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The Gamer Chapter 1460 – 27 Days of Preparation 14 – Legendary Loot and Mythic Ichor
🕑 Added 2023-06-17 17:46:28 +0000 UTC“You didn’t do the nerd scream?!” Lee practically screeched. “That’s a thousand years of bad luck!”
“I am unaware of that particular facet of nerddom,” John confessed.
“Yeah, but you’re also a casual. I mean, really, cuddling a woman? Cringe,” Lee declared, then physically cringed herself at her own humour. The judgemental stares of everyone else around, particularly Scarlett, made her blush.
John just chuckled at the scene. Still seated firmly on the throne, he had waited for everyone else to come back in. Since a lot of the haremettes had sat in the watcher’s area, not to mention the other two hims, news had travelled quickly. The entire time and even at that moment, he was holding Metra.
It was uncomfortable. That the First of Wrath had passed out in full armour was bothersome. Luckily, the body she was resting on didn’t have all the easily scratched fleshy bits, so he just swallowed the discomfort and scratched her behind the ears. It made her smirk in her sleep. He didn’t expect her to wake up for half a day, at least.
John, the real John, concentrated the majority of his expanded consciousness back in himself. The Creator Puppet moved alongside him in its Ascendant Form. Using the Swirls model, the many-coloured mannequin was glowing with elemental power. A side effect of the final Perk was that the Gamer’s third body in combat mode actually did have the aura of an endgame enemy. Something he very much appreciated.
The destination of his walk was the massive, gleaming chest in the middle of the room. It had spawned shortly after Amadeus had died. As eager as he was to open it and claim the various rewards, he first had to address the absolute cascade of windows hovering around him.
20 levels from the bosses. 4 of them had been level 615, one of them level 625, and John was left at level 615. That worked out as far as he was concerned, it may have even been lowballing it slightly. Then there was the always interesting end of Raid window.
This was a potentially ludicrous selection. The Astrian Arsenal choice looked the least interesting in the first instance, but just that it was offered in the same breath as the other two made John consider it. Astrian Administration offered him a path to another upgrade of his Guild Hall, which would always be insane. Astrian Ambitions let John field the Sentinel Golems anywhere, rather than just the Guild Hall and the adjacent Illusion Barrier. This was doubly insane because of the Ohmior Sentinels. Essentially, he could summon an Abyssal elite force wherever he went.
Still, that was the weakest of the options as far as John was concerned. Projecting his power over an area he was in was the least of his worries. Between three bodies, six elementals, and four combat maids, all of them way stronger than even most Abyssal elites, he could take over just about wherever he was.
That split the choice between the Astrian Arsenal and Administration. Although he was curious what the Building would do, he would rather have 250 Room Slots than 10 random items and he would certainly rather have even more power to his home base. The Throne mentioned was just an added bonus, whatever exactly it was.
‘Probably a replica of that thing,’ John thought and looked over to the glorious seat of marble and gold that his second body was seated in. ‘Not sure if I appreciate the monarchical overtones… Well, if it’s just a comfortable seat in the depths of my home, it’ll make for a nice roleplaying seat.’
Astrian Administration chosen, he was immediately presented with a new Quest.
‘Well, that’s pretty involved,’ John thought. “Lydia, do you have the legal authority to make me a knight or something?”
“I have the legal authority on paper, why?” the royal asked.
John pushed the Quest window over to her so she and everyone else could read it. Predictably a few of them were giddy at the prospect of the Guild Hall getting another update. The extra space was honestly unnecessary and 3 Tier 6 Buildings did not sound quite as awesome as he would have thought. He did like the precedent though, that there were still ways to increase the power of his Guild Hall beyond buying Room Slots. Also, it would remain to be seen whether those Tier 6 Buildings weren’t way above his expectations.
“The Mine,” Scarlett immediately demanded.
“We’ll make the choices when we get there,” John told her. “But yes, the Mine is definitely up there.”
While the rest of the harem had read through, John had quickly allocated the points. It allowed him to finally reach Endurance 500, which came with two new Stat Perks.
These were both pretty good. Neither were particularly impactful, but that had more to do with John’s build not making much use of these modifiers. He wouldn’t complain about upping his HP by a considerable margin, nor about recovering more of this HP per hour. With Endurance at 500, he set his sights on getting Wisdom to 2500 next. Hopefully that would eliminate his mana issues for a while. Maybe even forever.
‘Yeah, as if that will ever happen,’ he thought sarcastically and went over his Stats one more time.
“To your question, my love,” Lydia pulled his attention back to the scene. “I believe I would have a simple excuse for granting you knighthood on paper. As my betrothed and for the services you have rendered during the Five Days War, such a title would rightfully be yours. However, you’d be required to spend at least a few days as squire for traditional purposes… it entails all the duties you imagine.”
John grinded teeth and heard an ever-growing growl in his head. ‘I’d have to shine shoes, Stirwin!’ he justified his hesitance.
‘You cannot crawl for a few days so your realm can run?’ the Celestial Devourer barked back.
He had no reasonable response to that. “I’ll think about it,” he pressed out and that was as much as he was willing to do. At least the other two requirements weren’t that bad. Time and resource intensive, yes, but not too bad. He wanted to invest in Negotiator anyway. Right now he had four additional Class Levels available.
…Three additional Class Levels. Annoying, but the mysteries of software engineering apparently infected his system too. At least this was a net 0 affair. Honestly, he hadn’t caught when this had happened either. Perhaps when he got a bonus Max Class Level when he learned all the names of the elements?
Wherever it came from, it was fixed now, and he hoped it wouldn’t happen again.
“Ya two can settle all of that later!” Rave shouted and pointed at the chest in front of John. “I wanna see what’s in the box! What’s in the booooox?!”
“Yes, yes,” John acted like her demands were annoying. In truth, he couldn’t wait himself either. He was guaranteed 4 Legendary Items and Mythical Ichor, whatever exactly that was.
The lid of the chest opened with a satisfying gasp, the vacuum seal breaking and golden mist flooding out. Everything within the chest was pure, unalloyed radiance. Reaching in, the Gamer pulled out the items one after another.
First was a cheque over a billion dollars, signed by Gaia. John held it and tried to remind himself how ridiculous that number was. It didn’t work. He was thoroughly compromised by the Abyss.
Further in the common category, he got three Noblebright Essences. Not much to be said about them, they were consolidated light energy that would help enchanters bind the element into items of their choice. He handed them off to Lorelei for her to do with as she found proper.
Uncommon, he was given one book ‘On Royalty’ and three of the Royal Pillows. The book was gorgeous and noteworthy perhaps because it was, indirectly, a book Gaia had written on the expectations on the way a monarch should behave. Just for that, it was worth keeping. Momo would add it to the library. The pillows were simply god-tier comfortable, only overcome by the sheer elastic bounciness of resting on Undine. They were handed over to Aclysia to be placed wherever in the household they would serve the best.
In the Rare category, they were given the Astria Royal Code and the Ally’s Door Schematics. The former were another version of the ‘On Royalty’, this time more specific to what made a king a Knight King. As for the Ally’s Door Schematics, they were detailed instructions to reconstruct the teleportation gates the four bonus bosses had stepped through. Teleportation technology was fundamentally nothing new, especially between two set points. It was worth investigating whether these had a more notable range or cost efficiency though.
For the Epic items, they were blessed with two Solunium Ingots. That alone made the entire Raid worth it. Two solid chunks of a Celexium? An outstanding haul. In addition to them, they gained one Cloak of Radiance.
“It’s pretty good,” John said. “Gives a nice boost to health regeneration. Any takers?” Unsurprisingly, there were none. Capes were nobody’s style. John put it aside for the moment and then got into the items everyone was waiting for.
First, he pulled out Melan, the Hydra Steel.
The item effectively allowed the wearer to profit from the same effect the Metal Knight had displayed during the second phase of the fight. Metal Realm and Anti-Gravity continuously spawned in hovering chunks of metal that filled the surrounding air. It Swarms made those pieces of metal easier to control in unified motions. Ramping Power did exactly what the name suggested. Metal of Power made it so the chunks of metal spawned scaled with the power of the wielder in their hardness. Legionmental, Dimensional Folding, and Reunification were all the same as Strimata, assuring that the metals manifested during a fight would inevitably return to the Hydra Steel.
“Catch,” John said and threw the item at Lydia.
The many segments of the necklace rattled when the queen catched it. “I have not contributed to this victory,” she reminded her beloved.
“It’s practically made for you,” the Gamer waved off. “Unsurprisingly, the Metal Knight had something for the metal mage.” He turned away, before she could formulate additional protests. She would take the gift and that would be the end of it.
Next, he pulled out a cold, blue, thin rod, curving into a flat S-shape. The colour gave away that this had to be the Plate of Astral Ice.
Impressive, very impressive, offering a variety of powerful defensive effects in addition to some utility. The Astral Ice Armoury allowed the manifestation of various ice weapons, while the Astral Reflection made weaker spells fly right back at their originator. ‘Maybe someone in the army can make use of it?’ he wondered, while he let everyone else read what it was good for.
“Y’all against me takin’ it?” Hailey drawled.
The suggestion surprised John, but only for a split second. Their increased Stats alone may not have made them combatants, but they had the raw physical power now that fighting became the superior option to flight in a lot of scenarios. “This would be quick to be equipped in a difficult situation,” the Gamer thought out loud.
“Also, would help keep me cool as prop’r tea in the forge,” the country gal furthered. “Minor benefit for the enchanted ice thingy, but if none of y’all have bett’r plans for it, I say ya should give it to me.” There were no better plans, and so Hailey got her wish.
John handed the item over to the Creator Puppet, who then marched over. Hailey stripped out of her overall and the leather bra underneath quickly. Back turned to him, she inhaled sharply when the cold metal touched her spine. Goosebumps spread out, then the metal turned translucent and shifted into her, like a 3D-model with no resistance settings. Left behind was a thin, blue line that went from the base of her skull all the way to her hips, following the path of her spine.
“Hmm, weird feelin’,” Hailey stated, flexing the almost hidden muscles of her back. Years of lugging animal feed around had sculpted them and the Abyss had finalized that form into something truly beautiful. John marvelled in appreciation, until ice crystals began crawling over her skin, rapidly consolidating into the various parts of a smooth plate armour. Soon, it covered all of her, including the entirety of her face.
“Can you breathe like that?” John asked, looking at the completely smooth front of the helmet.
“Breathe, hear, and see, sugar,” Hailey confirmed and stretched. The metal, or whatever exactly it was, stretched with her. All in all, the plate armour was of a simple and practical design. Arm extended upwards, she grasped at something and soon held a sleek hammer. As she lowered it, the majority of the ice armour shifted out of existence, leaving only the right arm covered, holding the weapon, in place. “Ain’t that all manners of useful?”
“Definitely nice to have you in something like that,” John stated. “I should look out for suitable protective items for all of you in the future, now that you’re strong enough to wear them without getting magical blowback.”
Hailey let out a long hum and experimented further with the ways she could cover or not cover herself in the armour. Soon she had worked out how to even wear selective parts of it, even disconnected from the augmentation, like a singular gauntlet. Then she figured out how to make the gauntlet into a less obstructive glove. As long as she had her hands covered, she could summon all manners of weapons, although only one at a time.
John turned back to the items when she started to experiment with the transparency.
The various enchantments on the shovel primarily served the purpose of digging, not fighting. Sharp as it was, and due to its completely indestructible status, it made for a good impromptu weapon. Everything else lent itself to a work tool, if the enchantment called ‘Work Tool’ wasn’t pointer enough for that.
Treasure Finder gave the holder a sense of where to dig to find something hidden. Value Increaser added to the amount discovered. Shovel of Many Traits and Work Tool combined to let the Shovel of Justice be used as an axe or a till or even a pick. No Ground Too Firm boosted its effectiveness in cutting even stone and metal. Soil Preparation and Tamp it Down made sure that the ground worked on would take the form one wanted.
Loyal to the Sovereign prevented anyone from taking the shovel unless they were given permission by the owner of the space it currently laid in. This, combined with The Levelling Dig 100, made for a very interesting potential use case. That enchantment let people gain experience and levels from doing physical labour, even more so than such tasks usually would.
“I think I’ll lend this out to whoever did the most work in the Production District each year,” the Gamer thought out loud. “Make it a whole ceremony to honour the workers and all that. I’ll probably have to make it a rule that no one can earn it twice in a row though.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Scarlett said and reached into her breast pocket for the usual.
John was more irked than usual to see her light a cigarette. Why that was, he sorted out while he reached in and pulled out the next item.
A variety of powerful bonuses on that one. The Goo Container allowed one to spawn an ooze. There was a base design to it that resembled the one Rudeus had continuously summoned during the fight. However, the spawning liquid could be adjusted or replaced, to achieve a more personalized result. Deep Injection and Venom Production aided in playing dirty. Poison Resistance 9 was just very nice to have. Life Scan let the wearer trace the remaining vitality of targets they had envenomed. Appearance Setting, Tinker’s Hand, and Flawless Limb all aided in making this item a perfect replacement arm.
Sole problem with it: to equip it one had to be down an arm. That was a condition stated in Flawless Limb.
“I want that,” Scarlett mumbled past her cigarette.
“I’m not letting you cut off your arm to equip an item,” John immediately denied her.
“I’m not going to cut off my arm.” Scarlett raised her hand to take out the cigarette and exhale a plume of stinking smoke. “I want to research the thing. This is my area of expertise.”
That was fair enough, although John still didn’t quite trust that the shrewd woman wouldn’t put the augment on herself. Scarlett had just enough callous disregard for herself that he’d expect her to do it when he wasn’t looking. It ultimately wouldn’t do her any harm, this arm was better than her current one, but he did not like the precedent.
That distrust wasn’t big enough for him to withhold the item from her. However, seeing her take another huff of the cigarette, he decided to attach a condition. “You’ll have to quit smoking if you want it. For good.”
Scarlett’s red eyes snapped to his. Calmly, she finished the inhale. As the grey smoke was emptied from her lungs, she tapped the cigarette, letting ash fall on the gleaming floor. “Why now?” she asked.
“We’re moving towards another chapter in our lives,” John told her, having sorted his thoughts. “The marriage isn’t close yet, but it's not far either. Once Jane and I exchanged our vows, we’ll have pregnant women in the household. Children, soon after that. I don’t want you smoking around either.”
Scarlett raised the cigarette to her mouth again. The paper and the tobacco glowed, all of it incinerating in one powerful inhale. Dropping the butt, she stomped it out, and let out the last nicotine laden breath of her life. “I was going to quit anyway.” She reached into her breast pocket and tossed away the half-full box still inside it. The littering didn’t matter, this entire place wouldn’t exist anymore once they left. “You better fucking make the quitting easy.”
“I’ll give your mouth something else to do,” John promised and gave her the Noxious Hand. Scarlett stored it in her personal pocket dimension.
Reaching into the golden glow of the chest again, John expected the Mythical Ichor next. He was tremendously pleased when, instead, he found a chest plate in his hands.
The defensive boosts of this item were nothing short of insane. The only damage type it didn’t counteract was the kind that assailed the mind directly. Beyond that, the 5 Knights Synergy boosted the effects of whatever other Astria item someone was wearing. Light and Metal allowed a person to turn light into temporary metal and vice versa. Rightful Monarchy boosted all of the defensive effects of the armour by one rank if the wearer was a beloved monarch and by two if they were hailed as the greatest royal of their country in living memory.
John used the Creator Puppet to carry the item to Lydia. He practically shoved it into her hand and she furrowed her eyebrows, shoving it back. “I have not participated in this fight, further rewards are unnecessary.”
“Then take it as a gift,” John stated.
“After I have already received the necklace, I cannot accept an armour of such power as a gi-“
“Public impregnation,” the Gamer interrupted her. A smirk gradually grew on his face, as Lydia’s stare went from reprimanding, to baffled, to confused, and finally contemplating. “That is my price, queen of Germany.” He reached into his inventory and pulled the Cloak of Radiance out as well. Personally, he walked over and put it around her shoulder. “This will go nicely with the enchantments on the armour,” he hummed. “Gold looks good on you.”
The woven sunlight of the cape moved constantly around the edges, like a half-liquid candle flame. The radiant colour worked wonderfully with her copper hair. Her eyes were of a light blue that bordered on white.
“You’re ridiculous.”
“I know.”
“An utter fool.”
“Guilty as charged.”
“You’re aware that I know for a fact that you will not take this offer to its possible extreme.”
“Absolutely.”
“Yet you wish to shower me in items and trinkets more valuable than some people’s lifework.”
“Of course I do.” John put a hand on the tall woman’s chin. The sky-blue colour remained, even as she tried to give him her sternest glare. “You’re mine. What else would I do?”
Lydia tilted her head back and let out a long groan. “Did I ever tell you how terrible it feels to be at the receiving end of so much benevolence? After our relationship started with me exploiting your weakest moment to purchase your aid?”
“I never once faulted you for that. We were strangers then and you had few options.” John’s knuckles brushed over the curve of her slender neck. How she trembled at that touch and how she leaned into his hand when he reached her cheek – a marvellous privilege to see a woman so beautiful and disciplined melt.
“I love you,” she sighed and took his hand between hers. Gently, slowly, she kissed his thumb, where the counter to the mark on her lower abdomen adorned his hand, joined by so many other deep blue marks. “Still, I will have to repay you. With something that is more than a kinky joke.”
“We’ll see how far I take that ‘joke’.” John leaned down and kissed her on the lips. Eagerly, she reciprocated. For once, there was nothing to the whirling of their tongues that was dominant or submissive, no wish to conquer or faux resistance. It was the simple, two-sided mashing of mouths of people that needed to be as close as physical reality allowed.
When they separated, Lydia took the chest plate and turned it in her hands. It was too large for her at that moment. Once, even items that did not have specific enchantments for it, would resize for who John chose should wear them. A design decision necessary so they wouldn’t have a bunch of intensely powerful trash lying around.
As Lydia held it, the plate reshaped itself, to better accommodate her breasts with the deflecting rise of the chest area and to sit tightly around her narrow midriff. “It is too flashy for my taste,” the queen of steel mumbled. A certain rapier chimed and was swiftly shoved back into its sheath. “You certainly have a way to compromise my image with all your gleaming gifts.”
“Maybe I want the clothes you wear to be as brilliant as your eyes?” John suggested.
Lydia turned a rare shade of red that almost matched her ruby lips. “Flatterer…” she retorted meekly and half hid her face behind her elbow.
‘God, she’s cute,’ John thought. He had to hold himself back from showering her with kisses, especially after she had put away all three of the Raid drops he had given her.
“Not gonna wear them?” Rave asked, disappointed.
“No, I think my heart has taken all it can for the day. I will first adorn myself in all of this glamour during the meeting,” she decided. “You can join everyone else in gawking at that time.”
“I hope the armour is super sexy!” Sylph declared. “You got all those nice curves, like me but stretched to be taaaaaall!” The volt bunny grabbed the dangling back of Lydia’s military coat. “This is sooooo 19th century.”
“To flaunt one’s curves is not proper court behaviour – something I compromise on enough.” Lydia gestured at the three open buttons that gave ample view of her cleavage. “And I loathe impractical armour.”
Sylph and Lydia began a heated discussion on the combat benefits of looking damn fine. The harem was quickly split into two camps: those that held practicality above everything else and those that wanted to be as hot as the hell they gave their enemies. There were some in-between members, like Claire, who wanted to keep on her maid outfit but also acknowledged that it definitely wasn’t the most efficient way to fight.
John let them have the discussion. He was of two minds himself when it came to this. Luckily, most of the haremettes that preferred aesthetics over efficiency were blessed with bodies that meant they didn’t have to care much about it being the best. Like Aclysia, whose body itself was the armour. Although she also was a bad example since she entered battle in dragon scales these days, which was practical and aesthetic.
While the discussion became more heated, Siena stirring the pot like she usually did, John checked on the last item he had been promised. It was a flask of a prismatic, thick fluid. The colours within constantly shifted in heptagonal patterns.
“Oh Jesus Christ,” he gasped.
Comments
Cal
Absolutely bonkers chapter, so many cool things! I always make a game out of trying to predict what choices will be made with loot/perks and I was almost completely wrong on everything this time. Super interesting to see how it all played out and now I think the Divided Gates meeting is going to be even more interesting, a threshold I didn't think was possible. Minor nitpick, but "necklace rattled when the queen catched it" should be "caught it"
Marko
Fuck yeah Fun
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