s.h.i.+eld Cloaks were always one of his favorite items in the tabletop games he used to play. They gave the wearer all sorts of options for self-protection, without the limitations or weight of a regular s.h.i.+eld. All you had to do was will the cloak to harden, and it would become hard as steel in whatever shape you currently had it in, without the weight. Now granted, they were simultaneously a lot more expensive than a standard s.h.i.+eld, and also a lot less durable despite being magical. But that didn't matter. He now finally had a means to protect himself against blows he couldn't deflect with his weapon, and even if he only managed to prevent one or two of those before the cloak was destroyed, it'd be more than worth its cost in gold. His last fight had shown him just how vulnerable he was to harm despite his skills. The best thing he could do right now would be to make sure he didn't leave himself nearly as defenseless as he had been.

Next came a hardened steel breastplate for 200 gold, which he used to replace the leather chestplate of his current armor. It wasn't a significant upgrade, but would be far more effective at keeping enemy weapons out of his vital organs. He also tried on several helmets, but nothing he tried felt right. Eventually he settled on just forgoing proper head protection and using the hood of his s.h.i.+eld Cloak. It wasn't the best, but after some thinking, he decided that with the other equipment and abilities at his disposal, if an enemy could land a clean hit on his head, that same enemy would be just as likely to be able to kill him with the helmet on as without. So it made sense to focus on not doing anything to hamper his own abilities, no matter how practical the reason may be.

That left him 1000 gold to work with. Not seeing any other items he could afford that interested him, he closed out of the shop console, and switched over to the skill tree. Now that he had decent money to work with, he looked through to find the picks that would give him the greatest benefit for the least cost. After a few minutes flicking through options, he finally settled on a few that seemed like they'd be the best.

[Magical Apt.i.tude I] cost 500 gold and decreased the drain that his spells would put on his body by a small percentage. It wouldn't be a huge boost, but would mean an additional spell or two before he would be tapped out, which could mean life or death in the coming fight.

He also picked up [Weapon Focus: Scimitar] for 250 gold. While he instinctively knew how to use Harrowbloom due to his Martial Weapon Proficiency ability, it made sense for him to gain any additional prowess in its use that he could, and if it stacked with the spirit bonus contained within the blade, all the better.