CH.242 Giving my Gift
<span style="font-weight:400">The day of the birthday party is here. Well, it’s not my birthday, but still.
<span style="font-weight:400">The first thing I did in the morning was confirming my gift. Of course most of it was ready to go, but I did check out the sword I made. Okay, my monsters and Laura made it. I didn’t do anything. I’m just here to steal the credit from them.
<span style="font-weight:400">The sword wasplete and analyzed, so I could take a look at its stats.
<table style="border-copse:copse;width:70.1807%;height:246px">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="width:100%"><span style="font-weight:400">Vampiric Steel Bastard Sword</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width:100%"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width:100%"><span style="font-weight:400">Element de</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width:100%"><span style="font-weight:400">Thrusting - Damage done by thrusting attacks ignores 25% of the target''s defenses.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width:100%"><span style="font-weight:400">shing - Damage done by shing attacks ignores 40% of the target''s defenses</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width:100%"><span style="font-weight:400">Blood Repair</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width:100%"><span style="font-weight:400">Vampire Weapon</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width:100%"><span style="font-weight:400">Durability 3500/3500</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width:100%"><span style="font-weight:400"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width:100%"><span style="font-weight:400">Description: A sword with a de made from Vampiric Steel. It has a guard and pommel made from bronze and a grip made of everwood. The sword drinks blood and can use it to repair itself. The sword favors those that also drink blood and will show its true power when wielded by a blood drinker. The sword is capable of taking in the mana of any attribute and it will engulf itself in the element. It has been enchanted to increase its piercing and shing capabilities.<span style="font-weight:400">
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<span style="font-weight:400">I think that is good. Interestingly, there is no stat buffing with the weapon. Armor has +defense to it, but neither this sword, my sword, or something like Ria’s gauntlets have any sort of +strength. They just have things like piercing and shing to improve your pration, or something like deep impact. Ria’s gauntlets have that. It isn’t quite the same, as it instead increases the power of all of her punches by 25%. But still, not directly increasing your strength.
<span style="font-weight:400">The element de is interesting though. I didn’t expect that part. Maybe some of my Element monsters did that. But anyway, apparently the sword can take in the mana of any element, and engulf itself in said element. No, mana is attribute, element is the stuff the mana turns into. Well, anyway. Both Dark re Knight and me Swordsman showed it to me with a factory copy of the sword.
Spoiler
<table style="border-copse:copse;width:75.3012%;height:449px">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="width:50%"></td>
<td style="width:50%"></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
[copse]
<span style="font-weight:400">When wielded by Dark re Knight, the sword took on a dark aura, and with me Swordsman, the sword was engulfed in mes. Interesting to say the least. I tried it myself, but as my mana has no attribute, the sword just glowed a soft white light. I guess you might think it is light elemental, but it really wasn’t. Though interestingly, the mana that came from the sword wasn’t the white and ck that my mana usually looked like when I wrote my name with one of those magic pens that took into consideration your attribute. It was more like white and ck, with some hints of a violet color added in. It looked quite nice. Maybe I should have my monsters add that Element de to my sword. … actually they probably can’t as my sword already has a light elemental enchantment, which makes it more powerful against dark attributed monsters.
<span style="font-weight:400">Anyway. The sword is ready to go, and I think it is alright. My mithril sword has a bit higher thrusting percentage at 33%, but it has a lower shing percentage at 35%. I guess a bastard sword, or a ‘hand-and-a-half’ sword, is better for shing than my arming sword.
<span style="font-weight:400">Well, my gift is ready to go. My suit is ready and clean, thank you Tahlia. And my partner is ready and her dress is ready. So I’m ready. System, you’d better acknowledge my gift and give me some new sets.
<hr>
<span style="font-weight:400">For breakfast, we once again joined the Watchman family. I still feel a bit bad about invading their family time, but I also know them quite well, so I can somewhat rx with them.
<span style="font-weight:400">After that, I had a quick visit to the kitchen of the manor. Ria guided me there, and I met up with Paulina as well as the head chef there. What was I doing? Well, I did promise them a dragon, didn’t I?
<span style="font-weight:400">For the dragon, I went with the Harpie''s Pet Baby Dragon from the Lord of the Storm Structure Deck. Yeah, we are eating a baby dragon today. But it is a good size. I can’t just cook up a massive dragon and expect all of it to be eaten. And someone will have to carry it from the kitchen to the party hall. Sure I could do it with my storage, but how do you expect others to carry a whole roasted dragon?
<span style="font-weight:400">For my part, all I had to do was drop a Mystik Wok, just give it a slight surface roast with the spell and leave the rest to the kitchen staff. I hope they can get it all cooked up in time, but they didn’t ask for it yesterday, so if they can’t, that is on them.
Spoiler
<table style="border-copse:copse;width:75.3012%;height:608px">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="width:50%"></td>
<td style="width:50%"></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
[copse]
<hr>
<span style="font-weight:400">When I got back to our room, I spent some time just sitting with Lua. Well, that was the n, but because it was us, our time just sitting around quickly turned into magic practice. I was still just casting Space Wall over and over again, trying to make something that can actually stop something more than a light touch. Well, it could now stop a punch from a child, or a goblin, but it isn’t at a level where it can be used in a real fight. I could use Level Up! to gain a higher skill level and that should help, but that will have to wait a day or two more.
<span style="font-weight:400">Of course I also made sure to teach Lua the ‘remote magic loop’ so she could practice it with me in the future. It did seem effective for learning telekinesis, and Lua having LV.10 Mana Control and Mia cheats, she picked it up on the spot. If she practices it, she will likely learn telekinesis in a week or two.
<hr>
<span style="font-weight:400">“Brian, it is time to head to the party hall.” Ria came to remind us.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Yes. We are ready.” I said, as I got up from the couch.
<span style="font-weight:400">Both Lua and I were dressed up and ready to go. I was in the same clothing as yesterday. The white silk shirt, a dark brown tailcoat and light brown pants,cking the left forearm sleeve, yada yada.
<span style="font-weight:400">Lua on the other hand was not wearing what she had on yesterday. She was in the purple and white dress we ‘stole’ from The Agent of Judgment - Saturn. With her hair in a reverse braid of some kind, courtesy of her skill, and she had a red stone ne around her neck. All in all, she is absolutely gorgeous.
Spoiler
[copse]
<hr>
<span style="font-weight:400">In terms of arrival at the party venue, Lua and I were some of the first guests to arrive. For parties with nobles, it was somewhat important to arrive in the order of one''s rank. And as an honorary baron, I was not quite the lowest, but basically yes. Below me would only be honorary knights. A single generation title like mine, given to those that show some exceptional skills or something like that. But no honorary knights were invited, so I was the first noble in the room. Other than me, a few high ranking merchants had already arrived and a lot of them turned to look at the two of us as we walked in. I didn’t know most of them, but I did recognize one older man. Mister Bak, the owner of the Bak trading & transportpany. I didn’t know he was invited, but it appears that he was. I didn’t know if hispany wasrge enough to get an invite, but apparently he did. I just hope he didn’t bring anything from my dungeon as a gift, as that would ruin mine. A bit, at least. But I’m sure he has something else. His reputation would also take a hit if he tried to show the same stuff as the new dungeon founder.
<span style="font-weight:400">A few of the merchants made contact with me and introduced themselves to me. They didn’t go as far as asking for dungeon items or anything, but they did make it clear that they were looking forward to seeing what kinds of new items my dungeon can make.
<hr>
<span style="font-weight:400">Soon after us, other nobles began entering the room. At first, it was other honorary barons, followed by actual barons, then viscounts and then Earl Marsh. By the way, the unmarried children of Thomas came in when honorary barons wereing in, in case you were wondering. They aren’t technically nobles, but they are important guests.
<span style="font-weight:400">Thest people to arrive were obviously Thomas, his wife and the second Prince. They all arrived at the same time, probably out of respect for the Prince. Normally, Thomas would have been thest to arrive, but royalty is different. It would be disrespectful for the Prince to not arrivest, but it would also be disrespectful if Thomas wasn’tst, so this was the solution to that problem.
<span style="font-weight:400">Thomas soon took his seat and the party began.
<span style="font-weight:400">First thing was a song. A local happy birthday song, which spoke about living to be over 100 years old. It was chorded by a simple piano melody, yed by one of the manor maids.
<span style="font-weight:400">After the song, it was time for the gift giving. For that, the order we would present our gifts was basically the reverse of our arrival order. The highest ranking person is first, and then others follow.
<span style="font-weight:400">So as you might have guessed, the Prince was first.
<span style="font-weight:400">His gift was.
<span style="font-weight:400">“His Majesty gave me the permission to return this to your family. I believe you know what it is.” The Prince said, as his aide pulled arge mithril battle-axe from a magic bag. It was detailed and beautifully engraved, looking more like a showpiece than something someone would actually use in battle.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Th- this is … the founder’s axe.” Thomas muttered as he received the axe. “I … I thought it had been lost for ages.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“No. Not quite.” The Prince said. “It was presented to the Royal family some 600 years ago and we have been taking care of it ever since. But I believe the time hase to return it home.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Yo-Your Highness. Thank you.” Thomas said as he got up from his seat and prostrated himself in front of the Prince. “I’ll … I’ll do anything for you for this.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Well now. I’ve already gotten what I wished for. You should get back up. The others still have gifts for you.” The Prince said, as he walked off. Wonder what he meant by that got what he wished forment through?
<span style="font-weight:400">Next was of course Earl Marsh and his wife. Their gift was three magic books, aka. grimoires, from their own collection. It honestly seemed like a great gift, it was just somewhat overshadowed by the one the Prince just gave.
<span style="font-weight:400">Then it was the Viscounts. Garner, Yuva and Kramer.
<span style="font-weight:400">Garner, also known as Angelina’s husband and Angelina herself, gifted Thomas with a wyvern mantle. The wyvern leathering from a wyvern hunted by the adventuring party Diamond Sword just a few days before Alewatch was the target of a wyvern attack.
<span style="font-weight:400">Viscount Yuva, ruling a town with an ore mine and all, gifted a steel shield, which had a thin coating of mithril on it. It was very good looking, but at the same time fell into the ‘use item’ category for me, instead of the ‘decoration item’ where the battle-axe had been.
<span style="font-weight:400">From Viscount Kramer, Thomas got two war horses. They are a subset of the regr horses that people use to pull carriages and other stuff, specifically bred to be used as mounts for knights. And yes, they are actually monsters with a monster core. D-rank monsters, in case you were wondering. But having lived their entire lives with humans, and monster tamers, they were not at all aggressive. And as D-rank monsters, they were reasonably powerful, so they could run for a long time with no rest, take multiple strikes without going down and so forth. Well, of course their durability would depend on who was the one attacking them.
<span style="font-weight:400">Then came the barons. But none of their gifts were that impressive, so I won’t go over them.
<span style="font-weight:400">Well, I guess I’ll mention two. First, the one given by the Watchman family, even though I feel like it is mostly from Christina. A magic tool which used earth magic stones to improve the soil quality, as well as a decent amount of small magic stones to power it. The magic stones weren’t fuel by the way, more like batteries. After being used, they’d have to be recharged with mana. This could either be done by just leaving them out in the air where they will slowly refill themselves, or by having a mage with the same attribute as the stone filling it with theirs.
<span style="font-weight:400">The second worth, or in this case not worth, mentioning was the gift from Baron Bloggs. He gave Thomas a bangle made of gold, set with a few small gemstones. Giving something like that to a youngdy should be fine, but giving it to a 60 year old male, not so much.
<span style="font-weight:400">For the rest of his children, Mariina gave her father a golem carriage she herself had apparently made. It didn’te just from her, but the Sage’s Tower as an organization, as they had paid for the materials. It didn’t fit into the room, so I didn’t see it, but that was quite the gift.
<span style="font-weight:400">Cressida brought her father a rare book from the capital. She had hand copied the book, as the original copy was forbidden from being printed. It could only be copied by hand.
<span style="font-weight:400">Violet, who had arrived yesterday from another town where she had been doing something, gave her father a magtern which used a light magic stone as the light source.
<span style="font-weight:400">And Paulina gave her father a magic device to help nts grow. It used both water and earth magic stones for that. Too bad it was somewhat overshadowed by Christina’s gift, as they were both very simr.
<span style="font-weight:400">Then finally, it was my turn. I did feel just a bit nervous as I approached Thomas, but his gentle smile did calm me down.
<span style="font-weight:400">“My Lord.” I began. “I’d like to give you some of the treasuresing from my dungeon.” As I said that, I got the magic fanny pack loaded with fabrics out of my storage. Again, storage can store ‘magic holding items’ even if they have stuff inside of them. “This is a magic bag from my dungeon. While it can only store a small amount, it is small from the outside as well, and can be clipped around your waist, making theft highly unlikely.” As I exined that, I heard some awes from the merchants who had been invited. A bag like this would be more useful for them than most nobles, after all. Merchants are the ones who have to look out for pickpockets and stuff. “Inside of it, you will find six bolt rolls of fabric. One of denim fabric, two of cotton fabric and three of tricot fabric. Now I understand at least some of them might sound new, so I’ve prepared some clothes made from them.” As I said that, I got out the ‘three-piece suit’ I’d made. Yeah, it wasn’t a suit at all, but I did somewhat style the jacket after one.
<span style="font-weight:400">It consisted of a rtively normal looking pair of ck jeans, a long-sleeved crew-neck white shirt and a ck double-breasted cotton suit jacket. The jacket might honestly be more of a zer than an actual suit jacket, but who really cares?
<span style="font-weight:400">As I went on a quick exnation on the fabrics, and what I believe they are good for, the butler took the ‘suit’ and ced it next to all the other gifts. He had also pulled the fabric rolls out of the magic fanny pack.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Thenst, I’d like to present you with this sword.” I said, as I got the vampiric steel bastard sword out of my storage, and handed it to Thomas. “It is a bastard sword made of vampiric steel, with a guard and pommel made of bronze, and a grip of everwood. The scabbard is everwood and sword-horn bull hide.” I exined, as Thomas pulled the sword out of the scabbard.
<span style="font-weight:400">As he was holding it, I heard some murmurs from the audience, like “It cannot be vampiric steel.” and “It has to just be blood iron, right?”
<span style="font-weight:400">Nope. Vampiric steel all the way. Because why not? It isn’t that much more expensive than blood iron.
<span style="font-weight:400">“It is quite a beautiful de.” Thomas said, as he looked at it. “While it might be somewhat in in design, that allows for the special metal to shone with elegance. Thank you.” He thanked me for the gift as he slid the sword back into its scabbard.
<span style="font-weight:400">After that, I bowed slightly before walking back to where the other party goers were. As I returned to Lua’s side, my quest notification popped up.
<table style="border-copse:copse;width:50.2008%;height:125px">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="width:100%"><span style="font-weight:400">Mission: Gift of Value</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width:100%"><span style="font-weight:400">Mission Complete</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width:100%"><span style="font-weight:400">Sets , and unlocked.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width:100%"><span style="font-weight:400">Reprint set unlocked.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width:100%"><span style="font-weight:400">You overdid it.</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<span style="font-weight:400">What do you mean I ‘overdid it’? My gift is perfectly reasonable. Others just give bad gifts. Well, other than the Prince. His gift must have still been better than mine, right?
<span style="font-weight:400">And honestly, I don’t really care. I got three new sets, and one reprint. That is just fine. E-Heroes and Cyber Dragons. The world better be ready for the chaos I’m about to unleash.
<span style="font-weight:400">… no, I actually won’t unleash anything. But still, I like that I now have ess to those cards.