Alright, the first thing I needed to do today is sell some mana.
I went to the enchanter’s guild and met with Paris. He seemed extremely happy to see me.
“I’m so glad you’re back! And I see you managed to get the Slime Bracelet as well! How was the dungeon for you?”
“It was great! I ended up being able to do over 20 runs while I was there. Next time I need to bring better sleeping gear though. My neck was not happy with me.”
“I see. That’s quite impressive. I wasn’t expecting you to be able to do so many runs in such a short time. I was expecting maybe 8-10 runs, but even that was a stretch of my imagination. Pray tell, how did you manage to do it so quickly?” He seemed genuinely curious, so I gave him the abridged version.
“I see. So large area of affect spells. Makes sense. How far were you able to upgrade it? I’m aware it’s one of the few actually upgradable pieces of gear in existence, so I would love to know how far you got.”
“Let me put it this way. What’s the capacity of your battery over here?” I pointed to the floating ball.
“Well over 10,000. I doubt I'll ever get it to be completely filled. Why do you ask?”
“Well, set it up and you can see just how much I can pour in there in one go.”
He smiled and used his tools to make it so i can pour in as much as i want.
“Alright, go for it. I’ll be watching your progress here.” He pointed to his hand held device.
I walked up to the floating orb and placed my hand on it. I wasn’t going to put everything I had into it.
Still, it should give him quite the shock.
I pulled the mana from my mana core and pushed it along. It went down my shoulder, through my arm, and finally reached my fingers. From there I shoved every last bit of 600 points of mana into the metal ball.
Paris’s face dropped as he got his readings.
“SIX HUNDRED POINTS? How on Earth did you get so much in such a short time?It should be impossible to grow that quickly? You HAVE to tell me your secrets!” The elven man dropped his device and rushed to grab my shoulders.
“Like I said, I ran through the dungeon over 20 times. I read that allowing the bracelet to eat slime cores from the dungeon would allow the effect of the bracelet to grow, but it turns out that’s only the case for the cores dropped from the boss monster. Everything else is essentially trash.”
I then explained to him everything I found out about the dungeon and the details that weren’t in the guide book I bought.
“Unfortunately, I only got the one bracelet, despite how many times I killed the damn thing. Otherwise I'd offer it to you. For a price of course.” I smiled and he returned it.
“I appreciate you thinking of me, but I have my own mana increasing methods. Maybe I'll let you in on it one of these days. But that would be a long way down the road. For now, I’ll have to just say my thanks and let you be on your way. I have a few Guild Master duties to attend to for now. But do come back soon. I will always pay for such lovely services.”
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a coin purse. He pulled out 30 silver coins and stacked them on the table. “For your troubles. Now hurry along. I have a meeting in a bit that I must attend.”
He had Hood escort me out. This time when I got to the front room, people didn’t give their usual stares. They just kept right on working.
Awe. And here I was thinking I was starting to get popular.
After I left the enchanter’s guild, I wanted to go to the adventurer’s guild. I didn’t get to see Sarah last night, and I wanted to look into getting proper mage robes, instead of this leather armor.
It’s very comfortable, But I realize now that a proper mage never lets any monsters get close enough to hurt them. So what I have now is essentially useless to me.
But first I wanted some food. I headed back to Half Moon and ordered a second breakfast. Theone seemed confused to see me back so soon, but when I told her I skipped breakfast, she brought me a plate of eggs and sausage. I took my time eating, paid, then left for the guild hall.
The whole time that I've worn my leather armor, I've never actually been injured. And now that I have a proper grasp on my barrier skill, no monster will ever reach me again. So it was time to get an upgrade.
I made my way into the hall and checked in with Luke.
“I thought you were taking the day off? I haven’t even gotten your ‘something juicy’ yet!”
“Haha, yeah, I'm still not working today. Mostly I'm coming in for a change in wardrobe and stock back up on supplies. The leathers are great, but I'm not exactly a front line fighter, so I want something more fit for a caster.”
“I’ve wondered when you would switch it up. I never thought they were a good fit for you anyhow. Go on up and talk to Sarah. She'll get you situated.” he looked a bit jealous i’d get to talk to her, but waved me off when i wanted to talk some more.
“Alright alright I’m going. Later man.”
I headed upstairs.
“About time you came back!” Sarah yelled to me. “Tell me everything. How’d it go?”
“It was great!” I called back to her. She was on the other side of the store when I walked in, though quickly coming my way.
Let’s go over to Duke so I don't have to explain it twice though." I met her there and I told the two of them what happened.
“Damn dude! An achievement in under a month of being an adventurer? That’s pretty damn impressive!” Duke reached over and smacked my shoulder.
Sarah seemed even more impressed. “See? I knew there was something special about you. But how’s the bracelet working? Can I try it on?”
I tried to loosen the straps on the bracelet and give it to her, but the damn thing won't come off.
“Sorry, it’s not loosening. I don't know why though.”
“That’s probably because it’s bound to your soul now.” A deep strange voice said. I turned around to see a big, middle aged guy wearing white and gold plate armor that covered him from the shoulders down. The only tanned skin visible was his thick neck and head that was capped by black hair. He had a trimmed goatee and was easily the most intimidating person I have ever seen. “I’ve very rarely seen people get soulbound items, but it appears you have one. Similar bracelets from the slime dungeon aren’t soulbound, which is why I find yours to be so odd. Tell me, how high did you upgrade it?”
I looked to Sarah and Duke. They both looked extremely surprised to see this man, though I don't know who he is. I don’t sense much magic from him, which isn’t surprising given he’s obviously a melee fighter. Though I could feel his armor held plenty of enchantments.
Sarah started stumbling over her words trying to talk to him. “S-s-sir! I w-wasn’t expecting you!”
“Calm down Sarah. I’m just interested in polite conversation, for now. Perhaps it would be best if you introduced your friend to me? He seems rather offput at the moment.” The man seemed rather commanding.
He’s obviously a man of importance, given the way Sarah was talking. Maybe I should be on my best behavior here? I’d rather not offend anyone who could cause me trouble.
Sarah gave a quick introduction. “Yessir. This would be Claff, a copper plate adventurer who started just shy of a month ago. Claff, this is the Adventurer Guild’s guild master. He is also the leader of the only gold plate party in Silface. He is Bran the Golden Ram.”
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“A pleasure to meet you Sir Bran.” I extended my right hand to him, much to Duke’s obvious horror.
“Haha, a brave one I see. Maybe your tales weren’t exaggerated after all. Please, call me Bran for now.” He shook my hand with a strong grip that hurt quite a bit. I could feel a tendon get crushed. I kept as straight a face as I could. It was quickly healed by my Regeneration, which helped a good bit. After all, it doesn’t just work on my mana.
“As to answer your previous question, it currently increases my mana pool by 289 points. I’ll be going back to the dungeon eventually to upgrade it further though. I want it to get to a 500 point increase before I'm fully happy with it.”
“I see. Ambitious. When are you planning to go next? I’m interested in watching you work. If all goes as well as I think it will, I might just have to promote you to silver. It’s not every day that a new adventurer can do a solo run through an E rank dungeon.” He looked me up and down. “Though I'd suggest getting proper caster wear if you’re serious about adventuring”
“Funnily enough, that’s precisely what I planned on today. That and getting more supplies that I found lacking during my trip.” I laughed a bit, trying to ease the tension I could sense in Sarah and Duke. Duke had remained silent through this whole encounter.
“I See. good call then. How about getting Sarah here to fit you into some of our good stuff. My treat, since I'll be in your care for the duration of our trip together.”
Is he serious about that? I thought he was only joking?! I've only killed goblins and slimes so far. I don't know what I'm doing!
“Yessir. I’ll get him fitted and prepared right away. When would you like to depart on your journey?” Sarah seemed to immediately accept that he was taking me to the dungeon.
“I just finished a meeting with the head of the Enchanter’s Guild, so I'd like a moment to decompress. Have him ready to go in, I don't know, an hour? I’ll grab his file on hand and get ready for the Silver Rank promotion test. Claff, I'll meet you by the front gate. Don’t dawdle on me. Duke, pleasure as always.”
Duke’s face paled and he bowed in response, much to Bran’s humor. He left shortly after that.
“Uuum, am I seriously going to go back to the dungeon now? What was that whole interaction, anyways.”
“No time. Hurry up and get to the fitting room.” Sarah seemed rather urgent now. “I’ll be over with a few suggestions in just a bit. Duke, gather some supplies you think he’d need and have them ready to go. Claff, you better be in regular cloth pants and a cloth shirt by the time I get there. We have to hurry. Leave your shoes on though”
I felt extremely confused but went with it anyway. I started walking to the room she mentioned and called over my shoulder to Duke. “Can you get me something to sleep on, 6 normal mana potions and 3 minor stamina potions? That and some rations and I'll be good!”
“Got it!” was his only response.
I got to the fitting room and put all my leather armor into storage. I finished putting my clothes on just as Sarah entered with two robes draped over one arm and a small sack in the other hand.
“Alright, here’s your options. The dark blue robe has some enchantment that boosts mana capacity and reduces casting costs slightly. The lighter dark blue robe deals with regeneration and casting speed. Either are good for casters, though most tend to want a higher pool. I recommend the lighter of the two though since you have a decently high pool as is.”
I agreed with her and put the lighter robe on. It was still a dark blue, but the color looked better in my opinion. I felt the power of the enchantments immediately.
“Okay next up is headgear. We have earrings that boost regeneration, casting speed, or spell power. We also have hats that do similar things. If you want the classic look, this one-” She started listing off all the things the various accessories could do, but i stopped her.
“I won’t be using headgear, so skip all that. Let’s get this robe on properly though. I need it taken up a few inches so I can run better in it. The sleeves and belt are fine though.”
She nodded and got to work. It turns out that Sarah was the guild’s on staff tailor as well as salesmen. She got to work rather quickly. If I didn't know better, I'd say she has some sort of thread manipulation skill.
Soon enough she had everything I needed done. The robe fit perfectly. It went a little lower than I was expecting, but I somehow never tripped on it, even if I tried.
“Alright, you’re all set on my end. The robes you’re wearing usually go for almost a full gold coin, but Bran said he’d cover everything for you. Let’s go check with Duke and see if he’s got everything read.” She pulled me by the arm to the front as she talked.
At the front of the store, Duke had a pile of camping equipment.
“Alright, here we have your basic tent, sleeping bag, and place mat. Here are a similar variety of rations you got last time. These potions are a mix of regular potions and minor potions. I know you have one hell of a resource pool, but don’t skimp on the little things. I also added two antidotes that are pretty good and I recommend you keep one on you at all times.”
He pointed everything out as he said it. I added everything to my storage and thanked the two profusely.
“So I'm really on my way to be a silver rank, huh? I guess I'll come back as soon as I can. Hopefully he doesn’t want to stay too long though. I was still looking forward to my day off. I’ll see you two. Later!”
Sarah and Duke both gave me a hug and I went on my way.
Luke ran up to me as I made my way downstairs.
“Dude, what the hell did you do? Bran came down here a few minutes ago asking about your guild file and left as soon as he got them. He's the big shot, so whatever you do, do NOT piss him off!”
He was panicking but I tried to calm him down. I told him what the plan was and he looked both scared and relieved.
“Good luck with that. If he’s doing your promotion test so soon, he must have some high ass expectations for you.”
Yah don’t say. Either way, I have to go. I do NOT want him waiting on me.”
Luke nodded aggressively and gave me a shove.
“Again I ask you: come back alive? Good luck man. You’ll need it.”
I waved him off and left. I walked rather quickly to the north gate and waited with the guards. It took Bran about 5 minutes after I showed up to get here.
“I see you got the Robe of Regeneration. A good choice, if I do say so. It looks good on you. Now, let’s see how fast you can run. Set the pace and i’ll follow. On your lead.”
I didn’t even get to say anything before he slapped my back and sent me running to stay on my feet. I got myself properly situated and set off at a pace that would get us to the portal in about an hour. It was practically a full sprint for me, but I felt I should try to impress the guy who would be deciding whether or not I would be getting a promotion.
After I took two regular running steps, I felt the ground shake underneath me as Bran started his own jog to keep up. It looked quite easy for him to do so, regardless of his plated gear. It had to weigh a literal ton, with how thick each piece looked, yet I couldn’t see any sign of strain on him.
20 minutes into our run Bran started to make light conversation.
“It’s quite impressive that you’re able to move this fast. How high is your Enhanced Body skill now?”
I was already panting a good amount, but I still got out, “Level 8.”
“That’s quite high for a caster. I thought it a waste at first when I saw you had a physical skill, but I see you’ve been putting it to good use. How are your other skills doing? I don’t think I've heard of Increased Mental Capacity before. What does it do?”
Hagrid, please tell me he’s not going to want to have a full conversation when I'm struggling to breathe enough as is.
“It… increases… mana pool… size and… regeneration... slightly. Also… makes cast… ing easier… and takes… some of… the mental… strain off.”
I’m surprised I even got that out. Damn, should I grab a stamina potion already?
Health 260/260
Stamina 190/260
Mana 603/669
No, I'm good on actual stamina. Maybe I just need more practice running for distance while at high speed. If I were running with Griffith at the end of the day, we’d already be back to the city by now.
It’s true. The run that initially took me almost an hour now took a third of the time. I’ve been steadily improving, as evidenced by the current situation I was in. Other than being out of breath, I felt pretty damn good.
Maybe I could try increasing my speed a bit? We could get there even faster. My legs aren’t even close to tired yet. No, I don't want to make a fool out of myself. I’ve impressed him enough with running as is. Magic is my true strength, and he’ll see that soon enough.
No more words were spoken until the dungeon portal came into view. I slowed my sprint down to a jog and stopped a few feet in front of it, hands on my knees panting a little. Bran looked down on me slightly concerned.
“I just need to catch my breath. I don't usually run that fast.”
“Take your time. I didn’t expect you to actually maintain that speed for so long.” He seemed to be serious about me taking my time, so I did. After 30 seconds of panting, I took a deep breath and gained control over myself once more.
“Alright, I'm ready to go in.” I looked up at Bran and he nodded his approval.
“On your lead. Remember though, I’m only here as an observer. Pretend I'm not here at all in fact. Run it how you usually do.”
“I see. If it’s how i usually do, then i'll be skipping most of the trash spawns and heading straight for the boss. Do you have any objections?”
“Actually, I want you to do a full wipe of the dungeon. This is a test after all. It’d be boring to just skip to the end.”
He had a point. But I haven't tried doing a full wipe of the dungeon since I got my achievement, so I wasn't sure how that’d work.
“Alright, I'll do my best then. Let’s enter.”
“Before you do, add me to your party. Only a party can enter a dungeon together.’
I agreed and focused on the idea of adding him to my party. I checked my status and saw him on my list, so I walked into the portal.
NOW ENTERING SLIME DUNGEON. PREPARE YOURSELF.