While Maria and Serah still seemed a bit down due to their relationship being found out Leon was actually happy with everything that happened.
He received an opportunity to make some good money and now that he knew that Maria and Serah were going out with each other he didn't have to worry about them having feelings for him.
' It's a shame since they are both beautiful but it's just less problems to worry about.'
Just as he told himself that he saw a blue screen appear in front of him. He did find out that nothing could see that screen apart from him but it was still a bit stressful for it to appear in the middle of a conversation.
[ To tease or to be teased: Hug Maria while looking at Serah straight in the eyes as a payback for all the times she teased you.
Time limit: 10 minutes
Mission reward: A minor elixir of your choice
Penalty: - 1 charisma]
Leon inwardly cursed, hugging someone wasn't a hard task but doing it while staring at their lover was simply a bastard move.
' Isn't god supposed to be all about loyalty?'
Serah was already depressed enough as it was. She did make fun of him a few times but he didn't think it was enough to do something like that in return. Still, to lose a point in charisma was pretty bad.
Minor elixirs could only increase his stats up to 14, if he wanted to raise it above that it would take a major elixir which was at least 2,000 favor points. His charisma was at 16 so the penalty was equal to losing 2,000 points for him.
' I just have to apologize after.'
He decided to bite the bullet as he approached Maria to hug her. The young woman once again looked like a deer caught in headlights, she frantically looked from side to side, looking for someone to tell her what to do. Leon didn't really think much about it as he hugged her.
" It's a pleasure working for you."
He gave her a generic excuse to not make things more awkward, he had just signed the contract so the timing was appropriate. Soon after, Maria returned the hug while Leon turned his head toward Serah. Leon had expected her to be angry but Serah was looking at the two of them with an expression that Leon couldn't read.
Whatever that expression was, it didn't seem too negative since Serah was smiling a bit.
" It's a pleasure working with you too, Leon."
Maria brought Leon back to reality with her reply. He quickly ended his hug before going toward Serah with the same intent.
' If I treat them the same way there shouldn't be any problem.'
With this mentality, he closed in on the delinquent girl who turned red. She was fully aware of his intent and for a moment she looked like a cornered cat. Once Leon was too close her battle instinct kicked in as she decided to land the first blow. Serah pounced on Leon to hug him first.
" I hope we get along."
Leon laughed a bit at her reaction before saying that. Serah nodded to show that she agreed with him but she was a bit reluctant to let the hug end. Leon looked at the screen that confirmed his mission's success with resentment.
He picked a minor elixir of luck as his reward before going back to business.
" Oh yeah, I almost forgot. I received four artifacts for my tale. One is a sword handle that I am planning to use, the second one is a necklace that I assume requires a cleric, the third one is a part of a shield and the last one is a piece of wood that is most likely part of a bow. What classes did you two pick?"
Serah seemed back to her usual self since she responded this time.
" I am a paladin and Maria's a rogue. She actually planned on using bows too so this is perfect, huh?"
Leon looked at the two of them, their classes didn't fit with their personality but he wasn't about to tell them.
" We did start a tale but we haven't done anything in it yet so we will just give up and join you. I don't really know how this is gonna work so you better wait for us before you do anything. Oh yeah, your phone number! Gimme it!"
Serah extended her hand, she looked like she was trying to extort Leon for some money. She really had the talent to make others misunderstand her. Leon couldn't help but smile as he gave them his contact information.
With this, they were ready to get back to business. Leon drank the elixir the moment that he was alone however this time he didn't feel anything. He wondered if it really worked and sure enough his luck stat had increased to 11. Luck was a strange thing in the first place so he didn't question it more than that.
With this taken care of, Leon went back to the gaming center which was nearly full already. It took him a few minutes to even get in despite him already having a pass. He could see one poor guy that was running from hole to hole to wash the VR pods, he seemed exhausted which showed that this place had been busy the entire day,
' If the sword does sell for 8,000 I might take this chance to rent a small apartment by myself, if I bring a VR pod to my parent's house they will probably throw it in the trash.'
He told himself that he would look into renting once he was done playing. He entered one of the capsules and soon enough he was back in front of the dragon mountain.
While he was logged out it counted as his character resting so now he was back at full health and full mana.
' I can hunt a few more animals before they arrive.'
He was curious about what would happen to the sword handle after he killed a hundred monsters with it. He searched around the outside of the labyrinth but there was a surprising lack of lifeform near this place. Before he could find anything, something flashed in front of him.
The light somehow caused his two new teammates to appear.
Serah was clad in a silver and blue armor, on her shoulders there was a blue cape with borders made out of white fur that seemed slightly magical. It was probably something that Maria bought for her.
As for Maria, she was wearing simple black clothes, seemingly having no weapons on herself. Leon smiled at them as he waved his hand.
[ You are now in a party with paladin Holy and rogue Aria.]
' Blood… Feed me human blood... Feed me the blood of your allies and I will grant you powers beyond what you can imagine.'
A strange voice resonated in Leon's head, he felt something tremble in his hand. When he looked at it he found that he was somehow holding the broken sword handle.
[ Feed the ancient artifact with the blood of your teammates to unlock its full potential. The sword gave you a taste of the powers you will gain by satisfying its request.]
A series of visions flashed in Seth's mind. He could see a blade of darkness form on top of the hilt in his hands. From it came a portal that summoned black tendrils that constricted his teammates.
Their blood bent to his will, each drop that he stole from them empowered his magic.
It was an enticing vision, so enticing that Leon decided to accept the mission. He turned around to whisper to the blade.
" Soon, when they aren't paying attention."
The two girls looked at him with curiosity but Leon acted as if nothing happened as he placed the sword handle in one of his pockets.
" Oh I forgot to tell you two but you can't bring any equipment inside of the dungeon so you will have to leave your stuff somewhere."
Leon tried his best shrewd smile and it turned out pretty good. He truly looked like someone that was about to backstab his teammates.