Chapter 22: The Next Course Of Action—1
"Here, that will be 6000 Arthum!"
The shopkeeper lady set the plates fulled with colourful dumplings on the table and a notification panel appeared before me to pay for it. Zariel seemed happy now by getting all the food as well.
We were at a roadside shop—reminiscent of a street food stall and were having a after victory celebration. It was my way of giving excuse, I was just really hungry and besides...
After our battle had ended at the Nora Clan Shrine, I summoned Zariel. I did try to convince her that it was the sub-quest that prevented me from summoning her. But she was so stubborn that she didn’t even care to hear me out.
Only when I told that I would give her a treat as compensation, did she somewhat consider my words. Right now, she appeared to have no resentment either. She just ate the dumplings I had bought for her and Shika. They were enjoying it.
[Consumable Items have been bought]
[Arthum consumed: 6000]
[Currency Inventory]
[Arthum: 4,302,000]
[Orum: 42,400]
[Erthum: 378]
Oh, that’s right. I have forgotten about the other currency systems.
As I said before, ADC had three currency systems.
Arthum—the widely used one, was pretty common, and had lower economic value in this game. Even a dozen plate of dumplings cost me 6000.
Orum—on the other hand—had higher economic value compared to Arthum and was equivalent to 100 Arthum. Aside from the ’Auction Events’, it wasn’t usable elsewhere. Other times, players had to convert it into Arthum to use elsewhere. Then again, once it was converted to Arthum it couldn’t be turned back into Orum.
I had 42,400 Orum in my possession, which was pretty rare for my current self in this game.
Then there was the last one—Erthum. It was a mythical coin and surpassed the other two in economic value. I wasn’t sure how much an Erthum was equivalent to Orum or Arthum, but I did use 1 Erthum to buy the Emerald Predator from the Auction Event.
Back then the auction price for the Grade-S item went more than 10,000 Orum, I still managed to buy it just using a single Erthum, showing how mythical it was.
It was worth it though.
Estimating the number of Erthum in my Currency Inventory, I could easily buy a Kingdom or two.
I should say thanks to Zariel. If she had been around I might’ve avoided a lost treasure chest back on the ninth heaven.
I looked at her. She was enjoying the dumplings happily. And so was Shika.
That reminds me, I should check my current status.
As the thought occurred to me I commanded "Status" and a several system panel opened at once presenting me the tab...
[Character Profile]
[Name: Zanthrix]
[Rank: D]
[Job: None]
[Title: The Fallen Heir]
[Character Condition]
[Health: 1690/1860]
[Fatigue: 11%]
[Skill Gauge: 02%]
[Core Attributes]
[STR: 56 (+20)]
[AGI:61]
[DEF: 55]
[ACC: 54]
[PEN: 60]
[INT: 54]
[VIT: 52]
[Additional Attributes]
[Are of Effect (AOE): Lv-2]
[Health Buffer Rate (HBR): Lv-2]
[Skill Recast Reducer (SRR): Lv-2]
[Skill Effectiveness Amplifier (SEA): Lv-2]
[Avatar Exclusive Skill: Class Shifter
(Stage-II)]
[Primary Classes (Single Selection)]
[Swordsman (Tier-6)]
(Common) <Selected>
[Assassin (Tier-6)]
(Common)
[Defender (Tier-8)]
(Common)
[Archer (Tier-7)]
(Common)
[Lancer (Tier-6)]
(Common)
[Mage (Tier-6)]
(Common)
[Supporter (Tier-7)]
(Common)
[Secondary Classes (Multiple Selection)]
[Summoner (Mythical)]
[Summoning Contracts]
[Seraphyll: Zariel (Type: Inferior); the Rule of Thunder]
+-----+
Strange!
Even though everything was as it should be, I felt something wrong.
Where’s the ’Characteristic Effect’? I’m pretty sure it was applied when I tried to use Emerald Predator regardless of my rank. It seems to be absent.
I pondered and perhaps I would a bit more. Then Shika called out...
"Zanthrix you don’t want any?"
She pointed towards the plates that were full with dumplings a second ago. However, there was only a single plate left now. Zariel on the other hand avoided my stare, biting her tongue with a smug face.
Sigh!
I took the last reaming and stopped thinking about anything. I was very hungry. I didn’t know whether a single plate would do any good, but I ate them and let myself indulge in the flavours.
Sweet!
*****
Our task on the twelfth heaven was done. We also got the next heaven entry permit, saving us a vast amount of time to defeat the twelfth heaven guardian.
We headed to the teleportation center from where we could teleport to the next heaven. Everything was going swimmingly—perhaps too swimmingly that I forgot something.
Since the hilt had a broken fragment attached to it, Shika was able to sustain her human appearance much longer. In fact, she could remain a human if she wanted to. She wasn’t something that would draw the attention of the other players at the moment.
I wished I could say the same for Zariel who insisted on being by my side until the next heaven. She refused to undo the summon and stuck to my shoulder—her favorite seat.
Seeing a player wandering on the lower heavens with a Seraphyll on his shoulder, drew an unimaginable attraction. The next thing I knew I was surrounded by many players asking a bunch of questions at a time.
"Whoa! A Seraphyll! It’s my first time seeing one!!"
I don’t care dude.
"I wish I could have one!!"
Take this one, Miss.
"I thought it was just a rumor spreading around the internet. I never thought the developers really would’ve added them."
I wish that were the case.
"How did you obtain such a phenomenal being, Mr."
Beats me!
"Can I get a Seraphyll like her as well?"
Visit the eighth heaven, young lady!
"She’s so cute!!!! I want her."
Then take her with you!
"What’s your name, Mr? Are you a tamer? But you are on the twelfth floor. There’s no way your one."
Yup! I’m not a tamer, I’m a Summoner.
And so on.
It became unimaginably annoying. My inward thoughts were going wild as well. I knew this would happen. But no. Zariel was just too stubborn to take no for an answer.
Shika was feeling uncomfortable as well. It was suffocating. Answering their question wasn’t possible for me either. I liked to keep my info private.
Besides, if players found out that I was Riyo Takahashi, there was no way I could avoid more attention.
But there was one way.
Only a single sacrifice would help me out of the situation.
I held Zariel with my arm, gave her a ’Forgive me’ smile, and threw her in the hands of the public.
"If you want, you can have her," I said, looking at Zariel’s dumbfounding expression.
As they became more crazy, I took Shika’s hand and made a run. We ran, ran, and continued running.
Zariel probably had gone insane by the overwhelming crowd. The thunderblast said otherwise. I was sure that her attack wouldn’t be effective as everyone was within the safe zone, giving me enough time to reach the teleportation center.
"Summon Zariel!"
[Contracted Seraphyll: Zariel (Type: Inferior), the Ruler of Thunder has been summoned through the secondary class Summoner]
Zariel was summoned again.
She breathed heavily and unevenly, looking ferociously at me as if she wanted to chew me up for what I did to her.
"Why you...."
Before she could continue I used the permit to teleport us to the next heaven. Our body dematerialized into shining particles and teleported to the thirteenth floor—Heaven Kaizoma.