The Guardian System: The strongest Summoner's quest to save his family-Chapter 365: A problem to solve (1)

Next, Reidar opened the Legendary Material Cache. The interface showed a separate inventory window with five slots, all filled.

The first item was a collection of metal ingots.

—[Mana-Touched Steel Ingots (Legendary)]—

Description: Steel ingots that have been exposed to mana, giving them unique properties. The metal is lighter than normal steel but maintains exceptional strength. Can be used in smithing to create weapons or armor with mana enhancing properties. Quantity: 20

—[END]—

Reidar frowned. The ingots were useless to him without blacksmithing or weaponcraft professions. He could not work with metal.

The second item was more promising.

—[Shadowthread Silk (Legendary)]—

Description: Silk harvested from creatures that dwell in absolute darkness. The material is incredibly strong and has natural stealth-enhancing properties. Can be used in tailoring to create lightweight armor with enhanced concealment properties. Quantity: 100 yards

—[END]—

This was something he could work with. Shadowthread silk was a tailoring material, and while he did not know if his current profession level was high enough to process such kinds of materials, it was at least in the right profession.

Right now, what Reidar needed the most was the ability to hide. While he killed the monster, that was because of 3 reasons. The first was the environmental damage; the second was the distance between him and the monster; the third was that no other monster found him.

Reidar used mostly the Vorathid Sky-Hunters to kill that thing, and he still had quite several summons available, but their number was small compared to the Vorathid Sky-Hunters, which didn't have a limit. It was a skill that allowed him to summon monsters based on how much mana he had.

His other skills were batch skills and single summoning skills, which meant that there were limits to what he could bring on the battlefield, and given the level disparity, even two monsters would have been able to kill him.

So, Reidar needed something that would make him difficult to spot, and surely, he needed to increase his proficiencies.

<I need to be smart with the proficiency gain. It would be best for me to bring at 100% just one skill at a time, or 2 at best.>

The third item was something cool.

—[Runic Ink (Epic)]—

Description: Specially prepared ink infused with magical properties. Used in enchanting to inscribe runes onto equipment or surfaces. The ink bonds with most materials and can channel significant amounts of magical energy. Quantity: 10 vials

—[END]—

Runic ink was essential for enchanting. Reidar had been using basic inks, blood, and other materials to create the same effects, but it was nothing that outstanding. Inks resulted from multiple materials being fused together to create something that could be used to craft. The problem was that it was costly to buy it.

The epic quality meant it could allow more energy to go through complex enchantments, and having ten vials gave him room to experiment.

The fourth item was another material he could not immediately use.

—[Dragonbone Powder (Legendary)]—

Description: Finely ground powder made from dragon bones. The material contains residual Draconic mana and can be used in alchemy or enchanting to create potions or enchantments with draconic properties. Quantity: 2 pounds

—[END]—

Dragonbone powder was versatile but required either alchemy or very high-level enchanting to use properly. Reidar filed it away as something to save for when his skills improved.

The last item was the most unusual.

—[Living Wood Core (Legendary)]—

Description: A piece of wood taken from an ancient tree that was sustained by pure magical energy. The wood is alive in a technical sense and continues to grow slowly even after being harvested. Can be used in woodworking to create staves, wands, or other magical implements with self-repairing properties.

—[END]—

Reidar stared at the description. Living wood was rare even for the Allied Worlds, and a legendary-quality piece was nearly impossible to find. His woodworking skill was at level 235, which might be high enough to work with it, but he would need to be careful. Wasting legendary materials on failed crafting attempts would be stupid.

The good thing was that the wood kept growing, meaning that if he played it right, he would never run out of it.

He closed the cache and leaned back against the rock. The materials were good, but they highlighted a problem he had been ignoring for quite a lot of time.

His professions' levels were falling behind.

At level 464, Reidar needed equipment that matched his level to stay effective. His tailoring was at 270, his woodworking at 235, and his enchanting at 293. The profession level represented the maximum level of item he could craft, which meant he could theoretically create level 270 tailored armor, level 235 wooden weapons or implements, and apply level 293 enchantments.

But level 270 armor would be worthless against level 500 enemies. The attribute differences were too large. He needed his tailoring to be at least level 450 to craft armor that would provide useful protection, and his other professions needed similar improvements.

The problem was time. Leveling professions required practice and repetition. He needed to craft items, fail, learn from the failures, and craft again. That process took hours or days depending on the complexity of the item, and he rarely had the luxury of sitting still long enough to grind out profession levels.

His combat leveling had always outpaced his crafting because combat was immediate and necessary for survival. He fought, he killed, and he gained C.L.A.S.P. points. Crafting was slower and required materials, tools, and safety.

There were people who actually focused on crafting while others protected them, but Reidar wasn't in that situation; he was always on the front line, outside from safety.

<I need to fix this. If I can't craft my own gear, I'depend on looting enemies or finding vendors, and there are no vendors on this planet.>

Reidar considered his options. He had two immediate goals. The first was to reach level 500. The volcanic zone provided a method to farm high-level creatures by using environmental damage, and as long as Mara stayed within range of the zone, he could continue hunting that way. Each kill would grant massive C.L.A.S.P. points due to the level difference. Although this was now reduced since Reidar made a huge jump in levels.