Chapter 87: Morning Glory

Claire giggled at the two going back and forth, her laugh light.

Drake held back the riled Natto and appreciated the woman's smile and laugh, happy to see her starting to cheer up and say something other than how much she wanted to kill the Goblins.

He understood that it would never go away. Scars like that don't heal so quickly, but seeing her able to distract herself was good.

"Well Natto, what do you think about some food while I finish what I need to?" Drake said.

"Food?!" Natto asked, her ears and tail perking upward, a slight dibble escaping the side of her mouth.

"Yes, food," Drake repeated, "Claire would you mind grabbing her a barrel?" Drake asked.

"A b-barrel?!" Claire stuttered.

"I said what I said. Please and thank you," Drake laughed.

Claire nodded and walked outside of the earthen box, only stopping for a moment to look back, her smile gone and a lonesome frown replacing it, before she turned the corner and down the stairs.

"Why did you have the young lady leave?" Natto asked, wiping her mouth with Drake's sleeve.

Drake grimaced, cleaning off his sleeve with a spurt of water from his other hand, then drying it with his Wind magic quickly.

"I have a few stones to use and a quest reward I didn't want her here for. I trust her, but if I get something useful out of this reward, the less information out there the better… Also," Drake offered the shawl, "Is this going to be a problem? It says it's made from Drakes."

"Ha! Nothing would be easily made from the likes of yourself," Natto giggled, pointing her finger at Drake, but pouted when Drake eyed her seriously.

Huffing, Natto moved over grabbing the item, to look at it quickly, then pursed her lips, crossing her arms by putting her hands in her sleeves.

"I would think not. Although Dragons would be angered by you holding onto an item made from one of their kin, an item from a Volcanic Drake would not count. I would even go as far to say that anything up to Dragons themself should be fair game. When we begin to get into the realm of B Grade items and equipment we may need to start worrying about it. But anything within the F Grade is fine, so far as it stays below Epic Grade," she explained.

"That's comforting… but why? Aren't Dragons, Dragons? Is there a difference here I'm missing?" Drake said, moving over to pick up the die from the floor.

Natto sighed, but nevertheless explained, if only in mock reluctance.

"For Dragons, kin is important. But it is just that, their immediate family," she began, "You can read from the description it says 'Volcanic Drake'?"

Drake nodded waiting for further elaboration.

"Well that is just a species, it is not a brood name or moniker. Generally lesser species of monsters or higher races will be given generic names. It is the same for Elementals, Titans, Dragons, Ogres, Elves, and so on and so forth. In this instance, we are talking about nameless monsters. If the item description mentioned a specific name, such as Draconic of such and such, then we would have a nonmetaphoric flame up our tooshies," Natto said.

"Huh… so what exactly is the less of humans… Wait don't answer tha-"

"It is Apes! You Ape!" Natto cackled not missing her chance.

Drake sighed, shaking his head, admonishing himself for falling into such an obviously laid trap. He quickly brought up the second quest he wished to finish, excitement and anticipation beginning to spread in his mind after such a long time.

[50 of 50 Goblin Jailers [F Rank] have been Subjugated. Quest Complete!]

[Accept Rewards?]

[Yes/No]

[Experience has been awarded]

[Please roll for equipment rarity]

Casting the die to the floor, Drake watched as he saw it turn and bounce on the ground. Eyeing it carefully so that he could curb his expectations in real-time.

6

17

3

1

"Fuck."

"You certainly can not win them all, as they say," Natto said, not so consolingly as she picked her nails.

"Yeah well… It was bound to happen," Drake sighed, holding his hand out for the item.

What dropped in his hands were two leathery bracers, with some small fur protruding from them.

"Wait… isn't this?" Drake said, cocking an eyebrow.

Another item plopped out into Drake's other hand. It the exact identical of the bracers.

[Leather Braces [F Grade][Common]

5 to 12 Physical Reduction

3 to 9 Magic Reduction

A crudely made pair of leather bracers made more for warmth than protection. +1% defense proficiency.

Drake stifled a laugh, as he looked at the pair of identical items.

"Well… at least I'll have extras?" Drake said trying to stay positive, the memories of how he used coping when he had gotten his dual class coming back.

Drake quickly placed the bracers on, flexing his wrist to see the fit only to hear a faint tearing sound.

Looking at the bracers he saw the leather was stretching and ripping already, and he hadn't couldn't even place the second one on his earthen arm, forcing him to laugh wearily.

Drake flared his Tattoo, happy to see it didn't impede his weapon of choice, as well as not affecting the bracer more than his movements already had.

"Certainly it is a good thing you have extras. The bracer looks like the last button on a dress shirt worn by an anime character," Natto said, then slapped her face realizing what she had just said.

Drake chortled as he processed what Natto had said, flexing his hand a bit too much, ripping the leather bracer in half.

"Damn it," Drake sighed, "At least I have a lot," Drake said, placing the other of the pair, careful not to rip it.

He opened his inventory once again, checking something he had been hoping for since being hung up on his Fully Loaded skill being stuck at 0%. But now with the addition of his shawl for his shoulders and his massive amount of shitt- leather bracers he hoped it would fill the slots fully.

Opening the screen he saw the same figure, his right arm blacked out, reminding him he had lost it.

Asshole system… He thought, clicking his tongue, but quickly got back on task.

The figure on the screen had all of its slots filled now like Drake had hoped, his Hoarder skill allowing him to pseudo-fill the accessory slots even without the use of a necklace. Even his gloves which should have been empty were replaced by his tattoo rings. Apparently, they had counted in the place of proper gloves.

Thinking about it, it did make sense, his tattoos did cover his entire hand as gauntlets.

And with that he had fully equipped himself, giving him the long-sought-out 50% boost to his combat abilities.

Next was the final quest he was able to complete thanks to slaughtering all of the Goblins that held people captive.

[100 of 100 Goblin Butchers [F Rank] Subjugated. Quest Complete!]

[Accept Rewards?]

[Experience has been awarded]

[Please select a Weapon Box of Your Choice]

Drake looked over the options of weapons. Surprised that each one was of rare quality. Perusing the selection he stopped, seeing several weapons that might be useful for him.

[Dart and Chain]

[Ink Tattoo Rings]

[Mana Gauntlet]

But the one that caught his eye the most was…

[Two-handed Staff]

Oh this might be my jam… Drake thought.

It took Drake a few minutes of back and forth in his head to compare the pros and cons of the Staff over the possibility of the other three.

The Dart and Chain was something Drake liked aesthetically and would honestly help with confusing those of what his class really was. But in every other department it was a con. It most likely didn't have high Magic Damage, it also would likely have a need for practice that Drake wasn't sure was the best use of his time.

Especially considering he still had to learn real hand-to-hand combat. Right now his style was mostly. Smash their face in till they're dead. Or. Tear their head off. And he would very much like to change that, as there was more than likely an opponent that would come soon enough that he could not kill in a single punch. And having to learn a new weapon from scratch was just too much of an investment for him when he still needed to learn how to correctly fight using his current main weapon. So the Dart and Chain were sadly out.

Well, I could always just make one with magic… Drake thought consoling himself.

The Ink Tattoo Rings was only another possibility because it was his main weapon at the moment, and it had served him well. So having a possible upgrade through the weapon box may be worth blowing off the others. But in the same vein, he already had them.

The Mana Gauntlet was much like the Tattoo Rings, his main source of melee damage currently was his 'hand-to-hand' combat mixed with his destructive style of magic.

The Gauntlet would be a nice option if it was a guaranteed upgrade but on the same coin, it was very likely it would not be better than his set equipment.

Now. Now the Staff though… The possibilities for Drake were endless. As a goofy grin creased his face.

"What are you making that disgusting face for again… This is almost the same as... No, Drake.." Natto almost hissed.

Drake looked at Natto as he mentally confirmed his decision, his eyes creased and his smile wide and toothy.

[Selected [F Grade] Staff Weapon Box as reward]

[Confirm?]

[Yes/No]

Drake held his mischievous grin as a box almost as tall as he materialized from a flash of light in front of him.

The box looked like finished wood of something very high quality and had exquisitely well-crafted markings and engravings on the outside. There was a golden latch adorning the side of the box, and the hinges also shimmered a beautiful gold.

"Yeah don't need this, what's in the box!" Drake yelled with anticipation as he flung open the cover, pulling the staff from the box and placing the box in his inventory all in one motion.

[Four Petaled Morning Glory Staff [F Grade][Rare]

35 to 42 Physical Damage

833 to 937 Magic Damage

100% Increase in Elemental Magic Damage

Special Effects when killing targets with specific Base Elements

Fire: Increases Magic Damage by 1% per kill. Can stack up to 20 times. Duration 15 Seconds.

Water: 5% of Mana is regenerated on every 20th kill over 10 seconds. Can not stack.

Earth: Magic Defense is increased by 1% per kill. Can stack up to 20 times. Duration 15 seconds.

Air: Magic Expenditure for your next spell is reduced by 80% on every 100th kill.

An exquisite piece of craftsmanship carved from the Elder Darkwood Treant, the Morning Glory blossom holds four elemental attuned crystals of equal power giving the staff a beautiful allure.

"Oh… I do not deserve this, Haha!!" Drake shouted gleefully, holding the new staff in the air.

The dark almost black wood was smooth to the touch and curved to a beautiful spiral at the end. At the crown of the staff the wood splintered into eight different curling points. In the grasp of each pair of points, or petals, was a glimmering crystal.

One of faint crimson, another of serene blue, another of tranquil yellow, the final of a robust earthy brown.

"This looks too good to be true! It makes no sense but I will name you Chunchunmaru! Wait no… that's the wrong weapon…" Drake said, going back and forth with himself.

"Cease! That name, you do not mean to…?" Natto shouted, almost concerned.

"I'm not doing anything," Drake lied, placing the staff into his inventory, then used his new shawl to practice switching between his rings and staff.

After a few repetitions, Drake deflated in his excitement by a level. Unfortunately, the shawl was not as perfect as Drake had hoped. The shawl only allowed for the items to be taken in and out within a space, but wouldn't allow him to specifically place an item inside or around his body.

"That… That's fine, just makes for more cool equipping scenes. Wait… does that mean I'm a magical girl? Oh no... I have changing hair color, Natto gives me ears and a tail. Fuck!" Drake howled.

"What are you going on about now, you dolt?" Natto asked.

Drake stood straight and lied through his teeth, "Nothing. Absolutely nothing…"

A few calming breaths later. Drake pulled and rolled around two Skill Stones, he was weary of both of them for the same very good reason. He currently had 3 open slots left but he was rightfully concerned about the repercussions of continuing to use higher-grade stones with his current mental state.

[Skill Stone: Oppression [Rare]

Unlocks a random skill from the Oppression tree

Requires open skill slot

[Skill Stone: Lightning [Rare]

Unlocks a random skill from the Lightning tree

Requires open skill slot

"Now, today has started off as a relatively good one. Saved some people, killed some monsters, having some quality time with the little one-foot demon. But is it going to stay one?" Drake whispered.

"I heard that you fucking moronic ape!" Natto cried.