“You’re really a Mardukryon,” Enrico said, intently leaning forward. “Talk about coincidence.”

His hand hovered over the display of my WeeCee that I rotated to face him. He touched the icon of my helmet with his index finger and thumb to reveal its details. Spreading his fingers, he expanded the window to read them better.

“Blighted Vinereaver’s Revenge… Relic Quality.” His brows furrowed. “Blighted? Vinereavers drop different sets depending on their growth stage. I know Vinreaver’s Revenge is the first one; I had toyed with the idea of a retri-tank, though it’s the DPS life for me in the end. I don’t think it had ‘Blighted’ on it or this skill, Blight Cloud.”

“This is a modified set from a Mardukryon storyline quest,” I said. “But it’s no longer available because of the world quest. Not sure if there’s another way to get these pieces.”

“Really cool, sir. Many whale collectors will pay a high price for an item like this.”

I tapped my temple, winking at him through the holographic display. “With five pieces, enough to activate all set bonuses, the price would be higher.” I didn’t mention that there likely was no other copy. If someone had obtained the set before me, the current world quest would’ve happened earlier. “Just need to wait for the Mardukryons to get linked with the rest of Hierakon before selling.”

Enrico nodded, absorbed with perusing my equipment. “This is a very solid early-game set for retri build.” He checked the other pieces of the Blighted Vinereaver’s Revenge. “Especially the Blight Cloud skill that—” He paused, tapping on the Shard slotted into one of them. “Enraging Call?”

Lvl. 1 Enraging Call: Taunts nearby non-Player enemies, forcing them to attack you. During the duration, the taunted units gain 10% Damage, while you gain (+20 Armor).

Cost: 10 Energy

Duration: 3 Seconds

Cooldown: 5 Seconds

My left lower eyelid twitched upon seeing a Common Shard fitted in Relic equipment. Enrico didn’t comment anything, but I felt the need to explain. “I went for something basic early on,” I said. “Gets the job done for the lowest price. I’ll get around to finding a better taunt skill.”

Why was I bristling at this? Was it because I forgot about upgrading one of my most important skills?

[Enraging Call] was the first item I bought from the auction house. Though only a Common Shard, it cost me around a quarter million Artas since it was slightly in demand. But by now, I could afford Rare or Epic Quality taunt skills, yet I didn’t check those.

Granted, it was only during the world quest that I became active as a conventional tank helping different parties—my Totems did most of the tanking and taunting before—but upgrading my taunt skills should’ve been a priority. Holding mob aggro defined a tank. A character as hard as could be, was useless if he couldn’t consistently draw enemies to him.

A tank was not just a wall. A tank was both a moving wall and a magnet.

“Any suggestions for the upgrade?” I asked with a tone that sounded like I was just making conversation, not that I didn’t have a plan.

I should take this opportunity to learn more. Compared to Eclairs, who was focused on making consumables and doing business in MCO, Enrico seemed to have more experience on the combat side.

“It depends on what you want, sir.” Enrico ticked off his fingers. “Bigger AoE? More tankiness? Debuffing taunted mobs?” My ears flapped at the last one. He added, “If talking about cost, higher Quality taunt Skills Shards are really way more expensive because it’s immediately obvious how good they are.”

“What about something that’s not… good? Something not many tanks use? I’m familiar only with the usual options. It’d be great for my build if it’s a taunt with debuff.”

“Taunt with debuff… retribution…” Enrico stroked his chin, deep in thought, our workout already forgotten. He snapped his fingers. “Forced Frenzy! Or is it Compelled Frenzy? Compelled Rage? The name is either Compelled or Forced Frenzy or something like that. An inexpensive Epic Shard. Its secondary effect is both a buff and debuff on taunted enemies, increasing their attack speed while decreasing their Attack and Magic Power. Only retri-tanks choose this.”

“Faster attacks, more retribution.”

“Yes. But even among retri-tanks, it’s not a popular option. Retri-tanks are still tanks. Most prefer taunt Shards boosting defenses, like Final Stand and Battle Banner. When you think about it, sir, weakened enemies attacking faster just sort of cancel each other out. The net benefit is only higher retri DPS. There are also some enemies you wouldn’t want to attack faster.”

“Those that proc on hit effects,” I said, thinking back to the Borples and their mini-stuns. Tanking them made me breakdance. “But only a few monsters are like that. Is Forced Frenzy that bad? High health regen works better against numerous nibbles than one big bite.”

“Personally, I don’t think the skill gets the credit it deserves,” Enrico said. “Forced Frenzy might require some tweaking to fit your build, Mr. Herald, but it’s not a weaker option per se. Just that people think it so.”

“Translating to lower prices. Thanks for the suggestion, Enrico.” It sounded like a good fit for my build. Hopefully, it’d be easier to find in the Mardukryon market with our player base growing. I didn’t want to owe SpartanDonkey any favors, so I’d rather not ask him for help.

Enrico moved on to my other items. “Crazy enchant on this shield,” he whistled, examining the [Tower Shield] SpartanDonkey had given me. “Two levels to slotted Link Shards? Either someone got insanely lucky, or they paid big for this.”

“Someone did commission it crafted,” I said. “But not me. That’s a hand-me-down from a friend.”

“Such a generous friend you have, sir.” Enrico tapped on the slotted Shards. “Greater Pyro Shell… I’ve never seen this before too. A Mardukryon-oriented skill? That’s the reason for the Fiery Devise set.”

Lvl. 10 Greater Pyro Shell: Glorious blessings of the ancestors coat you with a formidable barrier of protective flames that boosts your defenses and absorbs (75% of incoming damage) up to the amount of Ancestral Shroud/Energy spent to summon it added by (36% of Armor). When the barrier expires or is depleted, the damage it has absorbed is dealt to nearby enemies.

Grants: +425 Armor, +20% Armor

Cost: 30% of Max Ancestral Shroud for Mardukryon; 20% of Max Energy for other Races

Duration: 25 Seconds

Cooldown: 5 Second

“The Fiery Devise is a cheap way to add more Ancestral Shroud and make the shell thicker,” I said. “I’m just in my twenties—my level, not my age. How I wish it were my age.”

Enrico and I chuckled. I was about to joke that my body wasn’t as energetic as it used to be but realized it might knock Enrico out of MCO mode and return to working out.

“Anyway, I was saying there’s no need to spend big,” I said, “since I’ll soon outstrip this gear.”

“True words right there, Mr. Herald. Uh, what’s the second Shard here? An Empowerment Link? A Mardukryon version? Holy cow, that’s so cool.” Fascinating how Enrico’s way of speaking became less formal as we went on.

Lvl. 5 Arcane Poison Empowerment (Link): Arcane Brewers, armed with ancient knowledge, could enhance the power of Skill Shards, imbuing them with enchanted Poison. Increase the level of one (1) damage-dealing linked Skill Shard by six (6). All linked Skill Shard gain (110%) of their non-Poison damage as extra Poison Damage—casting cost of the linked Skill Shard will increase by (21%).

“Poison isn’t a popular element,” he continued, “but all Empowerment Links are expensive as five-star hell. Did you whale this, sir?”

“It’s a reward from a quest,” I replied. “I’m free-to-play this time around to challenge myself; that’s why I’m being cheap.”

“A quest reward? Damn, I don’t think I’ve ever gotten a reward this good at low levels. And I respect your free-to-play run, Mr. Herald.”

“What do you think I should put as the second Link Shard to Greater Pyro Shell?”

“I’m not an expert on barrier-type skills. Strengthen barrier, replenish barrier, reduce cooldown, maybe increase duration? They’re all… not cheap early on.”

I had expected that. But I had a specific issue with [Greater Pyro Shell] that Enrico might have an answer to. “I sometimes run out of AS—Ancestral Shroud—while using this skill. Do you know of Links that can help?”

“It couldn’t be anything that reduces AS cost since that’d weaken the barrier.” Enrico rocked his knee while staring at the ceiling. He still hadn’t remembered we were at the gym. “What about cost-conversion Links?”

Cost-conversion? I stopped myself from asking out loud. An experienced MCO player should probably know about this. Was it akin to what Paritor was doing? I stared at Enrico, waiting for him to continue.

“The Energy Conversion Shard will turn AS cost into Energy.” He paused and shook his head. “Oh, heck, that wouldn’t work. I just realized you won’t have much Energy because you’re invested in AS.”

I nodded. [Greater Pyro Shell] cost thirty percent of my AS. Modified by [Arcane Poison Empowerment], that went up to thirty-six percent—probably eight hundred something AS, way more than my Energy, sitting at around six hundred.

But could I subtract from health instead? My AS could then be for other skills. “What about the Health Conversion Shard?” I asked, crossing my fingers that something like my guess did exist.

“But, sir, you’re a tank. You’ll be losing health—”

“Which I’ll easily regenerate.” Unboxlike energy coursed through my body, soothing my muscles and driving away fatigue. I’m onto something here.

Enrico tapped one [Loamy Band of Renewal]. “Use health regeneration to pay for AS costs? It might work. But there’s the risk of paying too much health at the wrong time. Say your barrier breaks, and you’re at half health because you’ve been converting for AS cost. I suggest leveling the Shard to max to minimize the cost penalties. It’ll be worth the LSPs.”

“Good point, Enrico.” This must be why Paritor used a skill to convert his health to AS manually. He wanted to micromanage his resources for safety. Conversion Shards couldn’t be removed unless by the NPC in the village. “I’ll see how it goes.”

The excitement of upgrading my build was like adrenaline, giving me renewed strength. I was about to suggest that we return to our workout, but Enrico wasn’t done inspecting my character.

He chose my weaker shield, [Reinforced Pavise].

I clenched my teeth, eyeing the level twelve item on my level twenty-five character. Despite its low level—the lowest among my equipped items—the additional physical damage reduction [Reinforced Pavise] granted whenever I Head-On Blocked was helpful.

But it messed up the looks of my loadout, consisting mostly of level twenty equipment—typical irrational human psychology on numbers.

“I’ll change that shield when I reach level thirty,” I nonchalantly said. The rest of my equipment could probably hold until level forty. Thriftiness was key as a large chunk of my budget went to poison brewing.

“Interesting debuff setup you got here, sir.” Enrico enlarged the Shards slotted in my [Reinforced Pavise].

Gone were [Gnawing Rot] and [Withering Brand]. I auctioned them at prices lower than other copies for sale so they’d get snapped quickly. I wasn’t interested in fetching a pretty Artas. Hopefully, Kezo wouldn’t take it badly that I got rid of the items he gave me, which were also given to him by his friend that changed races.

Better those Shards were Artas to continue being useful.

In place of my lost debuffs, I slotted in a new one.

Lvl. 10 Heaping Infections: Unleash spores of the Arcane Blight in a large radius around you that weakens enemies, reducing their Attack Power and Magic Power by 60%. Other ailments on affected enemies worsen their condition, reducing their Armor, Magic Resilience, and Health Regeneration by 4% for each (maximum of 40%).

Cost: 125 Ancestral Shroud (125 Energy for Non-Marukdryons)

Duration: 35 Seconds

Cooldown: 20 Seconds