Chapter Twelve: Equipment Drop

“Mmm, the tea is quite nice as well…” Artoria set down her teacup, dabbed at the corner of her mouth with a napkin, and let a surge of magical energy tidy away the stray crumbs on her clothes.

“Well then! Let’s resume our training! After feasting on such delicious food, I must redouble my efforts!” Artoria rose, adopting a more earnest posture as she began to spur Zhao Tianhe onward. This, it seemed, was her way of showing goodwill…

It appeared that, despite her claims to have abdicated the throne, Artoria’s habit of kindly urging her subordinates had become second nature.

“They say it’s precisely this charm in her character that drew the Knights of the Round Table to her and made her king, but it was also this very trait that led to her being deserted by all…” Zhao Tianhe mused silently. “A diligent girl like her really isn’t suited to be a monarch. After all, not everyone is as content as I am to play the humble foot soldier.”

Yes, in truth, Artoria’s character as a ruler was flawless—but the problem was, her subjects were unworthy of such perfection…

Humanity is, after all, inherently flawed, and people never wish to accept those flaws. The result is that, reflected in the light of a perfect king, their imperfections are magnified. They grow resentful, wishing to achieve all that their king expects, but ultimately, they cannot. Perhaps to say she ‘doesn’t understand people’s hearts’ is to say that Artoria never grasped that the darkness in the human heart can never be entirely banished…

There is no room for shadow in a utopia, and so humanity can never reach it…

“But that’s no concern of mine. I never thought I could be ‘perfect’ to begin with.” Lost in his own meandering thoughts, Zhao Tianhe slouched and shuffled, drawing a sharp glare from Artoria.

Afterwards, under Artoria’s guidance, they dispatched two more mutated elites, and Zhao Tianhe finally got the hang of the proper technique for instantaneously slaying slimes.

“The key is to twist the blade quickly inside the slime’s body… Yes, that’s enough range for a good swing.” Watching as a lightning slime burst, splattering the ceiling with crackling digestive fluid, Zhao Tianhe nodded in satisfaction.

“Very good. Now, you just need to practice diligently! Also… I have to head back in ten minutes. We’ll end today’s adventure here; the number of mutated elites is increasing.” Artoria frowned and readied herself as another earth-element mutant, encrusted with layers of rock, crawled out nearby.

Ten minutes later, Zhao Tianhe exited the second floor of the labyrinth.

“Whew, luck was with me today. Four elite slimes and I even scored a piece of dungeon gear. Heh, time to get it appraised!” Zhao Tianhe looked at the pair of gloves hanging from his belt and left the slime cavern in high spirits.

Equipping dungeon gear directly is possible, but there’s no telling what hidden curses or drawbacks it might have, so it’s best to get it appraised in town first.

Dungeon gear is rare mainly because it can be integrated into the Hero’s System, directly enhancing various attributes and even base defense. The importance of base defense hardly needs mentioning.

“Oh! Zhao, you actually scored some gear?” Liu Caier could hardly believe her eyes as she looked at the purplish-red boots Zhao Tianhe brought in.

“I told you, your brother Zhao here has awakened his talents. Once I’ve cleared the second level of the slime cavern, give me half a month and I’ll be ready for an E-rank dungeon. At this rate, it won’t be long before this little town can no longer contain me. Ah, the sorrow and joy that the strong must bear…” Zhao Tianhe tossed a bag of cookies to Liu Caier. “Fruit-flavored soft gel candy. Try some.”

“I’ll have your appraisal right away!” Liu Caier took the treat, then focused intently on activating a magic circle for appraisal. In moments, the results appeared.

Boots of Endurance, E-rank Gear
Base Defense +1
Stamina +20

“Not bad at all—boosts stamina and base defense, perfect stats for melee fighters.” Liu Caier grinned as she chewed the soft candy. “Amazing! How do you even make candy this soft?”

“I boiled it out of beef bones and tendons while making soup last week,” Zhao Tianhe replied. “It’s pretty tough to make by hand. After this batch, who knows when I’ll have time to do it again.”

“What? Aren’t you leaving soon? Where will I get more after that?” Liu Caier scrambled onto the counter, clutching Zhao Tianhe’s sleeve, her big, glistening eyes fixed on him.

“Make it yourself. Tomorrow I’ll give you the recipe. Actually, give a copy to the town bakery, too—it should sell well.” Zhao Tianhe stroked his chin, already pondering more efficient ways to extract edible gelatin. Handmade was just too laborious, but what about using magic? He’d have to check the books he bought yesterday when he got home.

“I only like eating, not cooking…” Liu Caier popped another candy in her mouth and slumped into a chair, looking thoroughly dejected.

“At this rate, you’ll end up a hopeless fatty,” Zhao Tianhe said with a wry smile at her laziness.

“No way! My family’s got good genes—I can eat all I want and never gain weight. Jealous?” Liu Caier pointed at Zhao Tianhe’s beer belly and snickered.

“I walk more than five kilometers every day, fight monsters, then cook when I get home—how on earth did I end up with this flab? It must be the food in this world—it’s too nutritious!” Zhao Tianhe sulkily snatched up the boots and turned to go. “Yeah, it’s the world’s fault! I’m just eating normally!”

“Boss, ten pounds of meat, please. Just beef tongue today.” Zhao Tianhe grandly slapped down two silver coins. With his pay rising rapidly from recent expeditions, he’d become much more liberal in buying ingredients.

He’d learned that no matter how much food he brought, it was never enough for Artoria. If he wanted to eat alongside her, there was only one solution: bring more than she could finish in ten minutes!

Soups and broths were best. If she didn’t savor them, but gulped them down, the meal lost all meaning—which nicely slowed down Miss Artoria’s eating pace.

“A pity there’s no seafood in this inland city… but let’s get some fish today; even Artoria is picky about bones.” Zhao Tianhe made his way toward the fishmonger.

Two figures landed before the entrance to the slime cavern. They wore thick robes, shrouded in darkness, as if cloaked by some sort of magic.

“This is the place? Incredible… Who would have thought this infamously worthless dungeon would be the ‘Point of Origin’…” One figure gazed at the pale blue barrier at the cave’s entrance, sighing in wonder.

“Centuries of altered records and information sealing—not so surprising after all. But…” The taller figure stepped into the slime cavern, frowning in confusion. “What’s going on here? I can’t sense anything unusual at all…”

“There’s no way to proceed…”