Legend Of The Gunslinger Mage - Chapter 64 Damage Control

After the announcement, Manco and BoneCrusha were immediately sent back to their original locations at the town center.

He glanced at the barbarian. The guy had enough sense to be ashamed, hanging his head without a word.

The other two, OneShot and SilentDeath, looked at him expressionlessly. He was quite certain they also entered the duel as spectators and saw the fight just now.

“So,” he said, making a show of clearing his throat, “I guess this is it. Thanks for letting me win!”

“Letting you win my ass!” BoneCrusha expoded, “You tricked me!”

“Tricked you? How?”

“You obviously knew that map by heart. You use it to trap me!”

“Really? That’s the excuse you’re going for?”

“Come on! I want a rematch! Double or nothing!”

“Oh? You’ve got two more of those Beta items?”

“Of course!” BoneCrusha said, then turned to look at his two teammates, “Come on, lend me yours!”

“No.” SilentDeath said flatly, while OneShot nervously took a few steps back.

“I said” The barbarian stepped closer to the rogue, until their faces were inches apart, “Give. Me. Your. Item!”

“You stepped in this shit hole by yourself! I couldn’t stop you. But don’t think I’m stupid enough to let you drag me in as well!” the rogue shot back, his face betraying no emotion.

“You little f-” The barbarian’s curse was cut short, and he lost focus for a moment. “Shit, she’s logged on!”

‘Just in time too,’ Manco thought, thanking his luck that he met this idiot early enough to get his item.

The three in front of him stood silently for a few moment, apparently in a private chat.

After a few moments, they turned and walked toward the tavern area. After a few steps, BoneCrusha stopped to drop a threat, “This is not over! You’ll regret this!”

“Bye! Gimme a shout if you want to resume that bet!” Manco said cheerfully and chuckled as BoneCrusha responded with two middle fingers.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

“You what?” Morana said in disbelief. She felt a headache coming.

Losing one item was bad enough, now this idiot had to go and lose a second one a well.

“Why in the name of all fucks did you go and accept his challenge. We’ve got 6 people, we could have cornered and kill him until he drops it. Why did you accept that dueling bullshit?”

“Uh He said he only has 10% chance to drop that glasses. So we’ll have to kill him 10 times for it to drop. So I figure, I could just beat him once and get it,” BoneCrusha replied, looking sheepish.

“You uuugh!” Morana wanted to tear that bonehead’s hair out, but he was bald, “There’s so many thing wrong with what you’ve said that I don’t even know where to start. First, the drop rate is 40%. Second, that’s not how statistics work, and third, what do you mean you thought? Since when is ‘thinking’ part of your job description?”

“Uh” the barbarian stammered, obviously offended by the remark.

“And what makes you think you could beat him anyways?”

“He seems weak. And he’s not that good. He’s just lucky I think.”

“He’s not lucky,” SilentDeath intervened, before Morana could take another jab at BoneCrusher for thinking. Earlier, he and OneShot had also entered the duel as spectators, so they had witnessed what transpired during the fight.

“Explain,” she said.

“Statwise, he isn’t faster than bonehead over here.” Ignoring BoneCrusha’s annoyed glare, he continued: “A bit slower, even, because of his lower strength. But he’s very precise and efficient with his movements. From what I saw, he predicted what move his opponent would use, and made preparations accordingly. He knew when to dodge, and which directions to move to. He moved as little as possible, just enough to avoid the big hits, and took the small ones. First I thought his purpose was to conserve stamina, but then I realized it was also to provoke his opponent. Bonehead here was led by the nose the entire time.”

“What did you just say?” BoneCrusha shouted, slamming the table, startling the nearby patrons and drawing an annoyed glance from the bartender.

“You be quiet!” Morana raised her voice. Turning back to the rogue, she asked: “What else did you see? What kind of spells or equipments did he used?”

“Nothing special. Mostly basic stuff: dagger, wand, crossbow.” He shrugged: “Oh, and he’s go a spell that transform the ground into mush. Got BoneCrusha with that one. Big time.”

“I know that spell,” Morana said, grinding her teeth.

“So what are we gonna do now?”

“I’m not sure how attached he is to this place, how many quests he’s got left, and whether they were important enough.”

“I’ll figure something out. For now, none of that dueling bullshit. Got it?” Morana said and looked at BoneCrusha, who nodded, then continued: “Saarkas and Galaad are tailing him right now.”

“You’ve gotta be kidding me!” SilentDeath said, exasperated. “Might as well send bonehead here to do it! What good are those two?”

“I know. But it’s broad daylight, and there aren’t that many people in the streets.”

“That bastard!” BoneCrusha grumbled, “I bet he’s jumping with joy right now!”

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

“Meh, just my luck!” Manco looked with distaste at the item he won in the duel.

Gauntlet of the Juggernaut(Unique)

– Type: Armor – Forearm (left or right)

– Requirement: level 50 or lower

– Effects

+ Armor: Forearm (10)

+ Damage Resistance: Slashing (20%), Piercing (20%), Crushing (30%)

– Passive Effects:

+ Each time wearer kills a creature from his level minus 3 or higher, receives “Juggernaut’s Blessing.”

“Juggernaut’s Blessing:” +1 STR, +0.75 CON. Stacks until STR or CON reach 250% their base values. Resets at sunrise.

+ When wearer is killed, Str -40% and CON-20% for 12 hours (1 in-game day).

+ Each time the item changes hand, the level requirement of slain creatures increases by 1.

– Notes:

+ 30% chance to drop upon owner’s death.

.

For melee players who didn’t value precision in movements and attacks, this was a godsend. The ability to buff strength and constitution to 250% their base values was quite appealing. This would be especially useful in combat against multiple creatures.

However, strength affected movement and attack speed. For Manco, who preferred precise control of his movements, a fluctuating speed was undesirable.

“It’d be nice if they’d let me swap items with them,” he chuckled to himself.

Earlier, he had spotted the shaman and the cleric following him. A couple odd turns, several buildings with multiple exits and one clothes swap later, he shook them off.

He found himself standing in front of Nina’s Potions and Concoctions. Glancing around again to make sure he wasn’t being followed, he approached the heavy iron door.

“Strange, I could have sworn the door was made of wood.”

Shrugging, he cracked open the door and said: “Hey! Berry delivery!”

After half a minute, a familiar voice shouted in response: “Got it! Hang on a sec!”

A series of thuds, clicks and whirs let him knew the traps were being deactivated.

“Alright, come on in!” The same voice called out to him.

Manco stepped inside the door.

Under the gentle white light of the gemstone, he could see the shop’s front section was a complete mess. Most of the wooden stands, racks and shelves were toppled over, and some were completely broken. The displayed ingredients were spilled messily over the floor.

From the back room, Nina emerged, seemingly sober.

“Hey, you’re back! How many berries did you get?” She said, approaching him, deftly navigating the mess, not bothered one bit.

“Eight hundred. Would that be enough?”

“Absolutely! More than enough, in fact!” the halfling alchemist said gleefully as she tiptoed and offered him a hand, which he shook.

[Items removed from inventory: Strangler Vine Berries x 800]

[Quest Updated: An Alchemist’s Woe]

“What happened? It looks like a storm just passed by this place,” he asked, looking around the shop.

“Faarquad happened. His goons bust down the door, and tried to get to the back room,” Nina said as she found two intact wooden stools, dusted them off. She sat on one and motioned to Manco toward the other. “Of course, ‘tried’ is the keyword,” she said dismissively, and he noticed a dozen large dried bloodstains on the floor.

“You need help with that?” He asked.

“Not while I’m brewing. They won’t be able get in here,” She took out her hip flask, but thought better of it and put it away. “I’ll be done with the ale in about a day. Then I’ll have to transport all 9 casks to the altar to the east of Broken Hill. I bet that asshole will try to pull something then.”

‘Of course it’s an escort mission,’ groaning internally, Manco said: “I’ll do my best to get you there safely.”

“Bah! Don’t worry ’bout lil’ ol’ me,” she waved her hand impatiently, “I can handle myself. It’s those casks you should worry about!”

“Of course, of course!” he nodded.

“After a day, I’ll be done brewing this BreathTaker Ale. When you’re ready, say the word and I’ll meet you at the east gate with my wagon.”