A few weeks later
It has been 3 weeks since arriving in the dungeon town of Marchelle, Nicholas and his team have been diligently completing their routine. Their team has been clearing lots of dungeons daily without any rest days on the weekends.
When Nicholas saw the side quest appear in his quest panel, he decided to change their schedule since he wanted to participate in the dungeon break event next month. At first, their schedule wasn't that different from their current routine, but because of the imminent event, they have to work harder this month to gain experience points and increase their level and power rapidly so they can participate and get some benefits from the upcoming dungeon break.
That first night, they convened in Nicholas's room. He ran through his plan with the girls, and they were quite supportive of this change of pace. The power and exhilaration you can gain when leveling up can be satisfying. They must have been holding back for me, since my arrangements in the past were quite on the cautious side.
Planning their new routine took quite some time that night, but they were able to finish it before going to bed. Right after finishing the discussion, he beckoned Maria to leave him and Clarice a bit.
Having some alone time with Clarice, Nicholas asked her about time in the inn since he left Clarice out by herself. They chatted leisurely for a while, Clarice told him about the chit-chat she did with other people when she got bored, and then Nicholas told her about the things they saw in the vicinity of the town. Their talk lasted for a while; they didn't notice that it was already deep into the night. Nicholas remembered after a while, so he reminded Clarice. That ended their chat, and both decided to get some sleep. But before Clarice left the room, Nicholas called her to give her some gifts similar to what Maria received.
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Normally, their team has been clearing up to ten dungeons daily without discrimination based on their level requirements, even if the rewards are insufficient as long as the experience gain is reasonable. But yesterday, they finally hit their limit. So they decided to halt their three weeks of progress and grinding to relax and explore the town.
This has been their agreed-upon conclusion since Nicholas, who had been observing Maria and Clarice's performance in the dungeon, noticed a constant decline over the day. He just let it pass until yesterday, since the girls were already at the limit of their tenacity.
Both of the girls agreed to some rest since it's true that they're quite tired. And also, some of their gear has worn out due to constant wear and tear in the dungeon. Also, they haven't replaced their current equipment from their first dungeon, so it was a good idea to take the chance to do so today.
The girls are really excited since they can finally spend their hard-earned money on the dungeon's rewards. The dungeon rewards wary from each clear; some give weapons, crafting materials, and enchanting materials, and other dungeons give straight-up coins after clearing them. They often sold materials they wouldn't be using to the merchant guild while keeping the important stuff on their own.
The dungeon rewards aren't limited to these rewards; sometimes you can get lucky and get skill tome and accessories. However, these tomes and accessory drops are almost exclusively available in fluctuated dungeons; permanent dungeons rarely give such rewards.
Fluctuated dungeons and permanent dungeons are managed differently; permanent dungeons are exclusively managed by the adventurer's guild. The adventurer's guild is a government-owned organization; each branch of the adventurer's guild is responsible for managing their registered awakeners, called adventurers.
The adventurer's guild set up tariffs for permanent dungeons so they could enter and clear a dungeon. This tariff cost is very reasonable, ranging from 1 copper coin to a few silver coins, which vary depending on the level of permanent dungeon.
After paying tariffs from the adventurer's guild, they will give you a token that serves as a ticket that you will give to the guards so you can proceed to enter the dungeon. This token isn't restricted, so any awakeners, even those unaffiliated with the adventurer's guild, can avail themselves of it.
Fluctuated dungeons, however, are managed by the local nobles ruling their regions, since the royal family cannot strictly manage this dungeon due to its varied appearance. They gave the jurisdiction of management to the ruling nobles in their regions to clear and prevent dungeon breaks. Still, they must delegate at least 30% of the fluctuated dungeons to the adventurer's guild.
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With this imperial edict, the fluctuated dungeons became some sort of strategic resource. Nobles began to sell rights to these dungeons for a price and even use them themselves to strengthen their local power.
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Back to the present
Nicholas and the girls planned to spend their time walking around the town; they would visit several establishments. The food plaza, equipment shops, weapon shops, even the accessory and skill tome shops—they want to go to each one of them.
They left the inn early in the morning; they didn't have breakfast inside the cafeteria in the inn, so their first agenda was to get some food to calm their grumbling stomachs. They were chatting as they were walking around town; the street was quite barren since it was early in the morning. There weren't a lot of food places opened; thankfully, they saw a lovely restaurant that served breakfast items.
A scent of freshly baked bread was wafting through their noses, and aromatic beverages made their nostrils tingle. It was so enticing that it led them to go inside the restaurant. Inside, they each bought a piece of fresh baked bread, a creamy soup on the side, and different beverages for each of them.
They spent almost an hour eating, chatting, laughing, and planning where to go next. The three agreed on going to the equipment shop first, so they stood up from their table. Also, they ask the lady at the counter on their way out for some information about the best equipment shops in the town. Checking the recommendation of the lady on the counter, they proceeded to check on those shops.
Browsing for decent equipment is easy since there is an abundance of common items; uncommon items are still on the shelves, but their prices are much higher than the common items; rare items, however, are almost non-existent. They had to ask the owner of the shop to show them their stash so they could inspect it. The price of the equipment is not a problem for Nicholas and his team since they accumulated a lot of coins during their dungeon clearing by selling unnecessary dungeon rewards. Likewise, it won't really be a problem since Nicholas is a noble with a decent amount of pocket money from his parents and system rewards.
When they saw the rare equipment, they were quite disappointed. Well, this is a small town, so they shouldn't get their hopes up in the first place. It took some time, but they successfully replaced their previous equipment, boosting their defense and power. They bought the generic adventuring equipment and armor; they also bought some decent, uncommon items.
Right after shopping for equipment, they immediately went to a skill-to-me shop that they passed by while looking for equipment, which the lady recommended. Looking around the skill store cache, he was again quite disappointed. Most of the skills available for sale are in the common and uncommon grades. Even after asking the shop owner about his better skills, he revealed his noble crest. Most of the rare skill sets available in the shop are mediocre at best or not really suitable for any of them.
Leaving the skill tome shop disappointed, they went to an accessory shop to peruse their goods. Accessories can be a great help to awakeners; just like weapons, they have properties such as defensive, offensive, or supportive abilities. Most awakeners buy accessories to supplement their weaknesses or to enhance their overall power.
Speaking of accessories, the gifts that Nicholas gave to the girls are one. The ring Nicholas gave to Maria increases their INT stats by a considerable margin, with an additional effect that enables the user to store excess mana for later use inside the ring. This unique property has a very rare effect on accessories because it came from the system Gacha wishes.
While the accessory that Nicholas gave to Clarice is a necklace, like the ring, it also came from the system Gacha, which provides INT and DEX with an additional effect to covert mana into stamina. These items don't really have a tangible benefit to Nicholas, so he decided to gift them to his girls, which can be very crucial to their early to mid-stage development. It was also for the fact that he wants them to be a lot stronger than they currently are.
After browsing for some decent accessories, they went to another place to buy some potions. Right after buying some, they went back to their inn, quite disappointed, and began to prepare for tomorrow's dungeon diving.
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Nicholas Alexander Curtana
Level: 15
Age:10
Stage: 1
Element: [Earth Lv.1]
STR: 90 (+110)
DEX: 90 (+125)
INT: 102 (+185)
VIT: 80 (+140)
AGI: 80 (+90)
Power Level – 33600
Equipment: [Flourishing Adventurer's Set] [Dessert Dweller Daggers] [Vitality Enhancer Gloves] [Dexterity Enhancer Boots] [Phantom Phoenix Amulet]
Skills: [Scan Lv.6] [Sands Embrace Lv.2] [Earth Manipulation Lv.4] [Dagger Throw Lv.4] [Dust Gale Lv.1] [Earth Clone Lv2] [Earth Wall Lv.3]
Maria
Level: 15
Age:10
Stage: 1
Element: [Wind Lv.1]
STR: 100 (+8)
DEX: 90 (+5)
INT: 88 (+60)
VIT: 82 (+10)
AGI: 115 (+2)
Power Level: 17330
Equipment: [Flourishing Adventurer's Set] [Wind Caster Grimoire] [Silver Brawler's Ring] [Intelligence Enhancer Gloves] [Agility Enhancer Boots]
Skills: [Gale Blade Lv.3] [Wind Arrows Lv.4] [Wind Barrier Lv.4] [Healing Breeze Lv.3] [Wind Siphon Lv.3] [Wind Punch Lv.2]
Clarice Clairton
Level: 15
Age:10
Stage: 1
Element: [Fire Lv.1]
STR: 109 (+30)
DEX: 120 (+20)
INT: 65 (+20)
VIT: 115 (+5)
AGI: 70 (+5)
Power Level: 16220
Equipment: [Flourishing Adventurer's Set] [Grand Warrior's Gladius] [Silver Brawler's Necklace] [Dexterity Enhancer Gloves] [Dexterity Enhancer Boots] [Great Throwing Shield]
Skills: [Blade Dance Lv.4] [Blade Waltz Lv.3] [Fire Mimic Lv.3] [Death Garden of Death Lv.2] [Wild Slash Lv.2] [Shield Bash Lv.3] [Shield Throw Lv.3] [Flame Slash Lv.3]