A Gamer Into Trails

A small update for my Patre0n, lemon scenes for my fanfics do require to be locked by the subscription, unfortunately. I made it really cheap.

Lemon scenes locked behind there for A Gamer Into Trails might not happen for a while, considering current progression of my story.

If you do want my Patre0n again, it's the url with /Aht666 !

As always, Giliath demands your power stones!

*****

Using my Gamer System's Inventory, I withdrew Haze. The Haze Quartz paired very well with Scent. One attracted Monsters, while the other one didn't. Two opposing effects that basically cancel each other out. Knowing that, I handed Haze to Tio. She already had Scent in hand, so she now had two of the more rare Quartz. It didn't take long for the sound of a hammer striking against a Combat Orbment to streak across the endless tunnel.

That tinkering only lasted for a couple moments, as I saw Tio tilt her head back up, toward my direction.

"I've done the initial examination of my Combat Orbment. The amount of Sepith required to unlock the second and third slots require a combined total of eighty of the Basic Element Sepith. The Higher Element ones are not required. How much did you say you had again, Naoto?", Tio asked me.

"Would you look at that? I have exactly eighty per element. That does include eighty per each Higher Element, but it sounds like those three types aren't needed?", I asked, wanting to be sure to know what amount of refined Sepith I was to withdraw next.

"Yes. The current generational Combat Orbments do not rely on the Higher Elements in order to cast Arts. They are much more rare to come by, so modern day engineers were able to develop a Combat Orbment without relying on them. With that in mind, eighty per Basic Element should suffice.", Tio explained.

"Did that ability of yours seriously give you just enough, Young Master? Was that really such a coincidence?", Lechter asked, doubting what he had seen so far. It was just me who got those Sepith drop notifications, but I could see where his doubt was coming from. Lechter is trying to say as if my Gamer System knew what was going to happen next. For most characters in the first sky game, it did require thirty Sepith of the Basic Elements to unlock a second slot, and fifty for the third one. If you total those two up together, that's eighty.

I am not sure if Lechter's gut was at play here for that comment, but I would hope to think that this was purely coincidental. I shrugged my shoulders, since I didn't want to dive too deeply into it.

"Does that really matter at a time like this? My ability gave me some Sepith, sure. But consider a one-time deal. It just activated, so I doubt it will do such a thing again, unless they come as rewards through those Party Quests you saw earlier. I wouldn't pay heed to it.", I said, wanting Lechter to remain clear of his doubt.

"So it's similar to that "Quest" we received, then. What are those, anyways? Are they similar to the Mission Board that you can put requests onto at Bracer Guilds?", Lechter questioned with growing interest. He saw the Party Quest we received earlier, which was to kill those Abyss Worms.

I nodded my head at his question.

"Pretty much. These Quests can do a variety of actions, but the most common one is killing special types of Monsters to grow stronger. Unlike the Monsters roaming around naturally, whenever my ability triggers one, they will be subject to change as well. They aren't static. It could strengthen, or weaken them, depending on the scenario. You just witnessed this with the Instance Dungeon being set to Tio's parameters. That's basically the gist of it.", I continued to explain.

"I think I get it. Taking what you said Young Master, if we let the kiddo continue to be our Party Leader, are you saying those worms might get adjusted to her new parameters, whatever level she reaches to, once we clear this "Instance Dungeon"?", Lechter questioned. I smiled, seeing that he was right on the dot.

"You sure catch on quick, Lechter. That's exactly how it goes. My level is 111, so if I change the party leader to me, it is very possible those Abyss Worms will power up, to match my combat parameters. If that happens, it might be a lot tougher to have Tio attack from behind us. I might give it a spin, just to see how much damage you would do, given such a large disparity.", I answered, looking back at Tio.

"Most Arts and attacks dealt to Monsters much more powerful to one's current limits, simply have no effect. If they get "Adjusted" by that weird ability of yours, Naoto, are you saying it might be possible for me to damage a much stronger Monster like this?", Tio questioned.

"It could very well be possible. Monsters that have a much higher level than you do carry natural skills that reduce the damage they take, so it will be interesting to try once we get out of this Instance Dungeon. If you can benefit from this, you'll be able to get a lot of experience in one go.", I answered with a nod.

What I was referring to was the amount of experience points one receives during battle. If your level is lower than the target Monster's level, you could gain a bonus percentage. I recall it being an extra 25% experience points earned per level difference. That was why you saw characters earn 9999+ experience when they were much lower level in the sky games. The gained experience in reality was much more than that, and it only took one or two battles fighting certain monsters to catch up with everyone else.

Tio frowned hearing that explanation.

"That almost sounds like cheating...", Tio complained.

"True. This ability of yours really is crazy to such a degree, Young Master. Are you sure we aren't abusing it?", Lechter also asked with a doubtful look.

"You two can rest assured that I am not. What happens with my ability, happens for a reason. It's trying to improve your combat parameters in one go right now Tio. You might be a lot stronger after this, but you still need to learn how Monsters behave, and what they attack with. Likewise, against other people. If their skillset is better than yours, you could still get overpowered easily.", I continued to explain.

"That is also true. Even if you have all the strength in the world, if you don't know how to use it, it essentially does nothing. Maybe I should teach you a trick or two on how to get the upper hand when fighting someone, Young Master?", Lechter decided to ask.

"I appreciate that thought, but contrary to my looks, I've had not one, not two, but three Masters. They've already taught me a variety of techniques and skills. One of them being my own father.", I answered.

"His Excellency taught you combat...?", Lechter uttered. His eyes grew wide in shock. Haha! Looks like he wasn't expecting to hear such a detail coming from me.

"He did. I am confident in my own skill, so I don't think you need to worry. Plus I'll only step in if Tio truly faces danger here with the rest of the Instance Dungeon.", I happily replied.

"I would love to see what all you can do, sometime, Naoto. But I have a Combat Orbment that requires my attention again. You have that Sepith, right?", Tio asked.

"Oh, right. Let me get that for you real quick, Tio.", I responded. Activating my Inventory a third time, I pulled out several refined and colored crystals. It didn't scatter them around aimlessly. It was much more structured than that, thankfully. Each Sepith element was placed inside its own little tiny treasure chest. No matter how much one put them inside, it seemed to stretch on endlessly. I must admit, it was a nice feature. Likely part of the Exchange Shop Function that just went online. The Gamer System now had a way to store Sepith.

"The Sepith are inside these tiny chests?", Tio asked me.

"That's right. It might feel a bit weird at first, but don't shake that sensation away. Once you reach your hand inside, you'll know what I mean.", I tried to explain. These two did see me activate Inventory a number of times by now, so Tio looked at me again, and nodded. She likely could guess what was referring to.

And at the same time, I heard some notifications sound off inside my head, which said that I now had zero Sepith of the Basic Elements. I still had the eighty of the Higher Elements. Tio accepted the Sepith that I passed her way.

"Thank you, Naoto. I will go ahead and unlock two of my Combat Orbment Slots. I will let you know once I have finished inserting the two Quartz you gave me.", Tio answered.

"Sounds good. We'll keep watch, but there are still no spiders around. We should be safe for the time being.", I said.

"Mmm.", Tio nodded.

Just like before, after giving some more details to how my Gamer System functions, Tio, now with my Sepith in hand, began the rest of the extraction process. Overall, it was a pretty intricate process, so Lechter and I knew not to disturb Tio. It was a surprise to see that she could handle Combat Orbment maintenance. Maybe in the coming future, I should leave it to her to upgrade those who join our party later on?

It was a thought for sure. I recall Tio stating she wanted to take care of managing my Enigma II too. Maybe I'll suggest the idea to her...