“Huh?”
Yan’s expression clouded with confusion.
“A Saintess? What does that even mean?”
“And what does that have to do with you becoming a crafter, Sis-in-law?”
Suo Liya chuckled softly, her hand covering her mouth, as if she had anticipated Yan’s surprised reaction.
“This game truly is incredible…”
Her gaze drifted to the armor slowly taking shape on the forging table, a faint smile gracing her lips as if lost in thought.
“On the Sky Platform in the City of Beginnings, all players obtain their first Companion Skill there, right?”
She turned her head, her bright eyes fixed on Yan as she posed the question.
“That’s correct…”
‘Isn’t that common knowledge in this game?’
Yan nodded hesitantly, utterly bewildered as to why Suo Liya had suddenly brought this up.
“As expected, most players experience it that way…”
Suo Liya offered a knowing smile, her eyes once again settling on the translucent forging table.
Just as Yan found himself utterly perplexed, she spoke again, her voice slow and deliberate.
“However, what I received wasn’t a Companion Skill.”
“Eh?”
In that instant, Yan recalled his own experience of acquiring two Companion Skills on the Sky Platform, and he stared at Suo Liya, utterly stunned.
‘Could it be that she, like me, also encountered a bug?’
Suo Liya met Yan’s astonished gaze with a soft smile.
“What I obtained was an identity, named [Saintess].”
“Perhaps calling it an identity isn’t quite accurate; it might be better described as a Companion Skill formed from the overlapping of several others, wouldn’t you say?”
Suo Liya tilted her head slightly, a hint of confusion gracing her features.
“Well, I don’t really play much anymore anyway, and since Yan and Tian Jiu are An Dong’s friends, there’s no harm in telling you.”
She glanced at the curious expressions on the faces of the two people before her and smiled faintly.
Raising her hand, she swiped open an interface, displaying her Companion Skills without any reservation.
“[Companion Identity: Saintess]:”
“Companion Skill [Divine Healing]: All healing effects are amplified by 80%, usable once every five minutes.”
“Companion Skill [Curse Dispelling]: All healing skills cast by the Saintess come with the effect of dispelling negative statuses.”
“Companion Skill [Saintess’s Blessing]: Allows any skill possessed by the Saintess (excluding Companion-tier skills) to be inscribed into special equipment. Players wearing such equipment can unconditionally use the skill within, with the skill’s effects determined by the Saintess’s own attributes.”
‘A Companion Identity? What on earth is that? It doesn’t sound like a bug, unlike my situation…’
‘In this game, ‘Companion Realm’, are there actually three types of Companion-tier systems, beyond just Companion Skills and Companion Equipment!?’
‘I’ve never heard of anything like this, neither on the official website nor the forums!’
Yan stroked his chin, a look of deep perplexity on his face as he pondered intently.
He was certain that during the old server days, no such ‘Companion Identity’ title had ever appeared; given his past obsession with the game, it would have been impossible for him not to know.
‘Is this a new product after the version update? Or is it exclusive to the new server?’
‘Come to think of it… having three Companion-tier skills right at the start of the server…’
‘The sheer overpowered nature of this feels no weaker than a bugged player like myself…’
‘And she actually chose to quit the game? What a pity.’
Yan raised an eyebrow slightly, casting a glance at Suo Liya.
“While having three Companion Skills right from the start sounds incredibly powerful, the system gave me an additional warning after I obtained the [Saintess] Companion Identity.”
Suo Liya seemed to understand what Yan was thinking, and a helpless, wry smile touched her lips.
“[Saintess] cannot acquire new Companion-tier skills.”
‘Oh, so that’s it. Does that mean players with a ‘Companion Identity’ have no further room for growth in terms of Companion Skills?’
‘It serves as a limitation for a [Saintess] who starts with three Companion Skills.’
“So then, what exactly is the connection between this [Saintess] Companion Identity and you becoming a crafter, Sis-in-law?”
Yan steered the conversation back, unable to grasp it; from his perspective, the first two of the Saintess’s three Companion Skills seemed entirely combat-oriented…
“The key lies in the third Companion Skill, [Saintess’s Blessing].”
Suo Liya offered a slight smile, resolving Yan’s confusion.
“Yan, you should know that blacksmiths have a certain chance of forging special equipment, right?”
“Are you referring to the Special Forging feature that unlocks at Level 5 Blacksmithing proficiency?”
“Precisely.”
Yan’s eyes lit up as understanding dawned on him.
Special Forging, a function unlocked when a blacksmith’s proficiency reaches Level 5, allows a specific characteristic of the crafting materials to be maximized, resulting in equipment of ‘Special Equipment’ grade.
For instance, an accessory crafted using Special Forging might originally have attributes like Attack Speed +10% and Stability +5%; after Special Forging, it could potentially manifest as Attack Speed +50% or Stability +35%, with the other attribute remaining unchanged.
This was akin to a mutation, a gamble-like enhancement of a single attribute on a piece of equipment.
For most players, such equipment would at best serve as a temporary 过渡 (TL Note: A transitional item used until a better, permanent one is acquired) piece; its overall effectiveness couldn’t compare to a full ‘endgame set’, as the two combined attributes of an endgame set were generally far superior to a single enhanced attribute.
However, for a player like An Dong, who specialized in abnormal status resistance tanks, it was a different story.
Moreover, Suo Liya possessed the Companion Skill [Saintess’s Blessing], which allowed her to add a skill to ‘Special Equipment’…
Realizing this, Yan couldn’t help but grin. He gazed at the armor on the forging table, now fully formed, and a flicker of anticipation stirred within him.
Perhaps Suo Liya could indeed forge the perfect equipment for An Dong.
“Hmm, it should be done now.”
Suo Liya’s fair right hand opened, and with a gentle wave towards the forging table, the already-formed armor vanished in an instant. She then gleefully examined the armor that appeared in her inventory, turning to An Dong with a hint of surprise.
“Wow, I actually forged five pieces! It’s all thanks to Yan and the others for gathering so many materials.”
Hearing this, An Dong’s face lit up with excitement. He eagerly rubbed his hands together, awaiting Suo Liya to present the newly forged armor.
“With so many pieces, there should be some rather good special attributes, shouldn’t there?”
Suo Liya said with a smile, retrieving the armor pieces one by one from her inventory.
It had to be said, the armor crafted by Suo Liya was truly striking in appearance. Hard, jet-black steel plates covered most of the armor, while the joints, such as the elbows and wrists, revealed light gray leather linings, making it seem both sturdy and surprisingly agile.
Yan could easily envision An Dong in this armor, resembling a dark knight who had forsaken the holy order, imbued with a hint of the sinister charm of an angel fallen into Lucifer’s form.
“Hmm… let’s see, ‘Armor +30%, Spirit Blood +10%’… Ugh, terrible attributes. Next one.”
Suo Liya scanned the armor’s attribute panel, pursed her lips in a dismissive expression, and promptly tossed the piece aside before pulling another from her inventory.
“Hey, hey, that’s such a waste!”
An Dong, standing nearby, quickly caught the armor Suo Liya had discarded, speaking with a hint of helplessness.
“Hmm… ‘Crowd Control Reduction +30%, Spirit Blood +5%’… Ah, just a little short. What a pity.”
What Yan considered a rather good piece of abnormal status resistance tank equipment was casually tossed aside by Suo Liya after she deemed it “a pity,” prompting An Dong to quickly drop the previous armor to the ground and catch this one.
“I say…”
An Dong opened his mouth, seemingly about to retort, but was immediately silenced by one of Suo Liya’s “fierce” glares, closing his mouth and daring not to speak further.
“Third piece… ‘Defense +1000, Crowd Control Reduction +5%’. Strong, but not the defense I’m looking for. Discard…”
“Fourth piece… ‘Crowd Control Reduction +5%, Spirit Blood +5%’. What’s this? Isn’t this the worst basic attribute?”
“Fifth piece, oh! This one’s good!”
Before even retrieving the last piece of armor from her inventory, Suo Liya exclaimed excitedly.
“Huh? What is it, what is it?”
An Dong eagerly leaned closer, his eyes brimming with anticipation.
“Hehe, this is my greatest masterpiece to date!”
Suo Liya beamed triumphantly, mischievously drawing out the suspense.
“Oh! Your greatest masterpiece!”
An Dong clenched his fists, watching her with immense excitement.
“Ta-da!”
Suo Liya, as if performing a magic trick, pulled the final piece of armor from her inventory. Though its appearance was no different from the previous four, An Dong instinctively sensed something unique about this particular piece. He nervously swallowed, holding his breath as he stared intently at the armor.
Suo Liya smiled, displaying the armor’s attribute panel before everyone’s eyes.
“Special Equipment: [Blacklight War Helm]”
“Crowd Control Reduction +75% Spirit Blood +5%”
“Oh-oh-oh!”
Upon seeing these attributes, An Dong and Yan simultaneously let out excited cries.
“Holy cow, seriously? That Crowd Control Reduction?”
Yan exclaimed excitedly, pressing his hands on the table, utterly disregarding his image.
“Exactly! While the Spirit Blood +5% attribute is a bit lackluster, this Crowd Control Reduction alone is enough to last me until Level 150!”
An Dong spread his arms, almost collapsing to his knees as if to worship this piece of equipment as a divine miracle.
“Hehehe, aren’t I amazing?”
Suo Liya chuckled triumphantly, her bright eyes fixed on An Dong, seemingly yearning for his praise.
“Ha! Wife, you’re absolutely incredible! You truly are my adorable and capable Suo Liya!”
An Dong, in a burst of excitement, lifted Suo Liya high above his head. Despite Suo Liya being of a normal build at 1.6 meters tall, An Dong’s powerful, muscular arms easily hoisted her up as if she were a child.
“Oh, really… Q-quickly, put me down.”
Suspended in the air, Suo Liya blushed, her voice a shy, playful murmur. Only then did An Dong calm his excited spirits and gently place Suo Liya back onto her seat.
“Well then, no time to lose, I’ll equip it right now.”
An Dong could barely contain his excitement; he wanted to wear the [Blacklight War Helm] immediately.
“You’re impossible, here.”
Suo Liya chuckled, shaking her head helplessly, and handed the jet-black armor to An Dong.
A flash of light later, the armor on An Dong’s body instantly transformed into the [Blacklight War Helm]. Just as Yan had imagined, the towering An Dong, clad in this armor, exuded both the reassuring fortitude of a Templar Knight and a hint of the sinister allure of a fallen dark knight—a truly dashing sight.
“Congratulations, Brother An Dong! With this, your abnormal status resistance tank build is essentially complete.”
Yan said with a smile.
“Well, well, while Crowd Control Reduction and Tenacity (Abnormal Status Resistance) are still different, for now, I’ll just honestly be happy for a bit! Hahaha!”
An Dong, now sporting his new equipment, flashed his usual confident and hearty smile, seemingly certain of victory in tonight’s finals.
‘If only that were truly the case.’