Chapter 67

Gloves of Quick-Thinking

Common

Lv. 1

Effects

- Minor increase to magical Prowess.

Description

A well-timed spell can be the difference between life and death.

The item was, of course, more unequivocally useful than the previous. Though it granted a weaker effect—noticeably so, since the differences between ‘minor’ and ‘moderate’ were fairly large—it also didn’t come with downsides. A direct upgrade, no detriments.

Seeing how none of them had full sets of gear, yet, with Tenet’s ten monster-core starting stipend only buying a weapon and one or two pieces of equipment each, equipping the spell-casting gloves would be an immediate boost in power to whoever claimed them.

Natalie didn’t intend to make a claim on them. Clearly, Liz or Ana would make much better use of the gloves. Item distribution could be a tricky, nuanced thing, but earning a reputation as greedy was a good way to kill prospects with future teams. There was an expectation that a team would come out of a dungeon with a balanced distribution of earnings, but not always, such as when a particularly amazing item suited to someone’s class dropped.

Natalie, and her friends she assumed, didn’t want to make a big deal out of ‘getting perfectly even’ when it came to loot, and especially not today, where the team was testing their footing with each other. She liked this layout—even Ana, for all her oddness. Liz had other teams she would be trialing for, and possibly Ana too, so setting a good impression was important.

“You or Ana,” Natalie said to Liz. “Obviously. Though I’m not sure which of you it’d be better on?”

“You could probably use them, too,” Liz said brightly—though obviously being polite. “Hm. Who, though?” She looked to Ana for her input.

Ana seemed confused. “Why would Natalie get them? She’s by far the worst caster. And only half a caster.”

Liz’s eyes widened at Ana’s bluntness, a recurring trend, and she shot a concerned glance toward Natalie. But Natalie only found herself amused. She had mixed feelings on Ana’s cluelessness, but it was also endearing, in a way.

“She’s right,” Natalie said. “Obvious choice is between you two. Go ahead.”

“I assume Elizabeth,” Ana said, frowning and looking between the two of them, as if noticing she had said something wrong but unable to place what. “We don’t need more damage, which I would provide. Better healing is more important.”

Liz clearly thought so too, and, Natalie thought, not simply because she wanted the item. “If you think so...” Liz said.

Sofia handed off the gloves to Liz, who took them.

Liz donned the gloves, tucking her staff into her shoulder as she did so. Sofia turned back to the chest.

Unfortunately, there was no third item. Cracking the lid open one last time, an empty wooden panel met them. It was impossible to know how many items a chest would spit out. Just had to keep opening and closing.

Two, though, was an expected yield. Items were valuable, even commons, and in the nascent stages of their career, with all of them needing to fill out their equipment slots, even more so. Such a simple puzzle as the one they’d been provided—even if difficult to fight to—wouldn’t dump armories into their laps.

Jordan and Sofia held a brief discussion on whether they wanted to equip the ring, but the downside was too troubling, at least for this initial run, where they were adjusting to the dungeon. Maybe when they had better confidence in avoiding attacks, they’d accept the moderate decrease in defense. Until then, the ring would stay stored in Sofia’s pouch. Likely, it would be sold and the funds distributed among the five of them—the typical way to handle unwanted items.