Chapter 137: Grit Castle (1/2)
”Quite an interesting looking Dungeon,” Rakna commented as he dropped off everyone from his barrier. They landed in front of a large castle made out of sandstone, surrounded by fences as tall as humans.
”Yeah, it's hard to miss too,” Allan said and groaned as he shielded his face from the sun. ”Sheesh, this heat is freaking annoying. I already miss the isolation of your barrier. It was nice.”
”Hm?” Rakna tilted his head at him. ”Oh…” He realized something and his aura became visible with the naked eye. Everyone widened their eyes as they felt a cool breeze sweep over them.
The blond blinked then gazed at his friend with sparkling eyes. ”Of course!” He exclaimed and put an arm over the therian's shoulder. ”Your magic's perfect for this! You're the ultimate portable air condition-ack!” He ended his sentence with his head buried under the sand.
”Who the hell are you calling an air conditioner?” Rakna blankly retorted as he lowered the hand he had used to hit the idiot's head.
”Peh! I have sand in my mouth!” Allan as he tried to spit out the grains. ”How are you so strong?”
”30 in strength.”
”Huh? That's basically the same as mine. Did you focus on strength? That's surprising.”
”I didn't focus on anything. I haven't used any attribute points since the tutorial.”
”…what?”
”Wait, so what are your attributes right now? How many points do you have?” Flavia asked.
”On average, I have around 27 on all attributes. As for the points I have available…” Rakna paused at that and opened his status briefly. ”54.6.”
Allan's jaw dropped. He recovered from his shock then calmly stood up. He grabbed his friend's shoulders and stared at him in the eyes. ”…please give me some?”
”No,” Rakna immediately refused. ”Can you even do that?”
[Affirmative,] Alexa provided. [It is possible to exchange unused attribute points with other Hosts if you desire so. It is not unusual for Hosts to use it as a secondary currency.]
”Uh… that's good to know. Well, if you really need some in the future, I could give away some. Since my growth is honestly not limited in any way by that, it could be a good idea to help you instead.”
”On second thought… no thanks, it feels like I'm being pitied,” Allan blankly said.
Rakna shrugged. ”Your choice. Let's get to it now,” he said and started walking toward the gate of the castle. A system window popped up when he touched it.
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You are required to be in a party of five people or more to enter this Dungeon.
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Four Friends have been detected nearby; would you like to forward them an invitation?
Yes/No
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”Yes,” Rakna answered and the invitations were sent. The others promptly accepted it.
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Party successfully formed.
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Members: Hidden, Allan River, Flavia Jeina, Evelyn J. Malcanthet, Nyx Nocta Regysnite.
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You will now enter the Dungeon, Grit Castle.
Recommended Level for this Dungeon: 30
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Please select a difficulty:
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⦓ Easy ⦔ - ⦓ Normal ⦔ - ⦓ Hard ⦔ - ⦓ Fiendish ⦔
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”Why does your name show up as 'Hidden'?” Allan inquired; slightly confused.
Rakna blinked. He hadn't expected this either. He had forgotten that his name would also show up in a party member list. He hadn't taken that into account when trying to hide his full name. He had been lucky.
”I have a skill that hides certain parts of my status. I didn't know it also extended to parties. By curiosity, how does my name appear in your friend list?” He asked back with a bit of apprehension.
”It's still 'Rakna Xiorra' for me,” Evelyn replied first and the others nodded.
”I see…” Rakna scowled. 'Alexa, explanation?'
[I took the liberty to hide your full name from your added friends,] she answered. [Since you did not wish to reveal it, I thought it would be an apt course of action. While I cannot change the name on your status back to what it was, I can bend the rules a bit in your favor.]
Rakna was a bit taken aback. 'Is that something… you're allowed to do as an AI?'
[Technically… I am not. If the main server comes to notice my infraction, I might get punished. But thanks to my being an S-Class AI, I have the know-how to do something like this.]
'…thank you.'
[You are welcome.]
”{Such a devoted artificial intelligence. It is as if she has given her loyalty to you rather than the system that birthed her,}” Fray said. ”{I cannot help but wonder if this will turn into a quest for humanity… yes, yes! That would be a-!}”
'What did I say about talking?'