Family Reunion (1)

[<Water Shield>]

- Consume 10 MP to cover yourself in a coating of water

- The water coating will decrease damage of the fire attribute by 25%

- The skill lasts for 30 seconds

<Cooldown time: 10 seconds>

(Cost to obtain: 3 skill points)

'As expected, it's incomparable to <Blessing of Water>. But I may as well get it anyway, since I'll evolve it eventually'

<You have obtained the skill [<Water Shield> Lv.1]>

Lennon was still sorting through the loot he had obtained, and it seems that Tabsi had also gotten some pretty nice rewards.

<Wyvern's Coat>

- A coat made out of a mutated wyvern's hide

- Grants +4 Defence and +1 Agility when equipped

- Grants 20% elemental resistance

'The effects are pretty nice, but it's a shame I lost the robe, now I have to buy a mask'

Lennon thought as he equipped the coat. His robe had been melted down in the battle, and he really liked the concealing option on it, so it was quite a shame.

"Hey, what level are you now?"

Tabsi asked Lennon with a smug look on her face.

"I'm 68"

"What?! How are you still at a higher level than me? I definitely dealt more damage than your book!"

"Well, probably because the world gave me that skill and it absorbed a lot of damage"

"You're just sooooo lucky"

Lennon had explained how the world gave him a temporary skill, and Tabsi was a bit jealous that he managed to get a rare title.

"Oh yeah, and something came up IRL so I'm not gonna play tomorrow"

"What? Fiinneee, I'll just mess around in the colosseum then"

"Oh yeah, did your robe also break during the fight?"

"Hmm? Yeah it did, why?"

"Let's visit the little guy and buy some masks"

"Why are you so desperate to hide your face? Are you that introverted?"

"No dumbass, it's so guilds don't bother us. If we had shown our face in the fight against that lizardman, guild scouts would be all over us and we wouldn't get a moment of privacy."

"Ah, good point"

The 'little guy' Lennon was referring to is obviously a dwarf. Dwarves are skilled blacksmiths and sometimes work in human kingdoms, Lennon had already visited him once to enhance their equipment.

After spending a bit of time getting down from the mountain, they spent thirty minutes running to the Yoh Empire. There, they visited a shabby store.

"Hey little guy, you got any masks for sale?"

"I told you to stop calling me that you bastard"

The dwarf was as tall as Tabsi's waist, and was currently standing on a stool. cursing at Lennon with an angry expression.

"Yeah whatever, answer the question"

"Arghh, they're over there"

The 'little guy' pointed at some shelves and Lennon walked over. He looked through the collection before picking out two pure white masks.

<Formless Mask>

- An unnamed product of a great dwarven blacksmith

- Able to completely cover one's face, made so well that even the mighty dragons cannot see through it.

- Extremely lightweight

- Able to change its colour and shape

- Has absurdly high durability

"How much are these?"

"150 gold a pop"

"150 gold a piece? That's ridiculous, c'mon, make it 100"

"I spent a couple days making those! The materials were also expensive as fuck! 140 or no deal"

"Alright, that's fine"

Lennon had accumulated a lot of gold coins from selling the equipment from hidden bosses on the auction. The auction had a function which allowed players to anonymously sell items, so it was perfect. If the auction house didn't have that function, Lennon would've needed to make a trip to the black market.

After paying the dwarf, Tabsi and Lennon walked out of the shop.

"Never come back again! You hear that you bastard?"

The dwarf was still angry despite getting a customer, and insulted Lennon again as he left.

"Here, put this on before you go duelling."

"Alright thanks, I'll see you in two days or something"

"Yep, see ya"

With that, Lennon got out of his VR capsule and started to pack his bag. His parents had invited him to a family reunion in some fancy cafe, all members of his family would go, though he was reluctant to go. But his parents threatened to cancel his allowance, so he had no choice but to go.

It would be tomorrow, on a Saturday, and the reunion would last an entire day. An entire day was a bit too much for Lennon, it would be extremely boring. But he couldn't bring his VR capsule, so his plan was just to browse on the forums for an entire day while avoiding as much interaction as possible.

When the day came, Lennon ended up waking up late and only woke up since his mother was frantically calling him through his phone.

"WHERE. ARE. YOU? Don't tell me you're actually skipping?"

"No mum, I'm just running a bit late"

"You better arrive soon, or else I'll cut your allowance"

"Yes of course mum, I'm nearly there.

Lennon was paddling his bike as fast as he could to the address his mum had sent him. Fortunately for him, it wasn't too far away and Lennon didn't end up being that late.

"Let's see, where is it? Wait what?"

The address his mum had sent him directly led him to an internet cafe, one specifically for VRMMORPG games.

"Huh?"

"Ah Lennon, you're here! Did I surprise you? We'll actually be having our family reunion inside of a VR game! This new one called Tisit Online has amazing scenery, and there are features which allow you to take photos! And you can also-"

Even though his mum came out to greet him, Lennon wasn't really listening, he was lost in thoughts.

'Well, they'll probably all be in the starter village, so I need to rush as fast as possible there and then take all my equipment off to avoid suspicion. This should be fun, I guess?'

"Are you scared or something Len? It's fine, one of your cousins is a professional at this game! He even earns money from it, and he's going to guide us to a really good spot!"

'Well that's not good, he's probably seen that video. But I don't think he'll recognize me without my equipment, so I should be fine'