The World of Tactics

Chapter Seventeen II: Exchange of Parting Gift

"It is known that a person could store eight items after experiencing their first battle. However, not everyone will be able to use more than two or three item slots. That is a known fact. It would take roughly a year before that person can fully use the eight-item slots given their familiarity with the usage of the mana within their body. There is no explanation as to why there was such a phenomenon, but for those that could open all eight item slots within the very first battle. Their potential is known to be much higher than those that could only open two or three item slots. This should be called selective potential.

[Basically, this involves the matter of gaining experience. Every person gains experiences at a different rate and experiences different growth rates. The minimum item slot that opens up would at least be one item slot and the maximum would be eight item slots. It might be easier for those that open one or two item slots to gain experience. However, their growth rates are lower than average. As for those that open up eight item slots, they would gain less experience, but their overall growth rate is much higher than the former. A side note: This is the game balance.]" Written by unknown crest researchers.

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Usually, a normal book has to be sealed in magic spells first before it becomes a magic tome. But, that was not truly important. The most important thing was that the normal book must not contain any other magic spells. They could easily interfere with the other magic spells which will become costly during a battle. So, many apprentices and mages would never dare to seal two different spells into a magic tome light nor think of doing so. However, this blank book could solve that problem since the material was made from special quality magic wood and other materials that could isolate each magic spell sealed within each page. Not only that, but the materials used are magic materials. The pages could be reused over and over until they can no longer withstand use.

This blank book is called The Sage's Book. He had not thought that Kevin would be so brave and confident to directly get such a book for Claudia after all this time. This book is five times the cost of a single vulnerary, which equates to two thousand to two-thousand five-hundred gold coins. That is a significant amount of money. He even thinks that a noble would not easily fork out that many gold coins to buy a book that could be reused over and over. It would be better to get the magic tome that already had sealed magic spells within, which cost over a few hundred gold coins.

The competition between the two is quite intense. It was only when Claudia made a small cough did the two snap from each other's electrifying gaze. Claudia gives him three stacks of magic scrolls that contain ten scrolls each. It sounds a lot, but a magic scroll is quite small compared to a page from a standard book. Unscrolling one of the magic scrolls, it was just as big as his palm. Seeing the beauty of the magic scrolls, he could not help but compliment her scribe skill. Once he got enough looks at the magic scrolls, he took notice of what the magic sealed within was. The three scrolls contain the fireball spell, mini ignition spell, and thunderbolt spell.

[Fireball Scroll: Might +1, Hit +85, Crit +0, Weight=0]

[A magic scroll sealed with a fireball spell. Launch a ball made of fire toward a target. Destroyed after use. Item slot stack limit: 10.]

[Mini Ignition Scroll: Might +0, Hit +85, Crit +0, Weight=0]

[A magic scroll sealed with a mini ignition spell. Bury the ignition fire within a select square. Once an enemy moves through the square, it explodes and deals with 5 fire magic (flat damage). Destroyed after use. Item slot stack limit: 10.]

[Thunderbolt Scroll: Might +1, Hit +85, Crit +0, Weight=0]

[A magic scroll sealed with the thunderbolt spell. Zap a target with a ball with the power of lightning. Destroyed after use. Item slot stack limit: 10.]

He was quite happy with the sudden gain of the magic scrolls because they were quite expensive and were priced at twenty-five gold coins each. A total of thirty magic scrolls were already seven-hundred fifty gold coins. This must have taken quite the amount of vitality from an apprentice to make these because to use magic. Something that must be used as fuel to invoke magic and vitality will need to be used when casting magic spells, which is why magic tomes are popular among mages. In a sense, this world uses the word 'vitality.' However, from his viewpoint, this so-called vitality is just a health point.

There was one time when Claudia showed him how a fireball was cast and he was quite immersed in the incredibility. He noticed that Claudia later lost one health point and he had confirmed that every time Claudia uses magic. She would lose a set amount of magic depending on the level of the spell. A level one spell-like a fireball only costs one health point and a level two spell would cost two health points. Now that her fire magic mastery had reached rank C, she could finally use level three spells, which would cost three health points each. Claudia can currently only use five level-three spells before she dies due to the loss of all of her health points.

This is why magic tomes are very important for mages and usually, a mage would dare to cast magic spells using their vitality while in battle. This is one key reason why a magic tome is expensive. As for magic scrolls, the reason why it was expensive was that it does not require any magic talent to use, but requires magic talent to create. This causes quite a contradiction with magic time because only mages can use it. This is also another key reason why a magic scroll is extremely expensive, even though it might be a notch weaker. However, he wondered how much a mage got to be milked of vitality before they could finish making a level three or four magic tomes.

It must have taken a person with low health points at least a month or so due to the slow regeneration of health points over time. That is unless vulnerary were richly consumed. This is one of the reasons why mages have a lot of prestige and a lot of wealth that they could squander. The best way he could describe a mage is that they were milking themselves dry for wealth. While this is true, it is also important to note that a mage should not take the risk of consuming all of their vitality within a single session. A mage would become vulnerable with most of their health points consumed into making magic tomes, magic scrolls, and other activities that involve the use of magic.

He even thinks that he would not risk having his health drained by half before the start of a battle. Shaking that thought from his mind, Claudia had already given the others the same amount of magic scrolls. He shook his mind again as he counted that there were a total of one hundred fifty scrolls being handed out. He looked at Claudia's health points, again and again, to confirm that it was just fifteen out of fifteen. She must have used at least half a month to make those. For a total of one hundred fifty magic scrolls. He gave himself another assessment and got an answer. The grand worth of gold coins from those one hundred fifty magic scrolls was three-thousand seven-hundred fifty gold coins.

He was pretty baffled by Claudia's generosity in the number of gold coins. He probably needed to hunt hundreds of goblins for their soul cores just to get that number. The difference between the two was cost-effectiveness. The time difference also matters in number, the limited number of encounters with goblins, and the same goes for needing to cover the cost of weapon repair in between. This made him doubt life quite a bit and the thought of 'did I choose the wrong class to start?' began to show.

It was Sam's turn to take out the parting gift. It was not something fancy nor was it expensive. What Sam got was a five-palm-sized tinderbox that contained flint, a small metal rod, and a good amount of char cloth. There was nothing much, but he did find that this little thing that Sam gave him was quite practical and necessary when going out into the wild. It also seemed like he would have some fire to warm himself for the night.

Everyone gave their thanks to Sam and their eyes subconsciously moved towards Miller. It was as if they were saving him for the last person to give out gifts. Miller could only helplessly shrug and bring out the gift. Miller's gift was nothing else but unique-looking accessories. He was even quite interesting because Miller supposedly used magic materials to create them. Taking a look, he found that every accessory was pretty precious. On the tabletop lay a pair of bracers, three rings, and one necklace. Every item was able to increase one stat point except one of the particular rings. The ring was able to increase health points by three. The accessories statistics are listed below:

[Hobgoblin’s Strength Bracer (STR +1)]

[A pair of bracers that was imbued with the soul core of a hobgoblin. Due to low-quality materials and crude workmanship, items can provide a limited boost. When equipped, strength +1.]

[Direwolf’s Speed Ring (SPD +1)]

[A ring that was imbued with the soul core of a direwolf. Due to low-quality materials and crude workmanship, items can provide a limited boost. When equipped, speed +1.]

[Troll’s Vigor Ring (HP +3)]

[A ring that was imbued with the soul core of a troll. Barely qualified workmanship, items can provide a discounted boost. When equipped, health points +3.]

[Shaman’s Magic Ring (MAG +1)]

[A ring that was imbued with the soul core of a hobgoblin shaman. Due to low-quality materials and crude workmanship, items can provide a limited boost. When equipped, magic +1.]

[Iron Golem Protection Necklace (Def +1)]

[A necklace that was imbued with the soul core of an iron golem. Due to low-quality materials and crude workmanship, items can provide a limited boost. When equipped, defense +1.]

He was quite tempted to grab the ring of magic that provides one point in magic, but he felt that it matched Claudia more. There was also another option that Claudia could go towards, which was the ring of vigor. It would help if her health points were so low, to begin with. Those three points would be extremely useful. Even so, he had not rushed for the grab as of yet. Miller was still in the process of explaining the use of the item in front of them.

Generally, Miller explained that the number of accessories a person could equip was related to their current rank. After saying so, Miller shows two more additional rings and situated them within Miller's fingers. One on each finger. One glimmers a bit red while the other is blue. The red one increases strength by one, while the blue one increases skill; left and right-hand hands respectively. He did see that Miller's strength and defense jumped by one point each. He reckons that the value of each accessory is extremely high.

However, there was something that he was confused about and that is where Miller did get those kinds of soul core. Because each one is highly valuable. Not only that, the monsters that produce those kinds of soul cores are also extremely strong. Unless there was a group of high-level grade two personals or two to three grade three equivalents, then there is no chance of defeating such monsters. He knows for sure because he has read through a couple of monster bestiary books that explain the strengths and weaknesses of such monsters.

He had wanted to ask questions at first, but given that each person has their secrets. He did not want to open his mouth to ask because it might have hit their sensitive spots. Miller did not keep the effects of every accessory a secret. The other thing that Miller mentioned was that accessories that provide the same boost do not stack and the highest would be applied. Afterward, Miller starts with who would get to choose first. It was expected that either he got to go first or Sam got to go first. As expected, the first to go was Sam, followed by Plucker, Kevin, Claudia, and finally him. He did not mind, since none of the accessories were beneficial to him either way.

Sam chose the bracer of strength, then Plucker chose the ring of speed, while Kevin went straight towards the necklace of protection. Claudia hesitated between the last two before grabbing the ring of magic, and the ring of vigor was put into his hand. Afterward, Miller also added that they got some magic materials along with a good quality soul core. Miller could do something about it and make them into accessories at no cost. However, there is something else though. Miller's chances of creating accessories that could provide such benefits were only one out of ten, so they had to bear the loss of materials. Miller also said that if they had time, it was best to go to an enchanting workshop because the shop sells such accessories at a proper price.

He kept that in the back of his mind because he might have a use for such items later down the line. He could also possibly gain some kind of accessory that could have some interesting effects when equipped. Preferably, he wanted some accessory that could increase multiple stat at the same time which would provide more benefit than the one that he got from Miller. However, he has to set aside this plan for now, since the base price for one hovers around four hundred to five hundred. He had less than four hundred gold coins at the moment. Due to his spending over time, he had already unconsciously spent more than two hundred gold coins. He did not regret doing so because he truly put the gold coins into good use.

Finally, everyone's attention was back to him. He could see the expectation coming from the eyes of the five. He smiled, he had already finished packing up the last departing gift for the five of them already. He calmly reaches out to the small leather pouch on the left side of his waist. Upon lifting the leather cover from the top, there were many small trinkets within. The most conspicuous were five books that were neatly stacked and bound by their leather straps. With a single lift of his hands, he took out the five feet size books.

He put the five on top of the table in a clearing away from the plateful of food. Slowly, he sorts every one of them out. Firstly, he hands the very first book to Kevin, then Plucker, Claudia, Sam, and finally Miller. The outer appearance looks thin, but the pages inside were quite the number. He had to explain after each and everyone got their leather book.

He directed his attention to the four guys before saying, "Listen carefully. All of my lance mastery, perspective, weapons advantage, and whatnot into that bonded book." He pauses for a breather and continues, "Read it a couple of times and it would be a lifesaver someday."

After addressing the four, he finally turns his attention to Claudia and says, "Claudia, that book contains the bestiaries of all of the monsters found within the library." He continues and smiles, "It's quite useful and interesting."

The reason why he would say that it was interesting was that he had drawn most of the monster appearances, different poses of the monsters, and gave an honest danger rating for them. The least dangerous was one star and those belonged to goblins, ratman, wolves, kobold, and those similar in strength. The most dangerous would be a fully grown adult wyvern, wing snake, ogre, troll, and others that were quite terrifying. This, he rated them five stars. Sometimes he would even describe the stages of the wyvern from hatchling, to juvenile, then adult, and finally the dying wyvern.

To those, he gave them three stars, four stars, five stars, and four stars respectively. However, for those that evolved, they become stronger. Take, for example, a goblin that evolved into a hobgoblin. He did not hesitate to give them a two-star to a three-star rating. It was just how dangerous an evolved hobgoblin could potentially get once it grew to a certain point. In his opinion, the evolved monsters were much stronger than the natural-born from the parent of hobgoblins. This is why he created the bestiaries, to begin with. Humans have the crest system to get stronger and monsters have their evolution system to get stronger. The only reason why humans were able to gain an advantage over monsters was the higher quality weaponry, accessories, and various other aspects.

Once the gifts were given, he felt the tint of coldness from his spoonful of meat. Their plate of food was cold, but everyone ate with relish while talking to each other. He did not join the conversation and quietly listened from the side. He liked the mood vibrating off from the excited five. Having a calm and peaceful meal along with the jubilant five made something boring, such as eating at a booming party. Oftentimes, they also showed off their different gifts. The five would mostly compare the differences between the bonded books that they got from him.

His food quickly disappeared from his plate. While he had wanted to stay with them longer, doing so would make him more reluctant to return home. That also means that he might have to stay there for a year or so before being able to go back home. However, he had hardened his heart for this moment and it was time to return home. So, he rudely interrupts the talkative five with a few hard knocks on the table. This action of his completely gained their attention.

He did not add nor spice any of his words and said, "It's time."