Adventure: My Skills Evolve Infinitely

The Hidden Attributes were basically the same as the previous piece—one was Ice and the other was Flame, but they were identical in every other way.

Even the Equipment Amplification was similar; both increased Magic Power by 6 points when using Magic of the corresponding element.

’So, which one should I choose?’

To be honest, Lin Mo found it difficult to choose between two such similar pieces of equipment.

He had more Fire Magic spells in his arsenal, but his progress with Ice Magic was faster—he already had the Excellent Level skill, Blizzard.

Furthermore, in terms of appearance, Lin Mo’s personality made him lean toward the latter.

He wasn’t the type to be flashy, and the white-and-blue color scheme better suited his tastes.

So, in the end, he chose the second piece: the Frost Cold Robe.

He changed into it on the spot. As soon as he put on the Mage Robe, it automatically adjusted its size for a perfect fit.

’As expected of Excellent Level equipment.’

"So handsome!"

Seeing Lin Mo appear in the Mage Robe, Ali’s eyes lit up.

Lin Mo was already quite handsome, with a well-proportioned figure—broad shoulders, a slim waist, and long legs. Now, dressed in the form-fitting Mage Robe, he gave off an even more refined and gentle aura.

He had nailed the sophisticated look completely.

Lin Mo smiled back at her, saying everything without a word.

Next was selecting his second piece of Excellent Level equipment. Based on his earlier analysis, it was best to choose gear that would provide an upgrade from a baseline of zero.

That ruled out a Sword and Armor.

The remaining options were boots, a Helmet, and Accessories.

He could rule out the Helmet option as well, since there weren’t any suitable Magic Hats. That left a choice between boots and Accessories.

Although these two types of gear used fewer materials, their value wasn’t necessarily lower than that of Weapons or Armor.

The smaller the item, the harder it was to preserve the raw material’s properties and apply an Enchantment. As a result, the final value of such pieces was largely comparable.

Of course, gear for magic-users was generally much more expensive.

So Lin Mo focused his attention there.

Soon, he found a promising piece of gear.

[Flame Ring]

Type: Magic Equipment / Accessory

Level: Excellent (Blue)

Attributes: Durability +70%, Sturdiness +40%

Hidden Attribute: Fire Storage III: Can store a portion of Fire Elemental Magic Power for direct use when needed. Magic Power capacity is equivalent to two Excellent Level spells (or 32 Ordinary Level spells / 8 Superior Level spells).

Equipment Skill: Flame Barrier: Automatically triggers upon receiving a powerful attack, forming a flame barrier to block damage. The barrier lasts for 30 seconds and has a long cooldown after use (12 hours).

’A very good, very interesting piece of gear.’

The craftsmanship wasn’t great, but that wasn’t important for an accessory.

’The key lies in the Hidden Attribute and the Equipment Skill... That’s right, this piece doesn’t have an Equipment Amplification. It has an Equipment Skill instead.’

This was the first time Lin Mo had ever seen equipment with a Skill.

What’s more, it was an automatically triggered, life-saving Skill. Given the item’s Excellent Level quality, the Flame Barrier was bound to be powerful.

’The ability to store Fire Elemental Magic Power, on the other hand, seems a bit lackluster.’

’It’s not that it’s useless. Rather, my main problem right now isn’t a lack of Magic Power, but a lack of Spirit.’

Although the mental strain from using Magic was nowhere near a one-to-one ratio with the cost, it was still about half. In other words, with Lin Mo’s current 47 points of Total Magic Power, he needed at least 23 to 24 Spirit to keep the Magic Power consumption and mental strain roughly balanced.

’So, for now at least, storing Magic Power isn’t that useful.’

But the Flame Barrier Skill alone made it valuable enough.

Reality wasn’t a game; you couldn’t just focus on maximizing damage. Survival was always the top priority.

Lin Mo added the Flame Ring to his list of candidates and kept looking.

After skipping past a few mediocre items, his eyes landed on another impressive piece of gear.

[Peaceful Spirit Bracelet]

Type: Magic Equipment / Accessory

Level: Excellent (Blue)

Attributes: Durability +80%, Sturdiness +40%

Hidden Attribute: Soothing God III: Wearing the bracelet continuously nourishes one’s Spirit, increasing Spirit recovery speed by 20%.

Equipment Amplification: Solid Soul III: Reduces mental strain from using Magic by 15% and mitigates the effects of spirit-based attacks by 25%.

Holy cow!

Lin Mo’s eyes lit up immediately.

’This one is on another level!’

’Increases Spirit recovery, lowers the mental strain of using Magic, and even defends against psychic attacks.’

’For me, this is practically a piece of divine gear!’

One of Lin Mo’s biggest problems right now was the mental strain that limited his use of Magic.

This piece of gear could solve nearly half of that problem, which was more than good enough.

Besides, percentage-based bonuses like this would remain useful as he grew stronger, making it a better long-term investment.

"I want this one!"

Without a moment’s hesitation, Lin Mo chose the Peaceful Spirit Bracelet as his second piece of Excellent Level equipment.

’Still, that Flame Ring from before would be a great fit for me too, to be honest.’

The effective limit for this type of accessory was exactly two. Any more, and it was said their energies would repel each other, drastically reducing their effectiveness to the point where wearing only two was better.

By the same token, the total limit for equipped items, including a weapon, was seven pieces.

Generally, this meant a helmet or hat, a weapon, armor, boots, a cloak, and two accessories.

However, Magic Professions and some Ranger Assassins would opt to swap the Cloak for Cloth Armor worn over Leather Armor, like a Mage Robe.

Lin Mo really wanted to get his hands on the Flame Ring, too.

So he turned to the vice president of the Adventurer’s Association and asked, "By the way, is the equipment here for sale?"

The man paused for a moment before replying, "You can, if you want. What are you looking to buy?"

"How much for the Flame Ring?"

The vice president glanced at it. "Accessories for magic users are generally quite expensive. The asking price for this Flame Ring is 1,000 gold coins. You’re a Bronze Level Adventurer, so I can give you a five percent discount. That makes it 950 Gold Coins."

’That really is a bit expensive.’

’More expensive than my Secret Silver Gloves.’

However, that was partly because there was a Secret Silver Ore mine near Silver Stream City, which made Secret Silver Equipment cheaper here. Elsewhere, a pair of Secret Silver Gloves would be worth around 1,000 gold coins—about the same as the Flame Ring, maybe even a little more.

After all, the Association’s prices were always a bit high. Outside, the ring would probably sell for only 900 gold coins—assuming you could find one to buy, that is.

Besides, Secret Silver Gloves were one of the cheaper weapon options for a Mage to begin with.

A Secret Silver Staff made of the same material, like the one Feney owned, was worth 2,500 gold coins. Landon’s was a bit cheaper, but it still cost around 1,950 gold coins.

After all, the amount of material needed for gloves versus a Magic Staff was completely different.

Naturally, there was a difference in their effects as well; a Magic Staff was significantly more effective than gloves.

Returning to the matter at hand, while 950 Gold Coins was a bit steep, Lin Mo had just earned a large sum and could afford it.

’Money is meant to be spent. That’s especially true for an Adventurer. Gold Coins don’t multiply just by sitting in your hand. Using them to buy equipment and Skills to boost your own power is what really matters.’

And so, Lin Mo bought the Flame Ring without hesitation.

His original reward should have been 2,211 gold coins. After subtracting the 950, he received 1,261 Gold Coins.

After collecting his rewards, Lin Mo left the Association with a happy grin, now in possession of 1,261 Gold Coins and three pieces of Excellent Level equipment.

"Landon, what are your plans?"

Since Landon happened to be there, Lin Mo decided to ask.

"Are you asking about missions?"

Landon shook his head. "Not for now. I’m going to take a few days off to review what we’ve learned and practice some Magic. Huck and Sheela are also planning to rest for a bit... Maybe for a week or ten days?"

"Alright."

Lin Mo nodded. It looked like for the time being, they would be going back to a three-person adventuring team.