Tsukuru and Vorden both looked down at the chestpiece now on the ground. As they did, a System message appeared in front of Tsukuru.
[You have purchased the Intermediate-Tier Cave Spider Chestpiece. The blueprints for the Intermediate-Tier Cave Spider Chestpiece have been downloaded from the System Shop. You can now replicate the Intermediate-Tier Cave Spider Chestpiece with Skill Video Creation.]
The two boys continued to look at the chestpiece in silence.
"It looks to be…of a better quality than those last couple pieces of Beast Gear you bought." Vorden noted.
Tsukuru turned to him.
"Well it is an Intermediate-Tier Chestpiece." He replied. Tsukuru picked it up off of the ground, and brought it up closer to him. He held it up above his head, and was about to slip it on before Vorden spoke.
"Aren't you going to take the gauntlets off first?" He asked.
Instantly, Tsukuru froze mid-motion. He looked up at his arms. His hands and forearms were still covered in the Intermediate-Tier Knight Gauntlets. It was highly unlikely that his hands would fit through the "sleeves" of the chestpiece with them still on.
Tsukuru slowly put the chestpiece back on the ground. He then slipped off both of his two gauntlets. One-by-one, he placed them on the ground, putting them right next to each other. As soon as the second gauntlet was removed, Tsukuru felt the Beast Energy flowing through them leave his body. A System message appeared in front of Tsukuru.
[You have removed the Intermediate-Tier Knight Gauntlets.
-7 Strength. -4 Defense
Strength: 11
Defense: 4]
Tsukuru then picked up the chestpiece once again, and slipped it over his head. He popped his head through the top, and slipped his arms through the "sleeves". Once the chestpiece was fully in place, Tsukuru felt the Beast Energy of the chestpiece flooding through him. A System message appeared.
[You have equipped the Intermediate-Tier Cave Spider Chestpiece.
+5 Defense.
Defense: 9]
Tsukuru smirked, and then reached down to the ground, grabbing the two gauntlets. As he slid the second one back on, anotherSystem message appeared.
[You have equipped the Intermediate-Tier Knight Gauntlets.
+7 Strength, +4 Defense
Strength: 11 [+7]
Defense: 13]
Now having a complete set of Beast Armor, Tsukuru then turned back to the screen for the System Shop. There was still three more new items he had yet to look at. The new Beast Weapons.
The first item was just up Tsukuru's alley. A dagger. The blade of the dagger was curved, shaped like the fang of a serpent. However, lining the bottom of the blade, there was a line of small, curved edges, looking like the teeth of a snake. It gave the blade the appearance of a serrated weapon. Additionally, while the blade edge was metallic-silver, the rest of the blade, as well as the sword's handle looked as though they were covered in a black, snake skin. The dagger's pommel gold in color, and was exceptionally long, modeled into the head, as well as the start of the neck, of a cobra.
[Intermediate-Tier Black Fang Dagger
Beast Weapon
An Intermediate-Tier Beast Weapon forged using Glathrium and the Beast Crystals of the Intermediate-Tier Black Serpent.
+3 Strength
+5 Agility
Passive Skill: Venomous Bite
When injuring the target, the Black Fang Dagger has a 20% chance of injecting the Black Serpent's venom into the target, causing them to suffer from Tachypsychia until the antidote [contained in the hidden dagger within the Black Fang Dagger's handle] is administered.
Cost: 4 Gold Coins]
However, the last two items didn't interest Tsukuru nearly as much as the dagger had. The first one was a rapier sword. While it's handle looked perfectly normal, the rest of the weapon was a different story. It's guard looked like the end of the abdomen of a hornet, and its blade looked like a long, barbed STINGER, with jagged points reminiscent of the horns on a pricker bushlining the blade in both directions.
[Intermediate-Tier Sting-Blade Rapier
Beast Weapon
An Intermediate-Tier Beast Weapon forged using Glathrium and the Beast Crystals of the Intermediate-Tier Barbed Hornet.
+4 Strength
+3 Agility
Passive Skill: Venomous Sting
When piercing the target, the Sting-Blade Rapier will inject the target with the venom of the Barbed Hornet, causing lingering, excruciating pain at the point of impact.
Cost: 4 Gold Coins]
Reading the weapon's description, Tsukuru realized that while he had no use for the weapon, it would be perfect for Shizuka.
'Maybe I'll get it for her as an early birthday present.' Tsukuru thought. While the weapon would be useless in combat for her, being a significant downgrade from her EMPEROR-TIER rapier, it would be perfect for her…"interrogations".
Tsukuru shuddered, and changed his attention to the last item. It was a bow. While the bow appeared to be just a basic-looking wooden bow, it was covered in cobwebs. Additionally, on either side of the sight window, there was a black spider with abnormally longlegs. The two spiders were facing each other with their front two legs extended outwards. The four legs merged together, forming an elongated hexagon with the arrow rest at it. On top of this, the bowstring of the bow appeared to be made out of spiderwebs, and there was a small cobweb on either end of the bow, where the bowstring would be attached. It was the kind of cobweb you'd see in the corner of a door frame.
[Intermediate-Tier Arachnid Shortbow
Beast Weapon
An Intermediate-Tier Beast Weapon forged using Glathrium and the Beast Crystals of the Intermediate-Tier Silkspider.
+3 Strength
+5 Agility
Cost: 25 Silver Coins]
Tsukuru stared at the Bow for a solid minute. It was, by far, the cheapest"Intermediate-Tier" item he had found so far. While the chestpiece had been 3,000 Credits, and both the dagger and the rapier were 4,000 Credits, this bow was only 2,500Credits. However, the bow was only slightly better than the Basic-Tier Elven Shortbow he already had in his Inventory. Offering the same Strength bonus, and only offering a single point more in its Agility bonus. Plus, once he Leveled Up one more time, his Dark Elf would be promoted to Elite Pawn Grade, and the weapon would evolve from a Basic-Tier Weapon into an Intermediate-Tier one. And thus, would get even better bonuses.
Tsukuru couldn't even justify its purchase as a "back-up bow" for Layla. As the Elven Shortbow could fill that role.
Tsukuru shifted his attention away from the bow, and back towards the first two weapons. Tsukuru thought for a moment. While buying these two would cost him 8,000 Credits, knocking him all the way down to 7,730, if his math was correct, today was Saturday, as it was Thursday night when the incident happened, and this was their second day here. If that was the case, his new Glathrium deposit would be due upon his return. And thus, his Credits Balance would go back up by 10,000 Credits. That would bump his back up to 17,730 Credits.
"Eh, I can afford it." Tsukuru muttered, talking to himself.
Hearing this, Vorden turned to him.
"You say something?" He asked.
Tsukuru glanced over at him.
"Oh, nothing." He replied. "Just talking to myself." Tsukuru reached forward, and pressed the image of the Intermediate-Tier Black Fang Dagger. A System message appeared.
[Would you like to purchase the Intermediate-Tier Black Fang Dagger?
Cost: 4 Gold Coins
[Yes] [No] ]
As Tsukuru thought 'Yes', the same message that had appeared the three previous times popped up again.
[Insufficient Funds. Would you like to convert 4,000 Credits into 4 Gold Coins to complete the purchase?
[Yes] [No] ]
As Tsukuru thought 'Yes' again, he saw the "Credits Balance" on his wristwatch decreased from "15,730" to "12,730". The sound of a "cash register" rang in Tsukuru's head, and the image of the dagger vanished from the screen of the System's Shop window.
Tsukuru suddenly saw a bright light emitting from his unoccupied left arm. Looking down at it, he saw pixels beginning to form in it. The pixels clustered together, taking on the shape of the dagger he had just bought. There was a bright flash of light. As it began to fade, Tsukuru suddenly felt cold steel pressing against his hand. On instinct, he closed his hand around it. When the light had fully faded, he now had his hand gripped around the Intermediate-Tier Black Fang Dagger. As he looked down at it, a System message popped up in front of him.
[You have purchased the Intermediate-Tier Black Fang Dagger. The blueprints for theIntermediate-Tier Black Fang Dagger have been downloaded from the System Shop. You can now replicate the Intermediate-Tier Black Fang Dagger with Skill Video Creation.]