“There may be some physical alterations given time, but only temporarily. The skin will indeed grow tough—not as strong as armor, but certainly far more durable which would be invaluable against daggers and to an extent, swords…but [Barkskin] also provides the wearer with a degree of cold resistance due to the thicker exterior, and of course, some users simply prefer it when travelling outdoors as the sun will provide them with energy…”
“The biggest items are the sword with the weight enchantment, the Flamespread Dagger, the Forceshield Buckler, the [Barkskin] ring, the Ring of Jumping…and the ring that shoots the attack spell. There are a few potions and the bag of glowing stones and monster lure…”
“The robes, armor and so on are easily divided. However, the most powerful items—the dagger, sword, buckler, and three rings are not. I shall express my desire for the [Barkskin] ring and the ring that projects the spell immediately.”
Revi grimaced and tugged at her tongue as if she wanted to pull it out. Erin wondered if she actually could. Stitch-People did weird things. The Scale Soup she’d served the adventurers was certainly effective—according to Moore it was like a lesser [Barkskin] spell. But it was also about as appealing as eating a bunch of fish scales mixed with glue, which, it had to be said, were major components of the actual soup. Now her stitch-flesh was tough enough to withstand cuts from an unenchanted dagger. But it was still unpleasant.
A fist punched down at him. Garen dodged left, cutting at the hand. Moore’s [Armor of Thorns] spell took most of the cut, but Garen’s crimson blade sheared through the thick vines. But Moore’s skin was barely cut. [Barkskin]. Garen twisted. He saw a staff swinging at him, and ducked rather than block. It whistled over his head. Moore let go of his staff as Garen charged forwards, trying to get past the half-Giant. He grabbed at Garen, bellowing.
Erin had seen battle. She ran forwards, the [Barkskin] potion warding off a stone that grazed her cheek. She blocked a club with the haft of her flag and kicked someone in the stomach. Out their lunch came. She bellowed.
“[Alchemy: Shortened Span] for [Doubled Efficacy]. I’m out of defensive toughening potions. No more [Ironscales], [Barkskin]—I knew I should have kept some instead of selling them all at once.”
It dripped onto the arena’s floor, green. The audience cheered as Haliclaw scored another narrow blow, but even the enchanted metal couldn’t easily destroy a carapace enhanced by [Barkskin]. Moreover, the cheering had a desperate edge. Vindictive, but also uncertain, so louder and more desperate because of it.
It was winning. How was it said again? Like a bug fighting a wall. That was the difference in their sizes and strengths. Domehead knocked Ksmvr down. Each blow sent the Antinium staggering, [Barkskin] the only thing keeping his body together.
“That’s [Mage] magic. [Shaman] magic is different. I could paint on the eggs to make them tougher, maybe, if I had enough colors. Or make them hatch early…or cast [Barkskin] on them, but only one by one.”
