The Mardukryon corpse appeared to be male and older than me given its musculature and size. Pure white and flaky, like completely burnt-out charcoal. No magma veins glowing. Definitely dead. It sat on the ground, legs folded beneath it, upper body slumped against the ice pillar. Some chunks have broken off, parts of its right arm, a few fingers, an ear, and a tusk. I couldn’t tell how long ago he had died.

  No armor, no weapons. His clothes were rolls of purple and red cloth now frozen stiff, preserved by the magical ice from the ravages of time. The purple folds sported symbols of swirling runes bounded by concentric circles, while the red had a peculiar geometric pattern on its borders. A golden chain hung around the corpse’s neck but I couldn’t see what the necklace was because the body was turned to the pillar.

  “Could he be from Kurghal Village?” I wondered. “He might’ve ended up here while fleeing the devastation of the Great… Immense Heave. Do you know the symbols on his clothes, Mr. Inuus?”

  (Daresay, it appears to be the seal of a Mardukryon merchant family judging by the way those circles are drawn. The layered border about the hems signifies he is a prominent member of the Merchant Lodge.)

  “This guy does look rich. Purple dye used to be very expensive which was why only royalty had it in the olden days. Why am I explaining the real world to you? Anyway, have you at least seen that symbol before? You must’ve known the merchant families of Mezhu Nue.”

  (Of Mezhu Nue, yes. But this Mardukryon friend, taken to sing in the melodic beyond, is not of Mezhu Nue. The merchant seal is of the far southern cities, for they are fond of stamping swirls and spirals in their dealings.)

  “Does that mean the southern cities are far from Mezhu Nue, that’s why you’re not familiar with this symbol? Or you just don’t mind Mardukryon merchants that much?”

  (Both, my musical friend. In addition, contact with the southern cities dwindled in the aftermath of the Immense Heave. The Mountain Guardian’s exhalations have divided the mountain thusly. I haven’t seen a southern merchant friend for decades.)

  “Two possibilities for our popsicle friend,” I said, putting on the hat of Herald Stone, Detecting Detective. “He got lost and inadvertently found his icy death before the Immense Quake. Or he was visiting Kurghal Village or perhaps Mezhu Nue, then the Great Heave happened, and couldn’t get back home… because he died here.”

  Mr. Inuus bowed his head, eyes closed. (We point our horns down to our friend frolicking in the melodic beyond.)

  “You have plenty of musical equivalents for—oh, you’re playing a song?”

  I wanted to ask Mr. Inuus what was it for, but the sorrowful melody coming from the floating violin told me it was a song for the dead. Possibly some sort of prayer or ritual of the goats. After playing for a minute, Mr. Inuus opened his eyes and continued down the tunnel. I was about to follow him when I realized I also had a ritual for the dead—looting the corpse.

  Bending down, I felt around the body. Frozen rock solid. Even parts of the skin that were shedding felt like spikes. I wanted the amulet; it looked valuable. Should I force the body to twist?

  I risk breaking it in view of Mr. Inuus. I’d wager he had a different opinion about stealing from a corpse. It was still technically stealing. Thankfully, an option appeared to search the body, and I mentally clicked it.

  [ Loot: 76,051 Artas, Sealed Letter, (Unidentified) Amulet, Skill Shard: Ice Cocoon ]

  “Yes! I knew there was—” Mr. Inuus turned around to look at me “—nothing around here,” I finished my sentence. A huge grin on my face and a slight skip in my steps as I caught up to him. “Let’s continue, Mr. Inuus. More popsicles await us.”

  The [Sealed Letter] screamed an important item. Perhaps it’d be the start of a quest if I could open it… and I couldn’t. It wouldn’t be surprising if merchants placed enchantments on their communications to prevent secret business information from falling into the wrong hands. Like mine. Going to the merchants was my immediate thought, but I backtracked on it. Though I had helped the Merchant Lodge with some tasks, I couldn’t say I had a close connection with them.

  Was I trustworthy enough to learn about the contents of this [Sealed Letter], or would they simply reward me for finding it and send me off? I didn’t want to waste this important find.

  The [(Unidentified) Amulet] must be connected to the letter. Could be an heirloom of the dead guy’s family, a possible ticket to my sought-after connection to the merchants. Too bad I didn’t have a [Perceiving Glass] to identify this.

  The amulet and the letter were for later. I moved on to examine the Skill Shard the wealthy corpse carried. This was actually a sci-fi data chip that allowed someone to learn the skill it carried instantly. There were also Link Shards that could be connected to Skill Shards, if the slotted gear had enough space, to modify or strengthen the Skill Shard.

  The information box of [Ice Cocoon] opened. My eyes immediately honed on its Quality.

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  “Jackpot!”

  (What’s the cause for your celebration, musical friend?)

  “Jackpot that we’re alive.” I barely kept my voice from cracking into maniacal laughter. “It’s a really good day. Minus the ice and the dead bodies. Oh, and the giant serpent trying to kill us too. Still a very, very good day!”

  [Ice Cocoon] was of Legendary Quality! It was the highest of the five base Item Qualities. The dead merchant sure carried something valuable. The importance of the letter and amulet shot up.

  Basic shitty items were categorized as Common. The next tier was Rare, having an added effect with a flat number value. It wasn’t right to readily dismiss the Rare items, for flat numbers have a larger impact in the early stages of the game compared to percentage bonuses. A newbie had low stats, so a percentage of next to nothing was nearly nothing. Epic Quality equipment and Shards have two or so lines of effects with a combination of flat and percentage values. Relic-quality items have even more effects, usually only a percentage in nature; they’d shine more as the player grew stronger.

  I had several Relic Quality but nothing of Legendary Quality, until now. However, Legendary items weren’t necessarily stronger than Relic ones. They provided very impactful effects, which didn’t always translate to useful for a specific build. Some may be quite niche; some may be generally beneficial. They could be a complete ass or overpoweringly game-breaking, and everything in between.

  I had read that there are a few more tiers above Legendary, though those appear only in the late game. The usual ‘the late game is the beginning of the real game’ setup.

  For now, I wanted to see if [Ice Cocoon] got the short end of the stick or the long end. Was there a “that’s what she said’ joke there somewhere?

  Lvl. 1 Ice Cocoon: Primeval ice builds up (1 charge) every (2 seconds), granting you protection. When the maximum growth (20 charges) is reached, it has a (15% chance) to Freeze attackers for (15 seconds), before shattering and spreading shards coated with ancient magic in a wide radius, causing Ice damage up to the amount it has absorbed since building up. The primeval ice grants the user Freeze immunity and reduces the effects and duration of Ice-related debuffs by 20%.

  Charge: Absorbs 1% of the damage suffered

  Reservation: 20% of your Maximum Health

  “Double jackpot!” I triumphantly shouted.

  (A very lively disposition you have despite our dangerous circumstances, musical friend.)

  “I just love life, Mr. Inuus. Passing by that dead guy made me realize many things.”

  Freeze immunity! This was why [Ice Cocoon] was of Legendary Quality.

  Freeze was the most pervasive crowd-control skill on this mountain and one of the most common in all of MotherCore Online. Using and resisting crowd-control skills was one of a tank’s main concerns, second only to actual tankiness. Sometimes it was more important. A tank was a moving wall. A tank that couldn’t move to protect the party was useless.

  If I didn’t have [Ice Cocoon], I’d need to dedicate several lines on my equipment to stacking Freeze Resistance to more than a hundred percent because those with Freezing builds, whether DPSers, disablers, or opposing tanks, would prepare means to reduce the Freeze Resistance of their targets. With Freeze immunity, I could use my gear enchants to combat other CCs or just pile more tankiness. [Ice Cocoon] was a skill that’d remain in my slots until the late game. There was a sense of completion having it.

  Would [Ice Cocoon] would save me from the Mountain Guardian? Probably not.

  It didn’t save the dead merchant from whatever coated this tunnel in ice. The Mountain Guardian was so powerful it could pierce immunities from what I’ve heard. Bawu’s cure-all potion was the solution to that.

  As for the main part of [Ice Cocoon], it was a great addition to my tankiness. From its wording, the damage absorption affected everything, including DoTs—damage over time. In contrast, [Greater Pyro Shell] could only shield against actual hits.

  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 Seconds

  That said, [Greater Pyro Shell], even if only Epic in Quality, was better protection for incoming hits than [Ice Cocoon] because it could negate a bigger chunk of damage and was consistent. Though it was probably unfair to compare a level ten skill to a level one. But the importance of consistency couldn’t be understated. [Ice Cocoon] needed time to reach its maximum potential, which would then reset after several seconds. Sure, the chance to Freeze enemies at max charges of [Ice Cocoon] was great, but it was up for less than a third of the time. Not consistent at all.

  When it came to tanking, it was usually better to use a weaker but consistent skill rather than a stronger though unreliable one. Once a sharp-thinking enemy realized how [Ice Cocoon] worked, he’d just wait for the shards to explode before letting hell rain on my unprotected ass.

  I was sure [Ice Cocoon] would get way stronger when leveled up, and maybe get more consistent too. Some tweaking with Lesser Skill Points when I returned to the village.

  I excitedly placed [Ice Cocoon] in a spare slot in my equipment. It had no other slots to Link with, not that I had suitable Link Shards to combo with it anyway. I hoped I’d win some of the items I bid for at auction as those were three-slotted. Then my excitement was dashed when I noticed a heinous act. My health bar was reduced by a fifth. And it wasn’t regenerating.

  “Uh-oh, there’s a reservation of twenty percent of my maximum health.” In my excitement, I didn’t notice the cost of using [Ice Cocoon]. Should I continue using this?