[Arc 2] Chapter 7: Gearing Up!

Greydra

Changed the [Blade Dance] skill obtainable from Assassin at Lv.10 to [Critical Dance].

What happened last night?

I remember up to the point when Ice-guy ordered the barrel of wine... but after that's just haze. 

Eh, no prob. Except that the fallen angel turned strangely meek after that? She didn't tell me off when I made them wait for me to wake up, or rather, she wished me a good morning. What gives?

The only thing she, and Ice-guy, was against was to give me booze again. Seriously, what gives? But I have this vague feeling that yesterday was great. Maybe I should stock some for myself?

Even the hang-over the next day wasn't so bad. A little Dark Heal was all I needed to get rid of it. Why did the fallen angel go angry for that? Something about not getting why I was able to use magic despite the headache. 

Now, all I gotta figure out why all the Bite-skills gained proficiency yesterday. Even by the strange occurrence that [Bite] got enough to level up from the one-man-banquet, that doesn't explain why the Ailment-Bites did so as well.

"*Yaaaawn*, where are we headed for anyway, Garami?" - Alf

Ice-guy must be weak against mornings. He's still half-asleep.

"The smith. Got an order to collect." - Garami

"Alright then. I need to get a new weapon myself... something's off here." - Alf

"There is?" - Garami

"Yeah: why're you talking like a normal person?!" - Alf

I am? Hmm... am I? 

"Alfred, just forget it. She is not going to be nervous or anything around us after yesterday..." - Noire

"Ah, you're right. Yesterday..." - Alf

What about "yesterday"? 

"Ah, why can I not forget? Why can I not forget..." - Noire

And now she's started to chant something?! And I've been wondering about those bandages on Ice-guy and the bite marks on the fallen angel... I didn't see anything. Ah, what a nice day~.

---

"Welcome... what happened to you two?!" - Shula

"...Nothing much." - Noire

"...Just a final supper, kinda." - Alf

"Where's Waylin?" - Garami

"Ah, in the atelier... wait, that's not it!" - Shula

The two goons started to hold the Jewel girl in check for some reason, so I went ahead.

"Welcome... Garami! My soul-girlfriend! Are you happy?" - Waylin

"Way happy." - Garami

I welcomed the tiny fairy's high-five with my finger.

Waylin's just a few centimeters high, dressed in a light-green hoodie that contrasts with her dark-green hair. Not to forget about her spunky attitude that makes her larger than life and hotter than the sun. As in scorching and annoying for most people. She's on the same level as miss Rassel!

"Come and see, come and see! The most recent masterpiece of the fantastic Waylin-sama!" - Waylin

"'Sama'?" - Garami

"It's a Wakoku thing." - Waylin

Oh yeah. That Japanese-inspired country. It was on the Luxuria continent, was it? Must be the work of some otherworlder. They, or rather, we, are called Migrants, was it?

While I was lost in thoughts Waylin showed off her latest creation, the clothes I wanted her to make for me using the yarns of threads I gave her.

The outfit consisted of a jacket of dark wine-red colors plus purple lines with wide-open sleeves and a large hood, with a slim-fitted, black undershirt that reveals the shoulders underneath, plus black hot-pants with a belt to hang weapons and pockets for items. There are also black long boots and fingerless black gloves.

I tried them all on, and I have to say: it fits almost too well. The clothes are light enough to make the battle robe I used before seem heavy. 

"It's good, right? It's good, I know! The threads you brought were fabulous to work with! We tested a prototype cloth's defense yesterday, guess what happened? It withstood just as much damage as a full-plate armor did!" - Waylin

Wow. That sounds impressive. What their stats? Starting from the undershirt...

Clothing imitating that of the Weaver of Misery, who brings misfortune to them it encounters.

And so it's... wait a sec, the durability is 2,000!? 

Clothing imitating that of the Weaver of Misery, who brings misfortune to them it encounters.

Eu tu, jacket?! 

Clothing imitating that of the Weaver of Misery, who brings misfortune to them it encounters.

Even the pants...

Clothing imitating that of the Weaver of Misery, who brings misfortune to them it encounters.

Clothing imitating that of the Weaver of Misery, who brings misfortune to them it encounters.

Y-yeah, they're all broken. And what's this "Set Effect"? Can kinda guess it, but...

Yup. It's the type that activates when you got all parts equipped on you. The effects are... Darkness attribute up, plus thread skills up, and Death attribute up... wait, why the last one!?

Is this what the description meant about "misfortune"? And both the Darkness- and Death attribute boost isn't limited to the basic attribute either, but also combination attributes like Shadow. Even stuff that's not directly related to the attributes is counted, like necromancy... 

Nice~. 

But still, who's this Weaver of Misery? 

"Cool, right? It's cool, right? My latest masterpiece~?" - Waylin

"It's cool. But, 'Weaver of Misery'?" - Garami

"I don't f*cking know. What the heck? I was half-expecting to make a Named Item or two, but a whole set was outside of what I could predict." - Waylin

Named Items. The stuff that's worthy of a god's admiration, therefore given a name by them. 

"Another thing, I was given a Quest when I finished the job." - Waylin

"Quest? As in finishing this?" - Garami

"Bingo! I mean, they're 'inferior prototypes' and all..." - Waylin

"...I'm not against giving you a supply of threads, but the finished work's going to me." - Garami

"By all means! The reward for this Special Quest is more than enough! Besides, I think these will be stuck as Garami's no matter what I do..." - Waylin

In that case, it's just to give, give, and give to the next year! Threads are free for me to produce anyway~.

"WHOOOAAAA!!" - Noire

Urgh, she's gotten past the Shula-wall. 

"That is so cool! Waaaaant..." - Noire

The fallen angel had gone fangirl over my outfit. Is she a fashion freak?

"Is that why you asked for new clothes for her and Alf? They're in the ba-gack!?" - Waylin

And the fairy was kidnapped while talking to me. "The fallen angel's a fashion diva", noted...

"I'll go and make sure Waylin stays safe," said Ice-guy, following the fallen angel to the storage.

...I'll go and look for Armveil. Because I wanna see if my weapons are ready. D-definitely not because I'm lonely!

I walked around the backside of the store, which is pretty big considering it also contains various ateliers for the production of different types of items. I encountered several weavers like Waylin who looked like they collapsed due to overwork.

Geez, this organization... hmm? You had to work overnight to get used to some new monstrous thread-material? There's something like that out in the world~.

Okay, jokes aside, that "monster thread"'s gotta be what I gave 'em. In hindsight, a skill named [Spider Lord's Threads] sounds like something a high-rank spider will have.

I lucked out due to my newest evolution featured a royal pedigree, but normally, ogres and the likes won't be equipped with spider treads. It's like I'm abusing a bug to get this skill at this stage. Not that I complain. Bugs rules! But spiders are better.

I ignored the fallen brave weavers and entered the forges... only to find the smiths also down for the count.

...I'm not responsible for this! I only gave threads, not some super-fantasy metals like Orichalcum... ah. This is my fault.

I entered the room containing the biggest forge and found Armveil, slacking off with some alcohol despite it being early in the morning.

"Garami! Nice timing. Your orders were finished just a few moments ago." - Armveil

"That's nice... but what was that?" I asked, pointing behind me to the fallen warriors.

"Those guys didn't know their limits and ended up keeping me company over the night while working on your orders." - Armveil

He stayed up as long as the others, but's still healthy enough to enjoy a drink? Does he have [Sleep Nullification]? 

"The various stuff you wanted to be upgraded are on the shelves," said Armveil while pointing towards a few hills littered with weapons and armors. These are gonna be useful for when I bring out humanoid undeads. 

I absorbed the new items into [Necromantic Rite] while throwing out those that already occupied the space. These are the next in line to be upgraded.

"As for the other thing, let me tell you, that was the worst item I've ever worked with." - Armveil

"Then, it didn't work?" - Garami

"Didn't work? Who do you think you're talking to? I'm General Armveil of the evil organization Nequitia's Logistics department! There's nothing I can't craft!" - Armveil

Ooh... wait, you're a General!? First time I heard that! 

"Here you go! A personalized weapon made from the worst Godly-tier weapon that's ever existed!" - Armveil

That's right. I asked for this General-smith to make me a weapon... using the Deathcailber as materials! I didn't believe he could actually do it. I just wanted that cursed sword a fair distance away from me so it wouldn't try to stab me like after I defeated Glavras with it.

The new weapon is a dagger with a pale-white hilt in a black scabbard. And its name and effects are Carnwennan... what?

"But man, to make an Extra-tier weapon out of a Godly-tier, shall I think of it as having surpassed the original creator, or am I one step ahead? A weapon that grows with the user's definitely worthy of praise if I have to say it myself, but still-" - Armveil

"Hold on, what's this name about?" - Garami

"Huh? I didn't name it. The finished result turned out like that when it was finished. It must have caught the eyes of some god or something." - Armveil

Heeeh, you don't say~... I'm worried. This dagger is strong, that's for sure... eh, I'll forget it. It's not for certain that there's a dagger that's just like this one in Avalar... right?

---

We were a little late in arriving at the Union, mostly due to the fallen angel having to take her sweet time admiring herself in the mirror.

She's traded her uniform for a sleeveless silver one-piece dress and a dark-grey coat with marine-blue straps. She's also got a new staff that looks like a silver teacher's pointer with a yellow gem attached to the end. It can also be retracted like a pointer, and she's currently having it in a holster on her coat.

Speaking of clothes, Ice-guy... didn't go through a big change. At most, he got a new track jacket, now light-blue with black as opposed to his previous black with light-blue. He's also got a nasty-looking halberd made of a silverish metal, but he's keeping it in a special pocket. Kinda like an Item Bag for a single weapon.

All their new clothes are made with the threads I contributed with, so their defensive powers should be around a "full-plate armor worthy of an Advance-tier tank", according to Waylin at least.

They did get many looks of admiration when they entered the Union. Especially the fallen angel. She's a beauty when she keeps her mouth closed.

Me? I'm using stealth-skills at max. Imagining strangers looking at me is making me sick...

I turned off the stealth the moment we entered the Union-

"Why can't I wiiiin!?" - Cowboy adventurer (?)

"Boss, stay strong!" - Priest adventurer (?)

"Is this bird using some weird skill or something!?" - Goblin adventurer(?)

"Mrgh..." - Orc adventurer (?)

"Mwa-ha-ha-ha! Don't think I'm finished just yet!" - Gust

...We entered the Union, right? Not some casino? 

The reason why I'm asking is the large crowd of people surrounding a certain table in there, where an intense poker game is going on between a guy with a cowboy hat, a big goblin... rather, a hobgoblin, an orc with an impressive fur coat, and... Guuuuuuust.

There's also a priest-lady cheering the three first contenders on... but looking at the first three guys, and all the other fellows stripped to their underwear spread all over the place, it seems Gust is having the winning streak of the century, if not the millennia.

"...Isn't that the bird that was with you on the haunted island?" - Noire

I seriously wished he wasn't. Also, why poker? Did some Migrants introduce it to this world?

Just as I was thinking of grilled raven cuisines, the Union Master entered the scene.

"Garami. Can't you stop that bird already? The Union's going to lose adventurers due to their lack of funds." - Carion

That stupid no-limits bird...

"Wait, Garami knows the Union Master?" - Alf

"And you two are?" - Carion

While the two goons introduced themselves to the Union Master, I went over to the game table.

"ARRGH!! I LOST AGAIN!!" - Cowboy adventurer

"Boss! Keep it together!" - Priest adventurer

"Ka-ka-ka-ka! Now, who's the next unfortunate vic...tim..." - Gust

"...What are you doing?" I asked the bird, as he was going visible pale as I stared him down.

"E...e-he-he-he. J-just a friendly game of poker..." - Gust

"...I see. Then, I'm joining." - Garami

I grabbed the cards spread out over the table and started to shuffle them.

"Eh? Garami, not to be rude, but do you know how good I'm with the cards? Sorry to say this, but today's the day when I will triumph over you!" - Gust

---

3 minutes later

"WHYYYY?!" - Gust

Sorry about that. I'm not the type to challenge an impossible game. 

But here I marked the cards with certain magic patterns that only [Magic Sight] could catch on, but I still got one winning hand after the other without ever needing the markings. Heck, what was that royal straight flush at the end for?

This whole event did raise my likability with the guys in the Union when I returned all the items I'd won back... urgh. Why couldn't the idiot bird have challenged some of the girls instead?

One of them, the cowboy guy, grabbed my shoulder in the excitement when I got the royal straight flush. It ended up with him getting blasted into the roof with my Mana Burst uppercut enhanced with [Aura of Darkness] and a gauntlet made with thread with an extra boost thanks to [Impact Thread]. Even I was surprised at that combo's explosive power...

Sorry cowboy... but I'm also a victim here! I would have fainted if I hadn't bought [Faint Resistance] right before shutting down!

The priest girl and the other two latest victims of Gust's winning spree turned out to be members of the same Party as the cowboy fellow. Rather than that, they were selected as Gust's bodyguards! They had tried the same strategy as me in beating Gust at his own game, but the result... well...

For some reason, the priest girl apologized for their leader's behavior. Isn't that my role? Anyway, I got them to take the first shifts of guarding Gust for the next few days. That'll give me enough time to whip up Ice-guy and the fallen angel into skill-shape.

Speaking of skills, I must compliment myself for using [Parallel Processing] to obtain [Faint Resistance] like that. Its skill level should have reached a high level by now...

Both it and [Thought Acceleration]... And why's [Faint Resistance] at Lv.3 already!? How bad am I with dudes!?

The final thing that irks me is [Pilfer]. I haven't stolen... ah. Those three kidnappers. Thinking about it, I'm guilty of both murder and robbery then...

It's not my fault! That was pure and legal self-defense! And the evidence (the stolen goods) is currently getting whitewashed by Armveil, so nothing can be used as proof against me!!

More importantly, where are those... found them. Over at the Quest Board. They must have finished introducing themselves to the Union Master. The guy himself has returned to behind the information counter. Is that one of the Union Masters' jobs?

"Garami! Look at this Quest!" - Noire

The fallen angel showed me one of the Quest notes. Let's see... "help with the Great Desert Tuna Fishing Raid"? What's this?

"Raids are the equivalent to a happening where lots of people get hurt! There, I will show my miraculous and fabulous skills with healing magic-" - Noire

"Pass." - Garami

"WHYYY!?" - Noire

'Cause there are no benefits for us. The reward is pretty nice, but money's the last thing I need. I still haven't used up the reward money, let alone even thinking of what to use the Queen-bounty for. And even if we entered this raid-event, it's only gonna give us a positive impression of the other fishermen. We need a more fitting job to up the reputation of the organization.

"Then what about this?" - Alf 

Let's see... "Rats have started to overrun the sewers without warning. Locate the source of this disturbance. Double the reward if the source is destroyed", is what it says.

The reward... 10,000 Sols? Ah, the Quest giver is the mayor of this place, plus the Union. No wonder... and 1.5 Skill Points?

Hey, this ain't so bad. Getting rid of the rats will improve our standing with the mayor himself, not to mention the Skill Points can be used to allow these two to get Sub Classes, even if we don't destroy that source. And hey, it's rats. I've hunted those since I was a Grey Demon.

I ignored the complaints from the fallen angel and told the receptionist that we were accepting the request.

Time for some rat-hunting! Wonder if I should bring a flute?

Greydra

Kigal-Note/Magician Classes: Thaumaturgist

Description:

The Thaumaturgist Class is an Intermediate-tier Magician Class that focuses on synthesizing miracles without the need of a holy- or wicked being. 

While classes such as Priest and Warlock asks for the assistance of a greater being, holy or evil respectively, the Thaumaturgist deviates from this practice. Instead, they focus on creating a miracle through the use of magic alone, to prove that humanity will not lose to these greater beings.

A Thaumaturgist focuses on many different subjects of support-type magics, with their origin coming from healing-type magics.

Unfortunately, despite their massive range of spells, they lack support-type skills that allow them to enhance the effect of their spells and to reduce their costs, as opposed to the aforementioned Priest class and Warlock class, among others. 

This class is one of the rare examples of an Intermediate-tier class with access to the [Workshop Creation] skill, which allows the Thaumaturgist to create a special area, a Workshop, where their magic can be enhanced or improved. Due to this, Thaumaturgists are more welcome during defending battles, rather than an assault.

Garami's comment: ...And the user of this class is an angel...