Chapter 56: Heafty Bounty.
"Agh, what a shame," Cedric said, crossing his arms.
"You didn’t truly expect to get something good on the first try, did you?" Alice jested.
"Tch." Cedric glanced away. "Let’s see if you get any luck, then."
Alice did not respond; she just calmly dug into her own pack and tugged out a pristine-looking necklace. Its surface was made of an unknown glossy metal and was encrusted with three red gemstones, each glowing faintly.
"H-How?!" Cedric whined, astonished.
Alice took a good look at it, flipping it from side to side.
"Is it something good, Alice?" Aiden asked.
The girl frowned. "I don’t know; I’m trying to make it my possession, but it’s not easy."
"That’s a good thing, then," the boy added. "The more you have to force your Perspective to subdue the artifact, the more powerful it should be."
Alice nodded, still struggling. "Ah, I think I almost got it."
She tightened her grip over the object, and after a few more seconds, she exhaled as the three red gems glowed brighter.
"Wha—"
"Oh, you did it, Alice!"
Her companions marveled at the sight of the awakened relic. It was not a common occurrence, and certainly not one low-ranked people like them could often witness. Yet this wonder touched them alone; Alice glanced at Aldrus, somewhat proud of her achievement, but the boy did not seem to pay her any attention.
"Damn... Well, tell us what it does!" Cedric jolted her out of her thoughts, visibly jealous.
"Oh, um. It’s an active-type effect with three uses before needing to recharge it," she said. "Apparently each of these gems collects a fair amount of my Perspective, and it can be released all at once or one by one if ever I were to run out."
Cedric huffed. "So it’s a last chance type of thing, huh? I guess it’s of the First-Rank, then."
Alice nodded. "Yes, it is. I suppose it took me a long time to subdue because its main perk is to suck my mental power. No wonder I’m all dizzy..."
"Hey, that’s not bad at all. If you ever find yourself in a situation where Aldrus can’t help, that reserve could be key," Aiden added.
"Ha! As if this guy ever were to leave her," the blond boy said. "Isn’t that right, Aldrus?"
"Hm? Oh, yeah. Of course, I wouldn’t leave her or you guys. Ever," Aldrus said, staring at the ground.
The others fell silent; such honesty was not expected.
"H-Hey, what’s with that corny line?" Cedric said, scratching the back of his neck.
"Um, you’re right," Aldrus said flatly.
The three grew awkward yet again; they had noticed for some time that their friend was acting strange. Even so, they could not blame him, for the situation was not good in the slightest. They all had lived through their own dark days, and they found it best to leave him to organize his thoughts.
Thus, they decided to keep on with what they were doing.
"W-Well, it’s my turn now," said Aiden.
***
Quite some time went by, and the four youths had possessed themselves of one or two worthwhile items. Though for their misfortune, the remaining objects were either rubbish or straight ruined, so it took several rounds of digging before they secured the actual good stuff.
Aside from the necklace, Alice got to keep a pair of silver boots, which most likely had belonged to one of the fallen men of another nation. They had reached that conclusion since the blonde girl had failed to learn the effect of the gear even though she had made it her possession.
Fragment Gear could only fail to show its owner that for which it is useful if the Fragment type it was crafted from was different from that of the user—either that, or the object itself was simply broken. However, judging by the energy that thing gave off, the second possibility was out of the question. Thus, the girl kept it as provisionary armor and hoped to learn to use it soon enough.
As for Aiden, he picked out a shining golden sword with strange runes engraved upon the blade; it appeared to carry a brief message left by its former owner, but to them the language proved unknown.
The weapon itself was another First-Rank piece, a rarity to be expected, for Fragment Gear was a lot more precious than it could appear, requiring more than one fragment to craft even the weakest.
The silver-haired boy told them it served both for offense and defense, inasmuch as any blow that struck its surface would be shot back with double the force, as long as said blow remained weaker than the object and its user. And of course, such enhancement was active-type, meaning Aiden would have to trigger the effect through Perspective consumption.
Next was Cedric, who got a passive-type onyx bracelet whose function was to help the owner ease their mind in battle. It was very useful for someone like him, who tended to lose his temper quite easily.
And lastly, Aldrus got something special. It was a Second-Ranked, torn-to-shreds black cloak irradiating immense power. At first they intended for all of them to use it; however, given the absurd mental energy required to own the relic, only he had managed to subdue it.
The cloak was an active-type gear piece, and essentially a perfect hiding spot, rendering all opponents weaker than the artifact unable to sense or see the wearer, depending on how close they were in power. For example, Cedric, being a low First-Ranked Holder, would not be able to see Aldrus at all. However, if the jailer were alive, he might be capable, yet not without some struggle.
The downside, however, was that it was meant for a Second-Ranked Holder, which meant Aldrus’ Perspective reserves, though extraordinary, were still bound to grant him a single use before a respite of three hours—and the effect lasted as long as how much Perspective the wearer was willing to burn.
Still, the bright side was that if Aldrus ever were to reach the Second or Third-Rank, he could keep the effect active for long periods of time.
"Hahhh, man; it’s a shame these were the only ones in good condition," Cedric said. "Are you sure there wasn’t anything else?"
Alice shook her head. "This is the tenth time I have told you there was not."
"Gugh."
"A-Anyways, I’m glad each one of us got something," said Aiden.
"Tch, blondie got to keep two of them," Cedric spat.
"Jeez, what a complainer you are."
"Huh?!"
"Alright, that’s enough; we have to rest now. Cedric, help me with the tent—Alice, can you make the fire?" Aiden said.
"Sure."
"Agh, alright."
Soon after, Aldrus was alone, still sitting on the ground.
They really are kind.
It was now time for the most important thing. Amidst the quiet of the night, the black-haired boy closed his eyes, and focusing once more, familiar words burned within his soul.
Let’s see what the hell this is about.