I let out a sigh as I walked out of the building, feeling a bit disappointed. While I was pretty satisfied with my gear, the weapon I got left me wanting.
Shortly after I picked out my gear, Ai informed me that I can use Appraisal on the items to get more information about them.
With the gear, the Appraisal didn't really tell me anything new, the staff guy had already covered all the important details.
But it proved a lot more useful with the weapons, there were so many options with great stats...unfortunately, those were all out way of my budget.
In the end, I had to settle on a pretty basis short-sword, for 750,000 Credits. Which put me a little bit over budget, but by a small enough amount that I'll be able to cover the excess with my savings without too much of a problem.
The weapon I bought should be plenty good enough for a Low Level Dungeon raid, but given the superior options that were available, it is pretty disappointing that I couldn't get something better.
Though, even if I'd compromised on gear, I wouldn't have been able to afford any of those better options regardless, so I guess it's a moot point.
I guess I should look on the bright side...like, if the Academy hadn't decided to switch up their Practical Training exams, I wouldn't be getting the opportunity to raid a Dungeon this soon to begin with.
I'm really looking forward to this, it's going to be a long wait across these next two weeks.
The raid itself aside, there's another reason to look forward to this, and that's the fact that I stand to gain a fair bit of money.
Hunting is one of the most profitable careers in this era, even lower-ranked Hunters are pretty damn wealthy. All Monsters have this thing called a Core, which sell for a pretty high price.
The Cores are a valuable ingredient in crafting weapons and gear, so they're in pretty high demand.
Hunters gather the Cores of the Monsters they kill and then sell them, so the more Cores you gather, the more money you make.
And even if you don't get any Cores, you can earn a decent amount of money just participating in a raid. Otherwise, Hunters in support roles would earn little to no money.
Thus, a percentage of the profits from the Mana Crystals mined and Monster materials gathered from a Dungeon are split equally between all the participants in the raid, regardless of rank or contribution.
Well, while I'd prefer to keep my cards close to my chest, it'd be a waste to let this opportunity slip just for the sake of flying under the radar.
At the very least, I'll definitely use my Gluttony Skills, but I'll try to keep at least a few of my other Skills under wraps, besides the ones that I don't yet have enough MP to use, of course.
I'd like to be as subtle as possible, but my Gluttony Skills are definitely going to stand out, I'm going to need to come up with a believable explanation in case people start asking questions, which is all but certain to happen.
What, like tell them to mind their own business?
Tempting, but probably not the best option. I don't want to make enemies unnecessarily, after all.
Wait, then how did it work for Hunters who were active before the Tabulization process was developed?
Yeah, makes sense. Hm, you said that Mages weren't very effective, but not that they were completely ineffective, right?
Ohh, I get it now, trying to become a Hunter without a successful Tabulization is like playing a game on Hard Mode, after skipping the tutorial.
Cool. By the way, I've been wondering this for a while...do you have to speak so formally all the time, Ai? Why not speak more casually?
Huh. Okay, uh, that wasn't the response I was expecting.
Also, I call BS, you literally hear all my thoughts constantly, how much closer can you get than that?
I think I get it...so, the more you interact with me and process the emotions linked to my thoughts, the better you get at communicating?
That's...surprisingly human, in a way.
Like, the more social interaction people have, the more their communication skills improve as a result.
Actually, now that I really think about it, you do sound less robotic and monotone than you did in the beginning. For one thing, it's easier to discern your sarcasm and other tonal shifts now than it was at the start.
Well, in that case, I'll do it for you. I'll let you know if I notice any changes or anything.