Lloyd found himself lying on the bed back in his room. He had fallen asleep a few minutes after getting drunk and couldn't remember anything after. Ray must have carried him back here.
He tried to stand up but his head was hurting his vision was spinning.
'Damn it. I'm never drinking alcohol ever again!' He cursed out in his mind.
Lloyd looked at the window and saw that it was already evening as the sky was gradually turning dark and the lantern lights in the city glowed and illuminated the streets in the whole inner district of Arcadia.
Despite this city having electricity, it was still using the ancient-themed civilization such as the city lights and the designs of most houses. There were no skyrise buildings or corporation companies that belonged to the modern civilization before the third world war happened that had almost turned the world to ruins.
Lloyd wondered if the people in those generations had truly perished or if they had become senile and dumb after the world fell to the hellspawn disease. No one also ever tried to build those ruinous country-destroying bombs ever again.
"Ah!! That woman still hasn't answered my questions!"
He suddenly remembered that the woman named Alice left shortly after he got drunk. In the end, Lloyd wasn't able to get any information out of her.
"Damn you, Ray!" He shouted his name in anger.
"What?" A voice answered him which jolted him in fright. Ray then opened the door towards his room with a confused look.
"That woman ran away, didn't she?"
"Uh…"
He looked perplexed for a moment. Then as if a revelation dawned upon him, he cupped his fist in a side view and put it on top of his other palm which was a sign of enlightenment while making an 'ah' sound.
"If you mean that gorgeous babe, Alice, she's just staying at maple hotel. She told us before she left that you can just ask her the questions once you feel better and find her there."
"I… see."
Lloyd went silent. He thought about the events that happened today. He barely had any progress at all. However, what happened had already happened and there was nothing else he could do about it. He just had to continue his information gathering on the next day. He had other plans to try this evening. Aside from that, he also hadn't seen Luna yet.
"Oh, by the way, before I go…" Ray broke the silence once more.
"What?"
"I saw Luna just a while ago while you were asleep."
Lloyd's interest was piqued at the mere mention of Luna's name.
"Where?"
"Somewhere near the Arcadia headquarters. She and Klaudia were headed there. But…" He put his hand on his chin and pondered. "They seemed too serious when I saw them. They didn't even notice I was waving at them."
Lloyd had a bad feeling about it. But whatever it was, he had no right to be there. After all, he left her at the entrance after getting flustered and ran away. He should really explain himself clearly and apologize to her once they meet again.
"That's all. I should get going. See ya."
Once Ray was gone, Lloyd stood up slowly and went to the kitchen to fetch some water. There was a blue-colored vase, with intricate patterns drawn around its body, sitting still on top of the kitchen sink. This was the Vase of the Endless Spring, but not the same one Klaudia had carried. Upon thinking that it was a hassle to take the vase away from Klaudia, and with the thought of her needing it, he decided to craft another one again just the night when they arrived in the city.
Another thing that he had discovered about his innate ability while he was crafting was the limitations of how many of the same objects he could materialize into existence. When he crafted the vase once again, there was a screen that popped out, informing him that the amount of these vases that existed in the world was already maxed out. He tried crafting another again, but the ingredients just exploded into fragments of light.
The rare tools and equipment he had crafted seemed to have limitations of how many could only exist in the world, while those common things like the sentinel's dagger had no limits. He took that in mind and he had to be careful whom he would give his extra crafts. It would be worse if he crafted something abnormal and decided to sell it, only for it to end up in the wrong hands.
After drinking the water from the vase, he felt refreshed and cured from the hangover. The vase was actually a better version the former one he created. He made the status screen come out and he read its description.
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Name: Vase of Eternal Spring
Rank: II
Soul: Champion
Ability: Endless Spring, Clarity Water
Description: A peculiar vase that was made from the blocks of steel that came from the endless river of the higher planes. What came together along its creation was an endless supply of fresh water.
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There was another ability added to it when he crafted an upgraded version of the vase. Clarity Water was an ability that could nullify status ailments. Apparently, it included the removal of negative conditions like drunkenness when a person drinks the water from the vase.
"What a useful tool! Now, all I need is to find a material for crafting a spatial storage. It's really annoying to not have a proper weightless storage box. Guess I should check at the casino first."
With a smile, he put back the vase on the kitchen sink and came out of the room. He hadn't seen Ray in the hallway, but it didn't matter. He could just go alone there since he was already accustomed with the etiquettes and social norms of the casino.
After several minutes of walking from the market district towards the far end of its streets, he finally arrived at the casino. The guard, who recognized him, bowed as he welcomed him.
'I guess these are the people who lost their hope in going home and just decided to be a normal citizen here.' He mumbled inside his mind.
After going inside, he found out that it was much livelier compared to when he and Ray came in the morning. There were more people inside who were enjoying in their gambling vices, while others were partying on the large dance floor, drinking, eating, and socializing with the others.
Lloyd, who hated crowds, quickly went to the counter to finish what he came for.
"Oh, it's you, sir Lloyd. How can I help you?" The attendant, who remembered him as the winner among the players who played in that legendary event of 'blackjack versus 21', smiled at him brightly.
"Yes. I want to exchange some coins for the materials you have."
"Alright, sir. However, I do need to remind you that you can only use the coins you have won from the game. Would that be alright?" The attendant was pretty decent as she explained carefully in a friendly tone.
"Yes, please."
They then proceeded to the back door after the attendant called someone to replace her for a few minutes. As they entered, Lloyd could see weapons, armors, and tools lined up on a shelf. They passed through it since they won't be looking at the equipment section. Another shelf came into view and Lloyd's eyes sparkled as he saw several materials of different varieties.
"Whoa! There are lots of materials in here."
The attendant let out a soft chuckle as she looked at Lloyd who was like a little boy seeing something he wanted.
"Take your time in choosing, sir Lloyd. I'll be just here waiting on standby."
"Alright."
He took out the materials one by one and examined them. There were a few ones which he could recognize such as the common materials like iron ore, copper ore, mithril ore, and many more. These were good materials for starter weapons, however, what he wanted was something that was related to spatial properties.
If he remembered correctly, Ray told him that the base materials used in making their spatial rings were gold ore and aurium. He knew what a gold ore is but he hadn't seen it yet in person. The same goes for aurium which was another unknown foreign object to him.
He turned towards the attendant to ask some questions.
"Um… do you have something called gold ore or a aurium?"
"Unfortunately, we don't have that here." She said with a slight frown.
"Hm…" He continued browsing until his eyes landed on a particular object covered with dust.
"What is this?"
He asked as he pointed to the object. The attendant went towards him to see what he was referring to. Upon seeing it, she had a confused expression.
"Um, I don't remember this one. Maybe it was just put here by the owner of the casino?"
Lloyd examined the object and a status screen popped out.
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Name: Quasar Shard
Description: A radiant ore with an intense, pulsating light reminiscent of quasars that can bend the space.
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'Jackpot!'
This was a very rare material. Lloyd had stumbled into an otherworldly treasure. His lips slowly formed a grin as he could barely contain his excitement and was about to jump repeatedly like a little kid. But he didn't want to scare the attendant with his sudden erratic behavior.
"How much would this object cost? I would like to exchange my coins with it."
She was surprised at his decision.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"Wait a second. I would like to contact the owner. I can't decide on this on my own." She looked apologetically and went to a nearby telephone which was similar to the ones on the counter on the lobby.
After talking for a few minutes, she put it down and went back to Lloyd with a smile on her face.
"Sir, the owner said you could exchange it for 1000 coins. I didn't expect it would be that expensive."
"It's fine. I won a large amount earlier, anyway."
"Alright, let me take this out first. Anything else you want to add?" She asked once more after taking out the object covered with dust.
Lloyd went back to browsing on the shelves which were full of materials and he found a metal that was shining a pale, golden color. He picked it up and examined it.
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Name: Celestial Gold
Description: A golden metallic ore with a deep, celestial luster, often flecked with tiny specks that resemble stars.
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His eyes lit up once more. They might not have gold ore, but he found something even better. This was a much higher grade of gold ore. He seemed to have an interest with the owner of the casino.
'How on earth did he acquire these materials?'
He wanted to ask the owner, but he knew that he was in no position to meet with the astounding person.
"Include this one too."
"Sure, sir. That would be 2000 coins. Your total payment is 3000 coins. Shall we go back to the counter?"
"Alright."
They left the area and went back to the lobby. Lloyd took out the coins he won in the morning and the attendant exchanged it with the materials. Lloyd accepted it and thanked her for the wonderful service she had given.
"Thank you. I'll come back some time later."
"Thank you too, sir Lloyd. By the way, my name is Shizuna." She bowed to him as he waved him goodbye.
'Shizuna, huh? It doesn't sound like a name that could be heard in Asteria. Anyway, she was such a nice woman.'
After getting out of the building, he looked up to the starless sky which was obscured by the thick, black smokes as he thought of how peaceful his life was becoming. He liked it, but he knew he had to go back to fighting in order to get stronger and get out of this trial.
Lloyd then left the casino with a wide smile on his face and proceeded to go back to his room in order to craft a tool that would provide him a spatial storage service.