Varocia : From Gamer to Mentor

Only draining HP with no benefit? What kind of trashy cursed item is this? He fumed.

In most games, cursed equipment often came with overpowered effects balanced by significant drawbacks. But this armor seemed intent on causing harm without offering anything in return!

As if sensing his disdain, the cursed armor trembled in his hands the moment it heard itself labeled "trash."

"Oh, right. You're sentient, aren't you? Not only are you trash, you're also stupid!" he shot back.

The armor halted, bewildered. How is it stupid? You are stupid!

"Honestly, if you want to be a cursed item, at least becomes one that offers some sort of benefit! You’re nothing more than a glorified trash bag. I'd be better off wearing a suit of cardboard—at least then I wouldn’t be bleeding out in the middle of a fight like a joke when the enemy hasn't even laid a finger on me!"

The cursed armor shuddered in indignation when it was compared to cardboard, clearly irked. It didn’t know exactly what cardboard was, but it must not be anything good!

"Look, you're obviously bad at marketing. How can you satisfy your thirst for blood if no one is willing to wear you?" he continued, relentless.

The armor paused, considering his words. That made some sense!

"Improve your sales pitch! Instead of just draining people's blood, why not offer some benefits? Make them want to wear you, even at the risk of giving you some blood!"

The three girls stared at him, astonished. Was he really negotiating with a cursed armor right now?

The cursed armor, feeling oddly enlightened by his suggestions, contemplated the idea. Why hadn't it thought of this before?

After a moment, Olgan commanded again, "Inspect."

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Name: Cursed Armor of Bloodthrist

Grade: Cursed

Description: A suit of normal armor that has been bathed in blood for a long time, morphing and transforming it into a sentient armor that thirst for blood. Recently enlightened by Olgan Tenia.

Effect: While wearing the armor, any skills the wearer cast will drain the wearer's HP by 25%, but will also restore the wearer's MP by 50.

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"That's much better!" Olgan exclaimed, a grin spreading across his face.

"You really succeeded?" Edith approached him, disbelief evident in her voice as she reclaimed the cursed armor.

She mentally used 'Inspect' to check its updated description, her eyes widening with amazement.

Staring at her enviously, Olgan hoped he could someday use commands without having to say them out loud.

"I can't believe this... you really did it!" Edith gasped, struggling to accept the transformation.

While he had intended to negotiate further to lower the HP drain from 25%, he realized that such a high HP cost might actually benefit Edith in her current state. So he decided not to push it further for now.

Despite having no natural talent for communication skill, he found negotiating with a cursed armor surprisingly straightforward. And it worked!

Though he could negotiate with it to increase the HP drain for Edith's immediate benefit of grinding, he worried it might become too arrogant and refuse to lower the cost after she was done using it. For the sake of long-term benefit, it was better to keep the drain at the original 25% for now.

"Alright, Edith, wear it and try using [Berserk Cleave]," he instructed.

Edith beamed with excitement, "I feel like you're breaking my worldview, Olgan! Being with you is never boring!"

She quickly donned the Cursed Armor of Bloodthirst over her training clothes, transforming her into a fierce, sinister beauty, her presence radiating an air of superiority as if she looked down on mere mortals from a great height.

"Alright, Lenna, be ready!" Edith said, unsheathing her sword and gripping it with both hands.

Lenna nodded, preparing to receive a light tap.

Olgan added, "We'll try this method first, and then I want to test the first approach I mentioned. If both work, we can experiment with combining them for the best result."

Edith nodded eagerly and activated [Berserk Cleave], her sword glowing with a red hue. However, her excitement faded slightly as she frowned, clearly felt the pain of losing 30% HP at once.

She lightly tapped her sword against Lenna's exposed arm.

Lenna, who had already opened her Status Interface, glanced at her HP and sighed, "My HP only decreased by 28... that's unfortunate."

But in stark contrast, Edith's eyes lit up with joy after checking her Skill Panel, completely forgetting her discomfort.

"[Berserk Cleave]'s EXP is now 9.68%!" Her voice was a mix of excitement and disbelief, as if her entire worldview has indeed shifted.

"No way..." Aqualia exclaimed, her glasses comically slipping to one side.

Olgan wore a huge grin. It seems my theory was correct!

The amount of EXP gained was directly linked to the HP drained! Losing 30% had pushed her EXP up by a whopping 9%—an impressive gain!

"Unfortunately, it looks like the fixed damage is capped at 5% of your Max HP," he added, a hint of disappointment mingling with relief. If there was such a bug-like damage's exploit, it would definitely break the balance.

"This is already fantastic! Thank you, Olgan!" Edith said, jumping to wrap her arms around his neck from behind.

Oh no... Ignoring the pain on his neck from Edith's high STR, he felt a shiver run down his spine as he sensed Lenna glaring at him with a dangerous intensity.

To his surprise, he didn't feel the usual weight of impending doom. He turned to see Lenna narrowing her eyes, but she didn't take any further action.

Still nervous, he thought, what if the duke and duchess returned and found their daughter so close to an unknown man? My life would be doomed!

While the idea of being friendly with a beauty was tempting, the thought of being dismembered alive was far more pressing!

Struggling, he gently pried Edith off him, managing a wry smile. "Now that we know my theory was correct, let's try the first method this time."

"Okay!" Edith nodded, pausing to remove the cursed armor before drinking a red Recovery Potion to restore her HP.

After replenishing her health, she hesitated for a moment before activating [Berserk Cleave] while meditating, trying to force the skill to drain more of her HP.

Sweat began to bead on her forehead as she panted heavily. Turning to Olgan, she said apologetically, "Sorry, Mentor, I failed."

"I appreciate you sometimes calling me 'Mentor', but it still feels a bit weird.. Actually, I would have to get used to it eventually, so how about you call me Mentor only when I'm guiding you, and just Olgan during casual times?" he suggested.

"Okay, Mentor" she replied with a small smile.

He returned her smile, "No need to feel bad. That's what experimentation is all about. There will be plenty of trials and errors."

Edith nodded, though her spirits seemed to dampen. With so many of Olgan's ideas proving correct, she felt frustrated that it might be her own incompetency that failed the method.

"Then we can try something more physical," Olgan said thoughtfully.

"What do you mean by physical?" Edith asked, puzzled.

"Since it's an enchantment-type skill, your drained HP will be applied as bonus fixed damage to your sword, right?"

She nodded, following his reasoning.

"So, remember what I said earlier? The moment you activate [Berserk Cleave], stab yourself!"