"You want to trade a baby ferret for a dagger? You think I am dumb? If I accept it, in a few days the ferret will escape and return to you." I stare at Tacita, who, at the last sentence, breaks eye contact and looks to the side.
With a sigh, I look at the ferret that yawns again and just hangs there in Tacita's hands. As the assassin girl moves closer, as if trying to push that deal onto me, the ferret flops around like a wet noodle.
"I think she really wanted to do that," Tess agrees with me.
"Talk to her, make it a better deal for me," I tell her.
"I can't. She is only friendly with Lily, if I get too close or push her too much, she will stab me."
Not surprised by that answer at all, I do not press the issue, and looking at Tacita, I shake my head in refusal.
So, she instead moves closer and sits on the ground near us, placing the ferret on the floor, where it looks around curiously before jumping around in those cute movements ferrets do.
Tacita, meanwhile, takes a piece of beautiful, plush red square cloth from her bag and puts it on the ground in front of her. Then, like some sort of magpie, she starts hunting for items from her backpack and from many, many hidden pockets all over her clothes.
She lays five daggers on the impromptu sales mat. Three of them are each of a different metal and shape, and two of them are made of crystal. She puts out a brooch, multiple mana stones, some of them serving as data storage, and she takes off a really thin bracelet, one ring, and one earring, each of which I identify as goddamn low pristine items.
You end up with a lot of stuff. It isn't a massive volume, but there are plenty of small, valuable items, and many of them are really shiny and nice.
In the end, she also points at the key on her forearm that allows for passage to the 6th floor of Beyond, the same one as I have on my right forearm.
Looking over all of this, I glance at the dagger in my hand and reread the description. I even let Tess check it, watching how her eyes widen.
Veto (Mid Pristine) - Extremely sharp and near unbreakable, designed specifically to neutralize high-level threats, the blade emits a constant, soft red luminescence. When Veto punctures an enemy, it targets their active skills and locks down the last used skill. The target is prevented from casting or activating that specific skill until the effect wears off.
Its ability is ridiculous, honestly. Sure, I can do similar stuff with disruption, but there are skills even I cannot disrupt if they come from within a natural barrier.
Taking into consideration it is mid pristine, which should be the highest possible rarity to get while inside of the tutorial, and even that only if in Beyond, a Beyond quest, or extremely lucky, it is easy to see how valuable it is.
Hell, if I wanted, I could sell it now for 7 million shards. Crafted items sell for 50 percent of their shop value, while items gained on the floors only sell for 10 to 20 percent. This means the dagger would likely be worth 35 million shards or something, just as ridiculous if I wanted to buy it from the shop.
Well, if mid pristine stuff were available in a system shop.
And I strongly suspect one thing, even though I have not tested it yet. I think Veto can be stacked multiple times. It likely allows one to lock multiple active skills.
Getting a grasp of this system bullshittery and how these things work, I think the first skill is blocked for the longest. Likely minutes, or probably seconds if your opponent is powerful, and with each other blocked skill, the time would be shorter. But hell, even blocking some important skill for 5 seconds can easily mean a very quick death in these levels of fights.
Lastly, mid pristine… I really still think that low pristine is for people at the brink of being Champions or fresh Champions. Proper Champions get mid pristine, and more powerful ones upper pristine items. So, though the description might not sound like it, just that rarity makes it scary. The system likes to be like that. A simple description that might even be copy-pasted over multiple rarities, while the rarity changes the strengths drastically.
In the hands of someone as fast as Tacita, this dagger would be… terrifying, truly terrifying.
Watching her intently, I hold the dagger and outstretch my hand toward Tacita to let her read the description. I watch her eyes move from left to right multiple times, and similar to Tess, they widen.
The baby ferret meanwhile jumps over to us, climbs on my leg, and climbs up to my neck, where it presses against my skin over my collarbone. For a moment, I feel its tiny cold tongue and then warm breath.
Still looking at Tacita, I reach out with one of my hands and pet the ferret. Tess does not even try to help, instead, she sits there and watches it all curiously. Though I suspect she already knows how this might end.
Weighing the dagger in my hand, I think of it once again.
Of course, I want to keep it. It is just amazing, and even if I did not actively switch my fighting style to match it, there are things I could probably learn from its effects. I already planned on stabbing myself to see how this sort of skill lock works and if I could defend against it, and I do not think I will give it out to anyone until I experiment with it properly.
Still, I hate relying on items. I do not want to change the way I fight, and I want to do these sorts of disruptions and skill lockings with my abilities only.
So, give it to Dennis? That could work, as his preferred weapon is a combination of a dagger and a short sword. Or maybe to Tess and tie the dagger to some shaft to turn it into a javelin. The problem remains: the sort of danger it would bring to anyone holding it. I can easily imagine a Champion killing either of them just to get it. It is just too valuable to go unnoticed. Even the crystal currently imbued in Dennis’s forehead is low pristine and a risk.
Meanwhile, Tacita? I can imagine that lunatic running away from even a Champion if she wanted. I can also imagine her going unnoticed, and I can easily imagine her stabbing someone ten times before they even notice, and blocking all of their active skills.
But I just keep coming back to the thought of just how great a match she and Veto are.
"Okay. Let's do it like this," I say, and pull the dagger back while scooping up the ferret and keeping my fingers moving so it can attack them playfully.
Tacita fixes her sitting position and listens carefully, her eyes peeking from behind her messy brown hair.
"I want to experiment with the dagger, so I will keep it until the end of this floor. A week or two should be enough, and if the floor continues for a month or so, I will keep it for a month."
I pause, and she sits there, the most motionless I have ever seen her.
"After that, I will lend this dagger to you. Not give. Lend." I emphasize that word. "If I ask for it, you will give it back to me at any time and without complaints."
When I look at her questioningly, she nods seriously.
So I continue, "I do not want your items in exchange. You will owe me, you will owe me a lot. But you know me, I won't be too unreasonable when I come to collect. I also want you to promise you will never use it against me or anyone belonging to me. Not even if you fall out with someone, or if they hurt you. You will never lift that dagger against anyone I consider to be with me."
Tacita seems to get it, but I think it is not enough, so my words become flatter and colder as I look into her eyes. "I really mean it. If you ever lift this dagger against someone like that, I will kill you."
I do not threaten her further, and we look at each other in silence until it is she who smiles and nods.
Tacita then points at the dagger, likely wanting to look at it for now, so I hand it to her. She takes it as carefully as a baby and turns and twists it, watching how the light reacts with the glow the dagger lets out. She swings with it, testing its weight, and at some point even puts it down next to the other daggers and compares them.
Meanwhile, I grab the ferret with the fingers of both of my hands and lift it up in front of my eyes. The tiny creature has incredibly soft fur, and its body is surprisingly warm, and I can even feel taut muscle.
I shake it, but the ferret does not seem to mind, flopping around like a wet noodle.
"Biscuit would be so happy to see you. I know you likely have nothing to do with that evil spawn of Satan ferret that saved Izzy, but you will likely end up looking similar. I would not be surprised if you were the same species," I talk to it softly and watch as the ferret nibbles on my finger, surprisingly controlling itself so as not to even draw blood.
"I wonder," I say. "You for sure aren't native to the floor, as the tutorial wouldn't allow you to move. So maybe some sort of floor reward? An egg Tacita bought from the system shop?" I continue to swing with it, and slowly it begins to yawn, its eyes closing even as the tiny creature fights hard to keep them open.
As always, these sorts of thoughts make me wonder about the interesting adventures everyone else has. Victoria meeting the Last Elf, Tacita, and Savant, both alone, clearing the floors, and everyone else. In the end, I am not the only one having twisted floors like this.
When a shadow falls over me, I look up to see Tacita carefully placing the dagger nearby. She stretches out her hands and gently picks up the sleeping baby ferret while still being very careful not to touch me, then she tucks it inside her jacket.
The three of us wait, and I sometimes open the community to see what the conversation is all about. People there mostly theorize about what the floor quest will be about, with most saying that we will probably be instantly moved to the next floor with reduced rewards. Most of all, the Easy difficulty guys seem to be excited, talking to people from Hell. Now that they have found they are safe inside their barriers, they do not stress much.
Though I wonder what they would think of the wyvern's domain covering the planet. And I wonder what they would have thought then, knowing that wyvern is as powerful as most of the Rulers, even multiple of the weaker ones combined. Didn't someone say it is as strong as an average or weaker dragon?
These people would probably be more scared after reading the message from Diligence that he will go to talk to that Wyvern, as it can very well turn into a fight.
So far, I think that ant is stalling, waiting for more Rulers to come to help if needed, but that brings risks too. Liss gets time to find what she is searching for in the Labyrinth of Xyphos, and the one winged wyvern will strengthen its domain over Xyphos.
Yet, in the end, things do not seem as bad as I thought they might be as I read the notifications that appear.
Floor Quest:
Either on your own or in cooperation with the Corporations present, lead Easy and Normal difficulty participants to the safe zones you create. Protect them and gather water for them.
Easy and Normal difficulty participants are too weak for this sort of setting and got thrown into this innocently, the same as most of you present. Even if not as powerful as attendees from Hell difficulty, the lower difficulty participants are important members of your First Generation. While this was not intended to happen, use the opportunity to share some of your knowledge and experience with them during the following weeks, as the situation changes.
Currently, due to the domain over the planet, it is impossible to move you to the next floor.
A subsystem will run in the background, and if your preparations to move lower difficulty participants to a safe space are considered inadequate, they won't be able to leave the safety of their barriers.
As the Corporations present are stuck here as well, they are allowed to contact and trade with the attendees. A strong warning is in place for attendees to be careful during such trades.
- Temporary Floor Quest given by the Ruler of Diligence.
***
Author note: Ehm, sooo, some of you have been impatient and I have already received plenty of messages about refunds and similar requests.
I will not read them for now as it only complicates things and forces me to do math. I will get to them a day or two before my break, at the time when my vacation is about to affect your membership.
To avoid confusion, my vacation is planned for the start of July, beginning around July 1st or a few days before or after.
As I said, I will refund you without issue if the break affected your subscription, or I can gift you a membership instead.
Until then, enjoy the chapters!