Chapter 101: Masterwork Vault

“Before upgrading your vault, there are a few armor vaults I would like you to see. Your Vitality is low—even among damage dealers or ranged MGs. That’s why I think it would be best if you used some consumables and armor.”

“Armor?”

“Astral Shift gives you a basic shield, but you need more lifelines—something that can boost your chances of survival. Higher-leveled MGs will need more than just Shield Aura to survive more advanced Anathema.”

“Hm? But…”

“Yes. It can regenerate. But I would still recommend an armor vault. Armor vaults comprise four parts: hands, legs, torso, and helmet.”

“I have never seen MGs use them.”

“MGs of rank C and above use them. It is almost mandatory for B rank and above. It’s just that you don’t see them—Astral Dress hides them.”

“I see. So, will this armor help me?”

“Yes. There is Reactive Armor, and there is Enhanced Armor. For your information, Freya uses Enhanced Armor. Armor begins at a Rare vault. Enhanced Armor will either increase your Vitality or Agility, while Reactive Armor will either protect you from magic or physical attacks—for one-time use only.”

“One-time use?”

“Yes. But it can save you in a pinch. Higher-grade armor can be charged beforehand with mana, making them more useful against attacks. I think Pink Heart uses Reactive Armor.”

“Do Freya and Yellow Bee use them?”

“They use the enhancement ones. It’s more popular to use armor that enhances your stats—it’s more long-lasting. You can only use one armor after all.”

“…As expected. Weapon vault first. I need more firepower.”

“…Very well. Ambitious MGs often go this way. With an increase in firepower, they can punch through higher-tier Anathema, netting more reward. It is a high-risk, high-return gamble. Just be careful of ambushes and attrition battles.”

“Alright. Thank you for supporting me.”

“So, which weapon vault would you like to upgrade? Would you upgrade the glaive vault for your naginata, or would you like to upgrade your gun vault for more bullets and guns?”

“Gun vault would be better, right? I will have more bullets, which I can use immediately.”

“Yes. A Masterwork vault will give you enchanted bullets. These kinds of bullets will deal continuous damage against Anathema if they hit. They are priced at 10 points per bullet, so make sure every bullet you fire counts.”

“10 points per bullet?” I went dizzy at the price. I could get 10 bullets from the previous tier at that price. And I could get over 20 bullets if it were just the normal Silverbane bullets. The price increased tenfold.

“Yes. The enchanted bullets can give you an edge. Besides continuous damage, fire bullets will immolate the enemy, decreasing their strength and vitality, leaving them susceptible to further melee attacks. Ice bullets will slow the enemy, decreasing their dexterity and agility. And there are dark bullets, which will confuse their senses. Of course, these bullets come with enchantments from the previous tier. You can choose FMJ or explosive variants.”

“Or you can choose armor-piercing bullets. These bullets will penetrate most armor. Be careful using them on soft targets, as they will cause over-penetration and result in less damage. These bullets are rarely used, but seeing as you constantly hit Anathema above your rank, you might need them.”

Her words stung. I’m not that reckless.

“What about the glaive? What will a Masterwork Glaive give me?”

“You can choose one enchantment from three popular enchantment categories. One enchantment will increase your stats—up to a 20-point increase in either STR or Dexterity. Another enchantment applies a debuff to the enemy. And the last one is a gimmick. The most popular gimmick is the one that lets you call back your glaive if you ever drop it.

For the debuff, you can choose to decrease STR, DEX, Vitality, Wisdom, INT, or Agility. The debuff will apply if your strike hits the enemy.”

“That sounds amazing. How much do they decrease?”

“Yes. It is fairly amazing. The decrease depends on the enemy’s resistance. But such resistance is usually present on Anathema at Rank A and above. It is about a ten percent decrease.”

“Will there be any increase in guns?”

“Guns will not be affected by enchantments. However, they can be modded. For example, if you open a Masterwork Gun Vault, a glaive that can transform into a sniper rifle or assault rifle will be available to you. Since the price of such weapons will also increase, I suggest you buy only one for your exclusive use. Your clones can use their specialized weapons. Buying these masterwork weapons for all of them is not feasible. I suggest an Icerail Naginata that can transform into a shotgun rifle.”

“I have dimensional storage, so I don’t really need to buy these, right? I can swap them mid-fight.”

“That is correct.”

“... Alright. Let’s buy the Masterwork Gun Vault. After we report to the Zenith and get our prize money, I can get the Masterwork Glaive Vault with some points to spare. Then the remaining points can be used to buy armor.”

“That would be wise.”

To be honest, the Glaive Vault interests me more, but if I opened the Glaive Vault, I could only buy one weapon at most. That means my clones couldn’t use them. If I opened the Gun Vault, my clones could buy the bullets themselves and use the bullets with the rifles we already had. That’s why I chose the Masterwork Gun Vault first.

[Kinetic Gun Vault (Masterwork) Unlocked!]
[-10,000 Points]
[Remaining Points: 1,870]

“Now I need to buy 50 dark bullets, 50 ice bullets, 50 flame bullets, and 20 armor-piercing bullets.”

[Purchased: Dark Bullets x50, Ice Bullets x50, Armor-Piercing Bullets x20!]
[-1,700 Points]
[Remaining Points: 170]

I stored all of them in my dimensional storage. The price really hurt. All of my hard-earned points had been reduced to almost zero.

“Erm… are you sure we should bring them?” one official asked, her hand pointing toward the corpse of Freya’s father and the exiles.

“What do you mean?” Freya glared at her. She had been at her father’s side this whole time. She hadn’t responded much. Even when I provided her with food and water, she just ate them with a hollow look on her face.

It was hard to see a Pink like that. They were usually cheerful and the group’s mood maker. As I thought about that, I realized I had forgotten that they were all humans with their own emotions.

“Freya, they are exiles, and exiles are forbidden from returning to Sanctuary cities ever again,” Lexus said.

“You mean you want to throw their bodies into the sea? How heartless are you? They are already dead! Even though they are exiles, they are human! They deserve to be cremated!”

“But we might get punished if we bring them into Sanctuary cities.”

“You are heartless! How could you say that?” Sparks shot out from Freya’s back. She then glared at me. “You too? Are you siding with them?”

I blinked at her. I didn’t expect her to drag me into this dispute.

“No. I think it should be fine to bring them into Sanctuary cities.”

“But you see, this is also a first. We don’t know how they would react, right? Exiles weren’t supposed to return, you know.”

“Elder July’s corpse was brought into Sanctuary cities just fine, even though she was an exile,” I said.

“But they got their exile status revoked. They’re no longer exiles,” Yellow Bee shrugged.

“Corpses rarely last long in the Darkland. That’s why this case is a first. If the people in sanctuary cities don’t like it, then it’s on them. The decision isn’t ours to make,” I answered.

“I didn’t mean to be insensitive, Freya. How about we hold the funeral here? If we let this be, the corpse will rot before we reach the Sanctuary cities,” Lexus said.

“I can preserve them with magic. We can even buy ice cubes from the vault if we have to!” Freya defended herself.

“I don’t want to be punished for helping exiles! Let’s just throw them away, just to be safe!” another official said.

“You can’t be serious! They were just corpses! Can’t you find it in your heart to give them at least a little bit of respect? They might have done something wrong, but so have all of us! They already died. What’s the use of vengeance now?”

“It’s not about vengeance, it’s about the law. The law from the Guardian Command says exiles must stay away from Sanctuary cities.”

“The law doesn’t extend to their corpses!”

“I don’t hold grudges, but I don’t want to be punished! I have a family. They all rely on me. I don’t want to live in a shelter!”

I distanced myself from them. To me, all of them were heinous. I didn’t want to take any part in their squabble. But seeing how Freya vehemently defended the corpses, I stepped in. Things were about to go nuclear. If the officials started to get violent, Freya would have to respond in kind, but that would also mean Freya violated the one law all Guardians have to obey.

“Freya. We have a boat. Let’s relieve these guys of these mangled corpses. They’ve never seen corpses before, please understand. They don’t want to get punished. We’ll follow a bit behind their backs. If we act alone, then in the worst-case scenario, only we’ll be punished,” I offered a solution to the bickering adults.

“Yes, please. We don’t want to have anything to do with exiles.” The officials bowed. The fact that these workers and officials were from Shirayuki disgusted me. But they were human. When push came to shove, they were all selfish. Me included. We were all here for a purpose.

The officials wanted safety, Lexus wanted to smear other companies. I was here for points, while Freya was here to save her father.

“...” Freya didn’t say a word as she carefully lifted her father’s corpse and lined it at the back of our speedboat. Then the evacuation boat departed without us. As promised, we followed them a bit behind. This way, when they arrived at Eden, they wouldn’t be seen as part of the same group as us, thus avoiding the blame.

“Thanks…” Freya muttered. Her voice was barely audible, like a whisper.

“No need to thank me,” I answered, feeling guilty. We drove through the waves, following the evacuation group.

After a day had passed, we were halfway to Eden.

“Warning. A group of pterodactyls is coming for the convoy fleet. Yellow Bee has asked for support. It is estimated that there are three dozen of them,” Felicia said.

I summoned my sniper rifle, ready to take them on. However, Freya didn’t move.

“Leave them be. Why should I help them when they didn’t even show a bit of consideration toward me?” Freya said. Her eyes were still on the corpse of her father.

I blinked at the scandalous answer from the pink Magical Girl.

Did she just say she didn’t want to help them?