Chapter 64

  I had a total of fifty augmenting stones from my totally not a problem gambling shenanigans. Especially not a problem… considering in theory each of these stones came from a Mun Crystal that could have been sold for Muney. Even on the low end… again, totally not trying to think about it, as my finger itched to summon another alcoholic drink at the thought… these fifty augmenting stones came at the cost of, er, 500 Muney. Gatcha games back home had nothing on Mutopia apparently.

  Granted, those were Mun Crystals I’d acquired just by walking and battling, so, in some way, wasn’t this just my rewards for doing daily grinding? If I looked at it that way, it was a little less painful. Though, probably, still somewhat reckless. Given I only had a Tier 1 Gauntlet right now, and was limited to only two augmenting stones, now, if any time, was probably the time for reckless experimenting though. Plus, I was already aware that I could sell my augmenting stones at the Mun Center, so… eventually, I’d be able to turn what I’d pulled back into Muney.

  As I looked through the list of Augmenting Stones I’d made, I got the inkling that even though these were all Common in their rarity, there were different tiers to those common style Crystals. Case in point, thirty-five of the augmenting stones fell in the general physical stat boost category, with the other fifteen belonging to one of the other five different types of augmenting stones. In total, the interface had all of the new ones highlighted and listed accordingly.

  Defense Augmentation Stone Lvl 1 x 9

  Attack Augmentation Stone Lvl 1 x 8

  Speed Augmentation Stone Lvl 1 x 8

  HP Augmentation Stone Lvl 1 x 10

  Basic Augmentation Stone of Resistance (Poison) Lvl 1 x 2

  Basic Augmentation Stone of Resistance (Stun) Lvl 1 x 1

  Basic Augmentation Stone of Life Steal Lvl 1 x 1

  Basic Augmentation Stone of Stun Lvl 1 x 1

  Basic Augmentation Stone of Growth Lvl 1 x 1

  Basic Augmentation Stone of Immunity Lvl 1 x 1

  Shimmer-Ish Augmentation Stone Lvl 1 x 1

  Pride Cub Augmentation Stone Lvl 1 x 3

  Gembra Augmentation Stone Lvl 1 x 1

  Gemzelle Augmentation Stone Lvl 1 x 1

  Mammal Augmentation Stone Lvl 1 x 1

  The regular augmenting stones, I had no doubt, were all the same as the ones I currently had. They no doubt would increase the appropriate stat for my Muns, most of which I still couldn’t see given my Gauntlet’s Tier, by a total of… 1. Big gainz here. The other stones, were a little more intriguing. If only because I hadn’t seen them before, and new things were shiny.

  I held out my left hand, and the gauntlet, which I’d had in its bracelet form for my bath, took on its full form. The two gemstones on my knuckles, both defense Augmentation stones, just barely shone in the light of the room, their dulled green a slap in the face compared to the brilliance of the stones on Julius and Mikael and Sasha’s gauntlets.

  Mentally I unequipped both of the stones, figuring for the sake of experimenting this would be the fastest route. Then, going down the list of new things, I selected the first two new stones. A moment later, two blue stones, looking less like gems and more like dark blue glass if I was being honest, appeared on my knuckles. Pulling up the information on my gauntlet that the system provided, I took note of the effects.

  Basic Augmentation Stone of Resistance (Poison) (Common)

  +1 percent resistance to poison chance

  Basic Augmentation Stone of Resistance (Stun) (Common)

  +1 percent resistance to stun chance

  Underwhelming… would be an underwhelming way to describe the stone’s effects. Granted, both of the stones were also listed as level 1, so… to be fair, they could be leveled up. However, at what cost? I had a feeling at these low tiers, at the very least, these types of stones were absolutely worthless.

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  Sighing, I unequipped the two, and made my next choice. This time, two dark red stones, like dried blood, appeared on my knuckles. Again, I checked the stats.

  Basic Augmentation Stone of Life Steal Lvl 1 (Common)

  +1 percent life steal added to all attacks

  Basic Augmentation Stone of Stun Lvl 1 (Common)

  +1 percent chance to stun added to all attacks

  To make myself immediately appear to be a hypocrite… the 1 percent life-steal actually seemed tempting. Though, I’d need to know more about how that worked. Did it round up, or down? Was it off the damage dealt before defenses, or after? If Barkity’s attack hit for 30… would it heal him for 1 HP? Or 0? I’d need to experiment with it, because if was always at least one, this stone was going to be instantly added to my roster. If… it didn’t round, or it rounded down, then I’d have to really think about it. Either way though, the concept of having life-steal on every attack was a tempting one. And no doubt these stones, at higher levels and tiers, could be absolute game changers.

  The stun chance… on the other hand, was negligible again. Like, sure, having a 1 in a hundred chance to stun wasn’t nothing… I was definitely not about to put the fate of my Muns in the hands of RN-Gesus. Especially not when losing, depending on the situation, could result in me being randomly teleported back to the last Mun Center I’d visited. Given how long the walk had been from Cogni to Silver Springs, or even Silver Springs to Grasslands… such a thing could be a MASSIVE inconvenience.

  Off my knuckles those stones went, as my exploration continued. The water was still nice and toasty, so comfort wise, I was still greatly enjoying this bath. However, I could feel my feet starting to prune a tad, and the last thing I needed to do, given all the walking I’d already been doing, was stay for too long soaking, else I’d no doubt get blisters tomorrow. And fuck that noise.

  The red stones faded away, and this time, a white stone and black stone appeared. Neither was striking, more like a piece of white and smoky quartz, but the fact they were different colors had my eyes raising in excitement. Two new types. Neat.

  Basic Augmentation Stone of Growth Lvl 1 (Common)

  +1 percent to all physical stats

  Basic Augmentation Stone of Immunity Lvl 1 (Common)

  +1 percent to all resistances

  These stones were the kind that could be potential game changers. Not at common, of course. But, like, at the higher tiers, and higher levels, surely they’d do so much more for the Muns. Right now though, increasing stats by a percentage didn’t seem… all that beneficial. Especially if the system, again, rounded down, or didn’t round up at all. Without the ability to see my Mun’s stats other than HP, I couldn’t really gauge the changes the Stone of Growth actually offered, so for now, speculation was all I had. Though, if this world was anything like the ones of the games back home, I knew later on, at higher levels of my Muns, and of course, higher levels of these stones, the percentiles could very well outpace the basic physical trait stones. Not to mention, they increased the stats, by a percentage, for all stats, not just one.

  I unequipped the gems, dreaming already of the future augmentation stones I’d eventually be able to find and collect, and equipped the last one I didn’t really get. Like, I’d already checked the Shimmer-Ish stone previously, so I knew how those named ones worked… but, the Mammal One had my interest piqued.

  Warm Blooded Monstrosities (0/5) – Inactive: Plus 5 to all Mammal Stats

  Neat.

  It was completely useless to me, of course, just as the Mun Specific ones were. I could only equip two augmentation stones right now, so any of the ones requiring multiple stones were out of the question. Still, the fact the stone came with a unique boost name, similar to the Shimmer-Ish one, made me wonder if these type specific stones, or Mun Specific Stones, had different boosts or perks depending on the rarity of the stone? It was something I’d keep an eye out for, but already I was chomping at the bit to get back out there, and continue diving into the world around me.

  After, I thought with a yawn, as I pulled my body out of the comforting warmth of the bath, I get some sleep. The cool air sent chills down my body, and I grabbed my towel, quickly wrapping it around myself as I grabbed another to dry off my arms and legs. Even as I did, I worked the gauntlet and the system interface, having already grown extremely used to the way this world worked, after my month in Mutopia, to quickly do one last little experiment.

  Augmentation Stones had levels. And there was an option in my interface, to level up my augmentation stones. Namely… my defense stone. I had 11 of the stones total, thank to my two from earlier, and my nine I’d pulled today. Selecting the option showed me that I could use 10 of the defense stones to upgrade my last stone a level. In the name of science… I did just that.

  There was a brief flash, before the new stone was created, and I promptly equipped it.

  Defense Augmentation Stone Lvl 2 (Common)

  +2 Defense Increase to all Muns

  Was it great? Not at all. Was it worth more than 100 Muney to do that upgrade, considering the cost of materials, probably not. But, for now, did I care? Nope. I was out nothing, other than materials, and actually gained a little, since now I had a free slot to use one last Augmentation Stone. I equipped my Life Steal Stone, figuring I’d at least experiment with the stone tomorrow, before probably opting for the Atk or HP stone. If the Life Steal stone healed my Muns for a minimum of 1 every attack, of course it would stay. But… I had a feeling I had a better chance of somehow finding a million Muney than having that happen…

  Grinning at my knuckles, the pinky and ring finger on my left hand set now with a green and red stone, I returned the gauntlet to its bracelet form and summoned one last alcoholic beverage for my evening. Now that I didn’t have to do anything that required actual thinking, I could enjoy one last drink for bed. After all, with today’s excitement, and my new discoveries about the augmentation stones, I’d no doubt earned it. Plus, who knew, this could be my last cool drink until I reached Glass City, considering I had the freaking Desert to trek through next. One last drink… couldn’t hurt.