Alex stares at Benezia, interested in how to tackle the problem ‘calmly and rationally’, looking more than a little doubtful.
“Now, this isn’t quite unexpected. You mentioned that something like this situation happened not too long ago,” Benezia says, her voice calm and relaxed.
“Yes... with the Coven, but those people were literally a group of players that gathered together because they were too weak individually,” Alex says, remembering the situation. “Honestly, even if it’s ten against one, I would have been confident in taking them on, but the Seekers are no pushovers. This is obviously different.”
“I see, you raise some valid points. Now, calmly tell me the risks you anticipate,” Benezia continues.
Am I in school or something?
“I am not too sure... Seeker members can target us when we’re on missions,” Alex begins.
“Judging from those assholes we encountered earlier, they’d do that anyway,” Tereza interjects.
“But now they could be specifically aiming for us....” Alex clarifies.
“Indeed,” Benezia replies. “The real risk is that they’re specifically targeting us, trying to join the same mission as we do. It doesn’t have to be just inside missions, but also outside. They might refuse to trade with us, or they might tell others to avoid us as well. I don’t think they’re influential enough to achieve such a feat, but the potential risk is there. The other larger guilds, especially the Trade Alliance is not subservient to the Seekers. As far as I can tell, the Seekers are one of the most individualistic guilds out there. That’s definitely a strength, but it also makes it impossible to affect how we conduct our business with the other guilds and the large number of individual players. The only real risk is that they have access to mission items that allow them to join our worlds.”
Alex nods, agreeing with her fully. “I see, but even then... there must be limits. The Realm is fair. Like when we had to fight those enemies in the Harry Potter world—they were higher leveled, but it was essentially a five teams vs one team situation. So even if they target us... things will be more or less fair, and since we’re pretty tough, we can deal with them, right? So you are saying we should just stay calm and call their bluff?”
“Exactly,” Benezia replies. “The worst thing you can do in such a situation is to show weakness. They might demand FC or items; paying it even once would be a crucial mistake with far-reaching consequences. You’d essentially be admitting that you are afraid of them. However, another mistake would be to openly antagonize them, especially publicly. If their reputation is attacked, they’ll be forced to act at any cost. As long as nobody knows what happened, they have no reason to take any risks or spend a fortune on mission items to try to hunt us down. The most prudent decision is to simply ignore them, and if they approach us, we should be reasonable but firmly refuse any kind of deal that involves us paying them.”
Alex’s eyes open wide for a second. “That’s... rather smart. I think that sounds like a good plan... let’s just go with that.”
“Yes,” Tereza says, smiling. “You are really quite smart, Benezia.”
“Diplomacy is something I have done my entire life,” Benezia explains. “This is childishly simple. You should listen to me this once.”
“Ah,” Alex suddenly remembers. “Our guild leader also messaged me. She told us to contact her when we have recovered. Sounded like she wants to help. Let me show you the message.”
Opening his system, Alex quickly shares the message with them along with his response.
“That’s an appropriate response, Alex,” Benezia replies. “I doubt we’ll receive their protection or support since our guild is based on the principle of give and take, but the fact that she messaged you is a good sign.”
Menchi cracks her knuckles. “If these Seeker idiots want to target us, I’ll refuse to sell them my food!” she says, sounding icy-cold.
Yeah... like that will scare ’em off....
“In any case,” Benezia says, raising a finger, “remain calm. This is all within expectation, and you are not in a position where you need to be scared of players within your level range. Be confident.”
“That’s right...” Alex notes. “Even if they target me three on one, as long as I have one combat supporter and Jewel with me, I’ll still be at a huge advantage. Also, many missions are solo missions... you are right, I should maybe just calm down... sometimes I’ll panic; I guess that’s an old habit that I haven’t fully gotten rid of. I always tend to panic rather quickly. Time to think about more positive things.”
“I need to spend my stat points, upgrade skills, and then open my chests,” Alex suddenly remembers. “I wanted to rest, but I can’t help but feel excited about that. So many new upgrades.”
“I don’t think I can wait now... I can increase my stats right now!” Alex notes, grinning.
Alex Kerber: Lvl 8
HP: 444/444, MP: 414/414 AURA: 304/304, BP: 125/125
STR: 21 (+18), AGI: 21 (+4), PHY: 21 (+11), SNS: 21 (+2), CHA: 21 (+7), MNA: 21 (+10), INT: 21, SPR: 21 (+7), LUK: 21 (+8), NEN: 21 (+2)
Available Stat Points: 8
Not much changed. 2 more PHY because of my [Draining Meteor Sword], which I still have to upgrade properly. That, of course, raises HP and BP as well. I have to say, Biotics are surely one of my most useful skill categories. Barrier and Warp are just insane... Stasis, Pull, and Throw are awesome as well... and the best thing? I soon get to pick another skill. Hell yeah!
8 available stat points... interesting. Technically speaking, I shouldn’t even be able to increase my LUK because I don’t have the basic skill associated with it, which limits it to 20. I guess Statistical OCD takes care of that anyway.
“1337, increase all stats by one, you know the deal!” Alex orders.
[Acknowledged]
You have lost 5 Stat Points
All Stats Increased by one
“Nice... all stats are at 22 now. I’m slowly but surely getting really fucking OP!” Alex celebrates.
Tereza looks a little torn, but she speaks up nonetheless. “Alex, I hate to be the one to tell you, but I just increased my PHY by 4, along with STR and AGI by 2 just now... I know you are raising all your stats, but 22 isn’t really that high anymore. There are players who easily have multiple stats at over 40, even at our range. You’ll probably never find a player with higher overall stats than you, but you’ll probably always be vastly inferior in two to four stats.”
“I guess so... but that’s only without items,” Alex argues. “Still, it’s not as if I have a choice. Also, my fighting style perfectly combines melee and ranged combat, along with spells and various extra abilities relying on Aura and BP. Increasing a stat like Nen would have been insanely expensive in its own way, since it costs 2 points to increase.”
“That is true,” Benezia says. “Do not lament your fate. Your ability is incredibly powerful, especially if you can get your hands on extra stat points.”
“Which I’m doing my absolute best to make possible... If I can find rare high-quality food items, I’ll buy them regardless of cost,” Menchi adds.
“Right... for now, let’s see what little gift Crocodile left for me. Too bad we probably won’t get his Devil Fruit, or I’d be going crazy,” Alex says, looking a little torn.
“Why can’t you get that Devil Fruit?” Menchi asks, crossing her arms. “With your boosted LUK, it should be possible.”
Soulmate thinks he won’t get an item of that level, right? Even with Soulmate’s LUK?
“Yes... sadly it’s like that. Unique items like those are the exception. Gold Quality Innate skills are super rare,” Alex explains. “The Moku Moku no Mi, Smoker’s Devil Fruit, sold for 3.6 million FC at that auction. The Suna Suna no Mi would be worth as much.... I’d say it’s more powerful and overall more useful, but it also comes with a bigger weakness. Still, I believe in my LUK, but that would just be outrageous.”
So... first to boost my stats with[Drakul’s Vitality R2].
You have lost 100 HP
All Stats Increased by 6 for 1 hour
“Let’s start with the [Blue Chest] from Jabra,” Alex announces, grabbing it from his inventory and slowly opening it.
You received 10,000 FC
You received Skillbook: Tekkai
“Hmmm, not bad,” Alex says. “Too bad I didn’t receive a god-rank skill that combines all the Rokushiki skills. In most fanfics I read, people get really OP with all of them... you can almost fly, use ranged slashes using your feet, pierce armor with your fingers, harden your body, dodge all kinds of attacks, and most importantly, move in a flash, that resembles straight up teleporting.”
“It’s deep blue, like the other skills,” Alex notes, as he inspects it.
[Skillbook: Tekkai]
Quality: Deep Blue
Effect: Teaches the skill: “Tekkai”
Note: Dropped by Jabra
Tekkai (Level 0 Base):
Requirements: 20 PHY + 2 per level, 10 STR, 10 SPR + 1 per level
Requirements: Basic Close Combat Prowess lvl 0 +1 per level, Basic Endurance lvl 0 +1 per level, Basic Meditation lvl 0 +1 per level
Leveling Requirements: 1500 Fantasy Coins + 500 per level
Effects: Allows the user to temporarily increase his resistance to physical and most other damage types. The user can’t move or act while using this skill.
Warning: Consumes a lot of Stamina.
Effects: Reduces all physical damage by 50 + 5 per level and reduces all remaining physical damage by 40% + 2% per level.
Effects: Reduces most other damage by 20 + 2 per level and reduces all remaining damage by 20% + 1% per level.
Duration: 2 seconds + 0.2 seconds per level
Cooldown: 30 seconds - 1 second per level.
Princess Jewel thinks this skill is quite bad.
“It’s nice to block attacks you simply can’t dodge... It surprisingly works for every kind of damage. I think it’s quite powerful,” Alex comments, carefully studying the skill's details.
If Soulmate stood perfectly still in battle, his enemy could simply target his weak points and still do more damage than when he tried to dodge or block the normal way.
“Yes, but against ranged attacks it’s nice... in addition to that, some attacks simply can’t be dodged. Also, who says anything about standing still? You use it to block the initial attack, and then immediately move and cancel it. You can see this as some sort of shield that you activate to block unavoidable damage. A smart use would be to use it as some kind of parry ability. You see the incoming attack, you use the skill and immediately cancel it. Trust me, this is actually insane. More importantly, it just uses Stamina. Imagine someone fires an arrow or a spell at you and you know you can’t dodge—you can still use this ability and probably reduce the damage by a lot,” Alex argues, not relenting, not even a little.
Princess Jewel still thinks this ability is not too useful. It’s not worth a full skill slot.
“You are both correct,” Benezia finally states. “This is a powerful ability. It has its weaknesses, but as Alex said, you can reliably reduce the damage of certain kinds of abilities with almost no downside, as long as you use it correctly. As long as you have a core set of abilities and can afford to use up a skill slot, this is a worthy skill, surprisingly much better than the other two Rokushiki abilities.”
“I have three Rokushiki skillbooks now... [Skillbook: Rankyaku], [Skillbook: Soru], and the new one, [Skillbook: Tekkai]. If you want one, Tereza, tell me,” Alex offers.
Tereza thinks for a second and then replies. “I don’t have skill slots... truth be told, these abilities are nice, but not suitable for me. I also want to aim for more powerful skills. Anything below Purple is probably not worth it in the long run, unless it’s something I desperately require—which in this case, I clearly don’t.”
“Time to see what my LUK gives me!” Alex says, his hands shaking, as he opens his [Chest (Gold)].
Give me a Black one, give me a Black one....
You received 20,000 FC
You received Baby Den Den Mushi (pair)
You received Suna Suna no Mi
“FUCK ME!” Alex yells, suddenly standing up and jumping on the couch. “NO FUCKING WAY!”
“YES, Hahahahahahaha! YES!” he cheers, spinning around and jumping so hard that he makes contact with the ceiling, Jewel violently crashing against it.
Jewel has received 1 damage
That hurts, Soulmate!
Completely losing it and surprising himself by making contact with the ceiling, he stumbles forward and crashes onto the wooden table in front of him, slamming face-first into it.
You have received 2 damage
You have received bleeding (nose)
Ouch fuck....
Tereza, desperately holding back her laughter, gently lifts him up and licks his nose, before slurping up his blood.
“Sorry... couldn’t resist,” she says, smirking.
“Humans...” Benezia mutters, looking astounded. “There is a reason you’re referred to as a young species. This is the most foolish and senseless act of stupidity and immaturity I have seen in a very long time.”
Despite his pain, Alex still smiles, his greed stronger than the mortal limitations of his body or his pride even stronger than his own embarrassment.
