, their luminosity increasing and decreasing, before rays of white started coming out of the fingers. The entire process was captivating, and he found himself completely lost in it.
A few more minutes passed with everyone, even Lara, watching Kara do her magic. It was getting close to the time limit of how long he could stay in the temple. He didn’t know the exact time left, but it was less than 15 minutes, I’ll give it five more minutes before I really start panicking, he thought.
Less than a couple more minutes of what looked like intense work, where Kara was actually wincing for most of it, and she finally breathed out in relief.
It was done.
She scanned the gloves, rotating them around mid-air, surprise, pride, and joy evident on her feline face, before she handed them over to Matt. “I’d like to offer these gloves to you as a gift. May they serve you well,” she declared, her chest puffed up and voice full of pride.
Matt accepted the gloves, thanking the cat before finally identifying the item.
Gloves of Glorious Sacrifice (epic)
Soulbound
Upgradeable
A pair of gloves crafted by a talented leatherworker, enchanted by a genius blood mage, and reinforced by a guardian of Bastet.
Enchant: [Glorious Sacrifice].
+2 strength
+2 endurance
[Glorious Sacrifice]: When activated, the user’s health drains at a rate of 1% current health every 3 seconds. In return, the user gains a 25% stat boost that remains as long as the health drain persists.
Tara, who was standing next to Matt, noticed his confusion, and helpfully explained, “This item is much more valuable than you think. While it still appears the same, the upgradeable tag makes it almost priceless. If you could sell it, you’d probably be able to live in comfort for the rest of your life. One day you’ll understand the skill it took to make this, which I’m sure will make you appreciate it even more,” she finished, a look of utter appreciation on her face.
It seemed to Matt that what Kara had done was a big deal. He had no idea what the upgradeable tag meant, but the others seemed happy for her, so he should be too. “Thank you, Kara, I’ll definitely treasure them,” he smiled at the cat, who was reveling in a job well done.
“You better. You don’t know how difficult it was to make it in such a short amount of time,” Kara boasted.
“One question though,” Matt said, as all eyes went on him. “What does ‘upgradeable’ mean? It went from Rare to Epic, yet nothing else changed. Is that the upgrade?” he asked.
The three cats kept staring at him like he’d grown a new head, before Tara burst out laughing one more time.
Kara was the one to answer, a smile plastered on her face, “You truly know nothing about the system. It’s very unusual.”
“By Bastet’s name… he doesn’t even know how valuable that item is,” Lara spoke for the first time during their little gathering, with Tara still unable to control her laughter.
Kara sighed at her sister’s reaction before finally explaining things to a baffled looking Matt. “Improving an item’s rarity or evolving it to a higher tier can be done for any item as long as you have the time, resources and, especially, an experienced crafter. The final result is usually increased stats or a minor increase in its effect or ability.” Matt followed along, things making sense so far. “Upgradability, however, means the entire effect or ability could be upgraded, or it could gain an extra effect, all without the need for a crafter nor resources. All you have to do is keep using the item and eventually the upgrade will trigger. Which is why it’s extremely valuable on a stat boosting item. If the stat boost ability received an added layer or a major increase, the item could become one of a kind. Also, the item becoming epic would've been accompanied by more stats, but I had to actively block that from happening to keep the gift within rules,” Kara finished, Matt finally seeing how truly impressive the item was.
They had mentioned more than once how rare a stat boosting item was, so making one stronger had to be a big deal, especially with how Tara had described stats and how they impacted each other.
Matt would be lying if he said he had understood the value or importance of the item at the time. He just saw it gave stats at the cost of a health drain, which was something he could easily remedy. And while he still might not be able to truly appreciate the value of the item, especially with his lacking frame of reference, he was thankful to the cats. They seemed to have gone above and beyond what was expected just to make sure the item was something he could use for a while, while also being proud of what they had done, so he would do the same.
“Thank you, Kara. I might not have the experience to appreciate your talent or what you’ve accomplished, but do know that I’m very grateful, same for you Tara,” he thanked the cats, a genuine smile on his face, because truth be told, he was genuinely thankful. Even if he couldn’t appreciate the items, they had no reason to try to skirt the rules for his gift, and that alone was enough reason for him to be grateful.
“Think nothing of it, human. Just make sure you do not die before our next meeting,” Kara told him.
“You’re welcome,” was Tara’s response.
Matt chuckled slightly as they all exchanged niceties before all heads turned to Lara.
She looked like a deer caught in headlights as she simply stood, wholly unmoving.
Post map coordinates in author notes when he makes it to certain places?
