Chapter 615: Ready for Action—Preparations Complete

Lying comfortably in his bed, feeling something warm on top of him, Alex can’t help but feel completely relaxed.

However, he suddenly opens his eyes as he feels someone enter his room, the door slowly opening.

“...”

Seeing Menchi lying on top of him, he looks around, only to see a displeased Asari standing in front of his bed.

What the....

“What... is it?” Menchi asks, still sleepy. “I want to sleep a little more...”

However, after the Asari clears her throat, Menchi perks up. “Shit, I was supposed to relieve Benezia... I said I would return in a few hours.”

“I’m afraid it’s been half a day already,” Benezia states calmly. “If this is what you do when the little one isn’t around, I fear I might appreciate her presence more than I thought... despite her constant shenanigans.”

“This room reeks...” she continues, looking disgusted, before opening a window. “This filthy behavior is unacceptable.”

Alex blushes, looking ashamed.

“I’ll take a shower,” he says, wanting to quickly escape the situation, as he slowly climbs out of his bed.

“I’m coming along!” Menchi says, apparently feeling the same.

Still naked, Benezia glares at the pair, worsening the situation immediately, as they realize their mistake.

Ups...

Two Biotic flicks later, two red dots are visible on Alex’s and Menchi’s foreheads as they head into the shower and wash their bodies, water dripping onto their heads.

“Well... that was still worth it,” Menchi says, rubbing her forehead softly.

“Thanks to you, I got hit as well!” Alex complains before activating his [Destiny Watch (Orbment) R2] and casting Tear to heal himself, his forehead now sparkling, completely clean and healthy as the blue-colored art heals him.

“Heal me too!” Menchi says, clapping her hands, looking impressed.

Alex smiles at her. “No. It’s your fault in the first place.”

“...” Menchi puffs her cheeks, clinging to Alex’s back. “Please...?”

“Fine...” Alex relents, once again casting Tear, targeting Menchi.

“Thank you!” she says, as the Art envelops her in the same blue hue as earlier. “That feels great... to be honest, yesterday felt great too. I liked that part of you as well.”

“Well... I’d be stupid and lying if I said I didn’t enjoy it.... Obviously, I did. I... also like you a lot, so this wasn’t just me acting on lust,” Alex explains, turning away from her.

Menchi smiles, walks around him, and kisses him on the lips before letting go almost instantly. “I know... the same goes for me! Anyway, let’s hurry up before we’re in for another flick.”

“...”

Freshly showered and dressed, the two meet up with Benezia in the living room, where she silently glares at them.

“...”

Trying to change the topic and distract from the awkward situation, Alex briefly describes his training.

“That’s comforting to know. Your results seem to be excellent. Menchi, I can handle most of the Realm work. You should help Alex train. Since he can heal... as he did just a few minutes ago. That way you can spar without holding back,” Benezia comments.

“Really?” Menchi asks. “But I want to spend some time cooking as well...”

“You can spar with me every other day; we have a month, after all. Every couple of days is fine,” Alex reasons. “It isn’t about learning... it’s more about me figuring out the best combinations and ways to use my newfound skills, you know? The rest of the time I’ll use to train my body... though it might only make a small difference, I’ll do my best to bulk up a little and train myself. Also... I really need shards... I know it’s a tough ask, but I need 600 in total... I have 235. Try your best to get me there.” 

Alex then looks at Benezia, a hint of guilt on his face. He initiates a trade, trying to give Benezia the unused [Quintessence of Blood] that he kept all this time.

“Keep it,” Benezia says. “It’s your second lifeline... it’s worth hundreds of thousands of FC, or maybe even millions, as I haven’t seen one on the market before. It can instantly restore 500 HP with only a minor downside of reducing your SNS. It’s incredibly valuable.”

“Fine...” Alex mutters.

I was willing to sacrifice it... without it, Benezia won’t be able to earn enough shards, I fear.

Exactly like the three of them said, Alex spends most of his time training, sparring with Menchi every couple of days, making significant progress, and eventually becoming able to reliably outdo Menchi even without using any skills or weapons.

He also relaxes from time to time, researches a few popular worlds on his computer, and visits a few family members, trying not to neglect his few remaining relationships. Overall, he stays quite busy, almost always having something to do, which, without Jewel around, he can completely focus on, not getting distracted.

Menchi, focusing on sparring, cooking, and her business in the Realm, is even busier than he is, as she’s working incredibly hard.

Benezia also works around the clock, rarely leaving the Realm, constantly making trades, and is now becoming a focal point for various players who approach her, selling all kinds of items to her at a price many people view as extremely fair.

In fact, Benezia operates at such a slim margin of profit, allowing her to profit only 1,000 to 2,000 FC on items worth 20,000 FC or above.

Meanwhile, Tereza is training inside the Realm, using the specialized training areas with Rishi, following a sort of weird training rhythm.

Alex sees her only a couple of times, and she is always dead tired, sleeping most of the time before leaving again.

Partly out of curiosity, partly out of obligation, Alex also enters the Realm and spends a bit of time with his friend Stephen, who is still a member of the Seekers, though acting as a loner.

He also searches for various items he may use to strengthen himself. His guild sells quite a few, but his limited amount of FC does not allow him to buy them, frustrating him immensely.

Almost three weeks after his return to the Realm, Tereza and Rishi finally disappear, their mission starting.

A few days later, with the month almost up, Alex sits in his living room with Menchi and Benezia.

[Benezia]

Level: 19 (75%)

Rarity: Deep Purple

Free Skill Slots 1/3

Skills: Swordsmanship (Master -), Movement (Expert +)

Support Skills: Diplomacy (Master), Teaching (Expert +), Trading (Master -)

Weapon rank: Deep Purple

Armor rank: Deep Purple

[Menchi]

Level: 13 (75%)

Rarity: Deep Purple

Free Skill Slots 0/2

Skills: Potioneering (Advanced +), Trading (Intermediate +)

Support Skills: Cooking (Expert +), Dismantling (Expert -), Synthesizing (Expert -)

Weapon rank: Deep Purple

Armor rank: Deep Purple

“You two... have really improved,” Alex notes, quite satisfied with them and their improvements. “Especially you, Benezia... is it because of your high level?”

“It appears to be,” she says. “It’s a small wonder how you managed to even recruit me in the first place.”

“...”

“Not that I am complaining,” she adds with the slightest hint of a grin.

“Yeah, my starting point is also pretty high, but you had to spend a fortune to get my Rarity, as well as both my weapon and my armor rank up to par... and my skills are still way behind Benezia’s, especially Potioneering... it’s just so difficult to improve on my own.”

“You’ll get there,” Alex says. “We can always buy new recipes and books... Benezia will find some for you at some point.”

“Hopefully,” Benezia replies, sounding neutral.

“Have you made your choice, Alex?” Menchi asks. “You mentioned during training that you’d decide by now which item you want to upgrade.”

“Indeed,” Alex says, sharing the details of his new item.

[Han Solo’s Action Boots R2]

World: Star Wars

Quality: Light Gold

Type: Boots (Heavy Leather)

Required Stats: STR - 8, PHY - 8, AGI - 15

Durability: 60/60

Effect: Increases Movement speed by 15%

Effect: Increases AGI by 5 (Flat boost, not increased by skills)

Effect: Rogue’s Rhythm: Increases Dodge chance by 6% and reduces the chance of receiving critical hits by 6%. Grants an additional chance to dodge depending on the incoming attack’s potency, relative to your current condition. (Up to 12%)

Grants 1 AGI and 6% movement speed for 12 seconds after dodging an attack. Can stack up to 5 times; refreshes the duration for all stacks after every new stack. (The attack must be from an enemy with the intent to hurt you, as well as requiring you to actively dodge it.)

Note: Made from the finest Shata leather, befitting of a true Rogue.

Note: Wearing these worn-out, yet carefully maintained boots makes it incredibly difficult to hit the wearer, who is granted almost mysterious dodging abilities.

Note: Upgraded via the use of an [Upgrade Token].

“That’s... wow! Just incredible!” Menchi yells excitedly. “You made the correct choice. You even ranked it up already... only cost you 200 shards, right? The speed and AGI are incredible now.”

“... True,” Alex says, sighing loudly. “At least to an extent... I thought so too... the first two stats are fine... the third effect, I thought like you at first... but if you think about it, my style relies on brute-forcing the issue... ignoring what my enemy does and just finishing any fight with powerful attacks, using my various skills to block whatever the enemy throws at me. The new effect, which appeared after I upgraded it to Light Gold, seems pretty minuscule...”

“How so?” Menchi asks, not understanding.

“With my shield, or even my other weapons... this effect won’t activate all that often... getting 5 stacks seems nearly impossible. It requires a dedicated dodge build to activate reliably. Also, dodge can be bypassed by skills like Sword Proficiency, which raise accuracy. Even with a 20 to 30% dodge chance, actually dodging that often is way harder, as most players have access to some skill granting increased accuracy, which further reduces my chance to dodge. At best, it’s a nice boost that activates sometimes. I’m still satisfied, though, with my LUK; it might save my ass sometime.”

“What about you, Benezia... I didn’t ask you earlier so as not to pressure you... the results?” Alex asks, sounding a little nervous now.

“I sold all of your items, except the [Hades' Hammer], which I’ll keep for now,” Benezia states.

She then hands him 365 Shards, worth a staggering 730,000 FC. “That took all my savings, and all of your items... as well as a generous donation from Menchi, who also used up all her savings. We are both completely broke now, aside from a few mediocre items and a small stash of food.”

“I used up a lot of the food. I can continue to cook Green Quality food for a while, but I used up the best parts from the One Piece world and turned them into FC,” Menchi says. “You better get me some more ingredients!”

“Also... this is for you,” Menchi says, handing Alex more of his dishes, bringing his supply back up to 10, except for the [Twice-Infused Wiggenweld Potion Variant], which now sits at 15, being the most useful and important item, capable of restoring HP quickly and taking care of most injuries.

Alex smiles, staring at his two friends and supporters. He gently hugs Menchi before approaching Benezia, not giving her a way out, as he embraces her as well.

“I appreciate the effort... and also thank you on behalf of Jewel. We’ll do our best to bring back a lot of items to replenish our stock.”

Not wasting any more time, Alex, alongside Menchi and Benezia, enters the Realm and quickly spends his 400 shards, upgrading his newly acquired item, the most powerful item imaginable for a Conjurer like himself.

[Hlökk’s Divine Gloves (Remnant)] >>> [Hlökk’s Divine Gloves (Remnant) R2] 

[Hlökk’s Divine Gloves (Remnant) R2]

World: Record of Ragnarok

Quality: Deep Gold

Type: Gloves (Cloth)

Required Stats: AGI - 18, SNS - 18, INT - 18

Durability: 180/180

Effect: Former-Völundr (Divine Weapon Forgery) - Increased Durability and increased overall stats.

Effect: God-Slayer - Attacks can’t be fully blocked and will always deal at least 2 points of damage to Armor/HP. Can damage and potentially kill even gods and other higher beings, and items.

Effect: Midas Touch of Death - Any object the player touches or creates will temporarily share both the Former-Divine Weapon and God-Slayer effects. (Effects last for 65 seconds when letting go of said items, after which they’ll slowly lose their effects within 65 more seconds, becoming normal items when the duration is over.

Note: Also known as ‘The Midas Touch’ of death.

Note: Rather than ready-made, everything it touches is made-to-order.

Note: A coward dies 1000 times, but the valiant die only once.

Note: This item was once a divine weapon, but while it may have lost that status without Hlökk’s presence inside of it, it still retains a major part of its abilities and might.

“Huh?!” Menchi yells. “Nothing changed! Aside from Durability and a few seconds more duration. This was a huge waste.”

“No,” Alex says. “Also, you forgot the 1 additional point of guaranteed damage. While it doesn’t say so, the effect will be enhanced as well. Since the Völundr and God-Slayer effects are somewhat vague and don’t include numbers, it doesn’t show, but I am certain they improved.”

“That seems to be the case,” Benezia says. “I believe that much is almost guaranteed.”

“One more day... then the [True Dream Ticket] will automatically activate... meaning I’ll have to pick up Jewel,” Alex reasons.

[True Dream Ticket]

Quality: Light Gold

Type: World Item / Quest Item

Requirements: lvl 9, Pet Jewel is alive and designated as a pet.

Effect: Allows the player to enter the world of ??????? ???? ?????

Effect: Player will automatically enter this world when the time for his next mission arrives, as long as he fulfills this item’s requirements.

Effect: The chosen world will be a solo-player world, and Combat Supporters are forbidden.

Note: You can’t avoid your dream.

Note: This item can’t be traded, discarded, or deactivated.

“Not quite,” Benezia says, a hint of pride in her voice.

“Huh?” Alex wonders.

What has she planned this time?