Of the five items on the floor, one clearly stood out. A shining, silver 2-handed sword. The blade glinted in the sunlight, revealing an uncommon sharpness. The handle was wrapped in cloth, but otherwise unadorned. No ornamentation of any kind was to be found on the guard, but the blade itself had an intricate, ivy-like pattern etched across its surface. I quickly stowed the rest of the useless stuff that had appeared alongside [Durandal] into my [Item Box], leaving only the SSR 2-hander on the ground. Kyoko, intrigued by the weapon, moved closer to take a better look. Then she tapped my shoulder and showed me her slate.

This feels a little different from an ordinary sword. Does it have a name?

“Yeah, this sword is called [Durandal]. Seems to be a strong weapon- Kyoko? Is something the matter?”

When she heard the sword’s name, Kyoko immediately fell backward with her eyes wide open. She glanced at me disbelievingly and began to scribble on her slate.

Durandal? The Mountain Cleaver?

Mountain Cleaver? That was a strange title. I focused on the weapon and checked its information.

Durandal

SSR

2H Sword

Level: 1 / 40 (☆☆☆☆)

Magic Attack: 0

Physical Attack: 30

Stat Corrections: +5 Str, +15 End

Skills: [Enduring Defence Lv.1] [Enhanced Recovery] [Durandal Arts Lv.1] [Ignore Armor Lv.1]

Unsellable, Untradeable

Huh. It had similar total stats to my [Sibylline]. I focused on each of the skills in turn.

[Enduring Defence Lv.1]

Reduces all incoming damage by 10%

[Enhanced Recovery]

Doubles the effects of health restored when healed by any means

[Ignore Armor Lv.1]

Attacks made ignore 10% of total Defence

[Durandal Arts Lv.1]

[Unyielding Cleave]: A single large downward slash that cuts through all resistance. 200% damage, ignores Armor. 40 MP.

I always thought that 2-Handed Swords were for berserker-types that ignored defence, but some of these passives were actually surprisingly defence-oriented.

…Actually, wouldn’t this sword be pretty broken if it was used by a class with a lifesteal passive? That [Durandal Arts] skill seems pretty strong too. It seems to be a skill that’s unique to the weapon. Actually, now that I think about it, my [Time Magic] is a unique magic, too. Maybe every SSR has one?

I shrugged and stored the Durandal away. I couldn’t use it, anyway, and the ability of the Sibylline to generate more GP was too good to pass up. I briefly wondered why I was able to equip the Sibylline but not the Durandal, but decided that it was likely a side benefit of the fact that the Sibylline was from the [Beginner Gacha]. It would be a pretty shitty system if the guaranteed SSR turned out to be unusable, after all.

When I turned back to Kyoko, I found her prostrating herself before me with her slate in front of her.

O great Lady Valkyrie! Forgive my impertinence for thinking myself stronger than you, you are truly blessed by the Gods. That you had possession of the Divining Book Sibylline should have been sufficient proof of that, but my weak faith caused me to doubt you. But there can be no more doubt. Durandal the Unbreakable Blade is the greatest proof of that. Only twice in the annals of history has it descended upon this world, and both times its wielder was a great hero sent by the Gods to bring peace to the land. To think that I would see it in this lifetime! O Lady Valkyrie, I beg you to forgive my sinfulness. I pledge my life to you, I am forevermore your servant!

…Uh. I think this girl has a bit of a misunderstanding here. I only got the Durandal and Sibylline through sheer luck, after all. Even my [Valkyrie] class was a product of the Gacha, though that could potentially be attributed to my [Curse]. I wasn’t really some kind of divine being sent down from heaven.

Then again, correcting this misunderstanding seemed like it would lead to no small degree of inconvenience, so I ran with it.

“Uh… Raise your head, Kyoko. There is nothing to forgive. I may not be well-versed in the matters of humanity, but I know that it is difficult to take strangers at their word. I can find no fault in your actions.”

Uwah, I totally sound like one of those creepily benevolent kings that turn out to be the bad guy in games. Is this really me?

Somehow, Kyoko managed to change the words on the slate without leaving her prostrating position. I was thoroughly impressed.

I am undeserving of your mercy, O Divine One. I am yours to the end of time. I will do anything. I will offer anything. If you desire it, I will give my life right this moment for my impurity. Please, command me as you will.

…Okay, I’m all for having strong faith in your deity but this is getting a little out of hand.

“We-Well, in that case, heed my first command.”

Kyoko’s shoulders tensed, but she remained in her prostrate position.

“I order you to be my friend.”

It seemed that it was too unexpected for Kyoko; she looked up at me in surprise, before realising the nature of her action, after which she hurriedly touched her forehead to the ground again. I placed my finger under her chin and raised her face to see me, but she closed her eyes, like she was afraid of looking directly at me.

“Oh come on, there’s no need to change how you look at me now. We’ve been in a party for weeks!”

She timidly opened her eyes, then shut them again. I sighed.

“Look, I ordered you to be my friend. Not my servant, my friend. You’re not acting like a friend, so you’re disobeying me.”

Kyoko blinked, then blinked again. Then her eyes started to move wildly around in swirls. Clearly she was confused by my instructions conflicting with her upbringing. I could almost see steam rising from her head.

“No need to think about it so hard, Kyoko. Just treat me the same way you always have, and I’ll be happy. Understood?”

Kyoko took a long look at me, then nodded.

“Good. Now, there’s something else I wanted to check before we move on to the next hunting ground.”

In that last Gacha attempt, I had gotten a duplicate item – the [Wooden Buckler]. I could probably sell it for a bit of cash, but there was a particular function I wanted to test out, so this was a good opportunity.

I opened my [Item Box] and focused on one of the Wooden Bucklers. A tiny menu popped out, with three options: [Convert], [Upgrade] and [Limit Break]. Leaving the last two aside for now, I wanted to know what [Convert] did, so I selected that option. A confirmation dialogue appeared, informing me that I would lose the item used for [Convert]. Since it was just a duplicate R shield, I selected [Yes].

The Wooden Buckler in my [Item Box] shone brightly then transformed, turning into a glowing white crystal. I inspected it.

[R Weapon Essence (Shield)]

A special material used for upgrading weapons. Provides 20 Weapon EXP when used to upgrade a Shield-type weapon and 10 Weapon EXP when used to upgrade any other type of weapon. Untradeable, unsellable.

Ah, so it’s this kind of system. The player rolls the Gacha for strong weapons, then uses the weaker byproducts to upgrade the stronger ones. Since the Essence had “R” in the name, rarity of the Converted item probably affects the effectiveness of the Essence generated.

I decided to test my theory. I selected the SR [Harrower’s Tome] and Converted it. This time, the crystal produced was golden in colour. I inspected it.

[SR Weapon Essence (Tome)]

A special material used for upgrading weapons. Provides 100 Weapon EXP when used to upgrade a Tome-type weapon and 50 Weapon EXP when used to upgrade any other type of weapon. Untradeable, unsellable.

Woah, isn’t the disparity in EXP a bit too much?

I happily focused on Sibylline in the holder on my waist and selected [Upgrade] from the menu that appeared. A message box appeared, prompting me to touch the Essence I wanted to use. I selected the [SR Weapon Essence (Tome)]. The golden crystal dissolved into golden light, which flowed into Sibylline, causing it to level up to 5.

Sibylline

SSR

Magic Tome

Level: 8 / 40 (☆☆☆☆)

Magic Attack: 60

Physical Attack: 15

Stat Corrections: +20 Mag, +100 MP

Skills: [Unique Magic: Time Lv.2] [Foresight Lv.2] [Small MP Regeneration] [Time Savings] [Halftime]

Unsellable, Untradeable

The stats rose as expected, but [Foresight Lv.1] also changed into [Foresight Lv.2]. I could now perceive danger up to 3 seconds ahead of time, instead of 1. I picked up an unresisting Kyoko and put her on my lap, then placed Sibylline in front of her, with my hand still holding on to the cover.

“Has anything changed?”

Kyoko, who had finally regained enough of her composure to act normally around me, rapidly flipped through the pages. After a while, she trembled. She turned toward me and nodded vigorously. Looking over her shoulder, I could see that some of the space that had previously been blank was now filled with words and diagrams.

“…I see, so that’s how it works after all.”

It seemed that when Kyoko had mentioned increasing Sibylline’s power and helping it grow, she was referring to the book’s Weapon level. The higher level the book was, the more it would fill up. Kyoko was hoping that when it began to fill up, it would contain whatever it was she was looking to learn.

I subconsciously patted Kyoko’s head while she sat on my lap, and she leaned into my hand, casually enjoying the feeling while reading intently.

…Cute.

After a while, Kyoko snapped the book shut and shook her head.

“I see, not yet, huh…”

Well, at least now I knew how to upgrade the book, I could slowly work my way to unlocking whatever it was that she wanted to learn. I decided to make it my priority. Though, knowing how Gacha games liked to work with scaling Weapon EXP requirements, it would likely take some time.

I got up off the ground and stowed the picnic mat away as Kyoko dispelled the barrier. That was a good break, but it was time to get back to the grind.