"Hoo. Get your new girl, Cissy?" Lyana asked the moment Theo returned to the inn. "You didn't even return here last night."
"You should be grateful Lyana, I didn't bring her here."He answered. "Now that I got the money, Let's go shopping. what do you want?" He asked
"Anything Theo-sama bought for me!" She jumped happily.
"You promised me a book, but after what happened yesterday I also want a tome and a scroll." She looked away from him."Humph! And a new cloak, potion, and a few magic item."
"We can spend quite a lot since we're not going to have another chance once we hit the road anyway." He answered.
He still has the 800 gold from the reward of saving the princess, 600 gold he took from Hjal's men, around 100 gold from his saving, plus 20 gold for selling his broken armor and from the quest. making him pretty wealthy for an adventurer standard.
Since he still have a lot of money, he intended to spend at least half of it before leaving the capital. They went to the noble district to buy high-quality items.
First, they went to Drag Steel shop to pick up his new custom-made armor.
[Dark Steel Set]
[Epic Quality]
[Medium Armor Set]
[Enchantment: [Lighten I] [Bludgeon Resist II] [Magic Resist II] [Element Resist II] [Dirt Resist] [Stain Resist]]
"Dirt Resist and Stain resist. Nice, I don't have to clean it up that often." He said as he donned his new armor.
The armor didn't have that many decorations, but still look good, especially the helmet. It offers excellent protection while still being not heavy since it was made from Dark Steel. The enchantment [Lighten I] Reduce the weight by 10%, making the already light armor even lighter.
[Bludgeon Resist II], [Elemental Resist II] and [Magic Resist II] reduce blunt, Elemental, and magic damage 20% respectively. However, unlike trinket enchantment, the enchantment only affect a damage received by the armor. So if an attack hit an exposed body part, the damage won't be reduced.
The armor doesn't have any slashing and piercing resist, but since Plate armor already has a high slash and pierce resist, he couldn't complain.
"Hmmm. Why is every female armor like this?" Vivi asked when after looking at the armor on display.
The female armors on display covered only small amount of skin. The chest piece only covered the breast. The leg armor only covered some part of the thigh. Overall, it shouldn't have worked because of how much skin it exposed.
"Don't female armor in you original world work like this Vivi?" Theo asked.
She shook her head. "No. There's no difference between female armor or male armor unless it's specially made. And at the age where I lived, people don't make armor using mostly metal like this."
"Well, In this world, this is how it worked. Unlike male armor, female armor reduces damage even when the attack hit the exposed skin. Making female armor that covered less skin is more profitable for armorers since the material required is fewer but the result is the same. That's why most female armors were designed like that."
Vivi nodded. "So even the physics of female armor in game applied in this world." Vivi said to herself.
Next, they went to a magic shop. Of course, the one in the noble quarter has a complete collection. They even sell Tier 3 Tomes and Tier 4 Scroll that couldn't be found anywhere in the common quarter.
It was strange how even a magic shop doesn't have a magical scanning spell. But it was good for them because if it did have one, Lyana wouldn't be able to enter it.
First, Theo introduced Vivi and Lyana to his trusted [Spatial pouch]. Six of such pouches were hanging from his belt. The pouch was no larger than the palm of his hand, but with spatial magic, it could carry up to ten times its apparent size. It was a norm for adventurers to at least have one of these.
"Theo, can I buy this? Please!" Lyana said energetically when she saw an ultra rare mana regeneration ring. It was a simple ring with a silver line on the center.
"How much?"
"100 gold." She said.
"100-...." He was baffled, but he stopped before finishing his sentence. 100 gold for a single ring is absurd no matter how he thinks about it. "How much is the increase?"
"90%. That almost double my regeneration Please, Theo! Just this one and I won't buy anything else, I promise!" She put her hand together and looked at him with a puppy eyes, pleading.
'God damn it! she's so cute like that.' He thought. This was the first time she ever so earnestly pleaded him.
After some more thinking about how Lyana was the only one who could easily fight a group of enemy and thinking about how fast she spent her mana in battle, he gave in to her pleading. "Fine."
"Yeah!" She jumped out of joy. She then stopped, think a little bit and looked at Theo with a red face. "B-But you know, since I have to teach Vivi magic you have to buy the tomes and the scroll for her, and maybe just maybe, she might need a tier 3 tomes and tier 4 scrolls." She said, not even trying to hide her true intention.
'This-This bitc-Demon. She doesn't even try to hide her true intention...... well she IS a demon.' Theo thought after hearing Lyana's shameless request.
He glanced at Vivi who immersed herself looking at the magic item. "Vivi what do you think?" She asked her opinion.
"huh? I'm sorry Theo-sama what were you saying?" She asked, not paying attention to him before.
Theo shook his head. "Forget it. Anything you want to buy?"
"Nothing really....a magic tome and scroll for me maybe." She answered innocently, giving the win to Lyana.
"Yes!" Lyana said when she heard Vivi's answer. A voice of triumph that could be heard by everyone in that room.
He gave Lyana an annoyed glance."You win Demon." Theo went silent for a few second, but then a smile dawned on his face. "But with one condition."
"What is it?" Lyana asked.
"After I buy the ring, I will be the one who placed it on you. And you must use it on your left ring finger."
"W-What is that?! That like saying we're engaged."
"Well, you're going to be my woman one day. No point in delaying the ring."
"I'm not going to be your woman, ever!"
Theo smirked. "Sure, sure, but do you want the ring or not?"
Her gaze moved toward the ring, then to Theo with his smirk, then to the ring again. It repeated for a while until.."Fine! But this doesn't mean anything!"
"I never said it meant anything. You're the one that assumed it meant something." Theo replied triumphantly.
------
While Lyana and Vivi were looking for a new set of clothes to buy, Theo went to the Redmound castle to meet with the princesses and to tell Sir Arslan about the army he saw in the sewer. Like the usual, Princess Ana was cheerful and Princess Aria was calm and composed, but their affection towards him seemed to have deepened to some degree.
Sir Arslan was surprised to hear what Theo saw. While the sewer was a den of criminal, an army was never heard of. He said he will look into it and will inform Theo about anything he finds. He also told Theo to prepare in case of something bad happened. An army in the sewer could mean an organization or a group of terrorists was trying to usurp the throne. Or even a coup or rebel.
-------
The combination of books, Magic tomes, One-time Scroll, Potion, and magical equipment cost them around 300 gold. In total, they spent around 500 gold that day, an amount of gold that could support a moderate family for years. He didn't feel bad about it though. He was not a frugal person in the first place and they might not have a chance to spend more money until they reached the Eternal City.
Lyana hummed energetically as they walked back to their inn. Her straight long green hair waved left and right with each step she took. Her mood was at an all time high and she didn't hide it. Occasionally, she raised her new ring that she put on her left ring finger near her face and rubbed it. She had completely forgotten about the embarrassing thing she did to get that ring.
Theo walked with Vivi behind Lyana. Vivi hugged his right arm as she walked. She was smiling like an innocent little girl, happy with her new stuff.
He suddenly remembered something important. "Vivi, the spell you used yesterday, what was that?" He asked after remembering the powerful mind magic that caused the crawlers to fight each other.
"Oh. It's my unique skill Theo-Sama. [Mass Hysteria] level 3. I implanted fear, distrust, and panic to every mind around me, but I can control it so that it doesn't affect allies. The area is around 50 meter, excellent for fighting against groups. The only problem is its mana cost. It uses 90% of my current mana."
"Oh. So it's the last option...." Theo stopped walking. Something was wrong, really wrong. He racked his mind searching for it. "Wait! You say level 3? What level are you?" Theo asked.
"When I used it I was level 14, but now I'm 16." She answered with a smile. Theo was struck dumbfounded.
'Impossible...did she lie? No, she has no reason to. She has a Class 4 [mind magic] talent, which meant she got [Mass Hysteria] when she was level 10. Unique skill only level up once every 5 level. It was impossible for her unique skill to have level three.' Theo thought.
His heart pounded fast as realized that maybe Vivi had found a way to increase unique skill outside from just leveling. He grabbed her hand and immediately run, almost making her fall. He also caught Lyana hand and pulled her. He wanted to go back to the inn as soon as possible.
------
"Mind explaining to me how you do that?" He asked after they've returned to the inn. The sky outside was orange with the sun almost touching the horizon.
"Do what?" Vivi asked not knowing what he meant.
"You said you have a unique skill level 3 when you're only level 16. That shouldn't be possible."
She looked at him strangely and then laugh. "Oh, it's that thing. I thought you're talking about something else Theo-sama. Isn't it obvious? I used my skill point to level my unique skill. It's expensive though, just one level take 10 or more skill points." She answered oblivious to the fact that Theo didn't know anything about it.
"Skill..points?" He asked.
Vivi's eyes widen. "Wait, don't tell me you don't know about skill points Theo-sama."
"No.." He answered.
"Skill points. Attribute points. Nothing?"
"No." He turned his face to Lyana. "Lyana?" She shook her head.
Vivi held her own head. "Really?! In this world, no one knows about skill points?" She put her hand to the side and took a deep breath. "Okay how do I start?...right, so every time I level up, I get a certain amount of skill point. Most of the time one, but sometimes two or three. There's also achievements that grant you extra skill points. Using these points you can increase the level of your skill and magic without having to train them. You can also increase your stats, though I don't think It's worth it."
"So how do I do it, increase my skill level and all that?"
"Well, you just think about it."
"Think about it?" He tilted his head.
Vivi nodded. She walked behind Theo and closed his eyes with her hand. "Yes, just close your eyes and imagine a skill screen in front of you."
"Skill Screen? What?" He was confused by what Vivi said.
She stopped and think how to describe it to him. "Remember the message in your head when you got a new unique skill?"
"Yeah." He answered without any confidence in his voice. While he remembered them, he wasn't confident about the detail.
"Close your eyes and recreate those message in your mind." She closed his eyes again.
Seeing no progress in Theo, Lyana decided to read the tomes and scroll that she bought.......that Theo bought for her. She read it so fast like usual, almost as if she only took a glance at the words.
Theo tried Vivi's method for hours to no result. He stopped for that day, but he hasn't given up yet. The prospect of raising his skill and technique without training and leveling was too good to pass up.