Mash approached Jack reluctantly, mainly because of the smugness of his expression. He looked like he was waiting for this moment, knowing that they wouldn’t be able to sort through the items themselves. The amusement in his tone was thick.

“Not finding anything to your liking. “

“No, but you knew that. So, where should I go look?”

Mash’s irritation was obvious, even if he tried to hide it. Though Jack didn’t seem to mind, chuckling softly as he headed towards one of the side rooms.

“Don’t be so put off kid. To be young and foolish, are what it means to be an adventurer. I only get to be in this position after first having been in yours.”

Jack turned his head back and smiled at them, though his gaze seemed far off. Mash found himself liking the vice guild master, his attitude and presence made it easy for others to relax around him. It was a bit strange considering his size and appearance, resembling a barbarian from the east. For a second, he thought it might be because of a skill, but decided that thinking like that was needlessly paranoid. Priscilla would warn him about something external affecting his mind anyways. Maybe the events of the past few weeks were getting to him more than he wanted to admit.

The new room, that Jack had taken them to, was filled with items. The organization wasn’t as neat as the main room. Piles of items were laying in the corners and only a few rested on small tables that were crowding the floor. It seemed more like a room meant for junk, than magical items of untold power.

“These items are less than practical, the stuff in the corners is junk. All they do is feed the items on the tables mana, look through those. If you find your mana running too low, then step out.”

Jack spoke, stopping at the entry and prompting him to enter. Mash entered after Jack gave his warning but wasn’t sure he wanted this kind of item. Jack had proposed it to him, so he wanted to see what they would do, but it seemed unnecessary. If he ever needed to straddle the line of his persist skill, than he could simply let Priscilla use up his energy on making new bodies. She could essentially function as one of these items. Still, he listened to Jack’s recommendations. Each of them had given him a rundown of their skills, and he trusted in the judgment of someone with as much experience as Jack.

As soon as Mash stepped into the room he felt the drain on his energy, it reminded him of getting pricked by an insect, or in this case, thousands of insects. It was not pleasant, and he hoped that the items wouldn’t feel like this once he attuned to them. Although, with his unique condition, he was a little curious to see what attuning to one of these items might do. He walked up to the nearest table, and Jill followed along beside him. The mana drain in the room probably bothered her too, but she was just as curious as he was to see what these items would do.

The first item was a type of bracelet, it was made of some bluish metal that seemed dull compared to all the glowing items in the previous room. Despite the coloring, the effect of the item looked incredible. It would drain a person’s mana consistently but would also raise the total amount of mana a person had. It was a slow process, but for people that could live near forever, the potential payout was incredible. There were also some tips on how to use the item, most recommending them to attune to the item at night and to break the attunement every morning. Though that seemed impossible for him, as he still hadn’t figured out if he could break his attunements. There wasn’t a strict limit on the amount of items someone could attune too, but it was generally accepted that a person could only attune to one item of each type. For example, he wouldn’t be able to attune to another storage item anymore, but that didn’t bother him too much since the space was growing with him.

This bracelet was not a good choice for him anyways, Priscilla would essentially accomplish the same thing if she grew more bodies. He moved onto the next item, which was a crown of brownish metal, though it also didn’t provide him any real benefit. As he moved from one item to the next, he realized that most of these would help him raise his stats and were ultimately less effective than Priscilla. He heard Jill let out a sigh beside him, either wishing for one of the items for herself, or similarly bored of the unexciting variety. Rather than pouring through the rest of the items one at a time, Mash yelled back to Jack who was still standing at the entryway.

“Jack, do any of these items do things other than raise my stats?”

“Check the last two rows, but don’t ignore those stat gain items. Most people eventually try and get one or two before they hit level 100. Its good for people who don’t want to waste decades training, cuts the time of training by more than half.”

Despite telling Mash where the more unique items would be, he still gave him the kind of advice he would expect from a mentor.

“Thanks, but I already have something that does that, so they aren’t really for me.”

Mash saw Jack looking at him, his hand was raised to his chin like he was lost in thought. Probably didn’t expect him to have so many things already, though it was one of the benefits of hopping from dungeon to dungeon and surviving.

The items further in the back two rows certainly looked more unique, most were made of colors and shapes that seemed strange. The first thing he walked up to be a pair of flower shaped earrings, each seemed to be made of different colored metal, one was a pure black and the other an unblemished white. Almost wanting to ignore the item, he read the effect when he heard Jill gasp beside him.

“Mash, this is-“

“No stop, I don’t want to hear it. I really don’t need or want more flower tattoos.”

Turning to face her, he saw that she was not amused by his interruption. Or with his refusal of looking at an item because of its appearance. Though that wasn’t fair since he did read the item’s description. After reading the effect, he wanted to ask Jack if he could change the design or something. Sighing he knew that Jill was right.

This item was named, and the plaque called them The Earrings of The Flower Queen. They were items that would strengthen the mind, based on the amount of mana they had consumed. Doing things like making it easier to stay calm, or to organize disordered thoughts. It would also use the stored mana to block spells or effects that would intrude on his mind and worked with more efficiency than traditional defenses.

“It could help us in splitting your mind and sharing your body.”

Priscilla sent him the message, but he had already reached that conclusion. Though she wasn’t done speaking, and continued when she noticed his irritation.

“I only sent it because I could tell you were dismissing the item for idiotic reasons.”

Mash didn’t need or want to be lectured inside his head, so he set the item down, agreeing to take it if there was nothing else for him.

Jill had already moved onto the next item, and he walked hurriedly to get to her. Her reaction didn’t seem particularly good, and he figured the item wasn’t desirable. The item was a crown of sharp angular metal, that looked like it would cut into him for wearing the item. He read the description, Jill already moving to a different item. It wasn’t a named item, and relatively little was written about it. The only known effect it reported was that it would suppress pain and fear completely, feeding on those emotions along with a person’s mana. It sounded like a cursed item, and he knew that his inhumanity skill was already helping him ignore things like pain. He realized that, back when he cut off his hand against the bandits, that decision having been unnaturally easy for him. It wasn’t an item he wanted or needed, so he moved onto the next one.

This process repeated until he was left with only two real choices. One was the earrings from earlier, while the other was made from a wyvern’s scale. White with a blueish tint that appeared at the edges, the scale thrummed slightly as he held it. There wasn’t much information on the item, other than that it improved one’s control over lightning. It would drain his mana and store it as lightning mana and was recommended for a lightning mage. Despite not having a skill for it, Priscilla suggested that he would be able to use some lightning magic with her help. It was highly compatible with both of them, and it would make it easier for her to use her magic through Mash. Well, he was already a weird hybrid of unknown monsters, throwing a wyvern into the mix wouldn’t change much. Plus, it had the bonus of not being a flowery accessory.

With his decision made, he moved to present the item to Jack. Looking at Jacks face, Mash felt his heart sink. Even before he heard his reply, he somehow knew he would end up with the earrings.

“Sorry kid, but the wyvern scale isn’t one of the options. Too valuable and can be used for making a bunch of other shit, so you’re going to need to find something else.”

Mash hoped that Jack was making a joke, but his expression said otherwise.

“Fine… What about the earrings?”

He pointed towards them and was unsurprised to see Jack nod his head.

“Yeah, you can take those. But its worse than even the stat items, not to mention its design. Are you sure about that, items that improve your concentration and focus are pretty common after all?”

“No, it should be fine, I think it might help me in a unique way.”

Not wanting to mention relinquishing control of his body to a monster, he decided to keep its specific purpose to himself. Arthur had suggested that most people wouldn’t be glad to hear that he was giving his power to a monster. Mash agreed with his brother’s conclusion, avoiding letting Jack and the guild know about that part of Priscilla. He did need to tell them about her, and Jack had been very surprised to see her. There was a registration process that he needed to go through, which mainly involved signing some papers, and agreeing to be held responsible for Priscilla’s actions.

He didn’t really care much about the item’s effect, only that Priscilla said that it could help him with splitting control of his mind. Hopefully, it would work, and he could start mixing their abilities as he wanted. So, he walked over and grabbed the earrings. Quickly taking them out of the room, he made his way towards an empty corner of the vault. Jill placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

“It could be worse, at least it wasn’t a dress or a skirt.”

“You might as well be condemning me, saying it like that.”

He shivered at the thought of finding a magic item that was perfect for him, but would require him to wear a dress. No, he would never do that, even if the item gave him unlimited power. If that reality ever came to pass, he would just give the item to Luna, Jill, or Red. They could do whatever they wanted with unlimited power; he would settle for anything else. He could feel Priscilla’s thoughts without her saying them, and he stopped her before she could offer a retort. Knowing deep within his heart, he would wear a dress if it offered him unlimited power. Sighing, he dismissed the awful image Priscilla sent him, he didn’t want to see himself wearing a dress.

Not entertaining that train of thought any longer, he found a place to sit in one of the corners of the room, ready to begin the attunement process. Jill hovered around him, obviously worried about him.

“Are your ears even pierced?”