The Stone of Omnipotence

The Stone of Omnipotence.

A stone that granted an item additional options. It could be attached and detached at will, so its worth was something no price could ever measure.

The reason he had saved the Stone of Omnipotence for last was simple. His expectations were that high. Of course, had it been the stone alone, he would never have been this restless.

The Primal Shabby Cloak. An item exclusive to the Primordial Player — a cloak he had obtained by paying the price under Ner's sponsorship. If he socketed the Stone of Omnipotence into it, what kind of option would it gain?

There was no point in drawing it out. He set to work at once. In truth, it hardly deserved to be called work. Press the stone against the item, and that was the end of it.

Yujun took off the Primal Shabby Cloak and used the Stone of Omnipotence.

Fwat!

The appearance was unchanged. It grew no more splendid, and it looked no more impressive.

Looks aren't what matter on an item.

He called up the cloak's information.

"This is insane."

With the Stone of Omnipotence's options included, the increase to all stats came to 75%. Honestly — could an item like this even exist?

So the stone takes to a cloak as well. Thank goodness.

This was the first time he had learned that a Stone of Omnipotence could be socketed into a cloak. It stood to reason. Even on his No-Pay Casual Gamer character, he had possessed only a single one. The stone was that rare, that difficult to obtain. Holding three of them now could only be called abnormal.

But... the chance of an attack landing drops? What is that supposed to mean?

In a game, he would have understood. Evasion rate had actually existed. This, however, was reality, not a game. By what means was it supposed to let him dodge an attack he couldn't avoid? He couldn't make sense of it at all.

Don't tell me it only says that, and the option doesn't actually apply.

The thought that the system might have displayed it wrong made Yujun impatient.

"Manuela."

"E-eh? What?!"

At his call, Manuela, who had been watching from a distance, jumped in fright.

"Why so startled? I've got a favor to ask."

"A favor? What kind?"

"Attack me."

"Huh? You want me to attack you?"

"Yeah. I'm asking."

"...Why all of a sudden?"

"There's something I want to check. I can't do it alone. I need you."

"You need me?"

"That's what I said. You want me to say it twice?"

"Fine! I'll help!"

Manuela broke into a bright smile and drew up her mana.

"How strong should I make it?"

"As strong as you can."

"...You sure that's all right?"

"Yeah."

"You won't get hurt?"

"You think you can hurt me?"

It wasn't arrogance. It might have sounded insolent, but his defense let him shrug off most attacks without a scratch. Even the self-destruct attack of a God's Minion had failed to deal him any damage. An explosion had gone off right in front of his eyes, and he had come through perfectly fine. So he was confident.

"Really? You're really okay?"

"I'm fine. I don't like pain either. Don't worry — just do it."

"...All right."

Manuela's eyes hardened with resolve, the look of someone who had steeled herself. Yujun felt no unease. He trusted his defense. It was an iron fortress no attack could breach.

Manuela thrust her small hand straight forward.

In that instant—

"..."

What. She's going that far?

Cutting defense is cheating.

Then again... is that not a debuff?

Thanks to the Primal Shabby Cloak, he could resist every curse and debuff. Whatever Manuela had cast on him, however, did not seem to have been judged a debuff. The system had recognized it as a buff.

So she knew curses don't work on me.

How did she know? Had he ever told her? He could say with certainty that he had not.

She must have tried cursing me when I wasn't looking. This ungrateful little—

He understood, in a way. He had been Manuela's enemy to begin with. It wasn't hard to imagine her failing to hold her anger in check and using a curse. Of course, all of this was Yujun's speculation, and none of it was true. Manuela had simply been aware that he possessed the Equanimity trait, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and that was why she had granted him the Blessing of the Fervent Warrior. Not knowing that, Yujun couldn't help but feel betrayed.

Taking an item out of his inventory would have nullified the blessing applied to him, but he didn't bother.

I'll just take one hit.

He was curious too — whether Manuela's attack would get through even with his defense slashed by such a huge percentage.

Manuela conjured a black flame. It burned and seethed, pouring out heat so fierce the air around it warped.

Take that head-on, and it won't end at mere pain.

But that was for other players. Yujun was different. His defense was high, and his magic resistance was considerable as well.

"I'm really doing it!"

"Yeah. Hurry up."

Fwoosh! Boom!

The black flame shot forward and collided with Yujun's body.

I can't dodge this at all.

He had simply stood still, and of course the magic struck him dead on. The pain was no more than a faint itch. The damage might as well have been nothing, and his armor wasn't even scorched. The lack of damage wasn't what mattered. What mattered was that the cloak's option had not activated.

It never said it would dodge unconditionally. Maybe I just got unlucky this time.

It could have been a matter of probability, so he didn't jump to a conclusion.

"Manuela. One more time."

"...You're not hurt, are you?"

"No. You can see for yourself. I'm fine. It doesn't even tickle."

"..."

At his words, Manuela pouted, her pride a little stung.

"Then I'll do it the same as just now?"

"Yeah."

Fwoosh!

Was it his imagination? The fireball looked bigger than before. This time the black flame came flying without any warning, and faster than the last.

KA-BOOM!

The explosion was considerable. Even Yujun felt a stinging across his whole body, as if needles were pricking him.

She pierced my defense?

He was slightly startled. Setting aside the fact that evasion still hadn't triggered, had Manuela's magic always been this strong?

A pure-blooded witch who's lived for thousands of years would be strong, sure, but...

He hadn't thought she would be this much. Even with his defense dropped by 40%, it remained on a level no one else could match. The fact that Yujun had felt pain was proof of just how outstanding her attack power was.

Not bad.

After that, he kept asking her to hit him with magic. The evasion effect never activated even once. Once the same result had repeated more than ten times, he began to think differently.

So it doesn't dodge on its own, regardless of my will.

Then did his movements grow sharper whenever he tried to evade?

He tested that too. When Manuela's attack came flying, he moved just enough to let it graze past, taking a single step. In that moment, the trajectory of the black fireball — on a path that might or might not have touched him — bent ever so slightly. In the end, it passed him by without ever making contact.

This is it.

He checked several more times after that and came to a perfect understanding of the evasion option the Stone of Omnipotence had granted the cloak. In a state where dodging was utterly impossible, the cloak's effect did not activate. Instead, it triggered when he had already committed to an evasive motion and the attack was still about to hit him by a hair. Only when that condition was met did the option activate — and even then, not every time.

So it's not invincibility.

Yujun wasn't disappointed. The additional option the cloak had gained from the Stone of Omnipotence was plenty broken. Rather than consciously activating a skill, having a correction applied according to his movements was far more convenient in actual combat.

Not bad.

It was as good as gaining a lifeline that would save him more than once in a moment of absolute crisis.

"We're done, so cancel the blessing."

"Okay."

"By the way, didn't you say earlier you had something to tell me?"

"Ah, that. I'll tell you later."

"Yeah? All right."

When he answered so indifferently, Manuela's expression shifted in a subtle way.

"...No. I'll give it to you now."

"Give it? What? What are you giving me?"

Yujun's attitude flipped in an instant, and he smiled.

"...You're too close."

"What is it you're giving me? Tell me."

"Wait a second."

Manuela took something out of her inventory. It was a pale gray stone, shaped with exquisite precision, as if someone had carved it by hand.

"What's this?"

"An enchant stone."

"...Don't tell me."

"Yeah. Looks like it's for enhancing weapons."

"Where'd you get it?"

"I made it."

"This? You did?"

"It just... happened to get made. The Imagined Prophecy helped too."

He had been wondering why it never showed up. Weapon enhancement — wasn't that a system any RPG ought to have? War of the Gods had never possessed a system for enhancing items, not until the day the servers shut down. He had wondered why they never made one. Maybe there simply hadn't been any particular reason.

"An enchant stone... Has the time finally come for me to put my luck to proper use?"

"...Huh? No."

"What do you mean?"

"This one just applies at a hundred percent."

"What? Let me see."

"Here. It's yours."

"You're giving it to me?"

"I said I would."

"Why?"

"Just... because I'm grateful. Always."

Manuela twisted a lock of hair around her finger, looking shy.

"That so. Thanks."

He could hardly refuse when she was offering it out of gratitude. Yujun accepted the gift without protest and checked the enchant stone's information at once.

"A special option?"

So it wasn't an enhancement stone. Yujun was thoroughly disappointed. He had thought he might make a weapon of +10 or higher. It seemed the stone would simply grant a special option and be done.

"I'll use it right away."

Even so, it was clearly an item that would help him immediately. Yujun pressed the enchant stone against the Absolute Sovereign's Sword. The stone sank into the pure white blade and vanished, as if it were being absorbed.

He checked the sword's information.

Even so, the Absolute Sovereign's Sword's options were astonishing every time he looked at them. How did it have all of these?

The claim that the cloak was the best — retracted. Among the items he possessed, nothing compared to the Absolute Sovereign's Sword. Comparing a cloak and a sword in the first ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠place had been absurd. Unlike the sword, his main equipment, the cloak felt more like a bonus-slot item.

Let's see. The special effect is a 250% increase to attribute attacks. Total attack power up 10%...

Yujun broke into a wide grin. The enchant stone's effect had surpassed what he expected. A rise in base attack power was good, but what pleased him most was the increase to the power of every attribute attack. And for good reason.

That means Chaos just got several times stronger.

He had only obtained Chaos recently. Considering how often he would be using it from now on, the enchant stone was as good as a tremendous stroke ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of luck.

"Thank ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you, Manuela."

Yujun thanked her sincerely. To simply hand over an item like this as a gift — honestly, if it had been him, he would never have given someone a present with nothing in return.

"Do you like it?"

"Yeah. A lot."

"...Then I'm glad."

Manuela smiled, shy.