The Flying Emporium

“Boss, Boss! Those things, why did you…? What about, you know…?” Disregarding that Emily would enjoy the benefits of having the store’s premises expanded, and no matter how impressive and entertaining the Lion’s Head guild’s performance on the training ground had been, right now she was very worried. Having access to Severin’s System, albeit limited, she was very aware of the price Severin had to pay for the new additions. From a financial point of view, the latest investment was a huge setback to their original plan of opening an inn to host all the people who, for now, had to camp outside. Not able to wait until later to voice her concerns, but at the same time restricted by the contract she had signed back then, she only managed to incoherently ramble.

“Do you sell these as well?” Krey excitedly asked in high hopes. At this moment, he didn’t even bother asking how it was possible for such enormous changes to happen overnight without him noticing; Something the others were used to by now.

Before Andreas had claimed one of the three dummies for a round of impromptu training, people had already thoroughly tested them, himself included. Thanks to Krey’s previous experiences as an adventurer who was currently working for the Adventurer’s Society and had a level that was well above that of Andreas and his group, he could confidently say that these dummies were truly one of a kind. Just their durability alone was almost inconceivable to him. Even now, not even a single scratch could be seen on any of the silver figures.

It seemed like a tremendous waste.

Krey wasn’t sure if it was the unknown materials or some equally unknown crafting skill that allowed for such resilience, but what he did know, or at least suspected, was that armor made in the same fashion would make the wearer near impossible to kill. In his estimation, this was certainly enough reason for certain people of power to start a minor war over the matter if they ever learned of its existence.

“Is it really okay for us to use them? For free?” Miriam and Timothy were similarly excited. They too somewhat understood the worth of the three dummies and, therefore, couldn’t help but ask.

These things not only allowed for some new kind of competition between the two youngsters, but would also make it possible for them to more easily come up with new combos without instantly having to reveal them; And without the need to hold back.

Despite all the smack talking between Timothy and Miriam, everything was done in a friendly spirit. As such, they wouldn’t just go all-out. This was especially true for Timothy. After their recent excursions and a few level-ups, the boy had learned a few new skills which he didn’t dare to cast onto Miriam. Despite her large health pool.

“Haha, I’m glad you guys seem to like it.” Those people had been talking over each other, but Severin still answered each of them.

“But I don’t have any plans to sell them.” Even if Severin had the option to, he still would probably decide against it. Not because he was afraid of someone reverse-engineering the contraption, but because he felt he would lose money in the long run if he decided to give up on the exclusivity of this apparent customer attraction.

“And yes, of course, it’s free. For customers,” Severin hastily added.

As for Emily, he just gave a meaningful look. They would talk later.

“Really? Great, thanks! Haha. Come, Timmy, let’s each grab one of them!”

“Coming! And don’t forget to tell me your stats. Never mind. Show them to me!”

“Pah. You don’t trust me?! Fine, but you first!”

Miriam and Timothy ran off while shouting. With the majority of the Lion’s Head guild occupying a single one of the dummies, the healers and the second tank were just observing from the sidelines as their added damage wouldn’t change too much in this setting anyway, the two remaining dummies were just waiting for the youths. But contrary to Severin’s expectations upon reaching their targets, the two of them didn’t just randomly unleash their skills. Instead, they seemed to fiddle around at the dummies’ back for a while.

“To be able to adjust its stats… truly amazing,” Andreas answered Severin’s unspoken question. Of course, he never expected that the owner didn’t actually know about these specifics in the first place. It was just that even after being familiar with it for a few hours, the former still couldn’t help but marvel. It was precisely that second feature, which impressed him maybe even more than the toughness which evidently at least surpassed that of a raid boss. It was also the reason why Samuel’s two mentees were so fired up.

“I’ve seen quite a few training dummies which had their own health bars, but those things usually just break down once it reaches zero. But yours… Not only do they remain intact, but the displayed amount of health is freely adjustable. Not to mention its armor and resistance values. With the data gathered at our previous raid and those of received from our main group, we should be able to replicate the toughness of pretty much all the bosses we’re going to face. Might not be too much of a help with some of the more intricate encounters, but just knowing if our damage would be enough is already such a great help!”

Krey, who had already expected Severin’s rejection concerning the sale of these dummies, wasn’t too down and couldn’t help but subconsciously nod when he heard Andreas’s words.

Not just a few overconfident adventurers might still be alive if they had had access to some technology like that.

“Ah.” As if suddenly remembering something, Andreas exclaimed. “With that, we might prolong our stay even a bit further. As an officer, Harold should also join in on our training at least once. And it wouldn’t hurt for him to be able to stock up on consumables, either. That means until then we could also be a bit more liberal with the use of the combined elixirs. Not that we actually would need to.” He winked at Severin as he turned back towards his subordinates again. Although just a few minutes earlier Andreas might’ve berated the group and its performance, in reality, he was quite proud of them. In fact, he had secretly adjusted the mock [Stone Giant’s] stats so that it would endure way more than it should in reality and took this opportunity to make sure the bunch wouldn’t grow complacent.

‘Might have to check the shop for some soundproofing…’