Vol. 1 - Ch. 13 - Obtaining Weapons at the Exchange Shop

Uru made her way towards Ash and Clara while skillfully avoiding colliding with any passerby.Just as Ash thought that she was doing quite well, she ended up stumbling in the middle of nowhere. Ash quickly grasped her hand.

"That was a close one... Are you okay?"

"Haha. I saw your back Sir Ash, and just ended up running." Uru said with a wide smile.

"Next time you should focus more on not falling down rather than waving."

"I don't stumble that often you know!"

"And who was it that fell down grandiosity on our first meeting?"

"Um... That's... I'll be careful..." Uru conceded.

Ash decided not to press further and helped Uru to her feet.

Meanwhile, Clara observed the scene with a scrutinizing gaze.

"You get along quite well."

"We sure do! Sir Ash and Uru are great friends!" Uru replied with a wide smile.

Curious, Clara asked, "Ash, didn't you come here just the other day?"

"Sure did." Sᴇaʀᴄh the NʘvᴇlFirᴇ.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

Ash knew what Clara was trying to say.

Uru's behavior made it feel like she and Ash were old friends. Uru had the power to easily transcend the wall of friendliness.

"And you must be Lady Clara, correct?" Uru asked.

"You remember me?"

"Of course. Uru has been a guide even since Uru was a child. Uru remembers all of the people Uru has led here. For example, Uru remembers that you came here roughly one year ago, Lady Clara!"

Uru said with a smug attitude, however the same instant, Clara dropped to her knees and nodded in agreement.

"Huh? What? Did Uru say something Uru shouldn't have?" 

"You can say that Clara is quite happy to hear the words 'one year' right now." Ash joked.

"I'm not happy at all! I'm depressed!"

Clara vehemently denied while Uru contemplated the significance of the phrase.

"One year... one year... Uru got it! Could today be the day you broke up with your lover?!" 

"No! I've never had someone like that to begin with!" Clara exclaimed, however, she quickly realized that she'd said something she didn't need.

Her face grew red and she hurriedly covered her mouth with both hands.

(It's fun teasing her, but I'm starting to feel kind of sorry, so I'll stop here.) Ash thought.

He hadn't expected that Uru's comments would cause so much damage.

"U-Um, are you two planning on climbing the tower?" Uru asked.

"That's right. But before that I need to get weapons." 

"Oh!"

Uru immediately grasped the situation upon hearing 'weapons'.

The memories of how she had cut off Ash's tour short on the first day came flooding back to her.

"Uru apologizes for the other day. Uru should've properly explained about weapons and the Exchange Shop."

"It's fine. Your boss was calling, there's nothing you could've done."

"Thank you for understanding. I-If you're fine with it, do you mind if Uru joins you as well? It won't be enough to atone for what Uru did, but Uru would love to guide you there." Uru pleaded, bringing her face close to Ash's.

"Didn't you have something else to do?"

"It's fine. It's not urgent!"

"I'm fine with it, but... Clara, what do you say?"

"I don't mind. It'll actually be beneficial to have a Milma with us."

"There you have it, Uru." Ash said, accepting Uru's offer. As soon as she heard that, Uru burst into a wide smile.

"Thank you! Then Uru, incompetent as Uru may be, will do my best to guide you Sir Ash!!!"

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"Is this really the place?"

Ash inquired as he entered the building indicated as the Exchange Shop.

He received a bit of a shock when he noticed the damaged equipment displayed along the walls.

None of it seemed capable of even cutting a hair, let alone defeating the Lord of the 10th Floor.

"Sure is. Don't go and think it's a junkyard or something, okay?"

Clara assured him as she followed him into the store.

Ash was now certain that they hadn't brought him here to mess with him.

"Hello!"

Uru, who had entered first, greeted and made her way to the counter in the back, where a Milma with long hair stood.

Unlike the other Milma, who didn't wear a lot of things, this one had a lot of ornaments.

"If it isn't Uru. What brings you here?" the Milma asked.

"Uru's guiding the newcomers." Uru said, gesturing with her head towards Ash.

The Milma, in turn, followed Uru's gaze.

As she did, Ash suddenly approached her and extended his hand, introducing himself.

"I'm Ash. It's nice to meet you."

"Orge. The pleasure is mine." she replied.

Perhaps it was her gestures, behavior, or an air of unusual charm that surrounded her, but Orge's eyes locked onto Ash, licking her plump lips as if sizing up her prey.

"You're quite young." she said.

"You can't!" Uru said, hastily intervening while spreading her hands wide.

Orge blinked her eyes, curious about Uru's reaction.

"I haven't done anything, though."

"Then who was the one that got scolded by Master Venus for laying a hand on the challengers?" Uru retorted.

"That was because I was slacking off at the store, not because I was fooling around with them."

"No matter the cause you still can't!"

Even though she was being scolded, Orge seemed unconcerned as she played with her hair.

Uru, accustomed to Orge's attitude, muttered, "Good grief..." before changing the subject.

"Sir Ash, can you take out the Exchange Stone?"

Being asked by Uru, Ash quickly took out the Exchange Stones from his pouch.

"You already have three? That's amazing!" Uru exclaimed.

"Are they hard to come by?"

"Unlike Duri, Exchange Stones are quite harder to come by."

"I couldn't even get one on my first day here. Well, in your case, Ash, the number you hunted was extraordinary..." Clara chimed in.

Her statement left it unclear whether she was impressed or dismayed by Ash's success.

(I did hunt a lot, but given how shocked the two of them are I guess my luck must be quite good.)

While pondering that, Ash handed over the Exchange Stones to Orge.

"Only Grade 1 huh. Well you're still a newbie I guess." Orge remarked.

"Are you talking about the number on the back? Just what do those numbers mean?" Ash asked.

The one to answer him was Uru.

"Exchange Stones have Grades according to the floor on which they are obtained. For example, floors from 1 to 10 drop Grade 1 Exchange Stones, 11 to 20 drop Grade 2 and so on." Uru explained.

"So if the towers go up to the 100th floor, then the strongest ones are the Grade 10 ones, right?"

"That's right!"

Having finally understood the meaning behind the numbers, Ash felt great.

However, he still had more questions.

"So I'm guessing a higher Grade means higher quality equipment."

"That's right. Furthermore, some higher grade equipment also come with special effects. For example, if it's armor we're talking about, the Grade 7 Fairy Series is quite famous among the upper rank challengers. If you manage to snatch yourself a set, not only will it improve your agility, but it will also reduce the damage you take from magic attacks."

Upon hearing about the Fairy Series, Ash couldn't help but think of Lapis' equipment.

Her equipment had screamed 'fairy', so it wasn't hard for Ash to put the pieces into place.

"Also the number of Enhancement Stones you can embed increases with an equipment's grade."

"Enhancement Stones?"

"They appear as elongated gems, about this long."

Uru demonstrated the size using her index finger and thumb.

"Are you talking about this?"

Ash checked his pouch and retrieved the gem that was inside.

He placed it on his palm for everyone to see. Clara drew her face close to get a better look and immediately gaped in amazement.

"You must be blessed by luck, Ash! Those are nearly impossible to find on the lower floors!"

"It was a drop from one of the Goblins."

"If you sell this you can get 5000 Duri. That's close to a month's income!" Clara remarked.

Ash wondered if she were so tight on money that she would immediately resort to such measures.

Uru, in turn, held up her index finger to continue her explanation, "The Enhancement Stones can be embedded into weapons to give them specific attributes based on their colors. For example, red is fire, blue is water, green is wind or earth, and so on."

"So, given that mine is red, it can give the Fire Attribute?"

"That's right. The effect is based on the number of embedded stones. If you have 5 or more, you can even send flying slashes."

Higher grade equipment could have more Enhancement Stones.

And currently, the highest floor the challengers had reached was the 79th Floor.

Ash assumed that it was likely quite normal for the top teams to have 5 or more stones embedded into their equipment.

"Enhancement Stones come in many kinds. There are Poison ones, paralysis ones, bleeding ones, reflection ones, weight reduction ones, strength increasing ones and many more. You can try them out once you get some." Uru explained.

Ash was excited just listening about them, he couldn't wait to get a chance to try them.

"If it were me I'd sell it immediately." Clara remarked.

Ash was now sure that his assumption about her financial situation was right on the mark.

"Well then, rookie, could you hold one of those Exchange Stones in your hand?" Orge asked, and Ash obliged, placing the Exchange Stone on top of his palm.

"Like this?"

"Yes. Now grip it lightly. Good. Stay like that."

Orge then reached behind the counter and explained, "The Exchange Stones contain special Mana coursing through them based on their Grade. By holding a staff blessed by the God Aitiel over them, the stones can embody the shape their bearer imagines."

Orge concluded her explanation by holding up a white staff, which was about as tall as herself, and had a round, clear crystal at its tip.

"Let me know if you have trouble visualizing a weapon. I have a lot of references here."

It appeared that the scattered equipment in the shop was meant to assist in forming a mental image.

Ash, however, couldn't help but think that it would be great if they were a bit more maintained.

"I think I'm fine with the visualization part. You can continue."

"Sure thing. Now, imagine it." Orge instructed.

She gently pressed the tip of her wand, the crystal, against Ash's hand.

The first thing Ash had decided to imagine was his stiletto.

With the image of the stiletto in his mind, the Exchange Stone in Ash's hand began to emit a faint glow.

Ash felt a strange sensation in his hand. As if something was trying to push his fingers away.

Then, suddenly, light burst from Ash's hand and began taking on the shape of a blade.

When the light dissipated, Ash was left holding the stiletto he had envisioned.

Its color was similar to steel, but it felt lighter compared to the stiletto he had used before.

Ash guessed that this was probably due to different materials being used.

Lowering down the staff, Orge expressed her admiration, "You have pretty good taste."

"I'm quite used to this one." Ash replied.

"What are you going to do with the remaining two?"

"I'm going to use one to make a swordbreaker. As for the remaining one..."

Ash placed the stiletto in its sheath, contemplating how to use the remaining stones.

"You can save it for later. Exchanging them is not free, you know." Uru remarked.

Having remembered that it would cost money, Ash, somewhat apprehensively, turned to Orge.

"Um... How much does this cost?"

"Grade 1s are 100 Duri each."

"That's quite a bit." Ash remarked.

"The first time is on the house so rest easy."

Ash hadn't worried about it, given that Uru had come with them, however, he'd never expected it to be free.

He was reminded once more how important the Dural Island-made weapons were for ascending the towers.

"Okay, I've made up my mind. Orge, let's do the second one."

"Sure thing!"

Ash had decided to create a whip, leaving the swordbreaker for later.

Orge's staff hovered over the Exchange Stone in Ash's hand.

From it, a short grip and a long body began to form.

Ash pictured his whip without a weight at the front and that's just how it was created.

"A w-whip?"

"You picked quite the unusual one again..."

Uru and Clara both remarked, expressing their surprise.

"I wanted something to deal with enemies at a distance."

"That's fine and all, but can you really use such a strange weapon?"

In response to Clara's concerns, Ash gave a quick demonstration with the whip, letting it unfurl into the void.

The flexible body extended and reacted to his movements, bursting forth with a deafening sound.

Clara's expression shifted dramatically from her previous demeanor, showing a mix of surprise and tension.

"Amazing!"

"I don't mean to brag, but I can handle a wide range of weapons. With either hand to boot."

"There's a limit to being deft you know..."

Although Ash was far from having mastered all weapons, he was at a level where he could use them in real battle.

He wasn't particularly attached to any weapon, so he could switch to different ones in the future if needed.

After Ash finished creating the swordbreaker, he left the Exchange Shop.

Once they stepped out onto the street, Uru inquired, "What are you going to do with the Enhancement Stone? Uru can show you to a blacksmith if you plan on embedding it."

"This is enough for today. I'm thinking of going and climbing the tower."

"Uru understands. In that case Uru will be leaving you." Uru said.

"Thanks for tagging along with us."

"Do not mention it. Uru's glad she could be of help. Sir Ash, Sir Ash!"

She then wagged her tail and held her hands at chest level, waiting to perform the Milma's unique farewell ritual.

Ash put his hands against Uru's and she gripped them with a grin on her face.

However, when Uru realized that Clara was watching, she quickly pulled away, seemingly embarrassed.

"W-Well then, see you later you two!" Uru exclaimed before running off.

After a short distance, Uru began walking backward while waving her hand, a truly dangerous maneuver performed by her.

"Hey! You'll trip again! Ah... She fell..."

Luckily, Uru didn't seem to have suffered any major injuries.

She quickly got up after falling and ran off with an embarrassed smile on her face.

Observing the exchange, Clara gave Ash a suspicious look.

"Why is she that attached to you?"

"I'd like to know too."

He recalled that Uru had once mentioned it was because they got along well, but he was unsure if that was the sole reason and would need to ask Uru to find out the actual cause.

"Oh yea, I need to ask you something. You've fought the Lord on the 10th Floor, right?" Ash inquired.

"Y-Yes. With Darrion and his team."

"I saw it call out its friends. Does it do that only once?"

"No. It'll call out reinforcements when it's fatigued or damaged."

"I figured as much."

"I, personally, have seen it call out reinforcements twice, however, it may do it even more."

(With its howl, the Lord can call 10 Direwolves. Given that it can do that gimmick at least twice, dealing with those numbers is ludicrous. And if I don't deal with those Direwolves fast I'll have a hard time getting to the Lord. Furthermore, Clara's role is a Healer.)

"We lack firepower." Ash remarked.

"In that case, we can go to the Blue Tower to gather Attribute Stones. It's normal for even the higher-ranked challengers to gather equipment in a tower with an attribute favorable against the attribute of the tower they are conquering. It's just that..."

Clara stopped for a moment, and continued with a disheartened expression,

"As we discussed in the Exchange Shop, it's not guaranteed that they'll drop... The lower the floor the lower the chance after all."

"Well it did drop once, so it's bound to drop again."

"Hearing you say that, Ash, I really do believe that it might actually drop..."

Ash had always been lucky, as such he even had hopes that the first monster they killed could drop an Enhancement Stone.

"Then it's settled. We'll be hunting in the Blue Tower today!"

"O-Okay!"