Undying Warlord

[[Mantle of Elements] Ungraded ★✭✭

[+2 Strength], [+2 Mana]

The host can augment his weapons by seeking the help of Elemental Spirits.

The higher the ability’s rank the stronger Elemental Spirits that can be summoned.

The stronger the summoned Spirit, the higher the Mana consummation.

The augmentation of the weapon differentiates with each Elemental Mantle.

Spirits that can be summoned at once: One

The highest rank of the summoned Spirits: Basic]

“I already guessed that it would be like this, but why does this ability feel more like an active ability than a passive ability?” Dilan asked himself as he read through the description of Mantle of Elements once again.

He unsheathed Xealtron and activated the Mantle of Elements ability.

[The host has activated [Mantle of Elements]. Does the host want to summon a Basic Wind, Fire, Water, Earth, or Lightning Spirit?]

Dilan chose to summon the Water Spirit because he didn’t want to destroy the library around him by burning it to a cinder or doing something else.

He held Xealtron in front of him to witness what would happen next. A Water Spirit, a tiny winged-human-like figure made out of water emerged on top of Xealtron before it turned translucent when it merged with the Cursed Dagger.

A mantle of water formed around Xealtron and Dilan swung it around to see how the water mantle would react when he moved it rapidly.

Nothing much happened, which was enough for Dilan to nod his head in satisfaction.

“Water Spirit, can you form a water ball at the tip of the dagger?” He asked quietly and the Water Spirit responded immediately by forming a ball of water after quickly draining Dilan’s mana.

“Now release the water ball with all your might!” Dilan ordered while pointing the tip of the Cursed Dagger toward himself.

The Water Spirit hesitated for a moment but it followed Dilan’s command and released the water ball that began to spin. The waterball exploded on Dilan’s chest and all the water splattered on his clothes and face.

“Alright, thanks,” He said before he tested out one more thing that was more related to the Ring of Elements than anything else.

Dilan circulated his mana through the Cursed Dagger and the Water Spirit, altering it in the process.

His mana gained properties of water-attributed mana, which was exactly what Dilan had hoped to happen.

[Aegis’ Shield]!

A blue shield manifested in front of Dilan just like every single time he had used [Aegis’ Shield]. However, a sharp contrast to its usual use was that Aegis’ Shield was of a much deeper shade of blue color than before.

“You can go back now, Water Spirit!” Dilan said and the spirit disappeared just a moment later.

[Mantle of Elements]! Dilan activated the semi-passive ability once again, summoning a Basic Earth Spirit this time.

He used a few units of mana to alter them once again before he repeated the process from earlier.

[Aegis’ Shield]!

A brown shield with traces of a sky-blue color manifested in front of Dilan. After seeing the color of the shield, Dilan was already very satisfied but the experiment was far from done.

He adjusted his strength and stance before he punched the centermost part of the Aegis’ Shield, destroying it easily.

“It’s a little bit stronger but only by around 10%…well that is a lot considering that I used the same amount of Mana as usual!” Dilan concluded before he released the Earth Spirit Once again.

If he were only in possession of the Mantle of Elements ability, the only spirit he would have been able to summon would have been a Basic Lightning Spirit. The summoned Basic Lightning Spirit wouldn’t have the same properties as the other elemental spirits and Dilan wouldn’t have the necessary permission to control it as well as he could control all Elemental Spirits thanks to the Ring of Infinite Elements constitution.

‘As long as I use Mantle of Elements on my weapons, along with Mana Slash and Aegis’ Shield, I can get a lot stronger than I would have been by binding some other ability to my Essence crystal!’ Dilan thought in satisfaction.

Right now the Spirits he could summon were not really powerful but Dilan was pretty sure that this would change in the near future. Thinking about summoning High Spirits and using his constitution to alter his mana while simultaneously using the Spirits to help him fight made him imagine a lot of things.

And every single scene he imagined in his mind was something that caused him to smile because all of them were advantageous.

With the Ring of Infinite Elements constitution, he could control the summoned Spirit outside of their jurisdiction, which was just to envelop the weapon of the user’s choice with the element they can control.

‘Now I only need to get my hands on more Ability Merits to upgrade Mana Slash and Aegis’ Shield before I’ll be capable of attacking and defending myself against monsters that are far stronger than myself!’ Dilan thought in satisfaction.

The purchase he had made with his Ability Merits had been great and the new ability which he had procured had a very good symbiotic relationship with his constitution.

It might take a bit until he would face his next advancement mission where he could procure more Ability merits but that was fine with Dilan. He had more than enough time, which he could use to strengthen his already existing abilities.

Dilan knew that it hadn’t been long since he had advanced to Tier-2 and gotten his hands on various new treasures that had all very strongly bound abilities. Thus, he would have to set aside some time to get to know all abilities, how to regulate them and what the extent of their powers truly was.

While he was thinking this, a bunch of notifications reached him, just when the three women were about to speak to Dilan so as to ask him various questions.

[The host has bound [Mantle of Elements] to his Essence crystal. The host won’t be able to bind another technique from the first trial of the Blood Monarch’s Sanctum to his Essence crystal no matter how often the host enters the Instance Dungeon!]

[2nd Trial- Monster hunts can be initiated!]

” Fortunately, I didn’t choose to bind the technique to my Essence crystal. I would rather wait until I meet the requirements of one of the techniques on the highest floor before I bind one of those to my Essence crystal,” Victoria huffed dramatically, acting as if that was the only correct decision she made.

Dilan didn’t think like this but he simply shrugged his shoulders, not minding her attitude.

For some, it might be better to wait and prepare to bind a stronger ability to their Essence crystal while others would rather bind a weak but highly compatible ability to their Essence crystal and grow with it.

Dilan was glad to be in possession of the Mantle of Elements and he was pretty sure that the second trial would help him improve the rank of the ability further.

After all, he would have to hunt monsters, and enveloping his weapon with the Mantle of Elements was certainly helpful.

“Alright Victoria, congratulations…I guess,” Yvonne just said, not intending to quarrel with Victoria before they turned in Dilan’s direction as he rubbed his hands together in excitement.

“Let’s go, we have to go on a monster hunt!”