?
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Immediately after she accepted both the rings, however, Emilia grabbed Crystal's left hand and slid the 'Ring of Fury' on her ring finger.
The blonde girl was stunned. "W-Why, didn't you accept it?! This is the better one, too!"
Emilia grinned. "Although five percent attack speed is useful to me too, it will definitely play a bigger role in your hand than mine."
Moreover, unlike her blond girlfriend, Emilia actually quite liked the 'Ring of Might'.
There were certain situations where, while she could still avoid an enemy's blow, being able to block it would give her greater maneuverability. This was especially so when the enemy was much larger than herself, or when there was an ally nearby who might be in danger.
Seeing Crystal struggle, the crimson-haired elf frowned. "Are you going to reject it?"
The other girl bowed her head awkwardly. "W-Well, I-I wouldn't have gotten such good loot if not for your help, right?"
Of course, this was only the reason she felt was 'safe' to express inside Arcadia. The real reason was just that she felt it was better for her to help Emilia strengthen herself as much as possible, while she could just make do with the rest.
She was here to help her girlfriend with her mission, after all.
Reaching out to pinch the other girl's cheek, Emilia sneered. "We're splitting our combined loot fairly just to increase our chances of each getting better-fitting items, you know? If you make it a habit to give away things that are your own, you might soon lose the strength to protect yourself."
How could Crystal not understand the meaning hidden in her girlfriend's seemingly harsh words?
Between the two of them, the distribution of a few items may not matter, but Emilia still wanted Crystal to try her best to become as strong as possible.
After all, if Arcadia was able to strengthen one's soul itself, then this was Crystal's unique chance to acquire strength in a way that she previously never could have imagined. If she failed to make the most of it, maybe she would regret it forever.
Crystal may not really care about her 'strength', but since her girlfriend was going so far, she couldn't just let her sincerity go to waste.
The blonde girl could only sigh in defeat. "I understand. I'll open the rest, then, and we each take what suits us best?"
Emilia nodded and patted the back of the other girl's palm proudly. "Good."
Cynthia almost sneered. 'Weren't they supposed to pretend to be strangers at first?'
Of course, out of consideration for her partner's mood, the raven-haired girl didn't voice her thoughts out loud, so Emilia and Crystal moved on to opening the remaining four palm-sized green boxes without a hitch.
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—Ring of Light—
Quality → Green
Type → Accessory (Ring)
Effect → Light element damage enhanced by 5%
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—Adventurer's Best Friend—
Quality → Green
Type → Accessory (Belt)
Effect → Inventory Slots +10
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—Sylvan Strike—
Quality → Green
Type → Weapon (Bow)
Effect 1 → +10% Attack
Effect 2 → Inflicts 10% poison damage to the target over the next ten seconds. Cannot stack.
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—Fearless Maiden's Dignified Companion—
Quality → Green
Type → Accessory (Undergarment)
Effect 1 → When within the striking range of a stronger enemy, increases the damage dealt and taken by up to 100%. The closer, the better.
Effect 2 → Enables the use of utility skill 'Cleanse' [Water/Air].
[Cleanse] (Utility) — Water Element, Air Element
Mana Cost → 5 points.
Cleans and purifies a certain area over a period of two seconds. Cannot remove poison. Cannot cure disease.
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The ring, the bow, and the belt were all good, but the last green item left both Emilia and Crystal stunned.
Clearly, neither of them expected a pair of panties to pop out of the item box, let alone one with such a weird name and description.
"I-I think you should keep this one, d-definitely." Crystal coughed, a little embarrassed.
With her girlfriend's short skirt, the default 'free' white silk undergarments were definitely more 'appropriate' to wear when compared to these sexy green lace ones, as they covered a lot more sensitive 'area'. But the effect of the item fit a bit too well with her girlfriend's fighting style to ignore.
The blonde girl couldn't help but wonder. 'Are these drops really random…?'
"Okay, thank you." Emilia nodded. "Then you keep the 'Ring of Light' and the bow, obviously? As for the belt, let's decide on that later."
Crystal hummed, a little disappointed that her girlfriend didn't blush… and didn't immediately 'try it on' right away, either.
With only the two 'Blue' boxes left, the blonde girl made a silent prayer in her mind before pressing the first one, and to both their shock, what popped out was… another bow!
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—Starlit Bow—
Quality → Blue
Type → Weapon (Bow)
Effect 1 → +25% Attack
Effect 2 → Each strike to the enemy increases the chance of them taking critical damage by 1%, maximum fifty stacks, lasts 60 seconds.
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"AHH! We already got one just before, what a waste!" Crystal cried.
Of course, 'Starlit Bow' was definitely much better than the 'Sylvan Strike' from the green box, so she didn't regret getting it, but that was still a wasted item!
Based on Emilia's reactions, it definitely wasn't common to get equipment of higher quality, and they may not even be able to upgrade any items they got now for a long, long time.
Contrary to her expectations, however, Emilia only ran her hand over the crystalline bow with a delighted sigh. "It's so pretty, and definitely suits you in more than one way."
Although she couldn't say it right now, Emilia knew that a lot of 'Light' based skills were actually multiple or fragmented shots, making the passive of the 'Starlit Bow' extremely useful.
'After Crystal becomes stronger, and we upgrade this bow's quality… maybe she can even out damage that crazy guy from the hero's team!' Emilia almost shuddered in excitement.
Looking at her girlfriend's reaction, Crystal's mood also improved a lot. "Oh… I suppose it's all good, then." She coughed. "The other bow can always be 'sold' to others."
The crimson-haired elf nodded with a smile. 'If Sylvia has picked the ranger class as she should have, then this thing will suit her quite well, too.'
"The last one… you open it."
Emilia didn't object, and opened the last blue box steadily.
With their harvests so far, even if this last item wasn't so good, she wouldn't be too disappointed.
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—Wisdom of the Forest—
Quality → Blue
Type → Accessory (Headgear)
Effect 1 → Enables the use of special skill 'Vigilance' when worn.
Effect 2 → Cannot be upgraded using traditional means.
[Vigilance] (Special) — No Element
Mana Cost → 10 points.
Allows the user to gain awareness of a certain area around them when the skill is active.
Only costs mana on activation, can remain active persistently without additional cost.
Area of Vigilance scales with the skill's level.
The level of the skill can only be increased by killing the required number of unique monsters. Elites, Bosses, and certain special monsters only count as one, even if they split. Certain variations of monsters may not count.
Current Level → 1
Area of Vigilance → 10 square meters around the user.
Unique monsters to be killed within the skill's zone for the next upgrade → 0 / 10
==========
The two of them stared at each other silently for a while before Crystal suddenly burst into giggles. "And you said I was lucky, do you regret not opening it all yourself now?"
"Of course not!" Emilia coughed. "A-Anyway, I suddenly feel like hunting a few monsters again. Wanna join?"
Even as she asked that question, the crimson-haired elf was sliding off her 'default' silk panties to put on the green, laced 'Fearless Maiden's Dignified Companion', making it impossible for Crystal to think of anything good, let alone respond.
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Naturally, with not much time left before Arcadia's day ended, Emilia didn't actually want to pointlessly grind a few low-level mobs.
The measly amount of experience they would get would not be worth the trouble of rushing back and forth in a hurry, and risking being separated if they failed to return to the inn in time.
"If I understand it correctly, each 'unique' monster that I need to kill should include the little bunnies and pigs we killed earlier, but it just didn't count because I didn't have the item at that time."
Even though Emilia explained it so clearly, Crystal barely heard half of it, busy as she was admiring the 'scenery' in front of her.
The blonde girl couldn't help but sigh. 'Luckily, that thing didn't come with an effect suitable for me.'
The two of them had attracted quite a bit of attention after leaving the inn, with their shiny new equipment. But with Emilia's speed and somewhat aloof and cold expression, by the time people had the thought of approaching her, she would long be gone.
Crystal did feel a bit weird being dragged along at that speed, but thankfully, there was no pain from her arm, and Emilia allowed her to move on her own once they left the crowded areas.
'The combination of this skirt and that thing is really lethal…' She sighed. 'I hope I managed to prevent any perverts from peeking.'
Of course, as the beautiful crimson-haired elf slaughtered the 'Red-Eyed Rabbit' that was unlucky enough to come across them, she jumped in joy at confirming her conjecture, and completely failed to notice her girlfriend's absurd thoughts.
Since they had both hit level ten, the monsters around the beginner's village unfortunately no longer gave them any experience or loot.
"It's true! Let's go quickly, maybe we can still catch that big pig…" She giggled. 'There's no way we can kill it in time before the day ends, but as long as it's there and I get a hit in, it's possible that it will count!'
Crystal was more than happy to follow her and help Emilia get rid of a few wild boars along the way, but when they finally got to the location of the 'Boar King', there was not a soul in sight.
Just like the 'Tears of the Immortal', the special boss [Boar King] only spawned when a player who hadn't ever killed it was close enough. After it appeared, though, anyone could participate in taking it down.
With one 'qualified' person around, a good team could even 'farm' the [Boar King] repeatedly, so long as that person didn't join their party, or get a hit in. That being said, it wouldn't be a very efficient or safe way of farming.
With the threat level of the [Boar King] to players below level ten, it wouldn't be a surprise if such a team ended up losing more than they gained.
Emilia sighed in disappointment. 'It's a pity that nobody else discovered it yet.'
If she really wanted to, Emilia obviously could have easily let others know, or even dragged someone else along to force the boss to 'spawn', but she didn't feel it was worth it.
"Alright, since the big pig is not here, and I'm a little tired, let's get back to the inn and log out?"
Looking at her girlfriend's grin lacking any disappointment, Crystal breathed a sigh of relief and nodded with a smile. "Okay."
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Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.c(o)m