[The Game has been patched!]
[Potion Brewing no longer random. Now depends on materials consumed.]
"Let's get down to business." I began my discussion with Jaune. It had been a few hours and she had calmed down, which was impressive due to the fact that I had just basically drastically altered his physicality with no permission. She was sitting on the bad while I was pacing the room.
"You should put some chairs and tables up here so we don't have to keep sitting on the floor to eat." Boxes that once held food in them lay scattered between us. We had just finished eating a late breakfast and I haven't had the chance to clean up.
"And on that note, I'm glad to see you're feeling better." I stopped pacing.
"Well…I'm stuck like this for probably forever because of you…" She began uncomfortably and slightly angry. "So I figured I should get used to this…"
"Good, because I swear if I have to deal with you crying again I'm locking you in the Workshop until you stop." That earned me a glare and I chuckled. "Oh would you relax, I'm not actually going to do it."
'No because I'd either kick you out since you aren't drawing in any money for me at all or find a way to throw you into the Ant Instant Dungeon…heh…Ant Instant Dungeon, InstANT Dungeon…'
"So how did you do this to me? You said it was that drink you gave me last night…"
"I'll tell you more about that later." I started once more. "Let's start with what you plan to do. I remember from when we first met that you were heading for Beacon but got here early. Do you still want to go to Beacon?"
"I do, but how am I supposed to get in now?"
"I don't know? How do you usually get into Beacon?"
"…Why don't you know?!"
"Jaune, I'm a shopkeeper, not a Hunter wannabe. I don't know what Hunters or student Hunters are up to outside of my shop. So excuse me for not caring, now, explain." I paused for a moment. "Oh excuse me, I meant Huntsmen."
"Well…uh…I just sent in my transcripts." She explained.
"And?" I tapped my foot impatiently.
"Uh…that's it."
"That's it?" She nodded. "Oh, well this should be easy then..."
[Through action a new skill has been created! ]
[Voice Mimic Lvl1]
[Mimic a person's voice to the best of your abilities. 25% Chance of failure.]
Jaune watched me with jaw agape as I smoothed over some final details over the phone, well not phone, it was a Scroll, using her voice.
"There we go." I said proudly as I pocketed the Scroll. It had taken some time to find a place that sold me a Scroll and some more to figure out how to contact Beacon. "You're previous error of registering wrongly has been corrected, try not to do it again." I declared smugly as I walked away from her.
"How did you do that? You sounded exactly like me!"
"I wouldn't say exactly, I'd say it's pretty close though." I corrected her. "And as for your question, well, I am a man of many talents and abilities."
'Though I really can't see myself levelling Voice Mimic all that much.' I thought before suddenly struck with an idea. 'Wait, could I mimic some singer's voice and put it into discs to sell? There's an idea.'
"Now are you ready Jaune Arc?!" I said suddenly whirling around dramatically spread my arms with a slow sweeping motion.
"What are you doing?" She asked suddenly backing up.
"For what I am about to show you what could possibly be one of the world's greatest secrets!" I continued, ignoring her. "And the reason why you are as you are now!" I saw her focus on me.
I posed dramatically. "Invite Jaune Arc to Party!" I declared.
Silence reigned as I waited excitedly for something to happen.
"Uhh…was something supposed to happen?" She asked before I shushed her.
"Wait for it…"
"I'm…uh…I'm just going to go now…" She began to slowly move away from me and towards the stairs.
"Hmm…I swear that would've worked…" I thought for a while before snapping my fingers. "Oh yeah! Create Party!"
[You have created a party!]
[What would you like to name this party?]
'Training Party.' I thought.
[Training Party party Created!]
"Now!" I boomed after facing Jaune once more. "Prepare yourself for what is possibly one of this world's greatest secrets! Invite Jaune Arc to Party!"
There was more silence as I thought about what I could be doing wrong. Then I realized it, the Game registers her under a different name.
"Of course! That's what I was doing wrong." I pointed at Jaune, who was now close to the stairs. "Now Arc, prepare yourself yada yada yada you get the idea! Invite Joan Arc to Party! Really ruining my moment here…" I muttered the last part under my breath.
I watched proudly as finally a screen popped up in front of Jaune, startling her for a moment. I struggled for a bit to read what was on it.
[Euca Vinmoor has invited you to Training Party! Do you accept?]
[Yes/No]
[Through action you have created a new skill!]
[Backwards Reading Lvl1]
[Be able to read text backwards with some struggle.]
"Wha-what is this?" She asked, surprised at the set of floating text in front of her.
"This, Jaune Arc, is how we're going to get you ready for Beacon." I declared. I saw her right hand hesitantly move towards the 'Yes'. "Go on, don't be afraid." I encouraged her until she finally pressed the button. The message box disappeared and I knew that she could see what I could. The numbers, the values, and the names. Our levels, our HP and AP, and our names.
It was a glorious moment for me as she looked at me in awe for a few seconds.
"Jaune Arc, behold my power." I said dramatically. "Behold for to me life is but a game."
"Why is my level higher than yours?" She finally said after a few moments of silence.
"Uh…well that is to say…" I stammered, embarrassed that she had pointed that out.
"Why is my HP so much higher than yours?"
"…You know what I don't need this." I said with a huff. "To put it simply, to me life is a game. I mean it's a great game and all, the graphics are nice and the gameplay is decent but the respawn timer is atrocious." She looked at me with a confused look. "It's an inside joke, don't pay it any mind. Prepare yourself Arc, for tomorrow I will be actively helping you get ready for Beacon."
"Haaaaah…" I let out a long sigh, savouring the peace. "Isn't this nice Arc?" I asked as I used Break Down on some glowing crystals. "It's nice that we can take a break despite you having 56 days left before leaving to Beacon."
I could hear screaming and the sound of many large insects, ants specifically, following something.
"I'm glad you agree." I began to hum as I peacefully harvested more crystals for future use.
"HELP ME!" I heard her yell and turned to face her. She was being assaulted by the Big Ant Horde and it didn't look like she was fighting back despite having Crocea Mors in hand and shield unfolded.
"You can do it, come on, is this all a future Beacon student can do?" I asked, slowly sorting through my Inventory as I sauntered towards her.
"I DON'T KNOW HOW TO FIGHT!"
"Don't know how to fight? You have a sword and shield! Use them!"
"HOW?"
"Do I look like a combat teacher to you? Figure it out!" I yelled back as I began to collect more Crystal Shards. "Hit them with the sharp parts of your sword Arc! Don't forget that you have a shield!" I finally advised after a few minutes.
I hummed a merry tune as the screaming was replaced by the sound of steel going through insect after insect, each one giving off a short high pitched squeal as it died. It was satisfying to hear death after death after death, but not as satisfying as getting free XP from being in a party with Jaune and having her do all the heavy lifting for me.
Half an hour later I was a level higher at a lot happier.
"Well now, that wasn't too bad was it Joan?" I commented. "Boy you weren't kidding when you said you didn't know how to fight."
[Joan Arc Lvl20]
[Unlucky Heroine]
[594/1200 HP]
"Don't call me that…" She panted. She looked tired but she seemed to have mustered enough energy to glare at me. "You dick…"
"Well I prefer 'well-meaning narcissist' over 'dick' but sure." I put one of her arms on my shoulders and gently lifted her up. "Let's get you some rest. We won't do this every day but when we do I expect you to have at least improved a bit every time." With those last words I used ID Escape and brought us back into the shop where I helped her up to the second floor and left her on my bed.
I opened the shop late and manned the counter where I began to experiment with the Crystal Shards and put more points into my Stats.
[Euca Vinmoor]
[Shopkeeper]
[Level:16]
[Class: Merchant]
[HP: 358]
[AP:3680]
[STR:30+2]
[VIT:25+2]
[DEX:15]
[AGI:11-2]
[INT:14+5]
[LUK:35]
[EXP: 100/1600]
[Points:0]
[Lien: 20832]
I placed all the Crytal Shards on the counter used Item Crafting on it, picturing what I wanted.
[Item Crafting has levelled up!]
Now sitting on the counter was a transparent crystalline flask. I picked it up and rotated it before using Observe on it.
[Crystal Flask]
[A container for potions only. Does not break outside of combat.]
"Wonderful. Potion Brewing."
A viscous amber liquid slowly filled the flask and I watched as more Crystals Shards disappeared. When it finished filling up I used observe on it.
[Shiny Coating]
[Apply to item. Makes item shiny and increases durability.]
"Well that's nice." I put away the flask into my inventory. I put on a smile as I heard the doors open.
"Welcome to Moor Items. What can I help you with?" I greeted the nondescript and totally normal customers.
I spent the rest of the day minding the shop by myself.
51 days left before Beacon
"Steadily improving Joan, good job. You now know which side of the shield you're supposed to be on." I complimented her as she took down another Knight. We were in the Knight Dungeon so she could have some experience against human combatants…heh, combatANTS. That and she pretty much promised that she would scare off customers if I brought her into the Ant Dungeon again without helping her.
"Would you stop calling me Joan!" She yelled back at me.
"Mmm…yeah nooo…" A Knight went flying towards me. I equipped my Charging Shield and used Deflect, sending the knight flying to the side. "Watch it, I don't have as much HP as you." I warned.
"Then stop calling me Joan!" She yelled back. And brutalized another poor Knight.
"Fine, I'll stop. But then you're going to Beacon like that, wouldn't people find it strange that you keep insisting that your name isn't the same as the one on your transcripts? So like it or not you're going to have to get used to the name." I sighed. "Hey save me some of the action!" I brought out my hammer and used Reckless Charge, crashing into one Knight and pinning him into the wall.
I had to at least make it look like I was putting an effort into this don't I?
49 days before Beacon
"Hmm…" I stared intently at Joan, her protests on using that name were slowly dwindling. She was sorting the various weapons I had on sale. Surprisingly very few bought the weapons and the ones that did bought the decoration ones, which was fine with me.
"Why are you staring at me?" Ah, she caught me.
"Hmm nothing, I'm just thinking…" I straightened up. "Yo Joan! Come over here for a bit." She stopped what she was doing and came over to me.
"What is it Euca?" I eyed her up and down.
"Don't move." I commanded before entering the Workshop. Moments later I came out carrying a large metal box. "Ok go ahead, open it."
She slowly opened the box and gasped as she saw its contents. She gently pulled out the Noble Knight Armor, only I had to slightly modify it by breaking it down and using Item Crafting again with less material. I had even gone through the extra effort of applying Shiny Coating to it.
"Like it?" I said as she donned the armour. "I figured I might as well give it to you now as an apology...still hate me?"
"Not as much anymore…I…thank you Euca."
"Don't mention it, we're gonna be putting that to good use tomorrow."
"For what?"
"We're gonna go do the Grimm Dungeon."