I had a hard time leaving the bed this morning.
The girls had grown so used to me that they were now completely defenseless.
In a sense, it was nice and made me happy, but for a healthy young man, this was like a sweet covered in poison.
With them around me all the time, I had no chance to relieve myself and was forced to neglect my desires, despite the non-stop temptations.
Things were starting to look grim, and yet, I kept mustering the strength to employ as much self-control as I could.
Aside from the morning struggles, waking up to them often brought me immense peace.
Once outside of bed, the girls would watch TV, play a game, or help me in the kitchen. We'd spend a few minutes enjoying ourselves like this before heading to the Dungeon.
As usual, we met Sam and Roy already waiting for us in front of the Dungeon Gate.
Sam: "Let's not be as brash today, okay?"
She had a smile on her face, but a serious tone to her voice.
I couldn't help but feel that her comment was directed at me specifically, but given the battle against the two orcs, I had to agree with her.
If those orcs had resistance to [Ice Magic], we wouldn't have the mana reserves to win. The battle was only winnable thanks to Licia.
Still, the plans for today didn't involve diving too deep.
I was close to the next level up, which would already put me at the cap for our current floor, so there was no need to take big risks.
This led to a reasonably safe exploration of the Dungeon today, which, as Roy pointed out, wasn't too thrilling.
I'd be happy to accompany Roy and Sam if they wanted to delve deeper, but since Sam was satisfied with the results, we didn't prolong the raid any further than necessary.
Roy and Sam ended the day with $10 worth of loot, while the girls and I got $40.
It wasn't too bad, all things considered, but knowing the rewards would increase significantly on the next floor made me excited.
But since my time limit for the next [Event] was just around the corner, and I'd need at least one full day to challenge the floor boss, that would have to wait.
This was the last day I had to prepare for the [Events], which also meant I'd have to pick one of them, but I had already made my decision regarding that.
After saying goodbye to Sam and Roy, the girls and I returned home.
While planning what I'd do, I asked Licia to take care of dinner for Claire and me, to which she happily agreed.
She took an apron and began working on the pans.
Meanwhile, I took a look at the difficulty slider of both events, only to confirm that nothing about them had changed.
It was a bit disappointing since we had focused extra hard on the Dungeon raids, but still...
I decided that the [War! The Fall of the Snow White Wolves Tribe of the Maide Island] seemed like the best choice of [Event] for us.
The description indicated that I should form an alliance with one of the two warring factions, and if that was the only requirement, I could probably clear it without fighting or putting my life on the line.
The [Disaster! A Star Falls From The Sky] didn't mention any sentient beings or factions, but that also felt more mysterious and more dangerous to me. As long as there were people involved, I could at least sweet-talk my way through it.
Hopefully.
Ironically, the war [Event] was probably the safest bet between the two.
Also, even though the difficulty slider hadn't changed for any of them, the Maide Island event had its needle slightly closer to the center, while the Star one was all the way to the edge.
The Disaster event was more restrictive than the War, but honestly, I was counting more on my access to the [Kingdom] than any other system of my Gift.
As long as I could escape, I could probably wait out the events if they turned out to be absurdly difficult. And the War event didn't prohibit me from using [Kingdom Points], too, which contributed to my choice.
And even though the Snow White Wolves' war had a duration of two years, I could still share skills with the girls, so even if I didn't participate much, I wasn't going to be idle, and we'd end the [Event] stronger than we started it.
Still, I was going to war, and that would mean I'd need weapons.
So, I once again rolled on the [Weapons Banner] using 3 of my gacha tickets.
While Licia stirred something in the kitchen, three weapons appeared before my eyes.
The first was a large bow made of dark, almost black wood. It had some orange carvings, but I couldn't recognize the symbols. Honestly, they looked like what I'd see in a tribal tattoo.
Even the bowstring was painted black. That seemed a little unproductive, as it was hard to see, but it added a lot to the ominous energy I felt leaking from the bow. Before touching, I used [Appraisal] on it, just to be safe.
[Bow of Gallia
The fallen hero Gallia was said to possess a bow capable of stealing the souls of those defeated in battle. Until her death, such a legend was never confirmed, but many said that the bow had a menacing aura that was reminiscent of dark magic.
The quality of this bow is assured, as Gallia never let go of it until her death. The strength and dexterity of the user are amplified by holding it, and a special effect can be unlocked under certain conditions. In dark places, this bow is capable of camouflaging itself to a degree, making it harder for enemies to know where the user is aiming.]
At first glance, it was quite a good item.
Unfortunately, no one in our party used a bow.
It'd be one thing if this were a hammer, a spear, or any other bladed weapon, since just swinging it around would be good enough to make use of its effects, but bows required too much skill to work, even remotely.
It was a shame, but at least for the time being, I had to put it away.
Next was an item that caught Claire's attention.
[Apparea: Sword Of The Golden King
Legends tell of an undefeated king who wandered the lands of Parison, looking for something never explained. His golden armor and sword would scream to the world his nobility, and no one would dare question it.
The red jewel in the handle increases the power of fire attacks. The sword increases both strength and luck. Any whose heart is easily tainted by greed will find themselves abandoning all reason for this sword.]
This one was quite something.
While it didn't seem worth it to take it to a Dungeon without hiding it first, it should be pretty useful.
Seeing how Claire looked at it and its fire properties, I offered her the sword, but she insisted I should keep it instead.
I felt like that was a bit of a waste since, even though I had fire magic, I focused more on pure melee skills, but I decided not to push the topic either.
For the time being, I took the sword to use it as my main equipment during [Events].
The last item was a quiver, with no arrows inside.
That made me super curious, so I tried [Appraisal] on it as well.
[Quiver of Duplication]
A collaborative work between the elves of Elliar forest and the dwarves of the Longbrun Cave. Any arrow placed in this quiver is instantly duplicated, no matter its properties.
Arrows taken from the quiver can be further duplicated, allowing for an infinite number of arrows.]
Another great item.
For an archer.
Actually, maybe I could use it to make a quick buck selling arrows, too, so it was actually even better than the bow.
The results this time were quite good overall, and they'd been incredible if we had an archer in our party, so I decided to try another roll in the [Weapons Banner].
This time, a dagger suddenly appeared on the table, causing Claire to jump in surprise.
[Ghost of Niflim
The Niflim fell before their kingdom could carve a name in history.
It is said that the forgery skills of its people were as good as those of the dwarves from the same land. As the ages passed, many of the Niflim items became relics.
As one of such relics, this dagger is even more durable than a titanium blade. It greatly boosts the user's strength, luck, and speed.
This dagger can dematerialize. While dematerialized, the dagger will be invisible to most beings and undetectable to most skills.
This dagger can create a small smokescreen around its handle, making enemies unable to distinguish between stab and slash attacks.
When thrown, the smokescreen will last for a minimum of five seconds, while dematerialization will last for a minimum of 1 second.]
This one was so impressive that the words "This might be the best thing I got from the gachas" left my mouth, causing Claire to smack my arm.
Even Licia, all the way in the kitchen, began cutting the vegetables a little too intensely, the sound of her knife cutting the wooden board drowning the noise from the TV.
I corrected myself, adding an "Aside from the [Companions Banner]", but Claire kept her cheeks puffed, and Licia focused fully on her cooking.
As I had previously planned, I used the last 3 Gacha Tickets I had on the [Armor Banner].
Once again, three new items appeared on the table before us.
[Leather Armor of Kronisben
The armor of a nameless huntsman from Kronisben. Strengthens the user's defense slightly.]
[Helmet of a Mung Soldier
The helmet used by a nameless Mung soldier during the last age of the Mung Empire. Provided good defense to the user.]
The first two were nothing special, but they were at least useful.
[Gauntlet of the High King Micaias
This gauntlet has been enchanted, providing the user with increased speed and defense. This gauntlet is capable of cleansing curses directed at the user before they can take effect.
This effect, however, is not guaranteed and also depends on the strength and nature of the curse, as Micaias himself is said to have died by a curse, although an extremely strong one.]
It didn't seem too reliable, but it was better to have it than not.
Satisfied with the results, I used the [Kingdom Points] I had to share skills with the girls.
I was level 7, and they were both level 6, which meant I could claim 19 points in one go.
The one point I had left from yesterday bumped the total I had to twenty.
It wasn't anything absurd, but it was nice to see how fast that side of my Gift was progressing.
Still, before I could start using my points...
Licia: "Stop playing with your toys? Dinner's ready."
Miwen: "Sure, Mom."
Not expecting me to tease her back, Licia blushed a little, hurriedly preparing her plate and dining at the table.
Claire and I followed suit, and after we were all done, I checked the skills Claire had upgraded with her Gift and which, if any, Licia had gotten from her [Available Skills].
I normally didn't tell them what to do with their level-up points since, sincerely, they probably knew way better than I, considering the success they found in their past lives.
I just lurked in the shadows, taking whatever seemed useful and sharing whatever goods I had.
From Claire, I spent four points grabbing her level 4 [Swordsmanship] and another six points to get her [Fire Sword Arts].
Since Licia's [Swordsmanship] was a little behind, I spent 7 points to share mine with her, bringing it to level 4 as well.
With the last 3 points I had, I took Claire's [Mana Control].
Interestingly, I got twenty arrows with the mana I spent on the [Mana Banners] this time, so I got to test the [Quiver of Duplication] for a little bit.
It was exactly as it promised, but manually taking out arrows was tiresome and pointless, so after confirming its effect, I put it away as well.
After doing everything I could to prepare for the event, the last, most crucial step was to get a good night's sleep and replenish my mana.
Hopefully, sharing the bed with the girls wouldn't be that hard tonight.