Aaron sat, legs crossed, meditating in the courtyard of the academy. It had taken him two full weeks, reaching out to countless people to learn about every different anchor type. And to make matters worse, some had been less willing to share their secrets.
Unfortunately, fame came with downsides. The moment many people inspected Aaron and saw who he was, they saw a giant dollar sign walking around. Which mightn’t have been an issue if Aaron had prioritized wealth creation, but he hadn’t. In fact, he barely had any credits at all.
Luckily, he had an academy backing him up.
“Send the bill to the academy,” he had said on more than a few occasions.
Even with his gigantic talent, it had been a difficult couple of weeks of training. Some anchors even seemed opposed to one another, and after training one, the other got harder.
But in the end, he had collected all the information he needed, and was quite grateful for the sprawling city. It would have no doubt taken much longer in Dober.
Aaron couldn’t wait around to learn every anchor naturally, though. And he had taken many visits to the markets and stores to purchase large amounts of mana cores to help speed along his training.
“You’re here for more?”
“Yep, load me up, and send the bill to the academy!” Aaron cheerfully said and took the cores to go train.
This is it. Time to gain insight into the remaining anchor.
Aaron closed his eyes and meditated, draining the core and cycling it through his body and anchors.
“Another finished,” Aaron muttered casually, throwing away a drained core and grabbing another. “Just a little more.”
Within an hour or so, there was a new pile of drained cores as he trained.
“What is this? You’ve barely been back, and you’ve already drained that many cores?” The head of the academy gasped as he walked into the courtyard. “Beg my pardon, Aaron. We thank you for helping our students, but this… this is… how are we meant to cover all of this? You’ve already outstripped our tuition fees… and now you have more cores?”
“Huh?” Aaron eased an eye open. “But I thought—”
The man looked like he was about to faint. “What do you mean you thought? We said it was all good a week ago! That didn’t mean you had an unlimited budget to spend whatever you wanted and leave us paying the tab! I mean, who knew you could drain through so many so quickly?”
Aaron grimaced. Perhaps he had gotten a little carried away. “I’m sorry? I’m sure Dober can send some funds to help you out.”
He hadn’t intended to put the man in such a state, but he knew he was close to another breakthrough, and reached out and grabbed another core. Focusing on it, he could feel the energy passing through his anchors. He was so close. Just one last anchor to discover, and he would have them all.
“You’re going again? I’m never going to financially recover from this,” the headmaster said, and collapsed.
“You okay?” Aaron asked as he drained the mana, cycling it through his core, and going over what he had about the mana anchor, following the instructions he had paid for.
You have gained insight into a possible upgrade path for Mana Anchors. Current discovered upgrade paths:
Streamlined Mana Anchors (15%)
Partitioned Mana Anchors (45%)
Reverse Mana Anchors (10%)
Elemental Shift (Void) (15%)
Expanded Mana Anchors (10%)
Imbuing Mana Anchors (15%)
Detached Mana Anchors (5%)
Combined Mana Anchors (10%)
Focused Mana Anchors (10%)
Diffusive Mana Anchors (5%)
“Mate, would you look at that! Finally, I got them all,” Aaron said with a satisfied grin. “It took a while, but I think this will be worth it.”
“Aaaagh…” the headmaster groaned.
Aaron got up, but before he could even leave the academy, a runner for Mork and Gork arrived, storming into the courtyard.
“They want to see me? Sure. Lead the way.”
“This damn thing! Why won’t it just fucking work!” Gork shouted through the workshop walls.
“Because you’re doing it all wrong, ya dumbass!”
“I see you two haven’t changed. As lovely as ever.”
“Oh, look, our humy friend.”
“About time ya got here. Look at this! Gork is fucking everything up again,” Mork pointed at the armor.
“Wait, stand back,” Aaron said. “I can already feel where you’re going wrong.”
Aaron said, placing his palms against the armor, cycling aether through it. Within seconds, he had altered the residual aether within the armor, using a similar technique to what he did with the obelisks, and it seemed to activate something.
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“How’d ya do that? I can feel it. Just a little more work and it’ll be finished.”
“Aether control. I have an idea. Do you have any of that aether rock I gave you left?”
“Yeah,” Mork said, running off to collect it and returning. “We's already used most of it for your gear. But here are some scraps we’s have left over.”
Aaron took the aether rock and focused on it, altering its stored energy with his own aether. “Here, take it. I basically did what I do when cleansing the obelisks to the rock. But instead of cleansing it, since it's not corrupted, I stored my aether within the rock using a little inspiration from my imbued anchors. It seems to be stable. Just hold the rock and focus on it while working on the armor. It should help you attune the aether so that it is naturally cleansing.”
“I can already feel it. This might actually work! We’s be lost without you, Aaron!”
“You might be, Gork! Not me!”
“Anyway, now that that’s sorted, how’s my gear going?”
“Come, look. We’s already completed it! We’s did our homeworks, too. Took inspiration from humy heroes to make the best suit we could. You gonna be impressed! And most importantly, as you requested, no more shorts!”
“I like where you’re going with… what the fuck, Mork? What is this? I said no shorts. I didn’t say I wanted to look like a crocodile fucking dundee!”
“What? You’s don’t like?”
“This was not what I had in mind,” Aaron said, gritting his teeth, so as not to sound too unappreciative.
“But-but–we even spent system credits to purchase missives on you’s people. We checked historical databases. This not an easy task, Aaron Dober! So many of you’s people wearing shorts. Football shorts, soldiers in shorts. Celebrity icons in shorts. So many shorts. The list goes on. But we’s found this one! We’s thought you would appreciate…”
“I’m… sorry, lost for words…” Aaron muttered, realizing how common shorts were in his culture. Perhaps he needed to be a little more careful with instructions.
“Yes,” Mork nodded. “But we’s found one very famous and well known peoples who don’t wear shorts! We even purchased some croc leather as a favor. In return for helping us with the armor! It cost us a small fortune. They’s say it was a peak D-grade beast, and a strong one at that. It took the entire adventurer’s guild here in town to take it down. And they’s were not parting with the leather cheaply.”
“You paid a lot of money for this?” Aaron groaned, knowing that he wasn’t going to have a lot of choice.
“Yes, many moneys.”
Sleeveless Aethrodite and Croc Leather Vest [ Mythical ] [ Part 1 of 5 ]
Created from a combination of the Mythical metal, Aethrodite, and the leather of a powerful Croc, this sleeveless vest provides both ventilation and supreme protection against attacks while providing many boons to the wielder.
Provides: Moderate Physical Resistance, Moderate Heat Resistance, Minor Poison Resistance, Minor Cold Resistance, Improved Aether Conductivity, +500 Vitality, +300 Strength, +300 Agility, +500 Charisma, +500 physical attraction.
When worn as a complete set, the user gains an additional 10% bonus on all boons provided by the equipment.
Aaron groaned. He could live with his arms on display; he’d already been doing it. But did he really want to be walking around with his chest out? Especially after everything that had happened on Centurion Prime. And did he have to wear the hat? Or the necklace?
“What about the hat?”
“You’s might be a little disappointed. But we’s know you’s gonna love this, Aaron! We made it into a set! This very hard to do. But the Mythical materials really helped us. It made making a set much easier! Look at all the boons it provides when worn together! Really amazing, isn’t it?”
Aethrodite and Croc Leather Pants [ Mythical ] [ Part 2 of 5 ]
Created from a combination of the Mythical metal, Aethrodite, and the leather of a powerful Croc, these pants have been especially upgraded to be 100% chafe-free.
Provides: Improved Aether Conductivity, +200 Vitality, +150 Strength, +150 Agility, +200 Charisma, +100 physical attraction.
When worn as a complete set, the user gains an additional 10% bonus on all boons provided by the equipment.
Aethrodite and Croc Leather Bush Hat [ Mythical ] [ Part 3 of 5 ]
Created from a combination of the Mythical metal, Aethrodite, and the leather of a powerful Croc, this bush hat provides style without compromising on utility.
Provides: Improved Aether Conductivity, +200 Vitality, +150 Strength, +150 Agility, +150 Charisma, +100 physical attraction.
When worn as a complete set, the user gains an additional 10% bonus on all boons provided by the equipment.
Aethrodite and Croc Leather Boots [ Mythical ] [ Part 4 of 5 ]
Created from a combination of the Mythical metal, Aethrodite, and the leather of a powerful Croc, these boots bring together a priceless look while being extremely practical.
Provides: Improved Aether Conductivity, +200 Vitality, +150 Strength, +150 Agility, +200 Charisma, +100 physical attraction.
When worn as a complete set, the user gains an additional 10% bonus on all boons provided by the equipment.
Aethrodite and Croc Tooth Necklace [ Mythical ] [ Part 5 of 5 ]
Created from a combination of the Mythical metal, Aethrodite, and the fangs of a powerful Croc, this eye-catching necklace draws looks wherever it goes, making the wearer almost irresistible to unguarded gazes.
Provides: Improved Aether Conductivity, +500 physical attraction.
When worn as a complete set, the user gains an additional 10% bonus on all boons provided by the equipment.
“Are you fuckings serious, mate? I am going to have to wear it all, aren’t I? What were you thinking with those gauntlets? Bloody hell!”
“Something matter, Aaron? They not completely finished yet, but we’s thought you’d like the gauntlets.”
Aaron's jaw dropped, uncertain how to reply. The gauntlets looked like some kind of glam rock gloves, except that the spikes had been removed and replaced by knives that were clearly inspired by Dundee. Like some kind of Dundee Wolverine crossover. And judging by Mork’s bouncing brows, the little goblin was very impressed with his work.
“With those gauntlets… I’m… I’m going to look like the bastard child of Dundee, Gene Simmons, and Wolverine… Maybe shorts wouldn’t have been so bad,” he groaned.
“What's you talking about? They’re badass!” Gork said. “Mork finally did something that looks cool!”
“Hey, dumbass! What you saying? But Gork is actually right for once. This is badass.”
“Remind me to never trust goblin fashion. And also, why did I need more physical attraction? I asked for combat gear.”
“Well… umm, we’s thought you would appreciate it? You’s need good breeder. These boons will help you find one!”
“Mate, first of all, humans don’t appreciate being called breeders. And secondly, I’ve got more important things to deal with. Like saving our world, and defending it from greedy gods. I hardly need to worry about attracting attention…”
Aaron remembered his dancing fans back in the studio on Centurion Prime, and a shiver traced his spine. At least they couldn’t watch what happened on his world.
I’m going to need to get another outfit before I get dragged into more System bullshit.
“Umm, Aaron.”
“Yeah, mate?”
“Like we’s said about the croc leather. Cost a fortune. More than we’s expected. We’s know you helped us a lot, but we’s gonna need some credits to cover the bill.”
“Can I get back to you on that one? I don’t carry a lot on me. But I’m sure I can get Dober to cover it,” Aaron said with a grimace.
“Not a problem. We don’t normally take credit, but for you we can make an exception.”
He turned. The gauntlets would be finished soon, and he wanted to check in with Ernest before heading back to Dober, but he caught himself in the workshop mirror and sighed.
Why couldn’t he just look normal for once?
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