A Cheap, OP Brawler Chapter 165

Published at 29th of March 2022 06:38:59 AM

Orange_Rain Apologies for publishing a day late. I had a lot to catch up on at the last minute, but with my projects near finished and ready to go, I'm going to take the week off both for the holidays and to give my mental state a break. I'll be back to posting chapters weekly on the 2nd next month.

Thank you all very much for your patience, understanding, and support throughout this year. Though there were some stressful times and the pacing for this story has been painstakingly slow, I haven't stopped enjoying writing this and my other stories. If I didn't have to worry about making a living and not have a full-time job, I'd want to take the majority of my time writing stories and cleaning them up to be an enjoyable read for you all. I do like having some time to myself when I can, though. There are times when I'd want to step away from writing for a bit to play games and watch streams. A part of me wonders if I should take up streaming, myself, to better connect with my readers and have them get to know me. I don't know, it's something worth thinking about. Let me know what you think of that idea in the comments.

For now, I'll continue writing as I have been. I'm not sure whether I should change my update schedule for personal reasons, but I'll let you know if anything comes up. As much as I like seeing readers enjoying the stories I write (even if they're heavily criticized by some) I do want to write them while in a healthy state of mind, taking my time going over them and make sure the plot's progressing like I want it to. I may have been getting by fine the last few years since I started putting up chapters, but things change, I'm getting close to my 30's, and I need to start putting my health first. Some of you may get tired of reading my stories, and while it saddens me to see you go, I know there are better authors out there whose works are worth putting your time into consuming. If my ridiculously slow-paced, isekai/harem-trash stories gave you some moment of peace and amusement during these stressful times like right now, then I think I'm doing 'something' right as a writer, and I'm satisfied with that much.

Thank you all again for spending this crazy year with me. Let's hope things get better in the next and the others after that. Until next time, enjoy the chapter.

"Pardon the intrusion," I said as I immediately closed the [Portal] behind me.

"Hello, darling! I've missed you!" Noire exclaimed as she wrapped her arms around my head. She emphasized her impressive bust by how much she pressed herself onto me. 

I couldn't help but chuckle at such a greeting as I pulled her in by the waist, "I've only been gone for a couple hours, though?"

"Time has a way of making itself longer when you're waiting for someone, you know? Especially after our exchange earlier, as I couldn't stop thinking about it since you left,” she said while playing with my hair. I guess tasting that small bit of my blood left more of an impact on her than I thought.

“Well, then, will this make up the time we've been apart?” I asked before placing a soft, comforting kiss on her glossy lips.

She breathed deeply through her nostrils briefly before our kiss broke off, “Hmm … maybe a little more?”

I obliged and gave another quick peck.

“Okay, I think I'm satisfied,” Noir said before pulling back.

"Ah, I have something for you, too," I said as I reached into my pocket.

"For me?"

I instructed her to turn around and hold her red hair up. She obliged as I took out the pendant and put it around her neck.

"This 'Pendant of Hidden Anonymity' will hide your status as well as your location from appraising and tracking-type items and skills," I explained as I linked the string together with the attached clamp, "With your [Hide Magic] skill, you should be invisible to any stalkers following you."

"That sounds like quite an effect for an enchanted item! Where did you get this?" Noire asked as she checked herself in the mirror.

"An acquaintance gave it to me while I was getting supplies. I figured this could benefit you, being a noble who draws attention, I mean," I said. What I said was mostly true, so I hoped her [Intuition] wasn't sharp enough to catch me hiding something. My anxiety was unfounded, though, as Noire seems transfixed on the pendant that now laid on top of her cleavage.

"Hmm, I feel as though I've seen this pendant somewhere before … nonetheless, this must be a very valuable item," Noire said.

"I have something else for you, too," I said.

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Noire seemed genuinely shocked, "There's more?" 

I focused on my [Storage] skill and took out a gold ring. She gasped with great surprise. 

"You know what a Greed Ring is, right?" I asked, "I don't know if you already have one or if you really need one with how strong you already are, but I thought it would be nice to have in case you're seeking some extra EXP in the dungeon crawl tomorrow."

I got this while shopping for Ren's Ninja gear back in Obina's room. It was the highest grade of Greed Ring, too, giving the wearer an additional 50 percent of EXP from winning a battle. I bought one in lower grades as silver for each of my party members, sans Ume, who wasn't really into such jewelry and was already powerful as a Dragon. I figured with Noire wanting to be part of the harem later, I'd get her a ring to fit the aesthetic.

"O-Oh, for the dungeon, of course. Things would speed way too fast if it were for that, but still ..." Noire muttered as she took a fan to cool down her tinted cheeks, averting her gaze.

"Who is that?! Is someone here?!" Noire exclaimed in panic.

From Nyra's reaction, it seemed she didn't intend for Noire to hear her. Maybe with this mental connection between the three of us, it was unavoidable for people to hear Nyra's voice. That still left the problem of Noire learning her existence now.

Well, she'd have to learn about this sooner or later.

"Uh … it's a bit late, but let me introduce you to my partner, Nyra. She's a Pixie trapped in this tanto as part of a curse," I said while opening my eyes. I saw Noire having her own eyes open and was shocked to see the purple mist-like aura from my tanto connecting our heads. It was the very magic Nyra has done to let me see into and transfer memories between the people we connect the last couple of times now. 

Nyra corrected.

"Wait, Nyra? As in the Misfortune Tanto of Nyra?! The cursed dagger that was said to have possessed its wielders for over centuries?!" Noire exclaimed.

Chapter end