After selling his items, Jake gained thirty thousand more coins, he could earn more by selling the gloves and scythe, but that wasn't within his plans yet.
"Are you going to buy something?" Luke asked.
"I want the items that will grant me Heat Resistance and Cold Resistance," Jake replied.
"Well, aren't you cautious?" Luke asked. "You are in luck since I have both. They will cost twenty thousand coins."
It seemed a bit too expensive, but considering the utility of the skill, it was natural that the price would be high. Nevertheless, Jake could always resell them later.
You obtained Warm Cape
Cold Resistance (0%), master this item to obtain the skill permanently.
Durability: 15/15
Cold Resistance: decreases the effects of cold attacks and of ambients by one point per level.
You obtained Light Cape
Heat Resistance(0%), master this item to obtain the skill permanently.
Durability: 15/15
Heat Resistance: decreases the effects of fire attacks and of ambients by one point per level.
Jake nodded to himself in satisfaction. Even if the items didn't grant status, their effects were good enough.
"This will be all for today," Jake said.
"Are you going to hunt alone? Such a hard worker," Luke said. "You know, there is this party that needs a frontline and…"
"No thanks," Jake said, and then he headed toward the crystal server.
In the end, Jake confirmed that what Luke had said was true. He could see a special quest available on his list.
Special quest: pick a side in the war between orcs and kobolds. Rewards: 10.000 coins and 1000 fame.
By siding with the attacking side of the kobolds and helping them win, you will obtain the tome Snow Storm.
By siding with the defending side of the orcs and helping them win, you will obtain the tome: Healing Aura.
This mission will become unavailable in 71: 49:44
The special mission was completely different from the others… not to mention that he could choose his rewards, but he had to choose one of the two sides in the war. That seemed interesting, but the problem was the time limit and the fact that neither tomes would actually help in Jake's fighting style. On the other hand, they would be pretty useful in Louise and Lana's hands.
"By the look of things, this mission will last for quite a while," Jake rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "By myself, it will take too long, but with those two…"
Even if Jake wasn't crazy enough to play a game for more than ten hours straight, he probably would collapse due to starvation or thirstiness. Besides, considering that the rewards would be useless to him, Lana and Louise had to work hard and deserve them. As for Jake, he would only enjoy a different mission. Since they were at war, the orcs and kobolds should have some level of intelligence, so they will put up a better fight than brain-dead monsters.
Regardless, Jake selected the second mission of the Hellish Desert, where he would be able to level up his Heat Resistance, and he also needed to find the dungeon, or at least find some clues that would help him with that. That being said, Jake thought that it would be dark in the desert, but things were the same as before…
"I guess I was overthinking it…" Jake muttered.
Once Jake wore the Light Cape, he felt slightly better, and at the same time, a single scorpion appeared. While using his sword would be better, Jake used his new weapons first in order to unlock their skills and to obtain their status as well. Thanks to that, Jake killed a lot fewer enemies than usual, but he at least understood that scythe wasn't really for him. As for the gauntlets, they could be useful against certain enemies, but their short reach was a problem… Nevertheless, Jake leveled up Heat Resistance quite a bit and also gained some extra power during the mission.
The next day, Jake found Lana and Louise waiting for him in the same spot. Without wasting any time, he told them about the special mission.
"A special mission to fight in a war between NPCs?" Lana frowned. "That will probably give us the fresh air that I want, but…"
"Are you fine with this, Jake?" Louise asked. "The tomes doesn't seem like the type of items that will help you."
"It is fine, I want to see how it is fighting in a war of NPCs," Jake replied. "Besides, we can get a ton of loot from the enemies if we win."
"We are thinking seriously about this, while you are thinking of stealing from the dead…" Lana furrowed her eyebrows.
"Forget about that, you two should decide which side we should fight on," Jake said.
"Let's fight on the defending side," Louise said. "No matter which situation, I think those that start a war are in the wrong."
"I wonder if things can be so simple…" Jake said and then sighed.
"While I also want to fight on the defending side, I think we would gain more if you were to obtain Snow Storm, Louise. I know that you have been thinking of learning some bigger spells."
"It is okay," Louise smiled. "Before learning a spell like that, I think we should focus on increasing the survivability of our party. Besides, I don't have all that much mana yet."
Weirdly enough, those two began to argue since they wanted to help each other…
Updated from fr𝒆ewebnov𝒆l.(c)om