The SSS Ranked Villain's Return-Chapter 315: Weapon Shopping (Stealing)

"What?" Elena tilted her head. "You don't like boutiques?"

"I don't think that's the problem here..." He trailed off with a sigh. "My bad. I guess you just want to get something nice. I guess I'm still a little on edge from earlier."

Elena scoffed as she suddenly grabbed hold of his arm and dragged him inside the boutique.

He was expecting to see some cutesy clothes, but what greeted his vision instead was an armory.

"This place is called Maid Weaponry," Elena explained with a smirk. "People are afraid of weapons, but if you give the sellers kitty ears and a maid suit, they're more than happy to at least visit. Maybe even buy a weapon or two."

"That's some serious marketing..." Neraxis thought in wonder, noting it down for his future. "But do you really need a weapon?"

"Yes and no," Elena said plainly, turning toward Amara and Eris, who had equally surprised expressions. "I believe they need some weapons—you too. And who am I to not indulge? I do have a bit of money on hand."

"How mighty generous of you..." Neraxis trailed off as he suddenly had an idea.

His Arksteel just so happened to replicate the items he interacted with, so maybe...

He approached one of the daggers beside him and placed his hand on it.

Immediately, a pop-up appeared.

<Frostfire Dagger (Rare) has been added to your arsenal!>

Oh... His grin widened, but he tried to hide it as he spotted a maid walking toward him.

The maids were as beautiful as he had expected, but instead of doing their maidly duties, they simply walked over, picked up a weapon, and then slowly approached the customers.

The maid who was coming toward him was no exception, as she carried a sword.

And when she finally arrived, she simply swung it around and then twisted it, holding the hilt out to Neraxis, who didn't hesitate to wield it.

<Extremely Shiny Sword (Common) has been added to your arsenal!>

Bruh.

"It's a nice sword, but do you maybe have something else?" Neraxis asked, causing the maid's brows to furrow.

"Sorry, dear customer, is the sword not to your liking?"

"It's not," Neraxis replied plainly. "It's very shiny, but I doubt it can even cut through flesh."

Hearing those words, a faint smile appeared on the maid's face as she suddenly took back the sword and walked away.

From the way she reacted, he knew she wasn't very happy.

+50 Strength

+50 Agility

+50 Stamina

+100 Mana Capacity

<Notice: Due to the low level of the user, and low mastery of Arksteel (Legendary), the item is only at 5% of its actual stats.>

And just as he thought, it was overpowered, even if heavily nerfed.

MP: 320/320 → 1,320/1,320

Strength: 23 (+18) → 55 (+50)

Agility: 27 (+22) → 55 (+50)

Stamina: 11 → 61 (+50)

Mana Capacity: 32 → 132 (+100)

Free Stat Points: 6

—Skills:

Arksteel (Legendary)

—Fragment of Calamity Skill Tree (4/???)

Advanced Horizontal Slash (Epic)

Expert Stab (Rare)

Atomic Stab (Rare)

Illusion Slash (Rare)

+-----+

The upgrades were massive, more than he expected, and by now, he knew that he might actually stand a chance against much stronger monsters.

However, he knew that he had to raise his base stats as well, since they were pitifully low.

But how do I even go about it...? Training? Maybe? Neraxis pondered, and as he did, a lovely voice rang out inside his mind.

[Hey, how's it going?] Evangeline asked softly.

Evangeline? I thought I wouldn't hear from you until you arrived here, Neraxis replied, surprised.

[Well, I'll be done with the tutorial stages soon,] Evangeline stated, and he could feel a certain exhaustion and longing in her tone.

And he immediately clocked the reason why.

How long were you on the fifth floor? Neraxis asked, his brows furrowed. Don't tell me you stayed long. You didn't even need to.

[I did,] Evangeline replied. [I was pretty weak back then, but now, I regained a tiny bit of my strength after a few years. I just kind of missed your voice, you know?]

Neraxis sighed. Get over here as soon as possible, I'll be waiting.

He heard a parting giggle, and with that, she went back to the trials.

As for Neraxis? He wanted to go out to hunt.

He approached Amara and the rest leisurely.

"Hey," he called out. "I'll be heading out to do some training in the forest. I'll come back here in a bit."

"Just make sure not to miss it," Elena said with a chuckle. "The floating city moves pretty fast, and it definitely won't wait for you. Though you'll have a few minutes until then."

Amara nodded at him. "We'll be doing the same after we get our weapons. We might even cross paths."

"Mhm." Neraxis shrugged and began slowly making his way out of the weaponry.

He approached the invisible bridge from earlier, and his current objective?

Clear the forest.