Alright. That actually turned out marginally better than I expected. I was a bit bummed that the system, once again, explicitly told me not to try and use the art despite me having some understanding of it, but hey, at least I'll be able to quickly bring Xiu'er up to speed if nothing else.
I was also a bit surprised by the reward as it was another piece of 'gear', which was one of the rarer rewards as far as they went. Weapons and such? I got those often enough, I feel, but actual pieces of armor were... rare.
As such, I quickly scoured through my prison and located them; it was a pair of quite shiny boots, sliding between dark scarlet and completely black in color, with steeped, layered front like scales would be stacked, and low, wide heel at the back. They didn't seem particularly comfortable, honestly, as they looked like they weighed as much as a semi did, but depending on their stats and whatnot... I mean, they do have a dragon in their name. That's got to count for something, no?
[Dragon-Scale Greaves][Tier: Legendary][Crafted somewhat roughly by someone who clearly lacked experience handling a material as durable as a dragon's scale, the greaves still offer exponential protection and benefits, even if they do come with severe drawbacks. As the scale in question wasn't a so-called 'living' one, but rather a discarded, flawed scale found in the wild, its Qi-conductivity ranks quite low on the scale, but its sheer durability is actually graded highly. Once donned, like every other piece of armor crafted from dragon parts, they become Soulbound to the wearer][...][Due to the sheer weight, topping at approximately 120 pounds, they must be worn by either a body cultivator or someone with an extremely powerful physique. They are nigh-indestructible, outwardly, and can block strikes from virtually every weapon of sub-Primal tier. Additionally, the array inscribed within their soles can be engaged by moving a massive amount of Qi toward it, granting the wearer the ability to propel themselves in any direction at speeds beyond count. Note that the wearer will have to navigate by themselves, as the boots merely offer the speed boost]
... did, did this thing just say they weigh hundred-and-twenty-fucking-pounds?! What the actual fuck?! That's how much I weighed most of my freakin' life! Can anyone even actually wear them? My initial idea was to obviously give them to Wan Lan, but even with her physique and prowess, I don't think she can actually wear them. Well, at least wear them and fight normally, that is.
Sheesh.
Well.
We'll see, I guess.
Shrugging it away, I pulled back and started mulling over the next art I was to make. I was a bit torn between going with Lan'er's request and Rayce's, settling on the latter as that one seemed a bit more complicated and exploratory.
What he was looking for was essentially a template--now, I don't think I can create one, as I'm not a shaman, but maybe I can create an art that allows him to make a few templates and passively spit them out?
The logic itself, at least on my end, was feasible; this was that division between manual versus automated labor, the cornerstone of the peachy modern world that I lived in.
Pulling up the creator's window yet again, I shuffled over to the shaman section--cutting of large chunks of options--and started looking through the options. Honestly, it kind of felt underbaked, like a thought that was never quite fully put into words and was left hanging. Huge parts of what was accessible in the ordinary window were missing, and they were hardly cultivation-exclusive aspects.
Nonetheless, I did stumble upon something.
There was a small, relatively inexpensive option called 'Impression' that cost just shy of 200 points. On its own, it was perfectly mundane, as its ever-perfectly vague description read, 'Leaves an impression of the Word for a short period of time after it is used'. Sort of like a DoT, I'm guessing, or a temporary area of effect.
But--what if I combine it with some permeating effects? Namely, 'Mindful Pen' and 'Living Ink'. Like the Impression, they were quite pedestrian on their own--Mindful Pen merely made slight corrections to the movements while he'd write Words, and Living Ink would 'spill out' into a line. So, he'd just have to 'block out' the word and Living Ink would, theoretically, 'fill it out'.
Theoretically, of course.
But, once I combined the three... the result was interesting. I wasn't yet sure if it actually worked, and since I had about 100 points leftover still, I combed through the cheaper options and found one last addition that might be useful: unlike the previous three, it didn't have an 'official' name, just a description of what it did.
Repeatedly written Words become quicker and quicker to procure.
I tossed it in as it 'just' cost 80 points (forgetting that there was a time when 80 points was almost the totality of what I could use to create an art), rubbed my hands together in a silent prayer, remembered to actually name the damn thing before creating it, and pressed that 'Create' button with anticipation, hoping against hope that it was not gonna make something like, 'Writing Words becomes passively faster; can write with both hands simultaneously, yada-yada-yada'.
[Congratulations, Host, on creating the 'Wordless Writ' Shamanic Art][...][Wordless Writ][Type: Shamanic Art][Rank: ???][Host Comprehension: None (Fails to meet minimum requirements)][...][A creed of a Shaman is the pride in the written Word; even the most ordinary ones ought to be written with deliberate care, where each stroke was done with intent. That school of thought has permeated Shamanism from before the written records, though as for why, no one is certain. Words are not living things--they are merely intentions exercised through mana. They are actions upon the world exercised by someone, rather than on their own. This art ignores the primary principality of Shamanism, and allows a Shaman to forge Words without intent; at the expense of passive consumption and time, the art can produce basic, one-vowel Words entirely independently of the Shaman themselves. Note that further increases in comprehension may decrease the time taken and increase the number of possible vowels. Due to the art's nature, however, even the willing Shamans must be inordinately talented, once-in-a-generation geniuses, as the difficulty of comprehension rivals some of the Fundamental Laws of Dao][...][Note: Host is warned that the art goes unilaterally against the entire Order of Shamanism; should it be discovered, there is a good chance that the Host might be declared a public enemy one of the Shamans][...][Creation Points Value: 990/1,000][Comprehension Difficulty: ???][...][Creation Bonus: Codex of Parchments (Legendary)][Codex of Parchments (Legendary) -- a blank set of 100 parchments handwoven for the use in writing Shamanic Words. The quality of the parchment is top notch, and due to the deliberate handwoven nature, it increases the potency of the written Word from 10% to 50% in scant few cases. The parchment is perfectly suitable for beginner Shamans as it does not require the same precision of inking as more crude ones do][...][Creation Bonus: Word of Singularity Concept (???)][Word of Singularity Concept (???) -- contains a carved principality of the Word for Singularity; a Shaman may study it to properly internalize the meaning, learning to write it. Note that the concept cannot be used as a Word, merely a reference][A Secondary Note: beyond being able to imitate the strokes of the Word, Shaman must truly understand the internal meaning of it in order to properly facilitate its nature]
... huh.
Is it saying that I have to teach Rayce what a singularity is?
How the hell will I explain knowing that one?!