Multi Banner Roll

At home Licia helps me a bit with dinner, although I still don't let her try the oven just yet, I figured she should watch how it's done a bit more before trying it herself.

Thanks to her help dinner comes earlier today and after finishing it she asks me eagerly:

Licia: "Will you share new skills with me yet?"

Miwen: "Don't you think it's better to wait until after I finish using my Gift? That way you can choose the better ones..."

Licia: "That's true..."

Miwen: "Also, I think I wanna try something else today, so do you mind giving me a hand?"

Licia blushes when hearing what I had to say, I wonder what she thought I'd ask of her.

Licia: "I'm content to oblige, but what is it that you need of me?"

Miwen: "Well..."

An air of anticipation fills the room, and I feel like teasing her a bit by delaying my request, even then, whatever she's thinking about is most likely wrong since I myself just recently decided on it.

Miwen: "Sam just told me that she won't be able to go the dungeon tomorrow, it seems like she needs to visit her mother."

Licia: "And so?"

Miwen: "And so Roy decided to take tomorrow off too..."

Licia: "I see, so, will you take tomorrow off too?"

Miwen: "Not exactly. Do you remember the monster we encountered today?"

Licia: "The Noble Hobgoblin."

Miwen: "Yes, that one. That thing was stronger than the floor boss we had just faced by a mile, and to be honest, today we were only capable of dealing with it as comfortably as we did thanks to you."

Licia: "Mhm... I indeed took the lead, but you guys would do fine even without me, you were more than capable."

She seems happy to hear me compliment her performance at the dungeon today. But I'm not trying to get any affection points here, I honestly believe her experience shone through today and was the deciding factor for how the battle went, if not for her, whoever faced the Goblin Lord alone wouldn't be able to leave unscattered, at least some injuries were to be expected. I do agree with her that we would be able to do it anyway, but her presence allowed for a far smoother battle.

Licia: "So, do you raid the dungeon tomorrow, just me and you? I think we could handle the second floor as long as we don't get ahead of ourselves."

Miwen: "I also believe that we would be capable of doing so, but there's something else I have planned, and it starts with today's use of my Gift..."

Licia seems confused about what I'm talking about, it's true that my Gift allows for many things, and so, she must think that I'm gonna show her something new today. That's not true, not entirely at least. What I'm gonna show her today is something she has already seen, although from a different perspective...

Miwen: "For now, I'll get the new skills, and I'll allow you to choose one among them."

Licia: "Only one? Won't you get 7 points and 4 new skills thanks to the levels we are at?"

Miwen: "You'll understand why later in my room."

Suddenly I see her face turning as red as a tomato, and what she utters next manages to even embarrass me as well...

Licia: "W-well if that's what you wish for... I... I'll... only a little..."

She says it softly and quietly, almost as if she didn't intend for me to hear her. I'm not as dense as to not understand what she's saying, which makes it all the worse that I now have to contain my lust and explain that it's not what she's thinking.

Somehow it seems like her face got even redder as I explained what I had in mind to her, and I can see traces of anger and frustration in her expression. Alas, she agrees to follow my plan and even says I worry too much about these things.

Licia: "If things take a turn for the worse, you can count on me you know?"

Miwen: "Seriously? You've grown to trust me a lot in just a short period of time huh?"

Licia: "Well... you never gave me a reason to distrust you after all, and I'm also quite confident in my ability to judge others. I see how much you've been exerting yourself for me and allowing me the most amount of freedom you can. It's true that I'd protect you no matter what too, given that I don't know how much this new life of mine is reliant on your Gift, I don't want to think about it, but if something happened to you, it's quite possible that this life would be extinguished... So... take care of yourself okay? For my sake as well, and please, let me take care of you too..."

Suddenly she reassures me in such a heartfelt way that I can't help but question why is it that it takes me so much time to trust her when she already trusts me so much. But I guess that's just how I am as a person, and if I were to tell her that, she would probably scold me saying that it's not a bad thing to be cautious. Even then, it's true that our lives are linked, and so, I can trust that she would help me out however she can, and I think that allows my trust in her to grow, even if it's at a lesser pace than hers, she's indeed been getting my trust at a rapid pace, after all, it's only thanks to the amount of trust that I place on her that I'm going with this plan for today...

After things calm down a bit, I resume the use of my Gift, and without delay, I spend three tickets on the [Skills Banner], after dozing off for a second, I focus on the [Current Skills] to see what I've obtained this time around.

On the list, I can see three new skills:

[Mental Resistance]

Increases the user's resistance to mental attacks and debuffs, if weak enough, it's possible to even negate the effects of mental attacks and debuffs on the user. Since this is a passive skill, it's always active, but the user may decide to deactivate it at any time.

[X Slash]

Active skill. Can be done with both one-handed and two-handed bladed weapons. When used with only one weapon, boosts the speed of the attack and its strength, and when used with two weapons boosts the speed and gives an increased strength boost. Every two uses of this skill cost the user one mana point.

[Focused Strike]

Active skill. Based on the user's intelligence, increases the strength of the following attack. May cause [Mental Fatigue] and [Body Fatigue] after being used. Repeated uses of this skill in succession may cause stronger and more severe debuffs. Costs one point per use.

Miwen: "And that's all I got today, so, which skill are you interested in?"

Licia: "For now [Sight Enhancement] would improve my fighting capabilities without requiring mana, but after that I'm going for [Unending Determination] so you better save some points for it okay?"

[Unending Determination] was her first choice, but when I tried to share it with her, I noticed that 3 Kingdom points were required, and as such Licia agreed to let go of it knowing that it would otherwise make me unable to proceed with what I had in mind for today.

Today's [Skills Banner] results were quite good, it could be said that it was also pretty good with the timing as well. Having just increased my mana pool I'm now capable of using those active melee skills, add to that the fact that I'm going to have Licia with me and I get quite confident about today's prospects.

Miwen: "And there you go. Shall we head to my room now?"

I wait for Licia to check if she got the skill she wanted, and after getting her heads up, I suggest we continue on the next step.

Licia: "Im gonna grab this one too, just in case..."

She grabs her sword before following me to my room, I think it might be a bit too much, but then again, you never know...

As such, now that we are in my room, the most important roll of today is going to take place. That's right, after receiving Sam's message I thought that this would be the most favorable course of action for both me and my Kingdom. Taking into account the danger of the second floor, even though it's true that Licia and I would be able to earn experience there, the amount would result in only small gains as we would be unable to venture deep inside that floor. With that in mind, how would I be able to make the most of tomorrow? And the answer to that came to me in the form of the [Companions Banner].

If I were to summon another companion at level one, and if they decide to become my [Citizen] I could have another strong ally like Licia to help us in the dungeon raids after having them level up a bit with Licia and me. Of course, that would also depend on how willing they are to stay with me, the same as Licia, I'm willing to allow them to choose what they want to do after being summoned, even then, I can't help but feel like if they decide to at least become a [Citizen], that alone would increase my prospects going forward.

Of course, I still think this is somewhat dangerous, but being level 4 myself, and having the help of the level 3 Licia who's shown herself to be so trustworthy and capable, no matter what comes out of this banner, I think we should be okay. Even if they manage to overwhelm us somehow, thanks to the [Kingdom] menu we can just escape to an inaccessible place for whatever gets summoned.

After reassuring myself of all the reasons for this decision, I focus on the [Companions Banner] and give it my last ticket of today.

Expectations were high, and my anxiety about it was going through the roof, but all these feelings in my mind soon go away, and once again, I lose sight of myself, only to regain proper consciousness a second later...

Standing in front of me there was Licia, my companion whom I've been learning to trust more and more at what I'd consider a fast pace, even if she herself trusts me even more than I do her.

On her left side, there was a girl I didn't recognize, on her knees, it seemed like she had just run a marathon and the fatigue had overtaken her body. Of course, that couldn't be possible, she was, after all in my room, and she definitely didn't get here by running.

I don't know what is the intention of my Gift, with this being the second beautiful girl that it presents to me. her red twin tails complement her beautiful, young-looking face, and if not for her pale expression, one of pure fright, I might've fallen for her right here and right now. She seems a little bit smaller than Licia in height, and if we were to continue talking about their bodies in comparison, I can't help but notice in the position she finds herself in that Licia has her beat when it comes to breast size, although, when we talk about her waist, things change very quickly. It's not like Licia doesn't have meat there, it's just that this girl seems to have the perfect assets when it comes to it...

They are both very beautiful, and seeing this girl right now reminds me of the first time I met Licia, which was a similar situation, although I calmly remember that, I quickly take my mind off of it, knowing that my body wouldn't be able to stay as calm if I kept thinking about this stuff.

???: "... huh?"

???: "Why am I alive...? Where is Pervial?"

???: "Who are you? Where am I ?!"

The girl looks at me with suspicion and ire, she seems ready to jump at me at a moment's notice.

???: "I'll have you know that no kidnapper will have their way with me! Brace yourself, you now face the power of Claire Ashbrodd, 'The Continental Burn' !"