Syl

Chapter 170: Gold Interface

"I'm glad you didn't bring an army of angry horses this time." Lisa joked when she first saw me. "Have fun in the dungeon?"

"Aside from some issues getting started, it went pretty well. Thanks for sending Jet." I answered honestly.

"No problem. He was just sitting around gathering dust. I hope he didn't spook you with his shadows?"

"Just some mild jealousy; it certainly looked useful."

"Yeah, I wish I could send my shadow to fetch snacks for me," Lisa admitted.

We reviewed Jet's report, and she confirmed some of the oddities we experienced in the dungeon. I also gave a report on [Thunder Step] and how I found it. I couldn't stop singing the skills praise, and Lisa seemed thrilled that I had no buyer's remorse.

I also asked how things were in the city, and that was how I found out that, unfortunately, I had missed Whitney, who ended up taking her assignment in the capital to further hunt down the smugglers. I pulled out the enchanted dagger and showed it to Lisa.

"Is there any way I could have this sent to her?" I asked, lightly tossing the dagger into the air before it poofed and reappeared in my hand. "I found it in the dungeon, and I think it's perfect for her."

"Oh! A returning weapon, those are pretty nifty. We once found a javelin that had that enchantment." Lisa said rather enthusiastically.

"It's also got an enchantment that causes bleeding and then a combination of self-repair and sharpening," I added.

"Wow... I had no idea you could give advanced appraisals." Lisa said, looking genuinely surprised. "I must remember to add it to your guild profile when I update its rank."

"So I'm Gold?" I asked. "Cause otherwise, I think Thern will kill me."

"So, I think it's safe to say you've passed," Lisa said proudly. "Now, normally, for Gold rank and above, we would have a ceremony..."

"Oh no..."

"But!" Lisa interrupted, holding up a single finger. "I know you'd hate that, so we will skip the big presentation."

I sighed in relief. "Thank you."

"No problem. Besides, Thern would kill me if I held you up with a big ceremony. He'd leave with you right this moment if he had his way."

"That reminds me, I need to do some shopping..."

"Yes. Please bribe the very grumpy dwarf, especially if you have more of that crazy alcohol he loves so much." Lisa said, chuckling.

"Sorry... I'm guessing that's my fault."

"Heavens no. His enchanting buddy has apparently been an insufferable braggart." Lisa responded. "His words, not mine."

"Oh..."

As if summoned, Lisa's door slammed open, and a grumpy-looking dwarf entered.

"There you are!" Thern grunted, pointing a meaty finger at me. "Finally crawled out of the dungeon, I see... Good! We leave tomorrow morning, bright and early. Meet you at the guild reception."

Before either of us could say anything, he stormed out.

"And that, Syl, is why you never want to meet a sober dwarf." Lisa chuckled.

"I'll get him some emergency alcohol pronto."

"The guild thanks you for your sacrifice." Lisa joked. "Anyway, we can get this over and done with if you hand over your old tag."

I pulled it off my neck and placed it on her desk. She unlocked a small safe in her desk drawer and pulled a golden chain with an absolutely massive crystal. I had to hide a wince of pain when I tried to use [Rune Reading] on the new tag; even my old one was beyond my comprehension.

'They did say this was something put in place as a wish from the gods, so I guess it makes sense that I can't understand it at all. Still, I didn't expect to take mental damage just from glancing at it.'

She put it next to my old tag, and with a casual wave, both crystals shone brightly.

"Poof. It's done." Lisa smiled and gestured for me to take it.

I picked it up and placed it over my neck.

"You can now take up to five quests at once. You now also have the guild vouching for entry into foreign allied nations, so yes, you can access the Dwarven Empire now. Your access to guild-managed dungeons has also increased, which I'm sure you'll enjoy." Lisa began explaining.

I nodded along.

"Finally, it's time for the big reveal..." Lisa said, pausing for dramatic effect. "Say or think Interface, like you would your profile."

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

'Interface.'

Suddenly, strange objects appeared in my vision; what looked like a tiny map was in the corner of my sight. Red and blue bars appeared above Lisa's head, while another two nearly identical bars were at the bottom of my vision. The red bar above Lisa's head absolutely dwarfed the one at the bottom of my vision, while the opposite was true for the blue ones and to a much larger extent.

I couldn't handle the shocking amount of information and surprise at what was now being presented, and Lisa must have been waiting to see my reaction as she couldn't help but start laughing.

"Welcome to one of the most controversial features someone asked the gods for. Some love it, others hate it and refuse to use it."

"What... Is all this?" I said, trying to look around, but the things followed my vision.

"Well. That depends on what traits or skills you have available to you, and I'm not entirely sure what you have." Lisa answered. "I know you have [Mapping], so you should have a minimap. You're also a spellcaster, so you undoubtedly have [Mana Sense], if not better, and so, you should have a mana bar."

"So this... Blue bar is my Mana?" I asked.

"Yes, your own is quite accurate, while the bar on others is a comparative estimate to your own amount combined with your corresponding trait or skill level," Lisa explained. "For example, I can tell you have more Mana than me, but I have no idea how much more. It's mostly a visual translation of your feelings or intuition."

"I guess the reddish one is lifeforce, then?" I asked.

"Yeah, it's pretty good for healers to see if a Party member is injured and needs serious attention at a glance," Lisa answered. "I guess you could also use it to estimate how close a monster is to death, but personally, that sounds stupid. You keep stabbing until it stops moving."

Lisa continued explaining this feature to me; it was interesting that everything promptly vanished when I removed my guild tag from my neck. Only the gods could have designed a device linked to one's skills and traits. Thankfully, it was also customizable, and I could dismiss information I wasn't interested in. Lisa also mentioned that new features were always being discovered from some obscure trait or skill, especially if it was some form of upgrade or enhancement to the [Identify] skill.

'If it works with [Affliction Tracker], then that might make it quite useful.'

"Last thing before I let you go grab your supplies, food, and whatnot," Lisa said. "As a Gold-rank adventurer, you may be called upon in a time of crisis if you are within the area. Think of that orc raid you stopped, except on a bigger scale. The guild would usually post an emergency notice, and you might be asked to participate. It's not mandatory per se, but if you reject too many emergencies without a reasonable explanation, you could find yourself getting fined at a minimum and, at worst, face demotion."

I nodded. It sounded reasonable enough, like almost an impromptu militia for serious threats.

"Oh. I almost forgot," Lisa said, pointing to the dagger. "We can have that sent to the capital branch for Whitney."

"Thanks, that sounds perfect," I said happily. I had already memorized its enchantments, so I had no use for it myself.

"So you got a cloak and a dagger... Not exactly the best dungeon loot for you, all things considered." Lisa said.

"I also got this hat," I said, pointing to the giant witch hat.

Lisa looked at me with genuine confusion on her face. "Didn't you always have that hat?"

"No. I definitely got it in the dungeon. It came from a Cat Sith." I pointed out, wondering if this was some bad prank.

Lisa frowned and scratched her head. "Are you sure? I genuinely can't picture you without that hat; it perfectly suits you."

"I would have absolutely remembered having a shape-changing hat," I said, demonstrating how to change it into a tiny crown.

Lisa looked startled at first, then smiled. "Okay, that's a pretty great hat; one of our diamond ranks has a robe that can become any other form of clothing. Although... Her robe actually comes up as magical, whereas your hat looks utterly mundane no matter how much I look at it."

"We theorized that only I can see its enchantments because it's soulbound to me," I answered.

"Fascinating, but other than the convenience of having a hat for every occasion, I can't say I'm that impressed. Jet mentioned that Eliza got a spell-storing ring with three slots!" Lisa replied, then frowned as she pulled out a sheet of parchment from her desk and quickly read through it.

"Actually... His report doesn't mention your hat at all..." Lisa said, frowning, and then she burst into laughter. "I get it. You're both playing a prank on me; Jet pulled you in to get some revenge for old times' sake?"

I sighed. I felt like we were going around in circles; clearly, something Fey-related was happening. "Sure. It looks like you figured it out."

"Ha! Brilliant. You almost had me going there." Lisa chuckled.

When I was leaving, I even overheard Lisa asking her secretary if she liked my new hat. The secretary replied almost instantly, "Didn't she have that hat when we first met her?"

'There's something funny going on, and I feel like my only hope for an answer is Trixie since the cat was a Fey. Still... What a strange effect. It appears utterly normal to anyone but me, and it somehow convinces them that I always had it.'

When I was exiting, I subtly showed Luke my new tag, to which he grinned happily and gave me a thumbs up. I was glad they knew I didn't want to make a big deal about it and were happy to keep it hushed for me.

I proceeded to go on a shopping spree, buying a few new flasks and some kegs this time since Thern had previously scolded me for buying barrels. I also purchased some empty chests and food supplies before finally retiring to the inn.

Once in my room, I began to work. I filled the kegs with alcoholic slime, as well as some flasks and canteens for Thern. At the same time, I began enchanting the chests I bought with the storage enchantment. Despite using [Rune Engraving] and the proper tool, the enchantments would only be temporary as I was carving them directly into the chests without a medium such as gold or electrum.

I could have used another method to make them permanent, such as adding a gathering array, but it felt like too much effort when I just wanted disposable chests to store the kegs and barrels. I wanted the chests to make the handover of the alcoholic slime simpler and to also draw less attention to how crazy my storage space was.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

As if the ever-growing capacity for my [Core Storage] and its timeless feature wasn't bad enough, it also seemed to somehow get around one of the biggest restrictions when working with storage enchantments. Putting a dimensional storage into another one.

If you had two storage chests and tried to put the smaller one into the larger one, it would just refuse to enter. No matter how much you wanted to force it. An unbeatable and invisible force would prevent it, and the chest would bend and break sooner than enter. For some reason, I had no restriction on my [Core Storage] and could easily throw any storage chests inside it.

This was part of the explanation I was given when I was learning the storage enchantment from Greg, although he said there were storage artifacts from dungeons that could circumvent this restriction. For example, some Diamond-rank adventurers would find an amulet, ring, or bracelet with a dimensional space feature.

So, I began enchanting chests and throwing barrels and kegs into them once they were filled and sealed with alcoholic slime. The chests could then be put on a wagon or cart.

'Actually... Thern never mentioned how we are traveling...' I thought curiously. 'Oh well. Tomorrow will tell. Hopefully, it's not too long of a journey.'