«Oh! What a strange look...»
«Stop!» I screamed as soon as Ainar bent down to take the flower. A sigh of relief escaped me as she jumped back, nervous.
«What's happening? I haven't done anything». Ainar quickly defended herself, confused by what she might have done wrong. However, I didn't care about his tone. I didn't yell at her to scold her. «Is there something strange about this flower?!».
Ignorance was not a sin. Well, at least not for the barbarians.
«It's number 9999: Beginner's Luck».
The only person who reacted to the name was Amelia. «...Something beautiful has already appeared.»
Yes, it was beautiful, without a doubt. It was an object that not even money could buy.
«What is it?» Erwen asked.
«Um...» Amelia hummed. «It is one of the 109 Treasures of the Labyrinth. Didn't you read a book about them when you were a child?».
«... Don't have a question ».
I didn't recognize the book of the 109 Treasures of the Labyrinth that Amelia was talking about either, but I got carried away by my instinct and intervened quickly before those two could continue arguing. «Beginner's Luck is a talisman object».
Of course, in the game, the Spanish descriptions said «Charm».
«Un talismán...»
Since none of them seemed familiar with the term, I first had to explain what a talisman was.
Fortunately, Erwen quickly understood the concept as an adventurer with talent and a lot of experience behind her. «Ah, so it's an object whose effects activate while you carry it with you, right?».
«Yeah.» There were a total of twelve talismans among all the Numbered Items, but if you had more than one in your possession, only one of them could be active at a time, even if they had different effects. «And Beginner's Luck is unique in the sense that it will belong to a certain person».
«...Like the Orb of Fire you spoke of?».
«Sí.»
«Oh no! I didn't know, I swear! I had no idea! Believe me!» As soon as he found out that it was an object that was tied to the first person who touched it, Ainar turned pale and suddenly began to claim his innocence. Of course, no one had suspected her to begin with, so we ignored her as we continued discussing what to do with her.
«What effect does the flower have?»
Ah, it was pretty simple, actually. It didn't help you in combat or increase your item level or stats when you wore it. «Instead, it increases the chance of an essence falling when you hunt a monster for the first time».
«I see... what an incredible object!». Erwen seemed unexpectedly excited to hear what it was about.
Ainar, on the other hand, only seemed disappointed. «How amazing can it be? It doesn't even guarantee a drop of essence! And does it only work with monsters you hunt for the first time?».
It was not an irrational reaction. After all, they didn't know the exact probability of obtaining essence.
According to the data I collected over the years, the drop rate of all essences increased by around 5% while taking Beginner's Luck, and that was a fixed rate, not a multiplier. For example, if a guardian's essence had a 33% drop rate, that rate would increase to 38% with the 5% Beginner's Luck bonus.
«And what is the improved fall rate?»
At first glance, the effects might seem insignificant, but when you fought normal monsters things changed completely. You may not have noticed the difference between 33% and 38%, but the change from 0.01% to 5.01% was so drastic that anyone would notice.
«I would say about one in twenty».
Not only Ainar was speechless at the approach I offered him. Even Erwen and Amelia seemed surprised. «Really?! One in twenty?»
Another understandable reaction once again. Even if they didn't know the exact figures, all the adventurers had learned from experience how horrendous the essence drop rates could be.
«Oh, of course, when I say one in twenty, I'm talking about rank nine monsters», I explained as an additional aside. «Although I have heard that the greater the range, the greater the rate of decline».
Monsters of higher ranks had slightly higher drop rates. Some rank three monsters even had a 5% drop rate. To be fair, that was probably because it was harder to hunt them in the first place.
«Wow... really is one of the 109 Treasures.»
«It certainly is. It may only work the first time you kill a new monster, but the chance of an essence falling is too good, especially if you have a mage with you. You could easily make a lot of money».
«Bjorn... I'm sorry. I had no idea, and I almost caught him without even thinking about it...» Ainar suddenly apologized again, but we all knew from the beginning that he hadn't done it on purpose. Why did he keep apologizing to me?
I chose to ignore it and move on to the topic at hand. «Now... who among us will take it?»
It was time to decide the owner. Since the object would be tied to the first person to touch it, it would be impossible to sell it later.
«You said the person who has it doesn't have to hunt the monsters themselves, so it should work for all of us as long as we're bound by the binding spell, right?».
«Then it would be a good idea to give it to the person with the least experience fighting monsters».
Amelia was right: the best person to give it to would be the lowest level member of our group, as it would have killed fewer types of monsters. Currently, Amelia was level eight, while Erwen, Ainar and I were level seven.
«Auyen, what level are you at?»
«...Me? Oh! Um, I'm level six!»
We could make Auyen cling to the object and drag it with us like a totem...
But during a real battle later on, we can't risk such a precious item not taking effect. And as things stand now, I have no plans to let Auyen engage in combat in the future.
After taking everything into consideration, I came to my decision. «Ainar, you take it». Erwen already had experience fighting Bellarios, but Ainar did not.
«...Hey? Do you give it to me? I'm happy, b-but I think you should have it, Bjorn...!»
Hadn't I already told you? You could only have one talisman item at a time, otherwise the effects would not activate. I wasn't going to waste my precious talisman space on it when I couldn't even get rid of it later.
«It looks better on you than it does on me, so you should keep it, Ainar».
«¡Bjooorn!»
Fortunately, Ainar seemed happy about it.
***
[The luck hidden in the flower petals seeps into Ainar Fenelin.]
***
After clearing the Iron Tomb, we headed straight to the Lair of Beasts.
«Aaaaaagh! How long will we have to stay in this stinking place?! This is not the type of search I had in mind».
We waited until the eighth day for a crack to open. I decided to postpone things until next time, of course. Now we had Beginner's Luck, so the most efficient thing would be to take a magician to sell the essences we found.
But considering the price of a test tube, the essences of the monsters of this plant would not be worth it.
Ultimately, the only essence worth taking would be that of the guardian, and since he planned to give it to Erwen anyway if she fell, there was no need to postpone our plans any longer. We could focus on making money with a magician next time.
«...Really? Are we really going to go to the higher floors now after wasting all that time?!»
«That's what we decided beforehand. So stop complaining».
As we headed towards the portal on the eighth day, we began to encounter mid- and high-level adventurers. They were adventurers who at the time were focused on hunting cracks, like us. However, since the cracks on the second floor did not open after the seventh day, everyone planned to go up.
[You have entered the Pilgrim's Way on the third floor].
Once on the third floor, we passed Ironrock Hill and headed straight to the orc colony to focus on farming. The monster we were going to hunt now was one he was personally familiar with. It was the same monster that the Dzarwi clan had been hunting when the Lord of Chaos was summoned: the Orc Hero.
«Ohhh! Gigantization! Does that mean now I'll have the chance to do it too?!»
Ainar was very happy to hear the identity of our target, but unfortunately for her, no one on our team would absorb her essence. Without the Immortality Imprint Union capability, the cons associated with gigantization far outweighed the pros. The plan was to simply get EXP for hunting the Orc Hero and hopefully get a numbered item as well.
But now that we have Beginner's Luck, an essence drop is almost guaranteed for us.
I couldn't live with the guilt of leaving an essence like that, so I talked to all the wizards we ran into while grinding to get the Mighty Orc Warrior mana stones we needed for the altar. Luckily, we were able to convince one.
«A test tube? Of course I have one, but...»
«Great. If an essence falls, can we use your test tube? We will pay the cost immediately, of course».
«...What are you talking about? Who do you think...?»
«Lewis! You're crazy? It's Baron Yandel!»
Due to my high reputation, recruiting help turned out to be much easier than expected. Not only that, but they gave me useful information. Apparently, the third floor crack had not yet opened.
Alright, in that case, we can stay here on the third floor until the thirteenth day...
After getting our affairs in order, we returned to mana stone cultivation. Our team was able to search and hunt monsters individually, so we were able to collect all 777 mana stones in less than a day. Once all the stones were prepared, we met the magician again while we waited.
«I'm telling you just in case, but don't come near me unless I give you the sign. If for some reason Lord Orc suddenly appears, I won't be able to protect you all».
«An Orc Lord...»
«Es un monster de rank dos.»
«¡Un... rango dos?!»
«You'll be safe as long as you don't get close, so don't worry.»
«I'll keep that in mind...»
With that, the preparations were complete. After explaining what to do if Lord Orc made an appearance, I offered the mana stones to the altar.
[The spirit of a Mighty Warrior has been sacrificed to the warrior's bowl.]
[The spirit of a Mighty Warrior has been sacrificed to the warrior's bowl.]
[The spirit of a Mighty Warrior has been sacrificed to....]
The mana stones we placed on the altar quickly vanished in bursts of light.
[The special condition of the warrior bowl has been fulfilled.]
As if indicating the start of a battle against a chief, the outer layer of the stone statue behind the altar began to crumble.
Craaaaaack.
Luckily, the stone statue of Lord Orc remained intact. Well, considering the probability of an Orc Lord appearing, that was a fact.
However, I always get nervous when there is a chance that an impossible fight will break out.
No matter how many times I experienced it, I could never get used to it.
«Get ready everyone!» I hurriedly shouted to my companions, who were standing far from the altar.
[The ancient hero Denish has awakened.]
[The ancient hero Belta has awakened.]
[The ancient hero Tarugas has awakened.]
They were the three Orc Heroes. As soon as the three heroes were freed from their statue, the battle began.
«¡Graaaaaawr!»
«¡Become-aaaaaa!»
The three of them ran towards me, each wielding a different weapon: an axe, a hammer and a sword. But thanks to my Transcendence and Gigantization combo, I wasn't intimidated by the weight class.
Hit!
Even the attacks I couldn't block didn't hurt me. At most, they only made my bones hurt a little. To be honest, if I had to, I felt like I could take a whole day of non-stop bombing of them.
This will be the perfect battle to test our skills.
As long as I fulfilled my role and focused solely on withstanding their attacks, the battle would be long and endless. After all, these three monsters were rank five. It would be ridiculous to dismiss his difficulty level just because his attacks weren't hurting me right now.
«¡Graaaaaa!»
A horde of rank seven orcs ran out from where they were hiding in the forest in endless waves as soon as the raid began.
¡Clang! ¡Smash! ¡Boom!
As we had planned beforehand, Ainar would focus on dealing with those extra orcs, which meant that we only had two damage inflicters to use in this boss battle. In other words, Erwen and Amelia would have to kill all three of them on their own. Furthermore, the two of them had completely destroyed the Death Worm in the Rock Desert.
[Ancient Hero Denish has cast Agony.]
Orc Heroes were typically rank five monsters, but as higher rank mutants, these guys would drop rank four essences. Not only that, but between the three of them, each essence was different.
[Ancient Hero Belta has launched Sacred Battlefield.]
[Ancient Hero Tarugas has released Protective Shield.]
When combined, their essences complemented each other, compensating for each other's weaknesses while maximizing their strengths.
That was not all.
[Erwen Fornacci di Tersia has launched Concentrated Fire.]
[Ancient Hero Denish has used the Great Control Sword. The trajectory of all ranged attacks has been modified].
They have also used Numbered Items.
[The Orc Sorcerer has cast Frenzy.]
[Ancient Hero Denish's Physical Stamina has tripled for 10 seconds].
What's more, during battle, they constantly gained upgrades to their resistances, making it even more difficult for them to deal damage.
[The Orc Sorcerer has released Regeneration Print. The Natural Regeneration of the Ancient Hero Tarugas has increased significantly].
They even have instant healing.
The monsters in front of us were strong, far stronger than any normal Orc Hero that an adventurer might encounter by chance on another floor. The good thing was that they gave extra experience points, since they were higher-ranking mutants. Without that and your chances of dropping a numbered item, there would be absolutely no reason to fight them.
«What are you doing? Aren't you going to kill them?! They killed that worm so easily, but can't they beat these guys?!»
«It's not that easy!»
«Forget our battle and focus on yours, barbarian.»
When push came to shove, the trio began arguing among themselves. However, at the end of the day, they were all professionals.
«Miss Ainar! Can you focus on getting rid of that sorcerer first?»
«Tersia, go get the one with the hammer. I will take care of the one who carries the sword».
«¡Become-aaaaaa!»
Realizing that this would never end if they fought each other, they slowly began to cooperate, communicate, and create opportunities for others to attack.
«Ahhhh!»
Auyen, our rank six teammate with a sordid past, also managed to help. He focused on taking care of the garbage mobs trying to go after Erwen.
[You have killed Ancient Hero Belta. EXP +5]
[High Rank Mutant Bonus. EXP +1]
We were finally able to defeat one of the three heroes and, from there, we had the necessary advantage to quickly end this fight.
[You have killed Ancient Hero Denish.]
[High Rank Mutant Bonus. EXP +1]
[You have killed the Ancient Hero Tarugas.]
[High Rank Mutant Bonus. EXP +1]
When I checked my watch, our total battle time ended up being thirty-five minutes. Considering it was a four-person raid, it was pretty quick. But...
«Even though we worked so hard, nothing fell...»
There was absolutely no loot. Neither an essence nor a numbered object fell. It couldn't be helped, however. That kind of luck was normal when you played Dungeon and Stone.
«Okay, let's quickly collect the mana stones and continue. Oh, Amelia. You can go tell the magician there that he can leave now».
After collecting the mana stones by hand, we left the Orca Colony. So far, our expedition this month had gone smoothly.
«Sir...?»
However, while we were camping next to the Witch's Forest waiting for the thirteenth day to arrive, a bad feeling came over me.
[A fifth sacrifice has been made in the cabin.]
[A sixth sacrifice has been made in the hut.]
[A seventh sacrifice has been made in the hut.]
The world around us began to shine with a light intense enough to disable all the torches. I looked up and saw a bright red glow take shape and begin to spread across the ceiling.
[Special Condition – Seven Sacrifices has been satisfied].
Tsk. What bad luck, some idiot was starting the shit again.
[The Lord of Chaos, Riakis, has begun to wander on the ground.]
This was going to be a headache.