Chapter 78: Chapter 73: Fading Realism

"Good day, Katie. How may I help you?" politely greeted the storekeeper of the weapons shop as I walked in.

This place was the best evidence I'd found that this town was not anything like, at least, the carnes multiformis settlement. The weapons store in their town sold nothing I could use, all of it being designed for creatures with twelve arms and twenty-four elbows. This shop sold stuff that I could actually wield, but to the average daemonium brutum I'd seen, would serve as little more than toothpicks. It was also the only weapons store in town, and yet the giant demons somehow had appropriate weapons regardless.

I hadn't explored any shops in the fox-kin town, and their humanoid anatomy meant that their equipment would have suited me regardless of realism, but I was leaning towards this town being unlike the ones on the upper floors.

I wasn't exactly rolling in money from my arena winnings, as far as I understood their currency, but I'd made enough that I felt exploring the shops was worthwhile. A better sword than the one I'd been using since floor one was out of my price range, but I could buy lower-quality weapons of other types, and earn more weapon skills. Would that be worth it? My existing spear, sword and dagger covered melee well enough, but a bow or other ranged weapon would certainly be a useful addition. I purchased a plain shortbow and quiver of arrows, tossing them into my item box before I left.

The armour shop likewise sold only items that fit me, and nothing that would fit demons. And it really did fit me. The entire store was filled with equipment that was a perfect match for my height and form, including my wings and the unwanted lump on my bum. There was nothing in any other size. That was... strange. There was no way the amount of equipment on display could have been made since I grew my wings. Did the store autogenerate an inventory suitable for whichever customer walked in?

In any case, despite the improvisational artisan skill description referring to my equipment as home-made junk, anything better than what I was already wearing was far out of my price range. Not that I refrained from drooling over some of the higher end pieces. A tight leather bodysuit that would boost my proficient stealth skill by ten levels, and my dagger and dodging skills by five each. A suit of full plate mail that would boost all resistance-type skills by five levels. An armoured robe that offered ten times mana regeneration. There was, ridiculously, a set of bikini armour with a powerful charm effect. Even the bikini armour had a defence rating of one hundred. The plate mail was at two hundred and fifty.

The appraisal results raised another issue; the descriptions of the equipment talked about boosting my skills, but I was the only one in the world with the class and skill system. As if I needed any more evidence that this gear was here for me personally.

An accessory shop likewise sold magical rings, necklaces and bracelets, again with skill boosting effects, but alas, all out of my price range. And then I found something even better in the alchemist's store.

Potion of experience (100000 shards)
Gain one level.

That was a lot of shards, but still cheaper than the high end weapons and armours. A win against a daemonium brutum netted me a thousand, so I'd need a hundred victories. That was doable, and it was the first time I'd seen anything other than a side quest that would increase my level. There was only one of them in the store, though. Would it restock if I bought it?

It wasn't the only interesting potion in the place, either.

Potion of combat skill (20000 shards)
Gain one level of a random combat skill.

Potion of combat mastery (50000 shards)
Add an achievement towards evolving one random max-level combat skill.

There were also equivalents for the other skill categories. All were in limited supply, with ten of each skill potion and five of each mastery, so unless they restocked I couldn't max myself out with nothing but money, but even so, those potions were far more worthy of my drool than bikini armour. I was going to need to buy out the entire supply.

In need of more money and skill grinding, I was going to need to spend some extensive time in the arena. I picked a daemonium spina to battle first, which was only worth five hundred shards, but being big, slow and achievement-worthy, they were the perfect target for my new bow. I only needed to dodge the initial barrage of spines, and had almost half a minute before it recharged.

Master dodger advanced to level 23

New skill gained: Bow dabbler
While the benefits of attacking at range are obvious, the need to carry ammunition is a serious disadvantage over, for example, a big stick. Bows have it worse than most, their arrows being considerably more bulky than the small stones of a sling or bullets of a gun. This skill increases your speed when attacking with a bow, and gives a slight accuracy bonus.

The six legged giant hedgehog was slow enough to begin with, but with a couple of arrows in its legs I could walk circles around it. I certainly had the time to be surprised at that message. This world had guns? Or was it just pulling stuff out of my own head? If I built up all my skills, confronted the demon lord, and he simply shot me, I was going to cry.

Dodging or blocking the occasional sprays of spines with ease, I unloaded my full quiver into the demon, earning another few levels of bow dabbler. The levels I'd gained weren't sufficient for accurate aiming, though, and I failed to hit anything vital. It was motionless, but still alive, leaving me to finish it off with a spear stab through an eye.

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I collected up my spent arrows, happy to find that most of them had survived. It wasn't as if they were expensive, at a few shards each, but if I was going to empty my quiver in every fight, it would still add up. Besides, there were more expensive, enchanted arrows available, once I was confident enough to splash out on them.

And so went the rest of my day, grinding skills against demons, and by the end, not only had I earned myself ten thousand more shards, but I could reliably beat a daemonium brutum without needing a respawn afterwards.

Evolution conditions met: Bow dabbler ranks up to bow proficiency
While the benefits of attacking at range are obvious, the need to carry ammunition is a serious disadvantage over, for example, a big stick. Bows have it worse than most, their arrows being considerably more bulky than the small stones of a sling or bullets of a gun. By outdoing a daemonium spina at its own game, you have earned this upgrade from dabbler to proficiency. This skill increases your speed when attacking with a bow, and gives an accuracy bonus.

Evolution conditions met: Spear proficiency ranks up to spear mastery
Spears give great reach compared to most melee weapons, and at a pinch can even be thrown, but never let your enemies close in. By successfully driving a spear deep into the brain of a chilopoda sagacitas, as well as taking out a daemonium spina and daemonium brutum, you have earned this upgrade from proficiency to mastery. This skill greatly increases your competence and damage when attacking with a spear.

Evolution conditions met: Dagger proficiency ranks up to dagger mastery
Daggers may have shorter reach and less damage potential than their larger, heavier brethren, but that doesn't make them any less dangerous. Lightweight and easy to conceal, they are perfect for surprise attacks. A chilopoda sagacitas found your attacks on its brain to be very surprising indeed. A daemonium spina and daemonium brutum were less surprised, but died by your hand nonetheless, earning you an upgrade from proficiency to mastery. This skill greatly increases your competence and damage when attacking with a dagger.

Evolution conditions met: Proficient parrier ranks up to master parrier
It is commonly said that a good offence is the best defence. Using a weapon to defend with isn't quite what the originator of this phrase had in mind, but it's close enough. You have crossed swords with a powerful undead, a gigantic demon and even managed to swat the spines of a daemonium spina out of the air, all while living to tell the tale, earning you this upgrade from proficient to master. This skill greatly aids you in parrying and deflecting blows with any weapon.

I had not, in fact, lived to tell the tale of swatting the spines from the air. It had been a cool stunt, and I'd performed it perfectly, catching a spine as it flew towards me and harmlessly redirecting it into the ground. It was just a shame about the other hundred or so spines.

Unarmed proficiency advanced to level 15
Master dodger advanced to level 25
Spear mastery advanced to level 21
Master blocker advanced to level 23
Sword mastery advanced to level 22
Bow proficiency advanced to level 14
Blunt damage nullification advanced to level 21
Piercing damage nullification advanced to level 23
Cutting damage nullification advanced to level 22

The spines boosted my piercing damage nullification up a few more levels, and I was already at the point that I had to fight unarmoured to take any damage from them. At this rate, I could probably max out my combat skills within a couple of weeks of grinding. But even after that, there were a wide range of demon types available, and I was certain they had more to offer than straightforward combat. I had a whole array of resistance skills that needed levelling, and I intended to make as much use of this resource as I could.

Which wasn't to say I'd turned into a complete battle maniac. Two days straight of fighting was enough for me to want to take a break, so I popped back upstairs to hang out with the zombie queen and unwind a little.

"I don't suppose they had any communication devices in that accessories shop?" she asked, after I'd updated her on the previous two days. I'd have expected her first comment to be about me giving up on my fetch quest, rather than the accessories shop, but I suppose she must be getting rather bored up here with only her own zombies for company.

"No, nor anything else that might be useful. Sorry."

"It's a pity I can't go to sleep and not wake up till you're ready to break me out of here," she said. "Who knew being the queen of the blight would be so boring?"

"Want me to speak to the fox-kin? They might be happy to hear the news that I've abandoned my quest, and maybe their priestesses have something they can do."

"Yeah, purification," she snorted. "No thanks. But they might be worth talking to anyway. Given your new goals, any source of information could prove useful."

"It's just a shame the arch-mage was so insistent on babyfying me instead of pointing out the problem and helping solve it in a less selfish way. He'd have been a great help."

"Yeah, and when he torched their town, any books or other resources would have gone with it."

It really was a pity, but I couldn't change the past, and given his behaviour, I wasn't even sure he'd have believed me if I had said I no longer wanted the sword. Hopefully, the remaining fox-kin mages would be more accommodating.

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