Though Khun’s sudden gender swap caused quite a stir among the members of Team Wolf Pack, it was the existence of the [Satan’s Ring]s that garnered the most attention. After all, the ‘bromance’ between Khun and Baam wasn’t really a secret; so, while the debate over whether or not he would be allowed to use the women’s bath dominated the dinner conversation, it was the mention of the [Satan’s Ring] that persisted within people’s minds.
Fortunately for the members of Team Wolf Pack, Vahn had already anticipated their interest in said accessories so he had prepared a number of unique and interesting items as parting gifts. Most of these were rewards from the Premium Gacha so it wasn’t like he was really losing out on anything. After all, he didn’t really depend on power-ups gained from items; so, unless it was something that might break the balance of the Record entirely, such as the Violet-Grade [Ragnarok], he didn’t mind giving them away…
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[Ragnarok]
Rank: SS (Transcendent)
Slots: 0
P.Def: 0
M.Def: 0
Abilities: Herald of Ragnarok(SS), Indestructible(SS), Negative Status Immunity(SS), Permanence(S)
‘A deceptively simple-looking bracelet that holds the power to bring about the end of the world. All abilities used by the wielder have their mental, spiritual, and physical energy costs reduced to zero.’
Restriction(s): Curse of Indelibility(SS), Soulbound
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Vahn had obtained a number of ridiculous items from the Premium Gacha, but none even remotely compared to the rust-covered [Ragnarok]. In exchange for ‘never changing’ thanks to ‘Permanence’, you obtained virtually unlimited stamina, unparalleled clarity of mind, and the ability to draw from your internal reserves without limit. This made it one of the most over-powered items that had ever come into his possession, and, though it prevented the user from growing stronger, wielding it was tantamount to having unlimited power.
Though Vahn was a little interested in the bracelet, the ‘Curse of Indelibility’ wasn’t something he wanted to mess around with. The curse, combined with the fact it was Soulbound, made it virtually impossible to remove. Even his ability to freely alter the structure of his body might not allow him to remove it, so, at least for the time being, it was collecting rust alongside the other dangerous items and artifacts that had come into his possession.
Fortunately for the members of Team Wolf Pack, Vahn had stockpiled more than seven-thousand Premium Gacha Tickets over the course of several hundred years. The majority of these rewarded him with relatively useless items, but that was only the case for him. From the perspective of the average person, a D or C-Rank item was an amazing find, especially with the Grade determined by the Tier of the Record.
The best example of a rather ridiculous C-Rank Item was the set of stylish black and white pistols he had gifted to Nare. They were known as [Thalia, the Shrouded], and, though they had exceptionally low attack parameters, they would grow stronger with every enemy she killed via shooting the head or heart. There was no upper-limit to this power, so, if she took her training seriously and invested a bit of time in hunting Shinheuh, it wouldn’t be long before they rivaled weapons of a much higher Grade.
Though it went against his principles to hand weapons and items that would invariably become a crutch, Vahn knew it wouldn’t be too much longer before Nare ‘retired’ from climbing the Tower. At this point, the only thing keeping her going was the sense of unity that bound the group together, but, once things became truly dangerous, it was only a matter of time until she gave up her Regular status. She was already beginning to convince Chunhwa to start a family with her once they reached the 20th Floor, so he didn’t see any harm in giving her the only weapon among the gifts he handed out.
To virtually everyone else, Vahn gifted items that either directly amplified their existing powers, or, similar to Khun’s [Satan’s Ring], allowed them to stockpile or store energy. Such items included an anklet known as [Adamantite] for Anak, a stylish hairpin known as a [Phoenix Pinion] for Jung, a pair of indestructible golden heels known as [Stillwalkers] for Endorsi, and an indescribably comfortable pillow known as a [Divine Pillow] for both Yun-Yun and Laure.
In the end, Vahn tried to gift everyone with an item based on their personal preferences so Anak’s [Adamantite] doubled her base Toughness and Shinsu Resistance. As for Jung’s [Phoneix Pinion], it literally allowed her to recover from virtually all injuries, including fatal ones, once per day. This was one of the more ‘extreme’ abilities possessed by the items Vahn had gifted out, but, considering her penchant for overtraining, it would come in handy. Fortunately, even Endorsi didn’t complain as her [Stillwalkers], on top of appearing fashionable, allowed her to effectively double the damage of her kicks thanks to their ability to reverse the vector of forces acting upon her body through the heels.
So long as she landed on her feet, Endorsi could effectively negate fall damage by transferring all kinetic energy from the descent into the point of impact. This further applied to her kicks, so, while it would take her a while for her to get used to feeling no feedback from even her most powerful blows, her damage potential had effectively doubled. The only real downside was that she had to willfully activate and control the ability or she wouldn’t even be able to stand or walk properly due to the heels effectively emulating a frictionless surface.
Fortunately, Endorsi was more than capable of controlling the [Stillwalkers] without any discernible difficulty. Rather, it wasn’t long before she was casually sliding through the halls of the manor like a professional ice skater. She also realized pretty early on that that she could increase her weight in order to drastically increase her speed. This was especially useful for someone like her, who used a large variety of compression weapons, as some compression weapons easily weighed hundreds, or even thousands, of kilograms…
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Though they were only given three days to rest and recuperate before the Seeded Tournament, the members of Team Wolf Pack split their time between relaxation and familiarizing themselves with their new armaments and accessories. Endorsi’s example had inspired everyone to think outside the box, so, while some items weren’t particularly useful for combat, that didn’t stop them from thinking about how to take full advantage of their unique effects.
Having promised to stick around in order to make himself accessible for questions and requests, Vahn was sitting out on the veranda with an amused smile as he watched Khun and Baam sitting near the base of the central World Tree. It was pretty fun to see Baam fluster about due to Khun’s teasing, but, understanding it wasn’t polite to pry into people’s personal lives, Vahn ultimately just leaned back while absentmindedly patting the back of the girl nestled against his chest.
After learning about the coming separation, Yun-Yun had taken the opportunity to ask if he would be her napping companion whenever he wasn’t busy. Vahn didn’t have any particular problem with this so he was currently holding the pink-haired Mare in a koala carry as she slumbered peacefully in his embrace. Her small size reminded him of the times he had napped alongside his daughters in their youth so Vahn was in a pretty good mood as he allowed Sis to construct a happy dreamscape for her to explore…
Yun-Yun, despite appearing human, was actually an ancient race from Outside the Tower known as a ‘Night Mare’. They were a unique form of spirit that many mistakenly associated with Succubi due to their penchant for sneaking into the rooms of strangers in the middle of the night. It didn’t help that, prior to modifying their appearances to become more human, the majority of Mares had fluffy black tails and tiny horns protruding from their scalps. This led to many being captured, imprisoned, enslaved, and outright killed by certain subsets of human society.
Prior to his ascent up the Tower, Jahad had recruited one of the few surviving members of the Mare species, the current Leader of the Eurasia Family, Eurasia Blossom. Her original duty had been to eat the bad dreams their members had accumulated whilst climbing the Tower so that they wouldn’t be adversely affected by the trials and tribulations they were forced to undergo. Fortunately, it quickly came to light that she was inordinately more talented at controlling Shinsu that virtually every other member of the party so she was ultimately elevated to the status of a Great Warrior, one of thirteen that had journeyed alongside Jahad to dominate the Tower.
Though she was only pure-blooded Mare in the entire Tower, the blessings Blossom had received from the Guardians allowed her descendants to inherit many of her personal and racial traits. As a result, those with stronger blood ties to Blossom, particularly those of female descent, appeared uncannily similar to their Ancestor.
Yun-Yun was the daughter of one of Blossom’s daughters so she had strongly inherited the latter’s characteristics. This included pink hair, matching pink eyes, glowing white pupils, and, most notably, a child-like figure. She also received most of her nourishment by siphoning what her family referred to as ‘dream energy’. In actuality, they were receiving nourishment from the energy produced by a person’s Ego. This was where a person’s most important memories were stored, so, while it wasn’t a mistake to say they ate dreams, it was more accurate to say they devoured what many mistakenly believed to be the Soul.
From an objective point of view, Mares were terrifying existences who, under the right conditions, could literally devour all of what made someone unique. They even had an ability that basically put their target into a coma, drastically reducing their metabolism to the point most of their biological processes ground to a halt. It was for this reason they were seen as demons by so many people, as, whenever they found someone with particularly ‘delicious’ dreams, it was common for a Night Mare to force them into a helpless state that allowed them to devour a target’s dreams at their leisure.
Fortunately, for the sake of their own self-preservation, ‘modern’ Mares had adapted a similar yet significantly less terrifying version of the ability. Though they still had the ability to force their target into a coma, the most common application of the technique was helping others relax so they could experience an extremely peaceful slumber. This made main-line descendants of the Eurasia Family rather popular among Regulars climbing the Tower; as, not only were they exceptionally powerful Wave Controllers, they could drastically reduce the mental and emotional strain accumulated from taking Tests.
Since it was only ever a matter of time before his non-existent fate became intertwined with the members of the Eurasia Family, Vahn had actually been the one to suggest recruiting Yun-Yun into Team Wolf Pack. This was before he knew she was a Mare but it ultimately didn’t matter since she took it upon herself to eat bad dreams even without needing to be asked. Her presence would go a long way towards preventing any trauma from taking root in the hearts and minds of the members of Team Wolf Pack; so, while her species was inarguably dangerous, Vahn was grateful to have her climbing alongside the rest of his Children.
With this in mind, Vahn continued to gently cradle Yun-Yun while enjoying the indescribably soft and smooth sensation of the [Divine Pillow] against his neck. It was actually one of the higher grade items he had gifted out, rated as an A-Rank Divine-Tier item by The Path. What made it even more impressive was the fact that it was part of a set known as the ‘Divine Beddings’, a group of artifacts that, once gathered, would turn a person into an Immortal Demigod that presided over dreams.
In total, there were seven pieces of the ‘Divine Beddings’ set, including the [Divine Pillow], [Divine Futon], [Divine Mattress], [Divine Nightcap], [Divine Quilt], [Divine Pajamas], [Divine Underwear], and the [Divine Alarm Clock]. It was hard to ascertain the effects of each item, but, based on the [Divine Pillow]’s ability to allow you to remain fully cognizant while manipulating your dreamscape, it was safe to assume the other items had complementary effects. Unfortunately, he wouldn’t really know until Laure or Yun-Yun had obtained the other items, as, despite only being A-Rank, each piece of the ‘Divine Beddings’ cost 100,000,000OP in the system shop…
(A/N: Alternate Titles: ‘Bruh…’,’Those heels are actually ridiculously OP…’,’Yun-Yun is well on her way to becoming a Lazy Tower Master (OwO)…’)
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