Pip, who barely reached Roseus’ shoulder and was almost half his weight, looked at the item that was being offered to her.

She was a small girl, roughly 4’9" tall and under 45 kg. Her hair was black and fell in a fringe that covered her eyebrows and soon her eyes.

Roseus had found her standing on a rooftop that overlooked the beach where all the ships were docked.

When she looked at the item being offered to her, she tilted her head sideways.

"Captain, I think you have the wrong person."

She rolled up her sleeved shirt and showed her arm to the captain. She flexed her non-existent muscles.

Roseus laughed at the sight of it but never stopped showing her the sledgehammer.

"That’s exactly why I’m giving this to you. Here, take a look at its effects."

With hesitation, Pip reached out and took the weapon. She braced herself, expecting the sledgehammer to be too heavy for her to wield.

However, when she held it in her hands, she was surprised to find that the weapon felt almost weightless. Not only that, but when the weapon was wielded in her hand, the black head of the hammer glowed with a faint white aura.

[Epic Treasure Equipped]

[Complimenting Hammer]

[Positive Effect I ~ The hammer’s power scales inversely with the wielder’s weight. The lighter the bearer, the greater the weapon’s swing speed, impact, and destructive force.]

[Positive Effect II ~ When swung downward in midair, it crashes against the air itself, creating a shockwave that propels the wielder significantly upwards. This can only be used once per airtime.]

[Negative Effect ~ If your opponent becomes intimidated by you, the hammer’s positive effects are removed. The weapon will become unliftable, and you will not be able to let go of the weapon for one minute.]

As Pip examined the weapon’s skills, her eyes slowly began to widen with joy.

Yes, the negative effect sounded scary. If it were to activate in battle, she would most likely give the opponent a large window to strike her down.

But this wasn’t a problem. Pip was the least intimidating person in the crew, even when she held the hammer in her hand. As long as her opponents didn’t know its effects, she would likely be safe.

"Wait, I should test it out!"

Pip began to run towards the edge of the building.

"W-wait—" Roseus held out a hand, but it was too late. She had already leapt off the edge of the building.

He wanted to close his eyes and look away, but he forced himself to witness what would happen next.

Just a moment after flying off the building, Pip swung her weapon downwards. A white shockwave suddenly appeared at a chosen place of impact, followed by a dull sound.

Pip’s body was propelled into the air, much higher than she had expected.

She landed on her arse on the roof and dropped the weapon before tumbling backwards a few times.

Roseus made his way over to make sure she was okay, but when he got there, the young girl was laughing with pure joy.

She pulled Roseus into an unexpected hug, squeezing him as tightly as her small arms could. Roseus sighed and accepted the embrace.

"Thank you, Captain. You remind me of my big brother."

...

After gifting Pip the Complimenting Hammer, Roseus returned to the store and bought the two treasures that he had kept his eye on.

Once they were in his possession, he headed to a silent rooftop where he wouldn’t be disturbed by anybody. He needed time to think and test out these treasures.

The first item was the Brush of Creativity. It looked like a standard paintbrush. It was all black, with a white brush at the end. At the tip of the brush was bright red paint that never needed to be replenished.

The second item was the Boots of Maternity. They were a pair of golden-black boots with white feathers running up from the Achilles to the calf area. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

Roseus tried on the boots first. They were slightly loose on his feet, but their design was made to accommodate this.

As soon as he put them on his feet and discarded his own boots to the side, Roseus felt their effects.

Every movement that he made was given an almost uncontrollable increase in speed. Even just rising to his feet felt insane.

He tested this by bouncing up and down on his feet a few times and running back and forth along the rooftop, trying to gather his bearings.

It was only then that he realised that the first positive effect of the boots was also negative. The speed at which he ran could not be controlled.

If he were to fight someone like this, he would almost certainly lose. Blocking attacks and making minor adjustments in combat was impossible for someone like him, who wasn’t suited towards speed.

Perhaps I should give these to Lencho?

He also tested the additional effect that was added to the boots due to his power from Treasure-Eater Nammon. This gave him a similar effect to Pip’s new hammer, which he tested by jumping into the air once and then jumping again when he reached his maximum height. This gave him a double jump that would most certainly be useful for boarding ships.

Afterwards, Roseus took off the boots and put his own back on. He wasn’t sure if he was going to keep them for himself or gift them to someone else yet.

Then, he picked up the Brush of Creativity. This was a treasure that he decided he would most certainly keep for himself.

Not just because it was useful, but also because it was dangerous, and he didn’t want to risk anything.

He decided that, for the time being, he would avoid trying to create any creatures, as the negative effect of the brush was too risky to deal with.

So, he found a surface and instead attempted to paint a treasure from memory.

He used the surface of the rooftop and watched as the red ink stained the sandstone. He painted with deep focus, his tongue sticking out of his mouth slightly without even knowing it.

Once done, the brush required him to paint a circle around the finished product.

As he did, the painting lifted itself off the surface and materialised, landing on the rooftop.

Roseus lifted the small object into his hand and examined it carefully, before loading it into his revolver.

[Rare Treasure Equipped]

[Monochrome .38 Special]

[Positive Effect I ~ When loaded into a revolver cylinder, all other bullets are granted a unique effect that causes flesh to spiral grotesquely.]

[Positive Effect II ~ When fired from a revolver, the Monochrome .38 Special’s primary effect receives a 500% increase in potency.]

[Negative Effect I ~ When fired from a revolver, the Monochrome .38 Special destroys the weapon, creating a great explosion.]

[Time Remaining: 59 Minutes 45 Seconds]

A smile spread across the captain’s face.