Now Yukino seemed a little curious. “That so? What is it?”
“When a symbologist equips it, it increases the likelihood of Elemental Circle pulling dark. Each piece of gear raises it by about twenty percent.”
“I think I know that one. It adds extra attacks to each normal attack or something, right? It’s just random which one it does.”
“Yep. How’d you know?”
Yukino seemed to know everything when it came to fighting.
“I make it a point to learn about anything that might affect PvP balance, so I had our guild’s testing wing check it out for me. Each time the effect goes off, it uses the attacker’s MP, yeah?”
“That’s right.”
“If you don’t use it carefully, it can actually get in the way of your party members.”
Yukino wasn’t wrong. Each attack used up MP. In terms of other popular RPGs, one might liken it to the Somatic Staff. I’d hate to have someone cast it on me without my permission; my MP was mine to spend as I liked!
Light-elemental circles had an MP-absorption effect, so people might be fine with having it forced on them if it was a guarantee. Unfortunately, the Death Chariot gear only gave us the HP-absorbing dark circles.
“I get it, though. The developers probably just meant to make it easier to farm solo, anyway.”
“Yeah. Sucks for you, huh?”
“Nah, I don’t mind. The dark circle seems promising. It’s still got plenty of room for experimentation!”
“That so? Heh, I’m always excited for ya to show me something crazy and new.”
“Forget all that,” Homura cut in with a huff. “We were in the middle of a deal! Are you gonna sell it to me or not?”
“Hmm... I could trade you one piece for a Peregrine Stone, maybe?”
As you might recall, Homura had once given me a Peregrine Stone. This material allowed weapons to attack twice. Using it to launch a destructive Dead End V made for such a fond memory. An expensive memory, at that.
Ever since then, I’d never used a Peregrine Stone to make an item myself. But this time, we would probably need one. I just lacked the one thing necessary to acquire it: cold, hard cash. At times like this, I had to rely on our rich girl Homura’s wallet!
If this had been any normal competition for the Rainbow Guard, I would’ve gladly given her this stuff for free just because she’d been so nice to us. But for Akira to really enjoy this game from now on, we had to do something about the sword dancer gear. I was the one who’d pushed it on her, after all. If her parents got mad and pulled her out of school, it would be all my fault.
This time, we had to compete seriously. However, a tight focus on victory didn’t mean I could forget about redefining the meta and killing those giants!
Taking all that into consideration, I’d charged Homura a ridiculous price. While having a Peregrine Stone would be cool and all, I didn’t want our bigger plans to hit a roadblock just to get one. Haggling was a must.
“So, five stones for all of it, then? You’re overcharging me here, but this is advance access to something that nobody else has.”
Homura mulled it over. It was pretty darn expensive for a mere collector’s item, after all. So, I changed my proposal, and I was serious this time. By proposing a ridiculous price off the bat, I had warmed her up to what I really wanted.
“Okay, how about I tell you how to get it? The information fee can just be one stone. Once you know how to get it, it won’t take you long at all.”
More like you’d never get it unless you know how. For us, it had been a lucky break. Thanks, Ryuutarou.
Either way, this was the option I wanted her to choose. It would also keep us from having to grab more. With Homura’s team wasting their time to get the gear, that would slow down their progress in the meantime. In a way, this was sort of an interference tactic.
“Okay, that works for me. Here’s your Peregrine Stone.”
Homura handed over the stone like it was nothing. She really was rich. I had to wonder how many more she had.
“Thanks for your business!”
We ought to be one step closer to taking down that Hadean Rose now!
I told Homura how to get the Death Chariot gear, which prompted an indignant yelp.
“Ew, that’s how you do it?! How did you even find that out?!”
“It was all luck, trust me. We had a certain nudist with us.”
“Huh?! That’s so weird! I guess being nude in order to receive it does make sense. Still... ew.”
“Yep. Again, I swear it was just luck.”
“Hmph. If that’s what it takes to get a new item, then I will do what I must! Let’s go, Yukino! We need to grab that gear!”
“Are you stupid, or did you forget what we’re here for? We came to get Special Warp Stones to go fight that Hadean Rose, remember?”
“Then it doesn’t matter which floor we go to, right?! It’s random what floor the Special Warp Stones drop on, and we can get Death Chariot gear while we’re at it!”
“Heh. Did you girls also lose to the Hadean Rose?”
“You too, huh? That thing’s tough, for sure. Whichever party beats it down first is closest to that Rainbow Guard. It’s just that much tougher than all the other bosses. We’re still in the middle of trial and error.”
“Same here. It sounds like our progress is about equal, then.”
“Yep. Betcha most people are stuck there. Everyone’s putting together a strategy, so almost nobody’s actually there right now.”
“Hmm. If you two are coming to Aswarth’s, there must be something besides the Special stones that you want, right?”
“Heheh, yeah, you got us. We still have stuff we wanna test. What about you, Ren? I’m sure you’ll find some crazy way to win using that gear.”
“Hahaha! Well, let’s both do our best.”
“Yeah.” Yukino turned toward the rest of my crew. “Good luck to you too, girls!”
“Quit dragging your feet, Yukino!” Homura whined. “New items are waiting for me!”
“Ah, shut up. You’re making a fool of yourself.”