Salunwell's Ring of Stars

Long ago, when the Shamanic Doctrine was first born, shamans were actually considered a type of clergy. The deities they worshipped and served were the Elemental Gods. However, because the Elemental Gods rarely deigned to respond to their believers, it was usually the Elemental Demigods from the Elemental Plane who answered their calls.

Back then, shamans could frequently summon these powerful Elemental Demigods to gain world-shattering power. But later, for reasons unknown, the entities of the Elemental Plane suddenly stopped responding to believers on the Prime Material Plane, causing the status of shamans to plummet.

Nevertheless, some exceptionally gifted shamans could still communicate with powerful entities within the Elemental Plane to obtain certain formidable abilities. The specific nature of these abilities depended on which powerful Elemental Demigod they communicated with. Since there were so many demigods in the Elemental Plane—many of whom were well-known on the Prime Material Plane, not to mention those whose reputations never reached it—these abilities were bizarre and varied, with no two being alike.

It was quite rare for Solam to have received the favor of four Elemental Demigods at once. However, given that elemental beings were notoriously capricious, such a situation was not entirely impossible.

Orcs had no written language, and their history was passed down orally, so there were no records to verify if Solam's situation had occurred before. But in the Great Elder's estimation, this was not a bad thing. Usually, when an Elemental Demigod favored a shaman, it was merely to spread their name on the Prime Material Plane; it was no great matter. As for why those Elemental Demigods had never contacted Solam after all these years, that was easy to explain: with Solam's current strength, contact would be useless.

When Solam heard this, he felt it wasn't a bad thing either, though he still harbored some concern. He feared those powerful Elemental Demigods might discover he was a transmigrator and wondered how these elemental beings would view someone from another world. But worrying now was pointless; who knew what that group of elements was thinking? So, Solam simply stopped dwelling on it.

Afterward, the Great Elder performed a shamanic dance around Solam in a mystical, rambling fashion, which left Solam feeling quite awkward.

The old man spent nearly twenty minutes at Solam's side before finally finishing, looking utterly exhausted. Solam hurriedly helped the elder to his bed. It took the old man a long time to catch his breath, nearly scaring Solam to death; if the elder had suffered some accident, Solam would have been in deep trouble.

"I just borrowed the power of the Heroic Spirits to glimpse your destiny, but it is very strange. I spent a great deal of effort, yet I could only see a mass of chaos. It is as if your destiny does not exist at all. This is highly unusual. For anyone belonging to this world, I can always perceive at least a fragment, but your destiny seems completely outside of this world."

So, the old man's singing and dancing had been a divination. It was no wonder he couldn't see anything; Solam wasn't from this world at all. Still, Solam decided it was best to keep quiet. If the old man discovered the truth, he didn't know if it would be a blessing or a curse.

The old man looked at Solam, feeling quite strange that someone could be so indifferent to their own fate, so he asked him a question.

"Are you not curious about your future destiny?"

"Not particularly," Solam replied.

"Why?" The old man was even more curious.

"If I saw a fragment of my destiny, could I change it?"

"Although it is difficult, it is not impossible."

Damn, in this world, even destiny could be changed? Wasn't destiny supposed to be set in stone? Solam became increasingly curious. He was a hundred percent willing to see his future; even if he couldn't change it, he couldn't help but feel a strong sense of curiosity. However, he still had to hoodwink the Great Elder, so he couldn't say that.

"Elder, I feel that one's destiny should ultimately be accepted. What if I saw it? Would I have to change who I am now just to alter my future? Actually, it's better not to see it. After all, an unpredictable destiny is more interesting. That way, I don't have to go against my own heart. Whether the future is good or bad, it is something I created myself, and I can accept it." Although Solam was curious, these were his true thoughts; ignorance was bliss, and knowing would only add unnecessary trouble.

Upon hearing Solam's words, the Great Elder was stunned for a moment, then laughed.

"Heh, I never thought you, brat, would be so carefree. But what you said sounds just like Kramsh. You truly are Kramsh's grandson."

"Did my grandfather say that too?" Solam really didn't know.

"Yes. When he was young, I once wanted to divine his future, and he refused. He said that since it was his destiny, he would accept it, and whether he saw it or not didn't matter. But in the end, he regretted it."

"Regretted it? Impossible. I know exactly what kind of person my grandfather is." Solam didn't believe it; his grandfather was too stubborn to regret his own decisions.

"If he didn't regret it, why would he beg me to perform a divination for you? Otherwise, do you think I have nothing better to do? A single divination could cost me my old life. If Kramsh hadn't begged me, I wouldn't have bothered."

"This... how is this possible? My grandfather would beg you for this?"

"Sigh." The old man sighed, saying with some emotion, "It's all because of your poor father. Kramsh has always been deeply troubled by his accidental death, so he asked me to divine your future to ensure you don't follow in your father's footsteps."

It would be a lie to say Solam wasn't moved, but he couldn't bring himself to cry like a girl; a real man didn't get sentimental.

"I have failed the request; I couldn't see anything," the old man said, feeling guilty toward Kramsh.

"Hey! It's not like you did it on purpose. If you can't see it, what can you do?" Solam comforted the old man with a carefree attitude. This issue was Solam's own burden; he couldn't blame anyone else.

The old man looked at this thick-skinned brat and felt that Solam and Kramsh were indeed grandfather and grandson.

"Take this; consider it my compensation." As he spoke, the old man fished a silver ring encrusted with gems from his person and handed it to Solam. "I obtained this long ago while adventuring."

Solam originally didn't want it; the ring looked very precious at a glance. The face of the ring was set with a large ruby, and the band was inlaid with many smaller gems. The entire ring was covered in mysterious runes. Although he didn't know their function, the shimmering magical aura told him the ring was no simple item. Solam felt the object was too valuable and initially refused, but the old man was adamant. After some back-and-forth, the old man was about to lose his temper, so Solam reluctantly accepted it. The old man then said he needed to rest and shooed Solam away.

Solam walked out clutching the ring. After glancing back at the tent, he quickly took the ring out to identify it.

Salunwell's Ring of Stars

Among the many mages in the Waterdeep area, Salunwell was undoubtedly the most popular. He was both charismatic and powerful. He insisted that this was due to the favor of the Mysterious Lady, who had bestowed power upon him, leading many at the time to believe he had truly become a Chosen of the Goddess. However, he later encountered the maddened Sammaster, a former Chosen of the Goddess, and was easily killed. It was then that this ring became known to everyone.

This ring allowed the wearer to be filled with charisma while significantly enhancing their spellcasting abilities. Where Salunwell originally obtained this ring remains a mystery to this day.

Equipment Effects:

Charisma +2

Spell slots for levels 0 to 5 +2

Charm Person three times per day (duration: one hour)

Greater Charm once per day (minimum duration: 3 minutes, +1 minute per caster level)

Spellcasting speed +1

Solam was completely shocked by the ring's abilities. Having received three years of education as a mage apprentice, he was no longer the bumpkin who knew nothing about magical equipment. He knew how rare magical items that increased spell slots were in this world, let alone one that also increased base attributes. Such equipment was nearly legendary. By the way, Thor's Hammer and this ring were of similar value, both considered high-level magical equipment, bordering on legendary.

However, Solam didn't pretentiously return it to the elder. He could sense that he would soon be leaving Avalon; otherwise, his grandfather wouldn't have specifically begged the Great Elder to divine his future. Since that was the case, equipment that could enhance his strength was always welcome. He simply kept this kindness in his heart and vowed to repay it when he had the chance.

The charisma boost and charm spells on the ring were of no use to Solam—he didn't rely on those to make a living—but the increase in spell slots was exactly what he needed. After all, as an Arcane Knight, nothing improved his strength more than having more spell slots.

There was nothing much else to say after that, other than waiting for Krum's girlfriend, Lilia, to turn sixteen, then bringing her back to the clan to marry Krum.

During this time, Krum really didn't have many opportunities to get close to Lilia. This guy spent his days basically fighting people. There was no helping it; although Lilia wasn't very old, she was beautiful and had many admirers. Orcs had a tradition of bride-snatching, so many romantic rivals had been challenging Krum lately, hoping to snatch her away. Krum had been fighting every day, and to defend his love, the guy was basically covered in bruises and swollen eyes.

This kind of bride-snatching was, to put it bluntly, a duel; others were not allowed to help. At most, Solam could cast a few Rejuvenation Spells on Krum after the battles ended; beyond that, Solam was powerless to help. But Krum's daily fighting excited Little Saurfang to no end; he insisted on going to cheer during every fight, treating every day like a festival.