As the morning came, I found myself having a hard time leaving the bed, it seemed as if the more the girls became used to me, the more defenseless they became, which was good in a sense, but overall, for a healthy young boy, this daily routine is poisonous...
I can't help but feel like I've been neglecting my desires way too much as of late. It takes me all the concentration I can muster to employ self-control around the girls, and with no alone time to relieve myself... let's just say things are starting to look grim.
Outside of these usual feelings, mornings have become quite a peaceful time, the girls tend to interact with the TV or help me in the kitchen, and in no time we are good to go to the dungeon.
As per usual, we meet Sam and Roy and prepare ourselves for another raid.
Sam: "Let's not be as brash today okay?"
I feel like this comment was specifically directed at me, but it's fair. The battle against the two orcs, although definitely worth the risk, was only doable thanks to Licia after all. Even though we had the strength to do it, the set of circumstances we've dealt with were not in our favor as our mana reserves are still not that high. If that Orcs had resistance to Ice, then we could've easily lost as we wouldn't be able to kill it.
Well, for today I didn't have any plans of diving too deep, I was somewhat close to the next level up that would put me in the cap for this floor, so there was no need to take any risks.
This eventually led to a safe exploration of the dungeon today, which made Roy a bit dissatisfied. but since I managed to reach level 7, there was no need for me personally to keep going. Of course, if both Roy and Sam wanted to, I'd gladly accompany them. But as Sam seemed satisfied, we decided to end it without many challenges today.
As for the loot, Sam and Roy only got $10, while the girls and I got $40. Pretty good all things considered. But I can't help but feel excited for the next floor, as the rewards should increase significantly. But that's gonna come after the [Events], as my time lift was approaching, and I would need to dedicate at least one full day for the boss battle that allowed for access to the third floor and a new level cap. After that, probably another day to get more levels, so, in the time limit for the event, today was the last I could actually get any meaningful progress.
Meaning that today, was the last day of preparation before the [Events]. I'd also need to choose which one of them I'd like to participate in, but I already had the answer in mind.
Back at home, I asked Licia to take care of dinner, she seemed eager to do it for a while, and frankly, it makes me quite happy that she wants to help this much.
It's also pretty good since it gave me some time to think about the course of action I'd take right now.
The difficulty slider of both events hadn't changed at all ever since I started concentrating on the dungeon raids. It's quite disappointing, to say the least. But with that in mind, for my first event, I decided to go with the [War! The Fall of the Snow White Wolves Tribe of the Maide Island]. The description of this event states that I should form an alliance with one of the tribes, and if that is the only requirement for completion, then I shouldn't worry too much about fighting or putting my life on the line. Given that the [Disaster! A Star Falls From The Sky] probably involves constant fighting since it doesn't even mention sentient beings, of the two, the one related to a war is probably the easiest to solve, ironically as it may be.
There are two other reasons for me to take the one related to the war, first is the difficulty slider, neither of them has changed, but this one was more in the center in comparison with the one from the disaster which was all the way to the edge, meaning it should be way easier. The second reason is that this event seems way less restrictive than the other one, allowing for the usage of Kingdom Points even. Both of them had nothing to say about my access to the Kingdom is limited, so I'm counting on it in times of danger, as per usual... but the ability to use kingdom points by itself is quite useful, I don't know how long this event is gonna go for, with a time limit of two years, so if I can at least share skills, then that would allow me to get stronger even with the restrictions of the event.
And thus these are the reasons that led me to choose the [War! The Fall of the Snow White Wolves Tribe of the Maide Island], for now, I believe it's the most newbie-friendly of them...
Now to the gachas. Since I'm going to war, one way or another, I'm gonna need weapons, and so, for the first time, I've decided to roll on the [Weapons Banner] using 3 of the gacha tickets I had.
The results of this were three "weapons" as one would've expected. Although the last one was... surprising to say the least.
Let's start with the Bow, it's somewhat big, and is made of wood, although its color is quite dark, almost black with some orangeish details here and there. It seemed somewhat ominous so I used analysis in it, I was gonna do it anyway for all three items, but this one took priority due to it being alarming.
[Bow of Gallia]
The fallen hero Gallia was said to possess a bow capable of stealing the souls of those defeated in battle. Until her death, such a legend was never confirmed, but many said that the bow had a menacing aura that was reminiscent of dark magic applied to it.
The quality of this bow is assured, as Gallia never let go of it until her death. The strength and dexterity of the user are amplified by holding it, and a special effect can be unlocked under certain conditions. In dark places, this bow is capable of camouflaging itself to a degree, making it harder for enemies to pinpoint where the user is aiming at.
Overall, quite good, sadly, no one in our party uses a bow, it would be no problem with a hammer, a spear, or anything like that since you can always swing around and hope for the best, but the skill necessary to use a bow effectively is out of reach for someone trying if for the first time.
As good as it is, I decided to leave it at home for now.
The second item was thankfully a sword:
[Apparea: Sword Of The Golden King]
Legends tell of an undefeated king that wandered the lands of Parison, looking for something. His golden armor and sword would scream to the world his nobility, and no one would dare question it.
The red jewel in the handle increases the power of fire attacks. The sword itself increases both strength and luck. Any whose heart gives up easily to greed will desire this sword more than anything else.
This golden sword was quite something... I'm not comfortable with taking it to a dungeon raid, at least not without hiding it, but for the events, it should be quite useful. Thanks to the fire properties I thought about giving it to Claire, but she refused stating that I should keep it. It's true that I also have fire magic, but since I tend to focus on using melee skills more than anything else, I thought it wasn't the best decision, alas, if the girl herself didn't want it, there was no reason for me to force it.
So for now, I decided to go with the sword for my equipment, at least when it comes to events.
The last item we got was a quiver, and worse of all, no arrows were anywhere to be seen. Of course, the curiosity made me want to use analysis in it more than anything else, if not for the bow having such an aura, this one would've definitely been the first in the list.
[Quiver of Duplication]
A collaborative work between the elves of Elliar forest and the dwarves of the Longbrun Cave. Any arrow placed in this quiver is instantly duplicated, no matter the properties of it. Arrows taken from the quiver can also be duplicated, allowing for an infinite number of arrows.
Well... this is quite good. I have no doubts this would be an archer or hunter's wet dream. You simply don't have to spend a dime with arrows, hell, you could even make a quick buck selling high-quality arrows infinitely. If we had someone proficient with archery this would've been such a good harvest...
It does make things more difficult for me now though.
Initially, I wanted to roll 3 times in the [Weapons Banner] and 3 times in the [Armor Banner], the last roll was meant to go to a spellbook or accessory. But since none of the girls got a weapon, I decided to do another roll in the [Weapons Banner].
This time, a dagger came out.
[Ghost of Niflim]
The Niflim were people from a kingdom who fell and could not carve their name in history. It's said that their forgery skills were as good as that of the dwarfs from the land, many of their items became relics as the years went by.
This dagger is no exception, it's quality is assured and shouldn't break even when facing a titanium blade. This dagger greatly boosts the user's strength, luck, and speed. Two special effects are inscribed on it.
First effect: This dagger is capable of dematerializing, making it so objects can pass through, also making it invisible to most beings and undetectable to most skills.
Second effect: This dagger is also capable of making a small smokescreen around itself, making it harder for enemies to know its reach and what kind of attack (stab or slash for example) the user is going for.
When thrown, the smokescreen effect will last for at least five seconds while the dematerializing effect will only last 1 second.
Well... I should've been rolling in the [Weapons Banner] from the beginning. This dagger alone is probably the best thing I got out of the gachas. Outside of the girls from the [Companions Banner] of course...
That left me with 3 Gacha tickets, which I used in the [Armor Banner] as previously planned.
Sadly, this banner didn't provide the same exceptional results. They were good, but not close to the quality of the weapons I got. But that's to be expected with the gachas by now, the quality tends to vary a lot even inside the same banner...
[Leather Armor of Kronisben]
The usual armor of the huntsmen in Kronisben. Strengthens the user defense slightly. Average quality.
[Helmet of a Mung Soldier]
This helmet was used by a Mung soldier before the fall of their empire. Provides good defense to the user.
The last armor piece was somewhat good though.
[Gauntlet of the High King Micaias]
This gauntlet has been enchanted, providing the user with increased speed and defense. This gauntlet is capable of cleansing curses directed at the user before they can take effect, this effect, however, is not guaranteed and also depends on the strength and nature of the curse, as Micaias himself is said to have died by a curse, although an extremely strong one.
Well, to put it in modern terms, it's bulletproof except you can still get shot. It's better to have it though so I won't complain about it.
After that, it was time for me to use the Kingdom points for skills, now that I was at level 7 and the girls were at level 6 I got 19 points daily, and with the single point I had remaining from yesterday, that left me with 20. It's quite surprising to me how my reserves of points are increasing so rapidly.
Before I could start using these points though...
Licia: "Stop playing with your toys? Dinner's ready."
Miwen: "Sure mom."
Maybe not expecting me to tease her back, Licia gets very awkward and hurriedly starts dining. At least I think that's the case, since it could also be that she was hungry...
After this brief intermission, I went back to look at what skills Claire had upgraded with her Gift, and if Licia had gotten a new skill from her available ones. I don't usually tell the girls what to do with their points, since they are possibly just taking the same decisions they took in their past life, and seeing as both of them were quite successful, there's no room for me to criticize, I just lurk around grabbing what's useful for me and sharing what I think may help them.
For now, Claire had leveled up her [Swordsmanship] all the way to level 4, and it only costs me 4 points to get it, I also got her [Fire Sword Arts] which did cost me 6 points, totaling 10 just for swordsmanship skills...
Seeing as Licia's [Swordsmanship] skill was falling behind a little, I decided to share mine with her, at the cost of 7 points, her skill also rose to level 4, leaving me with 3 points to spare. This led me to Claire's [Mana Control] which was exactly 3 points and would provide quite a good bonus to me for the price.
Since I didn't really use mana in the dungeon raids today, I decided to spend what I could in the [Mana Banners] without getting mana depletion.
The results were predictable as only 20 arrows were acquired. It's all good though since today's results were better than what I could've imagined. One way or another, I did everything I could to prepare myself for the war that I would be throwing myself in. Getting a good night to sleep and replenishing mana for tomorrow were the top priority now, although one of these would be kind of hard as I shared the bed with the girls.