[NR] Act The Lady - Chapter 639 (Patreon)

Jason pulls up the info again, because just remembering it isn’t enough to really appreciate his new pack.

{Backpack of the Prepared Traveler

Description:

A very common backpack pattern that has been used with basically every type of leather you could imagine and some you can’t. This specific one has used leather from a gravity goat.

Grade: Normal Lv37

Effects:

Endless panels - through clever construction, multiple panels have been built into the pack such that you can expand the inner area by over twice the volume

Minor Weight Offset - Anything placed fully within a pocket will weigh 10% less for up to 200 Kilograms of weight

Minor Space Expansion - Space enchantments on the belt provide 10% more space in the pockets

Minor Compression - Space enchantments on the belt shrink any item fully placed within by 10%

Internal Integrity - The insides of the pockets are 2.2 times as sturdy

Internal Piercing Resistance - The insides of the pockets are 2.2 times as hard to pierce

Internal Cushioning - Items inside are 2.2 times less likely to jostle each other and cause damage to one another

Bonuses:

+5 Stamina}

The only shame is that it doesn’t count as a set item with his belt of the prepared traveler. Though the effects match up almost directly, except instead of lesser, the three spatial effects were minor, which has doubled their effects. A shame that the pack had dropped the preservation effect, but the internal cushioning was a fair trade. He could keep his food in his belt and his delicate finds in the backpack.

Though no matter how nice the complimentary pack was, it couldn’t match what was held within. There was more than one reason for why everything was already in the pack when they got there. While they hadn’t managed to gather all the books for Courtney and Rosha, the Energy stuff was all there.

It wasn’t even on purpose! There were simply so few of them that every city had copies. With Mana, there were simply so many manuals that only the capital had a copy of every one owned by the kingdom.

Now, Jason had expected the cliche experience of having someone follow and ambush them to grab the goods. Though it seems that no one at the settlement had noticed. That or maybe the people there were simply good people?

Whatever the case, they make it back to the clearing with only two minor fights. One wasn’t even on purpose for either side. There was simply a snake curled up at the backside of a large flat rock and it attacked when the group stepped down in front of it.

Though now that they’re back in the clearing, Rosha looks excited for a second. Dreams of adventure dancing in her head, only for her to groan as something hits her. Courtney nods, “Yeah, we can’t run off right away. In fact, we might be in the clearing for a good bit longer. After all, we just received all the manuals. It wouldn’t be funny to die because we ran off without learning at least the more critical information.”

Rosha, “But that could take weeks! Months!”

Courtney raises an eyebrow, “Maybe we’ve been neglecting your lessons a bit too much?”

Rosha looks worried, “You saw me in the city. I’m able to act the lady.”

Courtney shakes her head, “Then where is your patience? Sometimes you need to wait for the best result.”

Rosha, “Fine, I’ll wait for you.”

Courtney nods, “Besides, this won’t be like the last few days. Learning, even if from a book, will be more interesting than having nothing much to do.”

Rosha, “That’s one way to look at it.”

Courtney, “And if you don’t want to be bored out of your mind, a good mindset to work towards.”

Off to the side, Jason can’t help but retreat into the “library”. Not to read, there aren’t any windows so it is quite dark. Though a bit of Energy channeled into a finger provides enough of a glow to make out things. In fact, Jason thought of a potential thing that might work.

After cycling his Energy a couple of times, he sends a stream of it off course and to his eyes. This doesn’t quite work, though. Yes, it sort of enhances his ability to see in the dark, but not enough to read a book by, even with his glowing alien finger trick. Though it is enough light to read the titles of the books at least.

It does highlight the fact he should probably prepare a ritual plate and slap the light ritual on it. That would provide more than enough illumination. Though since it runs off Energy, the other two would need to provide their own solution if they wanted to read in here. Which, given the nature of the books, isn’t the worst idea.

So armed with a new task to complete, Jason leaves the library and passes on to Courtney his plans. “Going to make a light ritual for me to read in there. You might want something similar, but for Mana.”

Courtney, “I bought a Mana lamp in the settlement the time before last. A tiny cheapo one, mind you, but more than enough to read by without straining your eyes.”

Jason frowns, “Seems I wasn’t thinking far enough ahead.”

Courtney shakes her head, “I didn’t get the light source for that, it’s just a happy coincidence. The light is more for when we go exploring. Besides, even Energy based ones are still cheap as plates, if harder to find.”

Jason, “So I can’t make some decent cash pumping them out?”

Courtney laughed, “As if you planned to in the first place. Besides, you’ve now got better things to make. And once you have a chance to pick through the kingdom’s supplies? You’ll have the material to make some proper merchandise.

“Though you’d be a fool to do so. Since they aren’t big on the stuff, you wouldn’t get a good price. Much better to improve the clearing, even if it is, in the end, a temporary base for us.”

Jason shrugs, “Yeah, that is basically the plan. Besides, I’m sure once there are some Energy materials and such around, the Deep Wilds will surface more for us.”