Chapter 46: Expansion (01)

My body feels a bit numb due to all that happened yesterday, and even after resting peacefully, I still feel somewhat tired.

Well, the light of the sun doesn't lie though, so, since the day has already started, I've got no option but to get up myself. Since Licia is still sleeping next to me, I take care not to wake her up while leaving the couch.

Though I was surprised to see someone else awake.

Claire: "Had a goodnight yesterday huh?"

Miwen: "How can you tell?"

Claire: "I mean, c'mon now..."

Seeing it from her perspective, there's no room for any misunderstanding, but still cute when she gets ashamed by thinking about what happened.

Claire usually talks very openly without paying much mind to it, so you'd expect her to not care that much about such things, even more so when she's always poking fun at it and bringing up the subject.

It might be because of the culture in her old world, but it feels like she's not used to being on the receiving end of such talks, so it's actually quite simple to break her facade. Like this.

Miwen: "Oh, you're blushing... are you jealous?"

Claire: "W-what? Not at all!"

I swear, cute girls acting embarrassed is a sight to die for. Like puppies playing around, it's a picture of innocence that heals your heart.

Claire: "...it will be my turn soon anyway, so there's no reason for me to feel like that... ah, but don't misunderstand alright? I'm doing it mostly for curiosity since I didn't do it in my previous life. It's not like I like you or anything. At least not the same way she does..."

Miwen: "Uh-huh."

Claire: "What's with that reaction !?"

I collect the [Gacha Tickets] for today. Since it's quite doubtful that I'd be able to level up today as I'm already at the level cap of the current floor in the dungeon this is not as wasteful.

For now, 4 tickets go to skills, out of which, only [Reading speed up] was a skill I already had. Getting it again makes its level go up, increasing its effects.

As for the new skills:

[Better Crafting

The final object obtained after crafting has its quality increased by this skill, allowing for a small general boost to an object's innate specificities. This is a passive skill that cannot be turned off.]

[Focused Breathing

By focusing on your breathing at any time, it's possible to have a minor increase in the user's physical abilities. This is an active skill, mana is used to keep it active at a ratio of 1 mana point for 10 seconds of use.]

[Wicked Attack

This is an active skill, when utilized grants the next attack a 'Wicked' attribute, increasing its power against opponents who have a good nature or are authorities. Further increase of damage if the opponent meets the first condition and is also a devotee of a cult. Each use costs 5 mana points.]

Outside of [Better Crafting], the other two have quite obvious uses for combat. I don't think I'll meet any monster with a good nature inside the dungeon to use [Wicked Attack] on, and I don't even know what criteria it uses to determine an opponent's nature, but it might come in handy.

The real problem is that if someone uses analysis on me now, this skill might raise suspicion since normally I'd have to willingly get it from the [Available Skills] menu.

Well, there's not much I can do about that but hope that I get a skill to hide this in the future.

The [Better Craftin] is also troublesome in its own way, being a passive skill that cannot be turned off. But the effects aren't damaging in any way, so I'm still quite lucky when it comes to passive skills... if you ignore the ones that have to deal with Trees.

After the skills, I was left with three tickets remaining.

I had already decided on their use. The three of them went directly to the [Companions Banner]. It was the first time I would do a multi-roll on the [Companions Banner], so I had great expectations for it.