Astral Online: Cursed by the Demon Lord to Become the Strongest Beautiful Girl, I Rapidly Grow and Dominate with Cheat Skills Despite Being the Weakest Profession - Chapter 40
Chapter 40: A Grateful Heart
While Shio and the others were engaged in their escort battle against the ?Leviathan Army?, Sora, guided by Aria, made her way to Giorl’s office.
Piles of investigation reports, as thick as encyclopedias, were stacked on the desk. These documents detailed various changes in the environment around the temple, including information on monsters, their types, levels, and more.
Giorl, who had called Sora, sat on the other side of the large desk. With a serious expression, he spoke up immediately.
“Sora-sama, I’ve heard from the princess that the ?Leviathan Army? has appeared. Is this true?”
“You mean those poison-spewing things, right? Yeah, I noticed a few of them using my ?Perception? skill on the way here.”
“So, you possess a legendary skill. Fascinating, but let’s set that aside for now,” Giorl said, furrowing his brow and looking even more concerned.
“…Sora-sama, I deeply apologize for the inconvenience, but could I ask you to conduct a brief investigation before heading to the temple?”
In front of Sora, the notification ?Event Quest: Investigation of the Anomaly? appeared. It seemed to be a forced quest, as there was no typical ?YES/NO? option.
The quest’s completion condition was to obtain one ?Great Serpent Scale? from the ?Leviathan Army? and present it to Giorl.
…Ah, I see.
In an instant, Sora understood the flow of this quest. Most likely, before reaching the quest to retrieve the ?Jade Ring?, they would need to complete a series of quests issued by Giorl.
Judging by the event’s duration, it was clear that they needed to handle this quickly, or it could drag on for a long time. If they took their time and the barrier’s restoration was delayed, those dealing with the escort quest and the raid boss ?Leviathan? might not hold out.
However, there was another intriguing line at the bottom of the quest description.
??By submitting up to 50 scales, you can earn a special ?E-Rank? reward: a “decorative item.”
Could it be that the quests I’ll be taking on from now are structured to offer rewards that can rank up?
If that’s the case, as a gamer, my only option is to always aim for the highest possible reward.
As I reviewed the quest details, I suddenly remembered and opened my item list. I took out all 50 ?Great Serpent Scale? that I had obtained through relentless hunting when I logged in, and placed them on Giorl’s desk.
“Will this do?”
“Wha… What is this?”
Giorl blinked several times as he stared at the 50 scales, which gleamed like green jewels, piled in front of him. He cautiously picked up one of the scales and examined it closely.
After scrutinizing it for about three minutes, he looked at me with a face that could hardly believe what he was seeing.
“I have indeed confirmed it. These are unmistakably scales from the ?Leviathan Army?.”
As the ?Quest Completed? notification appeared, I received the experience points as a completion bonus. Giorl then took out a palm-sized treasure chest and placed it in front of me.
“This is your reward.”
“Hmm, a decorative item. I didn’t see anything like this at the armor shop…”
“Yeah, none of the shops are selling accessories or similar gear yet.”
“So, this might be the first accessory item obtained by an adventurer in this game. This is promising.”
I took the box, opened it, and found two bracelets inside. They appeared to be made of wood, adorned with beautiful carvings and a single green gem.
—– —– —– —– —– —– —– —– —– —–
?Item Name?: Spirit Bracelet
?Rank?: E
?Description?: A bracelet crafted from a tree that has lived for billions of years, it reduces the wearer’s magic consumption.
?Effect?: Reduces MP consumption by 5 when using skills.
?Weight?: 10
?Note?: The effects of identical items do not stack.
—– —– —– —– —– —– —– —– —– —–
…This is, to put it mildly, a god-tier item, isn’t it?
With the poor balance between my level-ups and skill levels, my skills have terrible efficiency, but equipping this might improve things a bit.
On top of that, the equipment’s weight value is only around 10, probably because it’s an accessory.
Eyes shining with excitement, Sora picked up the larger bracelet and slipped it onto her right arm. The bracelet glowed, adjusting its size to fit perfectly on her arm.
Wow, fantasy at its finest.
As I marveled at the magical effect, thinking that my two best friends would probably tease me relentlessly if they heard my thoughts, I turned my gaze to the remaining bracelet in the treasure chest. I already knew who I wanted to give it to.
I picked up the remaining bracelet, turned around, and handed it to Kuro.
“Huh, for me?”
Kuro took a step back, surprised, as if she hadn’t expected to receive the bracelet. Seeing her reaction, I spoke with a slightly exasperated tone.
“Who else would it be for?”
“But I’m a fighter, so I don’t really use MP that much…”
“Yeah, I know it might be more efficient to give it to a ?Knight? or ?Mage?,” I agreed.
But then, I quickly dismissed my own words, looking straight at Kuro as I continued.
“Even so, Kuro, I’m really grateful to you. It’s only been two days since we met yesterday, but thanks to you, I’ve genuinely enjoyed playing an online game for the first time in a long while.”
“Sora…”
“That’s why, it’s not about the effect. I just want you to accept this as a token of my appreciation.”
After staring at the bracelet I offered, Kuro slowly accepted it with both hands.
Her cheeks had turned slightly red.
She equipped the bracelet on her right arm, then smiled at me.
“Thank you. I’ll treasure it.”
“Hey, what about me? I’m part of the group too! It’s making me jealous that only the two of you are wearing matching outfits!”
“Wha??!”
Now that it was mentioned, it did kind of look that way.
However, I had only given it as a gesture of thanks, without any deeper meaning. Sora thought, “Ah, I see,” understanding the situation.
Hearing the word “matching,” Kuro lowered her head, her entire face turning bright red as she fell silent.
It’s not like we’re a couple or anything, so wasn’t that reaction a bit much?
Sora shrugged her shoulders, crossed her arms in front of her chest, and said to Aria, who was pouting.
“You didn’t know what a high-five was, but you know the word ‘matching outfits’?”
“Yes, a long time ago, there was a pair of skilled adventurers who visited here. My mother told me that when two close people wear the same thing, it’s called a matching outfit.”
“Oh, so other adventurers besides us have come to the forest.”
When Sora said this, Aria chuckled and replied,
“Yes, but it was a long time ago. It seems they helped bring my father and mother together, and in the place where the temple’s ring is sealed, a statue of the two of them was made as a memorial.”
Interesting, that’s quite a story.
A scenario likely written by the game developers, about adventurers from long ago. I’m looking forward to visiting the place where the ring is sealed. Meanwhile, Kuro, who’s beside me, seems preoccupied, muttering the word “matching outfits” like a mantra for some reason.
She doesn’t seem okay, but it looks like a hassle to bring it up, so I’ll just leave it alone for now.
With a mischievous smile, I turned to Aria and said, “Well, I am grateful to you, Aria, but you’ve also caused me some trouble, so I guess it balances out.”
“Sora-sama, that’s too harsh!”
“Haha, I’m just kidding. If I get something similar, I’ll give it to you too.”
“You promise!”
With that, the conversation wrapped up, and I turned to face Giorl. He was smiling warmly, his hands clasped together as if he were admiring something precious.
…Was this some kind of religious thing?
As Sora looked on with a puzzled expression, Giorl seemed to snap out of it and cleared his throat.
“…Sora-sama, thank you for providing proof that they hatched. But it’s amazing that you managed to gather 50 scales. How did you do it?”
“Well, I just kept slashing through about 50 of them on my own, and they naturally piled up.”
“F-Facing 50 on your own? Haha, you’ve got quite a sense of humor. If you could achieve such a feat against the Leviathan Army, who use poison and reduce the effectiveness of physical attacks, you’d be knighted by King Ordin!”
……I can’t believe I’m being lectured on common sense by an NPC. But if you understand the Leviathan Army’s weaknesses and take proper measures, they’re not that hard to beat.
Hmm, am I the strange one here?
Sora, feeling somewhat uneasy, suddenly noticed a savory smell wafting through the air, making her snap out of her thoughts.
This rich aroma, the one that always fills a yakiniku restaurant, could it be…?
Giorl, noticing Sora’s expression, gave a thumbs-up with his right hand.
“It seems the forest wolf is being cooked. Let’s postpone the request and head to the dining hall.”
“No objections!”
Sora took Kuro’s hand, who had yet to regain her composure, and left the office with Aria and Giorl.