kscans

Chapter 19 - Dragon Curse

After their meeting with Relic at the Butler Guild, Hayato and Esha returned to their current headquarters, the black stone fortress. They were scheduled to meet with Ash's sister afterward.

Hayato believed that this sister held the key to their entire plan.

Retrieving the weapon would require several steps. The most critical of these was to forcibly unequip it from their opponent. If they couldn't do this, they couldn't steal the weapon in the first place. This was due to a game mechanic that dictated you could only steal items from an opponent's item bag during player-versus-player combat.

Weapons and armor have equipment requirements. These are often determined by the values of the STR and DEX stats, which represent strength and dexterity. If a stat value is not at or above the number set for each piece of equipment, it cannot be equipped. If, for some reason, a stat were to decrease, the equipment requirements would no longer be met, and the equipment would be unequipped and returned to the item bag.

Intentionally causing this to happen is known within the game as a forced unequip, and it is a common tactic among players who favor weakening magic.

Hayato's plan was to perform this forced unequip and then steal the weapon with the Stealing Skill.

The problem was the equipment requirement for the stolen sword, the Excalibur Replica. It could be equipped with 60 STR or higher. This meant they had to lower the opponent's STR to 59 to force an unequip. And the opponent was almost certainly a warrior-type player. Their STR would, without a doubt, be 100.

The weakening magic Hayato knew of could reduce a stat by a maximum of twenty percent. And the same weakening effect did not stack. If the opponent's STR was 100, they could only drop it to 80.

And that was where Ash's sister came in as the key.

The effect of the bad status called the Dragon's Curse was said to halve the stats of oneself and everyone around, regardless of whether they were friend or foe. The highest quality Elixir that Hayato had made had cured that curse, but Hayato remembered Ash's words that she had learned a switch-type passive skill called Dragon Curse.

If it was a skill that could halve a stat, then even if STR was 100, it would become 50, and the equipment requirements for the Excalibur Replica would no longer be met. Hayato had set his sights on that.

(I don't know if it can really do that. Halving a stat, even if it involves yourself and your allies, is an extraordinary performance. You could even call it a cheat. It means you could unequip most of your opponent's gear.)

Many people would say that the number one factor in determining a player's strength is their skill composition. But almost everyone would agree that the second factor is their equipment. In particular, without a weapon, you are forced to fight with your bare hands, and if you don't have hand-to-hand combat skills, you can't deal any decent damage.

Bare-handed damage is low to begin with, but as the skill increases, you can use bare-handed weapon skills, so some players learn the skill for emergencies, but they are in the vast minority.

(I can only pray that Ash's sister is a cheat.)

With that thought, Hayato waited for Ash and the others to arrive.

At two in the afternoon, Ash and his companion came to the headquarters.

Hayato, Esha, Ash, and Ash's sister, all four of them, met in the dining hall inside the fortress.

Ash's sister's name was Ren Brandle.

She looked to be fifteen years old, with the same blond hair and blue eyes as Ash. Her straight hair fell to around her waist, and she wore a black robe. Hayato had heard she was a sorcerer, and she seemed to fit the image of a typical magic user.

(So this is Ash's sister. She has a childish air about her, but she's got the looks to be a real beauty in the future. I don't know if NPCs age, though. And she's a dragon too. I wonder if she can transform into a dragon and breathe fire like Ash.)

Hayato thought this as he looked at Ren. And Ren smiled as she looked back at him.

"Thanks to you, Hayato-san, I'm all better now. Thank you so much."

"I'm glad you're feeling better. But you should probably thank Ash and the mercenary group. I just made the Elixir, Ash and his team were the ones who gathered the ingredients."

"Of course, I'm grateful to them too. But making an Elixir is very difficult, after all. The one I have to thank the most is you, Hayato-san."

Being thanked so politely made Hayato feel quite pleased. Seeing someone happy because of something he made, this was the moment he felt was the best part of being a production class.

Besides, his affection level for Ren was already high. It was only a first impression, but Ren seemed normal. The women around Hayato were all unique in their own ways. He would never say it to them, but frankly, it was exhausting.

"Master, could you please explain why you just looked at me and sighed? In one thousand characters or more."

"So you understand I have a lot to say? I'll summarize it, so can you wait about three days? I promise to make it an epic."

(Still, this kind of back-and-forth isn't so bad. It's nice not to have to be on guard... Then again, what does it mean to be on guard with an NPC?)

Hayato thought this, but he decided it was time to get to the main topic. There was still time before the Clan War, but there was a lot to do. And if Ren's skill couldn't handle it, he'd have to think of another plan.

"Um, is it okay if I call you Ren-chan?"

"Yes, that's fine. Everyone in the mercenary group calls me that."

"From now on, please refer to me as Esha-sama."

"You can eat this orange, so please be quiet for a little bit. So, Ren-chan, I heard from Ash that you learned a switch-type passive skill called Dragon Curse. Could you tell me what it does?"

A switch-type passive skill was a type of passive skill, meaning a constantly active skill, that could be voluntarily switched to a different effect.

The "Stance" passive skill learned by leveling up sword skills was a switch-type passive skill that allowed you to gain the effect of either an Offensive Stance or a Defensive Stance. The Offensive Stance increased attack by 10%, and the Defensive Stance increased defense by 10%, but you could only gain the effect of one at a time. You could switch between them depending on the situation. It was said that warrior-type players had to be able to use this skill effectively.

"Dragon Curse has the effect of halving a stat. But unlike the previous curse, it doesn't involve allies or lower all stats. I can now voluntarily choose which stat to lower from STR, DEX, or MAG. And it only affects one target."

"You can choose one, and it only affects one person, you say? If you can lower one person's STR by half, that's more than enough."

Hayato felt like he could see a ray of light. With this, he could force the Excalibur Replica to be unequipped.

"Ash, would it be alright to have Ren-chan participate in the next Clan War? I really need to ask this of you."

"I wouldn't have brought her here if I wasn't okay with it. But you should ask Ren, just in case. You see, if I decide things on my own, I get scolded later."

Hayato thought, "So you've been scolded before," as he turned his gaze to Ren.

"Ren-chan, I'd like you to participate in the next Clan War. Would you be willing to accept?"

"Yes, of course, that's fine. My brother has told me the general story. I will repay you for helping me!"

Ren made fists with both her hands at her chest and snorted with determination.

"Thank you. Alright, all that's left is..."

All that's left is to prepare an ornament that will capture the heart of the butler, Relic, he thought, when Ren timidly raised her right hand.

"Ren-chan, do you have a question?"

"Ah, um, Hayato-san, you've mastered various production skills, haven't you?"

"Well, I suppose so. Cooking, Blacksmithing, Woodworking, Alchemy, Sewing, and Crafting, my skills are all at 100. I'd say it was quite a lot of hard work."

"Th, then, could I ask you to make me some five-sun nails, Hayato-san...?"

"Gos...? Um?"

"Ah, of course, I'll provide the materials. It's not a condition for participating in the Clan War this time. It's just that my old nails broke, so I was thinking I needed new equipment. Ah, um, i, if it's not too much trouble, I'd also like to request a straw doll..."

Ren said this shyly, her cheeks flushed, but the content of her words threw Hayato into confusion.

"Sorry, I don't know the materials. And wait, are five-sun nails equipment? Not like, charge items for curse-killing magic?"

"You didn't know? Then I'll give you the recipe and a list of materials."

Ren wrote something on a piece of paper and handed it to Hayato. He didn't really want to take it, but he couldn't refuse, so Hayato accepted it.

(Five-sun nails are made with Blacksmithing Skill, and straw dolls are made with Crafting Skill, I see. But the recipe for a straw doll... If someone handed me a recipe for five-sun nails and a straw doll in real life, it would be nothing but terrifying.)

"I would advise that Orichalcum is optimal for five-sun nails. Mithril doesn't increase the duration of the curse damage."

"Esha-san, you know a lot! Actually, I also think Orichalcum five-sun nails are the best! Adamantite just increases physical attack power, so it's meaningless, right!"

"Ah, right, that's good information. I'm curious why you know that, Esha, have you used them before?"

"I have not used them, but it is a maid's etiquette. Let's just say it is a countermeasure for when one encounters a master who does not provide enough snacks."

"...For today's snack, I will prepare five-star chocolate parfaits. For you too, of course, Ren-chan."

Esha and Ren both threw their hands in the air at the same time in a victory pose.

Hayato, thinking, "Oh, for goodness' sake," began to prepare the chocolate parfaits.