Well, I guess that means that my work with the distribution of the relief supplies is
really over now, so without any more reasons to stay here for more than it was
necessary, I went and left the Duchy of Hartz through the "Warp" portal that I have
created on the wall.
"Welcome back, master."
Since it was still early afternoon when I got back, I decided to go back to our home in
Quratar instead of going straight to the Imperial City, and when I walked through the
door, Roxanne welcomed me with her usual greeting and her cheerful smile. But today,
there was something different about her, and it I was something that I noticed straight
away.
She was dressed in her maid uniform! She is a doggy-eared maid! She is pretty! So
incredible pretty! And even more erotic than usual!
"Y-Yeah, I am back, Roxanne."
"Yes. You are back even earlier that you anticipated."
"W-Well, I managed to wrap up my share of the work a bit early so the Duke of Hartz
gave me the go-ahead to go home as there was no need to keep me there when there
was no more work for me to be done."
This… This is the same outfit that she was wearing on that fateful day when I first met
her in the Slave Shop in Vale... no, wait, actually, it is not one hundred percent the
same. Back then, I am pretty sure that Roxanne was wearing a maid's hat as well, so
technically speaking, this is the first time when I am seeing her in her maid uniform
and with her doggy ears unobstructed by anything else! This combination of her
seductive maid clothes, her cute ears and her big boobies is truly a match made in
heaven, no doubts about it!
These droopy ears covered with soft fur! The smile that makes me all warm inside as
I instantly forget about the trouble of day-to-day life and everything that was usually
bothering me! That bombshell body hidden beneath the layers of clothing, just waiting
to be uncovered by me! Oh yeah, that is right! Even though Roxanne is wearing her
maid uniform properly, like any good maid should, there was no way in hell that it
could ever hope to cover or conceal the presence of her lustrous limbs and wellrounded curves! Ahh, that softness, that elasticity! Just thinking about them is making
my blood boil with excitement! And the frills on the sides of the apron that she was
wearing only worked to accentuate them even further, stimulating my imagination
with their intricate design. My dear frills, you can try to cover Roxanne's chest from
me, but the truth is that I have already seen it enough times for their sight to be
engraved in my memory that I can summon back at will at any given moment in time,
so to me it makes no difference whether you are here or not, but nevertheless, you are
a welcome addition to the collection of fetishes that is Roxanne in her maid uniform!
"So you are saying that you managed to finish your work way before all the other
Adventurers did? I should have expected as much of you, master. You are so amazing
that no one can possibly compare to you when it comes to how amazing you are."
Okay Roxanne, I get it. Me finishing my work way before others did is just one more
reason for you to be calling me amazing, huh? I mean, I will not deny it if you are
willingly offering me a compliment, but… how can I say this? The words like "amazing"
or "excellent" have a whole new meaning to them right now that I know that the Duke
of Hartz also considers me to be an excellent Adventurer, even though I am not an
Adventurer at all, so technically that is a praise that I do not deserve, but as long as I
am the only one who knows the truth, then ahhh, who cares?
I turned my back to Roxanne and spread my arms, and she immediately took the coat
that I still had on me off my back and hanged it back in the closet from which she took
it out in the morning. When she was taking the coat off of me, it felt a little ticklish
when the material of her uniform was rubbing against my own skin, but it was not the
uncomfortable kind of ticklish, but actually the good kind of ticklish, the kind of which
I would not mind feeling all the time.
"Thank you Roxanne, you are a great help as always. But if I may ask… then why are
you wearing these clothes of all things today?"
"Oh, should I have not wore them? But I thought that this was the traditional clothing
that a servant should be wearing when she is cleaning the house or performing
various other household chores, and that is also what I have been taught by the
personnel back at the Slave Shop. Were the teachings wrong then?"
Well yes but actually no. While it is true that this clothing is usually worn by the maids
who are essentially house servants who take care of all the basic chores such as
cleaning and cooking in place of their masters, it is nowhere written that they actually
have to be wearing these uniforms at all times, so I think that it all boils down either
to the master's preferences, or to the fact that a maid's uniform is in and out of itself a
symbol of a maid's status and an indicator of her position in the household, and
essentially, I think that it would be right to say that a maid without her maid uniform
would be in the same vain as a salaryman without his suit and tightly knotted necktie,
or like a sportsmen without a proper attire to wear during the times of official
competitions, so while her wearing her maid uniform during cleaning is not exactly a
violation of any sort, I could still say that there was something very wrong about it,
something that made my heart feel not at ease and it hurt my chest in a way that I
honestly was not expecting.
"W-Well, as long as it looks as cute as it does on you, then I guess I have no problems
with you wearing it during cleaning. I just hope that it is not going to get too dirty,
because it would be a shame if it got some stains that would be pretty difficult to
remove, right?"
"Thank you very much for your invaluable opinion, master. I assure you that I will do
everything in my power to not let that happen."
"Great. Yeah, great indeed…"
My fucking God, she is so cute! Too cute!! Cute to such a degree that it should be
criminal to be this adorable without even realizing it, because if she is going to keep
that up, then I am afraid that very soon I will be vomiting rainbows left and right
whenever I will be looking at her! That, and it also makes me want to jump on her and
have my way with her right here, right now! I want to devour her in all possible
meanings of that word and fulfill all of my maid-related desires that I could never have
even dream of fulfilling before!
"Ahhh, I knew it! You are the best after all, Roxanne!"
I hugged Roxanne from behind, channeling all of my affection towards her in it. Ahh,
the softness! Ahhh, the flexibility! Ahhhhhhh, the elasticity that seems to be giving up
under the pressure of my fingers only to go right back to its original shape!
"I do not know if I did anything to deserve your affection just now, master… But I am
glad all the same. Ah, I almost forgot. A messenger from Mr. Luke came while you were
way doing the commission for the Adventurer's Guild, master."
"A messenger, huh? Well, what did he had to say?"
"Apparently, Mr. Luke managed to win the bid for the Mermaid Skill Crystal, and he
was asking if you would be interested in it yourself."
"I see. Well, I thought that it would be something a little bit more urgent than that, so
we might as well go see him tomorrow. Right now I do not really feel like doing
anything else."
"So I take it you are going to have a rest before you go pick Sherry from the library?
What do you want me to do in the meantime?"
"Hmm, I do not know… Just keep being as cute as you are now. Also…"
.
I whispered softly into Roxanne's ear. And then, without giving her any word of
warning, I picked her off the ground and lifted her in my arms, holding her shoulders
with my left hand around them and her legs just below her knees with my right hand.
She was definitely surprised by such a sudden action on my part, but other than that…
she was not resisting it at all. Needless to say, there was only one possible destination
where we could be heading now that everything has been prepared so perfectly: we
were going straight towards the bed in our bedroom. And I hope that it is even more
needless to say, but yes...… I was late to pick Sherry up because of it.
After I left the house in a hurry and made a stop at Quratar's Adventurer's Guild to
pick up the daily funding that had been promised to everyone who would be
participating in the operation to deliver the relief supplies to the Duchy of Hartz, I then
opened the "Warp" portal to Imperial City and ran towards the library as fast as I
could. When I got out of the portal at the other side, which I set to be the lobby room
of the library, I saw that the number of people who were there was far greater than in
the morning when I brought Sherry here. And speaking of Sherry, as soon as she saw
me, she literally darted out of the reading room and rushed to my side.
"I am sorry for making you wait, Sherry. Were you waiting for long?"
"No, I just got out myself."
"Oh, well now, talk about a stroke of luck, huh?"
"Yes, definitely. It is a good thing that the library is opened from early morning until
sunset, but I cannot help but to wish for it to be opened for longer. Even if I did end up
spending an entire day here today, I still feel like it was not enough."
So judging from Sherry's words, it would seem like pretty much every visitor of the
library was waiting for the very last moment to leave it, and that is what caused such
a flood of people to be here right now. But I guess that this time it actually worked to
my advantage, because even though I was late to pick Sherry up, she did not actually
have to wait for me for God knows how long, so you could say that this was a disaster
successfully avoided.
"Hmm, so the library is actually opened until the evening, huh?"
Then I guess it makes it pretty much the same as the libraries in my old world, which
is a useful bit of information.
"Heck yeah it is!"
Huh? Excuse me, what was that just now? And this peculiar smell… do not tell me…
"Uhm, Sherry? Have… have you been drinking?"
After we got the money from the deposit back, I could feel that Sherry's breath smelled
like alcohol, and not just a little bit. It was a pretty intense smell.
"Huh? What do you mean, master? Of course I was drinking! Five glasses of water that
is!"
Water, huh? Yeah, right, sure. Now forgive me if I doubt that, because there is no way
for water to ever have an alcoholic smell like that.
"Yes master, water. To be precise though, it is a weak liquor-type beverage that you
drink instead of water, but due to its low percentage of alcohol, Dwarves, who are
known to be a race that is particularly good at holding their liquor and resisting the
intoxicating effects of alcohol, so Dwarves just call it Water because they see not too
much difference between that Water and the ordinary water. And besides, the one that
I had is not all that strong anyway, because it has only been distilled three times, or so
I heard."
It has been distilled "only" three times? But is it not that the amount of alcohol in a
beverage goes up every time it is distilled? I cannot say for sure because I have never
had much of an interest in alcohol and the process in which it is created, but I can
definitely say that despite Sherry claims that what she drank was a "weak" liquor, it is
probably quite strong because the alcoholic stench that I can feel from her is quite
strong, almost to the point where inhaling the fumes of it from Sherry's every breath
is enough to cause a pinching sensation in the depths of my nostrils.
"Do you like alcohol, Sherry?"
I don't know whether Sherry liked alcohol, or if she has a strong tolerance to it or not,
because the only thing close to alcohol we have at home is the wine that we mostly
use for cooking purposes, and I have never seen either Roxanne or Sherry drink it.
Could it be that they have been holding back because I never drank a drop of it myself?
If that really is the case, then I hope they are not going to hold that against me or feel
dissatisfied because of it, because they never even spoke a word about it, and I also
never thought about asking them about it.
"Huh? No, master, I cannot say that I like it, but I guess I do not dislike it either. To me,
it's just like drinking water. Nothing more, nothing less."
"Oh, I see. So it is not going to be a problem that we do not have any of it at home?"
"Yes, I can make do without it just fine. As I was saying, I did not drink it because I
liked it but because to me it's like water, so as long as we had it I would have no
problems drinking it."
.
Say what you want, Sherry, but I still think that drinking alcohol as a substitute for
water is not okay, especially if it makes you smell like alcohol from quite a distance
away, which some people might find off-putting, and if you say that you do not really
like alcohol in the first place then maybe you should not be drinking it at all, even if
you do have quite a big tolerance to it because you are a Dwarf. At the very least she
does not appear to be piss drunk, but maybe just slightly intoxicated if her cheeks,
which are flushed with a little bit of red on them are any kind of indicator. And more
importantly, she seems to be walking in a perfectly straight line, and it does not appear
like she had any difficulty forming coherent sentences as well, and when I added her
back into my Party through the Party settings menu, and checked her status, it showed
that she was not under the influence of any negative statuses whatsoever, so what she
was saying has to be true indeed and she must have a pretty strong head and a good
tolerance to alcohol.
"Well, whatever. As long as you are not suffering from alcohol's negative effects, then
I guess there is nothing to worry about."
When the time comes that I will finally be able to drink alcohol myself, then perhaps
we could go drinking together. Yeah, that definitely would be nice. We made our way
towards the "Warp" portal on the library's wall and went home.
"Welcome home, master."
When we got back home, Roxanne welcomed me again. I thought that she was going
to change from her maid uniform into her regular clothes already, but apparently that
was not the case.
"Yeah, we are back, Roxanne."
"Oh? Have you been drinking before you got back here, by any chance?"
Roxanne immediately notice the smell of alcohol that was coming from Sherry. Well, I
should not be surprised that she noticed it immediately. After all, as a Wolfkin she has
a pretty keen sense of smell that allows her to even smell where the monsters in the
Labyrinths are from pretty far away, and that unique ability of hers saved us a lot of
trouble and running into potential deathtraps before, so I knew that it could definitely
be trusted.
"Master did not drink a drop, but I had some instead of water while I was in the
library."
"You had... alcohol instead of water?"
"Yes, a water-like alcohol instead of water, or at least that is what she told me when I
asked her the very same question, and she said that she only had like five glasses of
it."
"Yes, only five glasses, so as you can see, I am totally fine! Welcome, Miss Roxanne! I
hope that your day was as successfully spent as my was!"
"Y-Yes, of course, welcome back, Sherry. And yes, you can say that I managed to do
everything that I have planned for myself today. So, uhm… will you be able to help me
with the cooking?"
"Of course I will help you! I knew that we would have to make dinner when we get
back, so that is why I made sure to do not drink enough to get myself drunk."
That is what Sherry said, but to be honest, I still find it kind of strange. Even though
she is of a race that is supposedly really resistant to alcohol and she also has a strong
alcohol tolerance herself in addition to that, if what she drank was distilled at least
three times, then I would expect these five cups that she drank to get her at least a
little bit drunk.
"Sherry, let me just ask you this: how much alcohol would it actually take for you to
ger seriously drunk?"
"Hmm, let me think… Let's see… ah, yes, I remember now. Back when I decided to sell
myself into slavery, on the last day that I got to spend with my family they decided to
have a sort of a goodbye feast for me, and at the end of that feat I think I got a little too
drunk then I probably should have, but only a little, nothing so serious that would
make me pass out on the spot or anything like that. My family brought out the
strongest liquor that we had in the house at that time and there was an entire barrel
of it but we actually ended up drinking that barrel dry very quickly so then we
proceeded to drink all the other alcohol that we had at home until there was pretty
much nothing left of it… So while I cannot exactly estimate how much it was in the
end, I do think that it had to be quite a considerable amount."
So a… considerable amount of alcohol was only enough to get her "a little" drunk? Also,
she said that it was a feast for their whole family, but since she mentioned that she has
a younger brother and a younger sister, and since I am pretty sure that they would not
allow kids to drink booze, so it must mean that the only people who drank so much
alcohol were Sherry, her father and her brother, so if the three of them were the ones
who drank the entire supply of alcohol that was in their house and she only got "a
little" drunk off of it... then I guess that what she said must be true and she does have
a pretty strong resistance to alcohol, even for a Dwarf, so I think that unless Sherry
herself expresses a desire to drink then there is no need to be forcing her to, and in
the event that we might go out drinking with her, it might be a good idea to keep a
close eye on her so that our tab would not grow into an inhuman sum that would be a
major blow to my wallet.
Since Sherry was not drunk, she assisted Roxanne in preparing dinner as always, and
throughout the whole process, I cannot say that I noticed and slip-ups or mishaps with
any of the tools on her part, so it really seems like she is not drunk in the slightest.
With that confirmation, I decided to stop observing her to determine if all that alcohol
that she drank had any influence on her, because it obviously did not, so instead I
focused on eating before me, exactly as I should have.
"So Roxanne, how was your day? Did you go shopping, or did you spend it all cleaning
around the house?"
I asked that of Roxanne while we were eating dinner.
"Yes, I did. A little bit earlier before you came back home, master."
"Oh, so you actually did? Good."
I am glad to hear her say that. It would have been awful if she did not go shopping by
the time I have returned home earlier than anticipated, and ended up thwarting her
plans of spending her day off in a way that she desired because of it.
"And while I was shopping, I bought some new clothes for master."
"New clothes? For me?"
"Yes, and it would make me very glad if you wore them, master."
"Well of course I will wear them, but you did not have to go so far for me, you know?"
Now it just makes me feel bad. Since it was supposed to be Roxanne's day off I wanted
her to do or buy something that would be just for her, and instead she ended up buying
clothes for me even though I never asked her to do that.
"I also bought a hairbrush, so we can use it together, Sherry."
A hairbrush, huh? Well, it makes sense that she would buy something like that. After
all, they are both girls and they definitely need to take care of their hair, but since my
hair are not that long then I would have no use of it.
"We can share it with each other? Really? Thank you so much, Miss Roxanne, you are
the best!"
"Do not mention it. Also, I am sorry for not noticing the need to buy one earlier, so if
there is anything else that you would like me to buy then just say the word and I will
go and obtain it."
"No, no, no, there is no need for you to apologize at all. How much did you pay for it? I
will give you the money from the rest of what I have left from master's allowance!"
.
Sherry declared her intentions of paying Roxanne back for the brush, because she felt
bad about her buying something that both of them would be using with just her own
money, but then she had a look as if a lightbulb just flashed above her head and she
went like...
"... Oh, that is right. I ended up spending all of my allowance. S-So, uhm… I am sorry
for wasting it all on myself! Master! Miss Roxanne!"
So Sherry did end up using all of the five silver coins that I gave her? That is a little
unexpected, but I cannot say that it does not make me happy to know that she did
what I asked of her. Good for you, Sherry.
"Those five silver coins that I gave you were essentially your pocket money, so you
were free to spend it however you saw fit. Whether you spend it all or keep it is up to
you and I will not judge you for it. So if you have any of the money from your shopping
left, Roxanne, then be sure to keep it for yourself instead of giving it back to me. Who
knows, there might come a time where those coins might just come in pretty handy to
you."
"Are you really sure about that, master?"
"Yeah, I do not mind. You are my slaves as well as my precious Party Members, so I
trust you to use this money in the best way possible."
"Thank you very much for putting your trust in me, master."
I said that because I trust both Roxanne and Sherry, but my decision to allow them to
keep the money has a hidden meaning as well. I know that it might be nothing more
but a possibility that may or may not come true, but in the unlikely event that we
somehow end up getting separated from one another, be it through the effects of some
sort of magical trap or through other means, the money they are going to have on them
in case of such happening should be enough for them to go back to our home in
Quratar on their own.
As I said, I hope that a scenario like that is going to remain nothing more than a
possibility, but since this is the world in which you might never know what is going to
happen one you enter the Labyrinth, it is better to be safe now than sorry later.
"And what about you, Sherry? How did you spend your day off? Did id you read some
interesting books?"
"Yes. Since I am going to be working as Master's Master Smith from now on, I thought
it might be a good idea to refresh my memory and read about the effects of every
monster Skill Crystal so that I would always remember what are their effects are
without messing them up, and so I used the pocket money that I received from master
in order to buy a notebook and a writing instrument for myself, so whenever I will
hear or read about something interesting from now on, I will make sure to take notes
about it."
So it looks like both Sherry and Roxanne had managed to spend their day off in a
meaningful way.
Not having anything else to do for the day we went straight to bed after finishing
dinner, and by the following morning the odor of alcohol that was persistently hanging
around Sherry has completely disappeared.
I was initially worried about what might happen when she will give me a good
morning kiss with the tongue and she ends up breathing the alcoholic fumes directly
into my mouth, but much to my relief it looks like the scenario where I end up barfing
all over the bed and myself because of it can be completely avoided. While Sherry and
I were kissing, all that I could feel was the sate of her mouth without a drop of alcohol
smell in it, so I could safely bring my own tongue around every corner of her mouth
without feeling uncomfortable at all.
The walls of her mouth and her tongue were moist and slimy like usual, stimulating
my senses all throughout our kiss to the moment when our mouths separated from
one another. Until then, I made sure to savor every movement, sensation and feeling,
and then when I stopped kissing her, Sherry was the one who kissed me back and
placed her own tongue back in my mouth, imitating every movement and technique
that I have used on her. She was still somewhat awkward when it came to the
refinement of her kissing technique, but she was definitely making progress with each
passing day. She was entwining herself around me and responding meticulously to
each and every one of my own movements, and then she finally let go of me.
"Good morning, Sherry. How does your head feel? Does it hurt?"
"Good morning master. No, my head feels fine, and there seems to be nothing wrong
with it."
I thought that she might be dealing with a hungover, but apparently nothing of the sort
has befallen her, most likely because she was only slightly drunk, exactly like she said
yesterday.
I think that aside from the Dwarves' high resistance to alcohol, they might also have
their livers work at an excellent capacity, and that might be why even though she
ingested alcohol, she is feeling no harmful side effects of it… But that begs the
question: if Dwarven livers really work so well, then is it possible for them not to get
drunk at all? Does it depend on the person and their individual characteristics, or is it
something that all of the Dwarves can develop if only they will train their livers and
entire digestive systems hard enough…
No, that seems highly unlikely, because even if Sherry claimed that she was not drunk
and that she did not have a hangover, she still ended up going to bed pretty early along
with Roxanne and myself, and as soon as she hit the sheets, she ended up falling asleep
almost instantly and I think that she has slept like a log all the way into the morning,
and throughout that time, I do not think that there was anything that could have
woken her up from her recovery sleep even if it tried.
But now that I know that Sherry is pretty much highly resistant to the harmful effects
of alcohol, there was one more question that began to nestle itself in my mind: how
resistant to alcohol is Roxanne, and if she ever got drunk, then what kind of drunk
would she be? A happy drunk who gets all clingy with everyone in her surroundings?
A gloomy drunk who ends up going through involuntary trips down the memory lane
of all the worst memories possible? Or perhaps a sexy drunk, the one who would have
her sex drive amplified to eleven as she would push me down and try to have her way
with me? Whatever the case might be, I cannot wait to see the day when I will be able
to confirm that with my own eyes.
Since it was early in the morning, we went to Quratar's Labyrinth as usual to do some
grinding and farm the materials from the monsters which we then sold at the
Adventurers' Guild, then after we got back home I had Sherry engage in another round
of her training as a Master Smith and create two more Misangas (once more without
an Empty Skill Slot on either of them, regrettably) and when she was done with that
we proceeded to have breakfast.
"By the way, Roxanne told me yesterday that Luke the Broker managed to win a bid
for a Mermaid Skill Crystal and he sent a messenger here asking if I would be
interested in it. While I cannot say that I am downright disinterested, I would like to
know what kind of Skill you can obtain if you fuse a weapon or armor with Mermaid
Skill Crystal, and based on that knowledge I will then make a decision. So Sherry, care
to tell us what kind of Skill we would get if we got our hands on that particular Monster
Skill Crystal?"
I asked Sherry to enlighten us in that matter as we were all eating the food on our
plates. "Mermaid Skill Crystal is one of the Monster Skill Crystals that add an element
to the weapon that they are infused with, and in case of a Mermaid Skill Crystal, the
added element would be water, giving you the "Water Sword" Skill. Alternatively, if you
were to infuse Mermaid Skill Crystal with a piece of armor, you would then get a Skill
that would increase that piece of armor's resistance to water-based attacks and
magic."
.
"It would?"
"Yes. But if you managed to fuse the Monster Skill Crystals with a piece of armor that
would then have "Resist Water" effect added onto it, then such a piece of armor would
definitely make for a nice protective measure against Needlewoods and their Water
Magic attacks on higher floors of the Labyrinths. As for which pieces of armor to fuse
such a Skill Crystal with... I think that the best possible choice would be Leather
Mittens or Leather Armor. Yes, such pieces of armor would definitely be useful, but we
still need to take into account the fact that the fusion might fail, and then we would
not only lose the Skill Crystals used in the fusion, but the Leather Armor that we would
use as a base would be broken down into their base components, meaning leather, and
if that happened, I do not know how long it would take me to process the leather in
such a way that it could be used to make armor out of it again. With Leather Mittens it
would not have been so bad, because even if they were to be broken into their base
components, remaking the mittens is significantly easier and less time-consuming
than making Leather Armor out of unprocessed leather."
Sherry gave me quite a lengthy explanation about the fusion process, the risks
involved with it and how we could have recovered ourselves from a potential fusion
failure. All of that might have seem like something a little bit excessive, but you have
to take into consideration the fact that unlike me, Sherry does not know that the fusion
of a Skill Crystal with a weapon or a piece of armor can only fail if said weapon or piece
of armor does not have an Empty Skill Slot assigned to it. As long as these conditions
are met and you will be fusing the Skill Crystal with something that has at least one
Empty Skill Slot, there will be no way for your fusions to ever fail. But since Sherry has
yet to figure it out because she does not know that Empty Skill Slots are real and they
are not just an urban legend or a hollow theory conceived by a bunch of scholars, then
she is still pretty desperate to make sure that each fusion was going to be successful
so that she would not be subjected to any form of punishment for failing the task that
she was entrusted with, even though I have already told her time and time again that
there is no way that I would ever do something so cruel to her, and I fully intended to
stick to that decision.
"All right, so if we do end up buying the Mermaid Skill Crystal, then I am counting on
you to fuse it together with the Leather Mittens."
"Y-Yes, of course! I-I will make sure to do everything in my power to make that fusion
a successful one!"
From all of the equipment that my Party has, no armor would qualify for the fusion,
not even the one that I am wearing, because it was not something that I bought in the
Armor Shop after carefully picking it up from among a ton of others. This Leather
Armor is one of the remnants of a Party annihilated by Pan on the seventh floor of
Vale's Labyrinth.
Because of that, the Leather Armor that I am currently wearing does not have any
Empty Skill Slots in it, which essentially renders this Leather Armor useless to me for
the purpose of fusing it with the Monster Skill Crystals. On the other hand, the Leather
Mittens have been bought in the Armor Shop after carefully selecting them from
among a myriad of other similar items after confirming that they had at least one
Empty Skill Slot in them, so I know that as long as they are going to be the ones infused
With Mermaid Skill Crystal, then everything is going to be okay and the fusion will
definitely be a successful one. Boy I sure am glad that I did not decide to sell them
somewhere along the way thinking that they are not going to be of any use to me
anymore. Now they can be integrated with the Mermaid Skill Crystal once I will obtain
it, and their usefulness to me will be increased even more!
As for the effect that the Mermaid Skill Crystal is going to have on my armor, it is
exactly like Sherry said. Since the Needlewoods start using water-based magic once
they are of a sufficiently high enough level, then having something that would allow
me to either partially reduce or completely resist the damage from such magic attacks
is certainly going to be useful, even more so since somewhere along the way there is
bound to be a Floor Boss, but the nearest location where we could put this equipment
to the test would probably be the eighth floor of the Quratar labyrinth. That being said,
is it going to be that I would have to prepare different equipment for every floor of the
Labyrinth to have it being effective for different types of enemies and their elemental
strengths? Because if so, then that is going to be quite difficult to pull off, not only
financially, but purely from the perspective of obtaining the Skill Crystals from the
enemies, which is going to be heavily chance-based.
"By the way, Sherry, I was wondering about one thing: if we would attach Mermaid
Skill Crystal to both my Leather Armor and Leather Mittens, then would that mean
that the effectiveness of the water damage reduction would be doubled?"
"That is a perfectly valid point that you are raising, master, but unfortunately, the exact
answer to that question has not been determined yet, even though many scholars and
enlightened minds have been debating over that matter for a long time now. Some of
them believe that the effects of the Skill Crystals do stack with each other if you equip
the same Skill crystal on more than one piece of equipment, but at the same time
others advocate that something like that is not happening at all and that wishing for
the doubled effects of Skill Crystals is nothing but wishful thinking. One of the most
prominent examples in that debate was an old scholar who tried to put Skill Crystals
that would increase the power of his physical attacks into multiple elements of his
equipment, and according to his testimony he did not notice any visible difference
even when he was covered with attack-increasing equipment from top to bottom,
which led many more people to lean in favor of the theory that multiple copies of the
same Skill Crystal do not in fact double the effects or the effectiveness of that Skill
Crystal, but almost immediately after the validity of that claim started to be
questioned, because those who advocated that the effects of Skill Crystals do stack
were saying that Skill Crystals that increase the attack power of their user cannot be
used as a model in experiments like that because their effect is a special case."
A special case, huh? But yeah, I can kind of understand why it is impossible to do
something like that no matter if it was something that the creator of the game intended
to do or not.
If you could infuse all of your equipment and weapons with Skill Crystals that would
increase your attack power, that would be the most broken of broken builds that I have
seen in any video game, and it would make a person with that equipment a huge threat
not only to the monsters in the Labyrinths, but also to the normal people living in this
world.
After all, I sometimes forget that the equipment that I am using to fight against the
monsters in the Labyrinths does not lose its effectiveness outside of them, meaning
that it can also be used against regular people. Just try to imagine that: an Adventurer
with uber op weapon like my Durandal with equipment that does nothing else but
boosting his attack power to make it five, ten, twenty or perhaps even twenty five
times of its regular value to kill not only monsters, but also people in one hit.
Yeah, just thinking about it from a purely theoretical perspective makes me terrified
like all hell, as well as glad that shenanigans like that are impossible to pull off after
all.
After we finished eating breakfast, I made my way to the Merchants Guild, and once
there, I made my way to the waiting room located to the left of the Guild building's
main entrance and approached one of the people who looked like he was working here
and told him to call Luke the Armor Merchant for me, which he proceeded to do right
away.
.
He told the three of us to wait for a moment before he arrives. We all sat on the chairs
that have been prepared for the guests, and while Roxanne and I were simply looking
around, observing everything that was happening around us, Sherry decided to took
out the notebook that she bought for herself with the allowance that I have given her
yesterday and started to scribble down in it pretty eagerly. While we were waiting, the
color of the wall to our side suddenly changed to black, indicating that a portal has
been opened on it, and soon after people started coming out of it which prompted the
clerk behind the counter to aske every last one of them what was their business here,
and once they have stated it they have been shown to their seats in the waiting room,
just like it was with us. So apparently they have to be other customers who came here
to do business with their respective brokers, right? Also, it would seem that the wall
of the waiting room in the Merchants Guild is yet another place where "Field Walker"
can be used, so maybe I should start employing that method of transportation to come
here from now on as well?
"I am sorry for making you wait. Now, if you would please follow me."
Luke the Broker has finally arrived, and after apologizing for making as wait for him
for so long he guided all three of us to one of the conference rooms.
"I have received your message, Mr. Luke, but just to be sure, let me confirm this with
you. You really managed to get your hands on a Mermaid Skill Crystal?"
"Yes. Luckily for me, there were no other competitors for this particular purchase, so
I also managed to obtain it at a relatively low price that is actually even cheaper than
the usual market price. Is that all right with you?"
"Yes, I see no problems with that. I hope that our beneficial partnership can continue."
"Thank you very much. So, can I assume that you are interested in buying the Mermaid
Skill Crystal from me?"
"Yes, definitely. That is the reason why I came here today, after all."
"Of course. Well then, here you go."
Luke the Broker than cast the spell that summoned his Item Box and he proceeded to
take out Mermaid Skill Crystal out of it and placed it on the table. I then used my own
"Identify" spell to see it that was really the item in question, and sure enough, it was a
Mermaid Skill Crystal.
"Now then, if it is all right then I will be taking…"
"Before you do that, Michio-sama, there is one more thing that I would like to tell you,
or rather, propose to you."
Propose something? What is he talking about?
"Propose something? What do you mean by that? Is something actually wrong with
this Skill Crystal?"
"No, everything is fine with it, so allow me to explain. The thing is, since I was the
winning bidder for the purchase of the Mermaid Skill Crystal, as a Broker affiliated
with this Merchants Guild I can use the special service offered by the Merchant Guild's
Temple."
A special service offered by this Guild's Temple?
"A special service? What kind of service is that, exactly? I assume that it is something
related to the item that you won in an auction?"
"Precisely. It is a special appraisal service offered to the winners of the auction that
costs ten Nars. And since I was a Broker acting on your behalf, it means that you have
access to that special appraisal service as well. How about it? Would you like to go and
use the service provided by our temple right now? You do not have to pay for it now,
it is perfectly fine to do so after the confirmation process will be completed."
Luke told me all that as I was practically holding the Mermaid Skill Crystal in my hand.
"A confirmation process?"
"Yes. It is a measure employed to make sure that the winners of the auctions could
check for themselves if the items that they have won are genuine or not."
Aaaaahhh, I see what he is talking about now. Essentially, he is telling me that the
Merchant Guild's Temple can use "Identify" on this Skill Crystal for me so that I could
have a one hundred percent guarantee that the thing I bought is really what I paid for
and not just something extremely similar to it disguised as something else.
Now, I know that this thing in my hand is a Mermaid Skill Crystal because I have access
to "Identify" and I could check that for myself, but ordinary people cannot do it at all,
right? For normal people, the Skill Crystals must look like nothing more than ordinary
pebbles, and they would not even be able to tell what type it is or to what monster did
they belong in the first place.
So with that in mind, it might actually be a good idea to go along with Luke the Broker's
proposition and have this Mermaid Skill Crystal be appraised in the Guild's Temple.
One of the reasons for me going along with it is of course because I do not want to look
suspicious in his eyes, and I kinda do want to take a look at the Guild's temple to see
how it actually looks like inside.
Then again, since I can use "Identify" to check the authenticity of every item myself, it
would be incredibly annoying to go through with it every time when I would be buying
something, not to mention that after a while it would also get really costly. Not after
two or three times of course, but you know what they say, right?
Ten Nars here, ten Nars there, and then, before you would even be able to realize it,
you would end up with a hefty sum of money spent on the appraisal of items bought
from the auctions alone. And if I am to be perfectly honest with you, if I have to pay
someone to appraise my items for me, then I definitely prefer doing that myself
because then that costs me literally nothing. And right now, when I have already
appraised this Mermaid Skill Crystal and I know it is a real deal, I at least am sure that
he acquired a genuine article for me and did not try to trick me by getting me some
kind of forgery. So…
"I kindly thank you for the offer, but I think that I am going to pass on it this time. I
trust you with this one, Mr. Luke, because you do not strike me as someone who would
try to swindle your clients with their very first transaction."
By showing him that I trust him, I might be able to increase his opinion of me as a
client. Of course, I have no idea if such a maneuver on my side is going to work or not,
but at this point it was a bet that I was willing to make, and everything seems to be
showing that it was the right call on my part, because Mr. Luke did not look as
disappointed as I thought he would be, but it might be possible that he was only
feigning that while harboring different feelings inside of him, but at the current
moment I do not have any way of knowing or checking whether that is true or not.
It might be possible that Mr. Luke is not the person that I initially thought he is. It is
entirely possible that he might be planning to use me and do me wrong, and if that is
the case, then that is all the more reason to show him that I am not someone who is
going to be agreeing to each and every one of his suggestions, because that would have
been a clear signal to him that I am a person that is prone to being manipulated and
led by the nose by others, and I am anything but that.
If there will ever come a time when he tries to deceive me by trying to sell me a forged
Skill Crystal, I will know about it immediately and I would be ready to act accordingly,
but for the time being nothing seems to be pointing to that. If the need for that arises,
I can always ask him to show me around the temple some other time, assuming that
he is still going to be willing to cooperate with me to such a degree that is.
"As you wish. I understand."
.
Mr. Luke said while maintaining a perfectly expressionless face. It was that kind of face
that made it really difficult to discern whether he was telling the truth or was he
simply putting up a front. Was he impressed that I have decided to put my trust in him,
or was he laughing in his heart thinking that I am someone gullible who might be an
easy target to cheat?
"You said that the price of this Mermaid Skill Crystal was twenty-five hundred Nars,
correct?"
"Yes, that is indeed the price that I have listed in the message that my messenger
delivered to you."
"Good. If you ever happen upon yet another Monster Skill Crystal that would be so
cheap, then I would be very much interested in such Skill Crystal again."
"Of course. In that case I would like you to pay five hundred Nars as an advance fee for
such a transaction."
"...…"
I waited for a moment to see if anything was going to happen, but nothing seemed to
be pointing to that. Looks like my thirty percent discount is not going to work this
time, as unfortunate as that that may sound, because a part of me was hoping that I
would only have to pay around two thousand Nars for it with my discounts. I could
always try asking him directly how much that would be in total, but that might have
been a little too blatant, right? Actually, that twenty-five hundred Nars might be the
exact amount of money that Luke would be handling over to the seller from whom he
obtained the Mermaid Skill Crystal, so if I was to give him only two thousand Nars
instead of twenty-five hundred, that would mean that I would still be in the red and I
would not have enough to finalize the purchase. There is nothing that I can do about
it now, but this is exactly one of those times where I would have liked it for the discount
to actually work. As inconvenient as that might be for me right now, I have no other
choice but to cough up the full amount and pay exactly how much I was told to pay.
With the purchase of the Mermaid Skill Crystal done and completed, we said our
goodbyes to Mr. Luke and went downstairs to the Merchants Guild's ground floor
where I opened up "Warp's" portal on the wall of the waiting room, creating a passage
that we then used to travel straight to the Labyrinth of Vale.
"Master, may I say something blunt?"
"Sure, go right ahead. I will listen to it, no matter what that might be."
As soon as we entered the Labyrinth, Sherry asked me if she could say something
without sugarcoating, and I gave her the go-ahead because I was thinking that I might
know what this was going to be about.
"I do not wish to question your actions and decisions, but with all due respect… I think
you trust that middleman way too much than you should have."
And sure enough, it was exactly about the thing that I was anticipating. Sherry
normally would not have said something direct like that to me, but perhaps knowing
that there was no people around gave her all the encouragement that she needed.
And of course, she used that precious opportunity to once again remind me that she
does not trust the middlemen all that much. But is it just me, or does she seem to have
some kind of unusual obsession about them?
"Well, I knew that there was probably nothing for us to worry about since this was our
very first time using his services, so he probably would not risk selling us a counterfeit
Skill Crystal because of what might have happened if he were to be found out, and if
that man really is as smart as he think he is, then he is not going to try to outright scam
us, but just to be on the safe side, we should remain as cautious as possible when doing
business with him. At some point he might try to sell us counterfeited items, but any
middleman worth his salt would not dare do something like that repeatedly for a few
times in a row because that would be straight up pushing his luck too far. And of
course, if we end up catching him in the act, then we might just have to "persuade"
him into giving us a little consolation fee as compensation for the damages that his
fake would-be items would have eventually caused us."
I am kidding about that last part of course… Or am I?
"That sounds like a good strategy in theory, but is there actually a way for us regular
people to be able to discern if the item we are getting sold is a counterfeit or not?
Because if we were to discover that after the purchase has been completed, then it
would most likely be too late for us to do anything,"
"Well, one way to go about it would be to inspect the item as closely and accurately as
possible and observe the way in which he reacts as you continue to poke around the
items. If the middleman starts getting unusually nervous or shows any signs of acting
suspiciously, then you would definitely know that we are on the right track."
"And you would be able to notice signs like that immediately when they would
appear?!"
"Of course! Who do you take me for?"
No, no, no, you have to be joking, right?
"What a wonderful idea! That way we would be willing to expose anyone who would
be trying to deceive us by thinking that we are doing just a regular inspection of the
item while having an entirely different goal in mind, but because inspecting your items
is an obvious thing to do, the one who would try to deceive us would have no choice
or reason to deny us from doing that, because then he or she would have immediately
outed themselves as scammers!"
Sherry nodded her head vigorously at Roxanne's words, glad that she was able to
understand her line of thinking, while I was grabbing my own head in disbelief in my
mind. Yo, guys, chill out a little, okay? I was only joking with that, so there is no need
for you to be taking all of that so seriously.
"All right, master. We understand that what you did was meant to be a lesson for us
and a warning for that middleman, so allow me to apologize for trying to lecture you.
Now that I know what was your intention with that, I have no problems with it
whatsoever."
"I can say the same. Thank you for this valuable opportunity to learn, master."
"As expected of master, always so forward-thinking and considering every possibility
with the long-term consequences in mind."
No, guys, I really mean it, I only said it as a joke, it is not like I would ever consider
seriously doing something like that, because that would definitely end up branding us
as criminals for sure, causing our peaceful lives to be over once and for all without any
possibility of getting them back. So then, why are you taking this so seriously and treat
it as if it was a good thing, huh, Roxanne?
"When we were still back at the Merchants Guild I saw the listings of the winning bid
from every auction that has been conducted yesterday, and it was definitely sold for
twenty-five hundred Nars, and since the price of the starting bid was set at thirty-three
hundred Nars, which we can assume to be its typical market price, and it would mean
that the price at which the middleman sold it to master was definitely cheaper than
the market price, so at the very least he was not lying about the price, it seems, so if
that middleman thinks that he might deceive us in the future or lead us by the noses
when it comes to the prices of the items, then he is going to be in for quite a rude
awakening if he keeps underestimating my investigative and research-conducting
skills! Oh, just thinking of all the possible strategies that we could employ here is
making me wonderfully nervous with anticipation!"
Guys, let me repeat myself. It. Was. Only. A. Joke. Nothing more than that. I never
intended things to escalate this far when I made that comment, but seeing as how
Sherry was coming up with a lot of strategies and scenarios as if she was supposed to
go to war with Luke the Broker or something has made me literally speechless and
dumbfounded.
.
"Sherry, Roxanne… Girls, there is no need for us to go to such length just now, really. I
mean, we do not even know if he will really try swindling us in any way. It was nothing
but a speculation on my part, and the one said as a joke, so..."
After a moment where it seemed as if my brain was fried and needed a while to restart
itself, I finally managed to speak up. And say what I should have said much, much
earlier.
"Oh, is… Is that so? W-Well then… I, I am so sorry, master! I said all of those things
without really thinking them through and went way ahead of myself than I should
have! I am truly, truly sorry!"
It is a good thing that Sherry recognizes that she made a mistake, but on the other
hand, she just went from one extreme right to the other, blowing this situation way
out of proportion in my mind. But well, as long as she knows that she screwed up and
regrets it, that is more than enough for me.
"Relax, Sherry. Everyone makes mistakes every once in a while, so I will not berate you
for making one yourself, so just calm down and take it easy, okay?"
"Really? You are not mad at me for getting ahead of myself and saying all those things
in front of you?"
"Sherry, if master says that he is not angry with you, then he well and truly means that,
so it is okay, you can stop worrying now."
Yeah, essentially what Roxanne said just now. And besides, if I will feel like I am angry
at her at all, then I am just going to punish her in my own way: by being extra rough
on her in bed in the evening. In other words, I have no problems with what Sherry just
did, because honestly, If I was alone and my paranoia grabbed a hold of me again, then
that is probably what I would have said and done myself.
"Okay Sherry, so now that we have the Mermaid Skill Crystal on our hands, would you
mind fusing it together with the Leather Mittens for me?"
"Y-Yes, of course! I promise that I will do my best to definitely succeed!"
While resolving herself, Sherry held both the Mermaid Skill Crystal and Leather
Mittens with Empty Skill Slot in each of her hands and began the process of the fusion
by reciting the Skill's name, and right after that her hands shined with a bright light.
And once that light has subsided…
"Oohhh, as expected of Sherry! You really have a natural knack for this thing!"
I said, praising the end result of Sherry's second fusion of an item with Empty Skill
Slots and a Skill Crystal.
"I… I did it!"
Yes, you most certainly did, Sherry. The fusion was a resounding success, and right
now, a finished product was safely resting in Sherry's hands. Not that I would have
expected any other outcome since I have already cracked the code on how this entire
thing works. But still, Sherry looks like she is overjoyed at another successful fusion
of hers, so who am I to deny her the pleasure of basking in that success for however
long she desires?
The name of that newly-created equipment was Waterproof Leather Mittens.
So, it would seem that my theory with the Empty Skill Slots was correct after all. This
is the second time when Sherry fused an item with a Skill Crystal, and so far she has
two successes and zero failures on her account, so in my opinion that is a surefire sign
that that fusion is always going to be successful just as long as the weapon of a piece
of equipment comes in with at least one Empty Skill Slot. And more importantly, when
I looked at Sherry, everything seemed to be fine with her, and she did not seem to be
showing any symptoms of MP deficiency.
When she performed "Item Fusion" for the first time it drained her MP instantly and
caused her to have suicidal and extremely self-deprecating thoughts, but now nothing
like that was happening. She just stood there, staring at the product of her own
creation with eyes that were beaming with pride, and it is most probably because her
level as a Master Smith has risen since the very first time when I made her fuse the
Copper Sword of Obstruction for me. Yeah, that has to be it. Her level as a Master Smith
has risen, and as a result of that her overall pool of MP has risen as well, thanks to
which fusions of items with Skill Crystals in it no longer sapped all of her MP from her.
Now this is what I call visible progress!
But even so, after we finished eating dinner I still asked her to create more basic
Misangas. Even though she might have succeeded in fusing a more difficult thing
successfully, the continued honing and improvement of your basic Skills and
increasing her level as a Master Smith is still just as important of a job to do as the
creation of equipment with Skills in it.
"Master, is it really necessary for me continue creating Misangas every morning and
every evening?"
I listened to Sherry question while receiving the two Misangas that she has created
from her. With these two Misangas that she made just now, the number of times when
she fused an ordinary item without any Empty Skill Slots in it is now seven in a row.
Looking at the number of items in my possession that do have Empty Skill Slots in
them, I knew that obtaining such items is not going to be an easy process, but still, I
thought that after seven fusions at least one or two of those Misangas would have at
least one Empty Skill Slot in it, and so I began to think why is it that I have not seen
Sherry create even a single one like that, and whether or not there might be some sort
of trick to it, same as with fusing items and weapons with Skill Crystals.
"I know that right now such a training might seem bothersome to you, but just try to
think about it as a way of slowly getting better at being a Master Smith, one step and
one fused item at a time. It might not be the best kind of analogy since your Item
Fusion and my swordsmanship are not the kind of arts that would normally be
compared to one another, but my strength with the blade hasn't been this since birth,
you know? I also had to spend countless hours training and polishing my own skills
with the sword to arrive where I currently am with it. It was not always easy, and there
were many times where I wanted to quit, but eventually I managed to push through
those difficult times, continuing to improve myself along the way."
That was only partially a lie, because back when I was still practicing kendo as a kid I
was genuinely giving it my all before I eventually quit, but the things that I learned
during those lessons have stayed with me all the way until today, so it was not a total
waste of time like everything else in my life back on Earth.
Going back to the issue at hand though, I do not think that the issue here is something
with Sherry per se, because up until now she managed to fuse every last item that I
requested of her successfully, so she has a one hundred percent success rate, but I
think that it is high time for us to try digging into this matter and try to discover why
it is like that, because I cannot allow myself to wait forever while hoping that one day
Empty Skill Slots are just going to appear in the items that Sherry is fusing on her own.
By the time we manage to obtain a Green Caterpillar Skill Crystal, I need to have at
least one item with an Empty Skill Slot in it. So think, Michio, think. What might be the
cause of this?
I know for a fact that the fusion of items with Skill Crystals has been successful twice
in a row now, and that my hypothesis that as long as a weapon or an item has Empty
Skill Slots in it, the fusion is going to be a successful one is probably a correct one as
well. In other words, just like I said before, before I get my hands on A Green
Caterpillar Skill Crystal which Sherry is then going to fuse together with a Misanga to
create a Sacrificial Misanga, she needs to create a Misanga with an Empty Skill Slot in
it. Learning how to do it is going the be the hardest part of the process, but after I will
crack the code on how to do it, I think making more of them is actually going to be
quite easy. However, before that can happen, we have to make that first, most
important step.
.
"Oh no, I do not doubt the effectiveness of a regular, meticulous training regimen at
all. In fact, that is exactly the thing that novice Master Smiths are expected to do right
after they first obtain their Jobs, and they are supposed to keep on going at it until
they improve their skills at creating and fusing items not only until they will become
apprentice Master Smiths, but actually until the moment that they are going to be
recognized as Veteran Master Smiths. Veteran Master Smiths are able to create as
many Misangas as they want, so I know that this training will definitely help me
become more proficient as a Master Smith myself, but I heard that such a morningevening routine needs to be repeated for at least half a year to a full year after
obtaining the Master Smith Job in order to become really effective, and if you force
yourself with it then it will have an opposite effect to what you want to achieve."
"Do you think that you will be able to grasp a better understanding of the Job and
create better and more refined items before then? And also if you will be able to
instinctively tell what the result of the fusion is going to be?"
"As long as I continue to make items and gain experience in smithing, then I am sure
that I will be able to figure it out sooner or later. But like I said, it is one of those things
that absolutely cannot be done in a hasty or halfhearted manner if you want the best
possible result."
It would have been great if it was only a matter of Sherry not having enough MP,
because that particular problem can always be remedied in a very simple,
straightforward fashion: by increasing her level as a Master Smith. Currently, Sherry
is a Master Smith Lv.14, so the maximum amount of MP that she possess when her Job
is being switched into a Master Smith should definitely be greater than the amount of
MP that she had when she was still a Master Smith Lv.1.
However, there is one thing that I cannot say that I fully understand. If we assume that
all Master Smiths need to create simple items like Misangas or the like every morning
and every evening for at least half a year or even an entire year after they obtain the
Master Smith Job for the first time in order to increase their levels as Master Smiths,
and the amount of the MP that they possess along with it so that they could fuse items
with Skill Crystals together without the risk of running out of their MP reserves, then
does that mean that once they increase their levels high enough, there would be no
longer any need for them to be doing that kind of training in the morning and in the
evening for an extended period of time?
I mean, that would be the most logical conclusion to be drawn here, but in that case,
that would just end up creating another question, or perhaps a dilemma for Sherry
and me as her master: since she can already fuse items, weapons and Skill Crystals
together, then is there any need for her to be conducting those morning and evening
Master Smithing exercises anymore? Well, the answer is most obviously yes, since the
continued creation of even the simplest items like these Misangas is going to greatly
contribute to the process of her growth as a Master Smith, which is going to have a
direct impact on her level and the amount of MP she is going to have at her disposal,
but I am currently the only one who is aware of that because I know how exactly the
fusion mechanic works in this game and also that every Job in this game has a level,
not just the Explorer that can be measured by the amount of space in your Item Box
like everyone else seems to be believing, but like I said, I am the only one who is aware
of all those facts, so for Sherry, who does not know any of it, it might be entirely
possible to be questioning the legitimacy and the purpose of it all, so maybe I should
ask her what she is thinking about all this?
"How do you feel about this method of training, Sherry? Do you feel like it gradually
helps you become better as a Master Smith, or is there something that you still have
doubts about?"
"Now that you are asking about it, master, then I would have to say that... I am not
really sure."
"You are not really sure, Sherry?"
"That is right. I know that the more I will train and the more items and equipment I
will create and fuse together, the better Master Smith I will become, because that is
how I heard it worked for all the countless Dwarves before me who got enough talent
in them to become Master Smiths at the earliest age possible, but as for all the other
things… I am not so sure about them anymore. A part of me feels exactly like you said,
master: that I will definitely become better and I will be able to serve you better as a
Master Smith if I continue to train and improve myself even with the smallest of
steps... but at the same time some part of me wonders: if one Misanga in the morning
and one Misanga in the evening for half a year up to an entire year which is the time
that it takes all the other Dwarves to become acknowledged as Veteran Master Smiths,
is it going to be the same for me? Or perhaps it is going to be exactly the same story as
with me obtaining the Job of Master Smith: getting my hands on it much later than the
rest of my peers, and needing much more time to learn and grow as a Master Smith
because I lack something that all the other Dwarves apparently already had?"
"Sherry......…"
"I know, master. I know what you are trying to say. You wanted to say that now that I
have finally managed to become a Master Smith like I always wanted, there is no need
for me to worry about it and just go at it at my own pace, right? Do not worry then,
because that is exactly what I am going to do. Even if we do not manage to hunt down
or buy ourselves a Green Caterpillar Crystal, I will continue to improve my skills as a
Master Smith, and eventually I will become talented enough to create a Sacrificial
Misanga for you! Or, at least that is what I would like to believe..."
Sherry began to worry again. She knows that she needs at least half a year to up to a
full year of training in order to become a proper Master Smith just like the rest of her
peers, but she also started doubting her own capabilities and senses. This is one of the
bad habits that she has, and a one that we definitely need to work on fixing as fast as
possible or else it might become quite problematic in the future if nothing is done
about it.
"If you do not feel like you can do it just yet, then there is no need to force yourself into
trying to do it as soon as possible. In the meantime, try creating another ordinary
Misanga without worrying about anything else."
Taking the Misanga that Sherry just finished from her, I placed it in my Item Box and
passed her another two pieces of thread, and she accepted them without complaining.
"Uhm… Y-Yes, definitely. I understand."
Sherry hesitated a little, but eventually she nodded at me and proceeded with yet
another Item Fusion attempt. She placed the two pieces of the thread in each of her
hands, just like she did before, clasped them together and the recited the Item Fusion
chant once more, and just like before, both of her hands have been enveloped by a
bright light that subsided after a short while. And once that light was completely gone
and another Misanga has been successfully prepared by her, I cast "Identify", fully
expecting this attempt at fusing a Misanga with an Empty Skill Slot to go just like all
the other attempts, however...
...…what I saw in Sherry's hands when "Identify" displayed the information of the
newly formed item exceeded my expectations, shocked and surprised me, all at the
same time. Because the Misanga that Sherry managed to create just now was not just
like all the others that she made. It was different from them in one aspect, and that
one aspect was:
Misanga, Accessory
Skill: Empty
"Oh, you did it."
My voice was calm, but the one inside of my head was anything but. It was continuously
screaming things like: "Holy hell she finally did it! It is done! We got'm, guys and gals!
About Goddamn time!" and it had every right in the world to do so, because Sherry has
finally did it! She managed to create a Misanga with an Empty Skill Slot!
"There, I finished. Thank you for the materials, master."
Her words had a very different meaning than the ones that I just spoke. She thought
that she made just another Misanga, but I knew that the one that she made just now
was much, much better then all of the previous ones that she made combined. We
finally have the item we needed, so now we are definitely going to win for sure!
"Thank you, Sherry. This is definitely going to be enough."
"Uhm, actually, I feel like I could still make some more."
"Ooooh, is that not amazing?"
"Yes, but… but I thought that I wouldn't start feeling like until after at least half a year
of regular fusion trainings."
Oh fuck.
"Well… Maybe it is because you actually managed to fuse three items instead of two,
and one of them with a Skill Crystal at that?"
"But that earlier fusion was not all that different from what I did just now except for
utilizing a Skill Crystal in it. And yet, I rarely heard of people who could succeed with
their Skill Crystal Fusion twice in a row shortly after they begun training, and yet I
managed to do just that. Is my training method somehow different from the others?"
Sherry tilted her neck. She is getting closer and closer to the heart of the matter.
"Well, the important thing is that you are done, so do not worry about it."
"Yes, but does that mean that the person who told me about that method of training
for Master Smiths actually lied to me?"
"Well, how about it looking at it this way? Just think about it as a testament to how
amazing you are, Sherry."
I am sorry, person who told that to Sherry, whoever you are. Normally, you would
never become a Master Smith Lv.14 in less than half a year.
"Am… am I really that amazing?"
"Yes Sherry, yes you are. And this Misanga is going to be a proof of that."
I said while pointing at Misanga that has now been wrapped around my leg.
"Eh? What do you…?"
"Can I let you in on a secret, Sherry? In fact, I know to some extent whether the fusion
of equipment with Skill Crystals is going to be a successful one or not."
"Eh, is that so?"
"Yeah, I have no doubts about that."
If she continued to fuse the Skill Crystals she would have found out about it eventually,
so I see nothing wrong with revealing that information to her now.
"But how is that…?"
"I do not know why. But I know for sure that this is the ability that I have when I
somehow knew that your fusion of those Waterproof Leather Mittens was going to be
successful."
"Is… Is that so?"
"Yes, definitely so now, knowing how capable you are as a Master Smith, I cannot wait
to see your future fusions, starting with the one to turn this Misanga into a Sacrificial
Misanga."
I happily told that to Sherry, who looked slightly embarrassed.