Logging back into the game, I first make my way to the marketplace in Arialight.

It has been 6 days since Sanae, Hikari, Himeji and I started grinding in preparation for the Pinocchio raid boss.

When we first told Hikari and Himeji, they both were excited and super willing to join us in our endeavour as we brought them to Mavis to go through her chain quest and have them get [The Ruined Village & the Alchemist Pt. EX] quest which requires the defeat of the Umbra Lord of Marionettes to clear.

After which, we spent the rest of that time grinding our levels to the minimum requirement at least.

As a result, I am now level 42, Sanae is level 38, while Hikari and Himeji are both level 35.

Leveling up in this game is quite time consuming, I would say.

I wonder what Zanny's level is now?

But anyways, as I arrived at the marketplace, I headed straight for where Diego's store is and paid him a visit since he has contacted me through the friend chat that my mini store, new cooking equipment and staff are ready.

"Hey Diego, I came!"

"Yoru! I've been waiting for you."

He seems more cheerful than usual. Excited in fact. Opening his inventory as he takes out the items I have requested him to make about a week prior.

"I got your message as soon as I logged in and came immediately. So, is this it?"

"Yup. The first is the store you wanted me to make." He said, placing a cube object on the counter which I picked up. "It's called a Portable Store. And I've designed it so that it would go well with your Portable Kitchen I sold to you before. If you want to see what it looks like when deployed, tap on the magnifying glass icon and the game will show you a preview image of it."

This one, huh?

A window popped up when I pressed the icon, showing a 3D model of the store that Diego had made for me. Rotating the model to get a full 360 degrees view of it.

"It looks kind of basic, huh?"

"Well, that's because it is." Diego replied, smirking. "If you want me to add some upgrades to it, it will cost you." He added, rubbing his fingers together with a greedy expression on his face.

Ah. Classic Diego.

"I'm good for now. Thanks for the offer though."

"Is that so? Well then, moving on... Here." Diego took the next item out and placed it on the counter.

"Your new cooking equipment." He said what it was, as I stared at the item with some caution.

"I see... And this one is safe, right?" I asked him.

"Don't worry. I had a customer of mine test it beforehand in exchange for giving her a discount. You're good." Diego replied, with an air of confidence and a thumbs up.

However, I was still a bit skeptical about it.

Well, I am receiving this one for free anyways. I'll just take his word for it.

Wanting to try it on myself later, I placed the new cooking equipment in my inventory.

Then, at last, Diego pulls out the third and last item I had requested him to make. Which is also the number one item I was most excited about: My new staff.

He placed the weapon on the counter, which was wrapped in a large piece of cloth. Then, he slowly unraveled it, just enough to keep me off my feet as I watched in anticipation, wondering what it would be like.

"Ready for the big reveal, Yoru?" He asked me.

And I answered, "Do it."

With a look of confidence, Diego unraveled the last layer of cloth that was covering the staff and revealed it to me.

Oh my goodness...!

As soon as my eyes laid its sights on the new staff, I was stunned.

The beautiful and shiny black colour, with exotic patterns on it that one would normally see on Damascus steel. Then, there is that sinisterly vibrant orange glow around it. It's almost as if I was looking at a solar eclipse or something. Simply just beautiful from the colour alone.

However, the biggest reason for my surprise was the staff's design.

It's...

"It's a bat."

"It's a staff."

"It's a bat, Diego."

"It's a staff."

"No no no. This is clearly a baseball bat!"

"It's a very unique looking staff."

"Why in the world would you make a baseball bat, Diego?"

"It's a staff. As for its design, I made it in a way that would suit your playstyle based on the way I saw you fight in the Battle Royale event against Zanny."

"Uh huh... I... I see..."

Well, I did rough Zanny up with a lot of physical attacks during our duel. But it did little to no damage to him, since I'm a Magician.

"Still... Why a bat?"

"It's a staff."

"You are aware that I'm a Magician, right?"

"Oh, don't worry. I know that. And that is exactly why I implemented a one-of-a-kind effect to the staff that I'm pretty sure no other staves would have." Diego pumped his chest out with pride as he said that.

"Right... And what is that effect?"

"Why don't you take a look at it yourself?" Diego suggested.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[_]

Physical Damage +180

Magical Damage +120

Quality: Umbra

Effect(s): [+100 INT, -50 STR], [Extra Physical Damage will be dealt to enemies based on the wielder's INT stat. On the other hand, lesser Physical Damage will be dealt if the wielder's STR stat is equal or more than their INT stat.], [Has a moderate chance of dealing Knockback on enemies when hit.]

It's a staff.

Equippable by: [Magician]

Equippable slot(s): [Weapon 1]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I see. I can deal physical damage to my enemies now if I smack them with this. Meaning...

"It is a bat!"

"It's a staff."

"Argh! Whatever... So why does this 'staff' have no name?"

"It's because I deliberately did not name it." Diego replied and handed me some sort of talisman. "I figured that I should let you name it yourself." He said.

I took the talisman as Diego then gestured to me to place it on the bat— I mean, staff. When I did so, a window popped up in my face.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[You have used a Naming Talisman on "_". Please enter a name for this item.]

Enter name: ________________________

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So I just have to type a name for this staff, right? What's the character limit?" I asked Diego.

"Enough to write a whole synopsis as a light novel title." He answered. "Basically, the limit isn't something you should worry about. Just write whatever name you think suits it." He said.

"I see."

"But, if you're open to suggestions, then I have some good names in mind. Like Eclipse or Kurayami or maybe even—"

"Assault Charges."

"What?"

"I hereby name this staff: Assault Charges!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Assault Charges]

Physical Damage +180

Magical Damage +120

Quality: Umbra

Effect(s): [+100 INT, -50 STR], [Extra Physical Damage will be dealt to enemies based on the wielder's INT stat. On the other hand, lesser Physical Damage will be dealt if the wielder's STR stat is equal or more than their INT stat.], [Has a moderate chance of dealing Knockback on enemies when hit.]

It's a staff.

Equippable by: [Magician]

Equippable slot(s): [Weapon 1]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Seriously? Of all the names, you chose that?" Diego questioned my naming sense.

"What's wrong with it? It fits, doesn't it?"

"Well, yeah... But still... Argh, never mind. I was the one who let you name it anyways."

"Then there's no problem."

Immediately after that, I equipped Assault Charges. Replacing Eye of the Accursed with it. Checking my status then.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Name: Yoru

Class: Magician

Lvl: 42

Race: Dark Elf

Gender: Female

===========

HP: 870 (+200) = 1070

MP: 2290 (+500) = 2790

STR: 5 (-20) = -15

DEX: 35

VIT: 5 (+20) = 25

INT: 260 (+120) = 380

AGI: 200

LUK: 5

Attribute Points (AP): 0

============

Weapon 1: Assault Charges

Weapon 2: Diego's Magic Buckler

Head: Umbra Witch Hat

Top: Holy Magus Robes

Bottom: Holy Magus Stockings

Feet: Holy Magus Boots

Accessory 1: Cloak of Romuli

Accessory 2: Fake Pendant of Lazuli

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Looks good. I have more INT stats now. I just need to test how much physical damage I can deal with it.

And also try on the new cooking equipment at an inn later.

"Thanks for the items, Diego. I think I might like them."

"No problem, Yoru. A happy customer makes a good business." Diego quoted with a proud expression.

"But now that our initial business is over..." Diego's expression then changed back as he leaned forward. "There's something I want to talk with you about." He said, gesturing me to move closer to his face for a more private conversation.

"What is it?" I leaned forward, asking him, where he proceeded to whisper.

"Do you remember the Red Legion I told you about when we first met?"

"Umm, yes. It's an unofficial guild led by that rich kid named Red, right? What about them?"

"Well, you see... When the Sacrecy Region was released, Red and his Legion made it their goal to locate the next city where the Liberation Quest will be. They made it past the Creeping Forest and are currently in an area called the Ashen Desert. So far, they have yet to find their goal."

"Okay...? So why are you telling me about this?"

"It's because the Red Legion's progress is currently being halted due to interference by a very peculiar group, blocking their way."

"So... There's a Blue Legion or something?"

"Not quite. They call themselves the Bug Legion actually. And although their numbers aren't as big as compared to the Red Legion, they were still able to mess with them regardless due to the number of bug-type monsters they have tamed. As a result, there have been players of the Red Legion coming out of the cathedral recently because of how many times they died to the players of the Bug Legion."

"I see. And why is the Bug Legion messing with the Red Legion?"

"It's because of the Red Legion's goal to locate the next city. The Bug Legion wants to prevent that in favour of their mistress whom they revere."

"Mistress? Is the Bug Legion a cult or something?"

"You could say that."

That's... somehow rather fitting for this game. But also scary.

"Although, the more appropriate term to refer to them would be a fan club. The crazy kind. They are interfering with the Red Legion's activities because they want their mistress to be the first to clear the Liberation Quest of the Sacrecy Region. Thus, ruining other players' fun as a result. There were even some players who are not members of the Red Legion, but still got caught in the crossfire of their antics. Some were even my friends I know in real life. It sucks."

"My goodness. I'm sorry to hear that. Still, this mistress must be one heck of a wicked woman for her fans to be that insane."

"Yes... In a way she is. In fact, I'm looking at her right now."

"Wait... She's here?"

I turned around when Diego mentioned that. However, I couldn't seem to find any players who would remotely resemble a wicked mistress of a cult.

So, I turned back to Diego and asked him, "Where is she, Diego?"

However, he just looked straight at me with a faint smile and sighed.

"It's you, Yoru."

"Huh? What?"

"The Bug Legion... is your fan club, Yoru. You are their mistress whom they worship."

"Wait... Huh...?"

My mind had to process that information for a bit.

"I have a fan club?"

Diego sighed again. "Somehow, I'm not surprised by your reaction." He remarked, expressing a facepalm. "Are you even aware of what players are calling you, Yoru?"

"Umm... No... They are giving me names?"

"Yes. The Umbra Witch. The Unofficial Raid Boss. The Yorupocalyse. Mommy. You have quite a number of names already ever since your big victory in the battle royale event. You should really take a look at the forums sometimes. It gets pretty wild there whenever your name is brought up."

What was that last name you mentioned though? Who's calling me "Mommy"?

"But back to the Bug Legion." Diego continued. "Their actions are getting quite the amount of attention lately and not in a good way, since they are kind of ruining the fun for some players who want to explore further into the Sacrecy Region. Which is why I am telling you all of this, Yoru." He said, as I can expect where this conversation is heading.

"Let me guess. You want me to stop the Bug Legion since I'm their mistress?"

"Yup. Could you? You can refuse if you want, since it's not actually your fault really."

"However, I'm probably the only person you can ask to stop them, precisely because it is related to me. Correct?"

"Yes again. Consider it an unofficial quest from me. I'll give you a major discount the next time you come to buy something from me. And something extra perhaps. Like say... a better replacement for that magic buckler you still have equipped. Or maybe I could give you some upgrades to those scandalous robes of yours for free."

"Please don't call it scandalous. I'm very conscious about it."

"Haha. Sorry, not really. Anyways, will you accept it?"

Diego asked me. But I had to think about it for a moment.

While the rewards he'd offered sounds good and all, I'm not really sure how I could even stop a whole group of fans of mine with what they are doing. Worst case, my presence could make the situation worse than it is.

With that being said, ignoring the problem could also lead to a bigger problem down the line. Plus, I could test Assault Charges on some enemies as I go. So...

"I accept your quest, Diego. Where is the Ashen Desert?"

"Thank you, Yoru. As for the location, you just need to keep walking straight after entering the Creeping Forest. And once you're in the Ashen Desert, simply look out for any ruckus happening there. There's a good chance that it's the Bug Legion PKing players and not someone having a monster encounter."

"I see. Then I shall be off. Later!"

"Take care, Yoru~!"

Accepting Diego's quest to stop the Bug Legion, I head out once again into the Sacrecy Region. However, since walking would be a pain, I instead took Eye of the Accursed out of my inventory, used my Telekinesis skill on it to make it float, and then sat on it to lift myself off the ground and into the air as it’s time to fly to my destination.

And with Lampy sitting comfortably in my cleavage, I took off full speed ahead!

"To the Ashen Desert we go, Lampy!"