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Paul made sure to distribute the Credit Coins they gained. The treasure chest had a total of 5.000 Credit Coins, so they distributed them evenly at 2.500 each. After that, he decided to take a look at his new piece of equipment, a rather rare drop for his first time in the dungeon. He didn't know if this was just his luck or if there were some inner workings with his own Background.
From what he had investigated, there were no Luck or Fortune-related Stats in the game, and no players knew what even increased or decreased drop rates of treasure chests aside from just the basic rates already given by the game developers before the launch. Paul was quite thankful that the developers were very transparent about these things.
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[Black Wolf's Revenge Ring]
{Item Type}: [Accessory] [Ring]
{Item Quality}: [D Grade]
{Item Requirement}: [1.000+ Strength]
{Item Durability}: [2.500/2.500]
{Item Effects}: [Arcana]: [2.000/2.000] [Strength]: [+250]
{Abilities}:
[Black Wolf's Revenge]: Unleash the vengeful Spirit of the Black Wolf by spending 500 Arcana. Once activated, the Vengeful Black Wolf's Spirit will imbue its raging power into your body, increasing your Strength and Agility based on the amount of Blood lost and Damage Taken, by up to a maximum of +100% for 5 Minutes. Overuse might rapidly wear down the item's Durability.
{Description}
A Special Magic Ring created from the Vengeful Soul of the Black Wolf, their wielders must sacrifice their own lives and blood to awaken its raging power and obtain tremendous strength in return.
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"This is insane, and it's a D-Rank item?" Paul couldn't believe his eyes when he saw the item's description again. "I can't imagine what a C, B, or A Rank equivalent could even be."
"What are you looking at so intensively? Is that ring really that OP?" wondered Chris, squinting his eyes as he glanced at Vlad's hand.
"You're too close." Vlad sighed, gently pushing him away. "And yeah, this ring is pretty alright. Impressive for such a low-rank dungeon."
"See? I did right by giving it to you; I totally knew it would help you~" Chris sat down over Vlad's head.
"Hey, don't sit on me!" Paul panicked, growing more and more embarrassed as he unexpectedly ended up grasping Chris' butt tightly to push him away.
"Ouch! Hey!" Chris grew redder. "I was just playing; don't be rough on me; I'm a delicate little devil~"
"…Let me see your gloves, maybe they're better than I thought too," Paul tried to ignore his teasing and concentrated on the loot again.
"Why? Not like you're even wearing them…" Chris raised an eyebrow.
However, for Paul, it was very important to know what they could do. If he was going to form a party with Chris, he needed to know absolutely everything about his powers or equipment so he could create a good synergy between the two.
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[Crimson Wolf's Runic Gloves]
{Item Type}: [Gloves] [Magic Item]
{Item Quality}: [D Grade]
{Item Requirement}: [1.000+ Arcana]
{Item Durability}: [4.500/4.500]
{Item Effects}: [Arcana]: [3.500/3.500]
{Runic Engravements}: [First Glove: None] [Second Glove: None]
{Abilities}:
[Crimson Wolf's Magic Runes]: Once both gloves have been imbued with Spell Runes, you'll become capable of unleashing the power of the Crimson Wolf's Magic Runes by spending 500 Arcana each, imbuing both Spells with their vengeful power, and transforming the spells into deadly wolf-like summons, both whose strength will be based on the Spells plus the wielder's Arcana and Main Stat +20%. Summon Duration: 1 Hour.
{Description}
A Special Magic Gloves that can summon two deadly wolf spirits based on the runic spells of both gloves; their power is dependent on the spell's strength, the wielder's Arcana, and their Main Stat.
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"For being gloves, they sure give no damn defense, but the ability itself is incredible; did you even see it in detail, Chris?" Paul wondered, smiling as he admired the black gloves.
"Not really, let me see- Oh? Summons! No way!" Chris got really happy. "With this, we could easily sweep the dungeon now. Come on, engrave something on them! You made that OP wand do that too, right, Paul? Pretty please?"
"Hmm, but you'll have to pay for that, Chris; I am not doing charity here," Paul sighed.
"Come on, aren't we besties already? We lived life and death situations and stuff; you totally don't need to ask me for money." Chris groaned, being a cheapskate. "Man, don't be like that."
The timer for the dungeon was already at two minutes; both were getting kicked out soon. Paul sighed as he looked into his eyes, pushing himself closer to Chris, who was resting on the grass.
"Do you think I'm going to just fall for that trick?" He looked at Chris with his sharp, crimson eyes. "You're paying me somehow."
"Eh?! What's wrong with him? He's so different out of nowhere…!" Chris thought, suddenly becoming as red as a tomato. "Could it be his "gamer mode," where he takes the game more seriously than reality? Bruh…" As Chris thought that, he touched Vlad's lips with his index finger.
"And why are you getting so serious about a damn game, Paul? I thought you were a shy little bean~" Chris got closer to his face. "Are you getting too deep into your roleplay persona or something? It's honestly really adorable~ I'm going to annoy the shit out of you tomorrow…"
"Ah!" Paul quickly realized he was acting a bit out of character and quickly stepped back. "Sorry… I… Yeah, I got a little too serious. It happens with games. Ahem, okay, I guess I can give you a discount if you insist, Chris. But I need to earn money for my sister."
"Your sister? Wait, don't tell me..." Chris muttered, gasping. "I knew it! You actually lied, and you live alone with your little sister, right? Your mom was a total lie; she's not there for you anymore, huh? So you want money by playing the game while working hard in college? Paul, that's so moving…"
"Stop messing around! I mean, in the game, there's a sister this character has that Vlad has," Paul sighed, facepalming. "I think I need to take care of her to progress this character's story properly; she's also very strong, and I honestly get involved a lot with video game plots, like, I care about the characters even if they're fictional. I know it's cringeworthy, but that's how I am. I don't want Camilla to suffer anymore, so I need money."
"Aaww, that's also moving!" Chris touched his chest as if he were grabbing his heart. "I never thought you had such a big heart, Paul! Haha, okay, I'll pay and also take that discount. How much?"
"Hmm, each Runic Engravement… It should be two thousand Credits, that's a fair price for now, as I can only engrave Tier 1 Spells, the discount is already applied; it would usually be between four and five thousand," Paul said, his sharp red eyes staring into Chris Soul.
"Eeh? I barely have three thousand!" Chris cried.
"Then pay me three thousand and the rest in the materials we distributed," Paul smiled. "I'll gladly take some more beast cores."
"Seriously dude…" Chris sighed. "Okay… here."
The transaction was done swiftly, and Paul quickly received three thousand Credits and two small beast cores as well. After that, the two were quickly kicked out of the instance dungeon, appearing at the town's square, where the dungeon gate was located.
"Phew, we're finally out... Man, the air is much fresher around here. So you're engraving the gloves or what?" asked Chris.
"I can't do it in here, though. What if someone sees us and then they try to kidnap us or steal from us?" Vlad asked. "We have to be careful, Chris; this might be a game, but there's no protection at all from robbing or getting killed by a Player or even another NPC."
"Yikes, there's no protection at all? really?" Chris wondered. "The other VR I played..."
"Yeah, most VR games like to put in protection measures, not this one. Part of the "realism" of it," Paul said. "Eventually, I'll probably also kill and hunt other players for money; I mean, it's a free real state."
"Wow, you'll go so far for Camilla?" Chris wondered with teary eyes. "You're such a dedicated big bro!"
"Stop it…" Paul sighed. "Let's go to my manor; we can get it done there."
"You have a manor?!" asked Chris. "My character started right as I was kicked out of the brothel my mother lived in."
"Your mom's not there?" Paul asked.
"She's not; she died a while ago; the prostitutes of the brothel then raised me," Chris said. "Or well, this character's backstory is like that."
"Makes sense; I bet they couldn't afford another mouth to feed," Paul nodded.
"Eh?! They could! I bet they were all just stingy…" Chris said. "But well, whatever, it's a game at the end of the day... Right? You should know that well, especially based on how stupid you got back then…"
"I-I know, don't rub it on me." Paul sighed.
The two made their way back to the manor, where Chris was able to... Well, to wander around the ugly interior and the dusty floor. It was sure a lugubrious, dark place. It wasn't as if he couldn't see; most creatures in Obscuritas already had the ability to see in the dark.
"Dude, this place's nasty and old; is this really the manor of a noble vampire such as yourself?" Chris wondered.
"It is! It's better than logging off in the middle of nowhere, right?" Paul smiled confidently. "At least my character is not homeless like a certain someone."
"What? I'm not homeless; I am adventuring! Totally different things," Chris said. "Anyways, for how long you can float with the wand?"
"Hm…" Paul looked at the Wand's Arcana.
In a single Dungeon Raid, he ended up spending three thousand Arcana out of the twelve thousand.
"I think I could do three more dungeon dives. If I use my Trait once, maybe we could speedrun a couple more," Paul said. "We gotta grind hard to get somewhere in this damn game."
"Trait? What Trait? Is the OP one that makes you gay? Pfff…" Chris teased him, laughing at his misfortune.
"Yeah, that one..." Paul sighed. "Anyways, Camilla's there; she's still sleeping."
Vlad gently opened the door of his room, where Camilla was cuddling on his bed, gently covered in warm blankets, and grabbing her teddy bear. She looked like a doll.
"Aww, little thing! I didn't know we could get tied to NPCs like this; that's interesting," Chris nodded. "You also said there's a mom?"
"Yeah… I don't want to interact with her for now; she's been isolated for months; she doesn't even walk out of her room, but I can faintly sense her presence; she must be sleeping too," Vlad said. "I'm a player, so it's different, but vampires tend to take really long naps, sometimes days, weeks, months, or even years if they want."
"What? Such a lazy race," said Chris. "But why are they like that anyway?"
"I haven't investigated enough, but I think it might be because of a Curse, the Vampire Race, like most of the Races of Obscuritas, descend from the Ancient Demon Kings, and are therefore cursed by their patrons, the Seven Evil Gods," Paul explained some lore.
"Right, I am indeed cursed by that bitch called Luxuria," said Chris.
"She must be the patroness of all the Succubus and Incubus and related races," said Paul. "Vampires… I don't know; it's either Gula or something else. Seeing how lazy and sleepy we are, probably Tristitia, the Evil God of Stagnation and Apathy,
"So the Sloth Evil God?" asked Chris.
"Yep, so far I've seen Gula of Gluttony, Luxuria of Lust, and Tristitia of Sloth," Paul explained. "There's probably even more."
"Are they the only damn gods in here?" Chris wondered.
"There's the Moon Goddesses, who are more on the lawful good side; Evil evil gods are purely either chaotic or lawful evil," said Paul.
"Fucking hell…" Chris didn't like the lore.
As they talked about various things, Paul worked on the gloves and finished within an hour.
"It's done; take them," he said. "As you said, I added the Fireball and the Stone Wall spells, the best offense and defense you can ask for. If they turn into summons, one can become a walking fire and the other a tank, which we desperately need."
"Nice~! Thanks a lot, Paul~" said Chris, wearing his cute gloves. "I look pretty cool with these, right?"
"Eh, you look fine." Paul said that, but deep down he was screaming something else. "Yes, you're super cute! Why are you so cute?!" He continued thinking, yet his expressionless face made Chris unable to tell.
"Anyways, it's kind of late; should we log off?" wondered Chris. "I think dinner's almost ready in my house."
"Hmm, I was thinking about going a few more times; I think we can make it if we hurry," said Paul.
"Oh right!" Chris said, laughing out of nowhere. His adorable face was now wearing a mischievous, almost malicious grin. "Actually, I got a pretty interesting idea, Paul."
"Huh?"
What was this bratty incubus thinking now?
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