I Don't Need To Log Out-Chapter 96: Gifts

It was Friday evening on Trion, and the players were, as usual, gathered at the restaurant on the third floor.

The camaraderie from Carmen’s birthday celebration lingered, and the group felt closer than ever.

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Well, almost all. Arlon remained the same—reserved and distant. He hadn’t mentioned that it was also his birthday the day before, considering it unnecessary.

He hadn’t celebrated a birthday in the past eleven years. Not in the timeline he had regressed from, nor in this one.

Birthdays weren’t important to him. They were just another day in his book.

The players were evaluating their training progress as the week concluded. Next week promised less physical excitement: history and etiquette lessons.

But there was a bright side.

"I’m really excited about the ball—wait, is it a ball? A banquet? A celebration? What do we even call it in this world?" Maria asked.

"Will we wear medieval-style dresses? Ahhh, I have no idea what the customs are here!" Lei added. "Thank goodness we have lessons before it. Imagine embarrassing ourselves in front of the high-standing Trionians."

She meant the etiquette and history lessons. Even though no one wanted to learn them, now that there was a party planned, they needed the lessons.

The upcoming event was a party to celebrate the fall of the first Demon, meant to boost morale among the people and demoralize the Keldars.

Arlon couldn’t recall such an event in the past timeline, making it a first for him as well.

"The party is okay," Evan chimed in, "but I’m more hyped about leveling up. I still haven’t reclaimed my leaderboard spot, but at least I’m catching up."

Everyone else had leveled up, too, including Arlon.

While the others gained several levels, Arlon had only leveled up once due to his high starting point.

But he wasn’t bothered. With his title, he was effectively equal to a level 160 player. Counting his title, double class, unique abilities, and experience, he estimated he could take on a level 199 opponent if necessary.

"I am back at the top again," June said. But after a moment, she added "Of course, after Arlon."

Everyone laughed hearing this. All the players had already stopped considering Arlon at the top of the leaderboard.

So, they accepted the second place as the first.

That is why, when someone else took over the second place, the forum was filled with questions about the eight players who had stopped leveling up.

But, even though these eight players- and Arlon- didn’t talk about the training to the other players, information had already spread on the forums.

Since Lady Rael and her team tried approaching other promising players with the offer, they knew about this training.

So, even though the ones here didn’t talk, the other players could assume what they were doing.

And the consensus was that the eight players here were idiots who stopped leveling up while they were at the top.

Arlon knew that they would eat the fruits of this, but even if they didn’t, now that they knew this was real, none of them worried about the leaderboards as much as they used to.

Still, Arlon wanted to show some early rewards.

"I have some gifts to give," he announced.

Everyone looked at Arlon’s sudden declaration. None of them thought these words would spill from Arlon’s mouth at that moment.

"Are you feeling okay, Arlon?" Zack teased, leaning closer as if to check his temperature. "Did Nyx bite you or something?"

Arlon ignored the jab and continued, "These are just things I randomly encountered. I don’t have something for everyone, though."

He reached into his inventory and pulled out a gleaming sword.

"This is for Pierre," he said and gave the sword to him without as much as an explanation under everyone’s confused looks.

Pierre gawked at the sword, its hilt adorned with intricate green engravings that shimmered faintly. A cool breeze seemed to emanate from it.

"Umm, Arlon… Are you sure? This looks… expensive," Pierre stammered.

Even without knowing what it was, the sword was obviously expensive.

There was a cool wind spreading from it and it had a majestic appearance. One could easily confuse it with the Excalibur from Earth’s stories.

"This is the Blade of Verdant Winds. It is an enchanted sword, so it has extra features. The old owner was told to be able to summon storms with it. Don’t try it here!"

"Y-Yeah? Okay, I’ll try to resist the urge," Pierre said, still confused. This wasn’t a random sword. It was something big and Arlon was just giving it away?

Everyone’s face changed from confused to expectant. Even though they knew Arlon couldn’t have many of these, he still had at least one more since he said gifts.

So, the second thing Arlon took out was the priest staff, Beacon of Solace. The crystal at the top of the staff was still emitting a soothing blue light.

When he gave it to Carole, everyone showed a sad face for a second.

"Thank you, Arlon. But are you sure it is okay for me to take it?" Carole asked while touching the corner of the crescent shape under the crystal to see if it was sharp.

"It is okay, I am not a priest anyway and I don’t need money. It is also enchanted. It helps with healing and light magic."

Everyone thought that the probability of a third legendary item was low, but it wasn’t impossible.

So, when Arlon took out another staff, some people gained hope.

It was a wooden staff with golden veins on it. The golden parts were pulsating, giving an illusion that gold dust was spilling out of it every time it pulsated.

The orb of deep crimson at the top was still, but inside it could be seen a firestorm and lightning.

He gave the staff to June and said, "Infernal Spire. It helps with fire and lightning spells."

"Arlon, you have already given me a staff before. I shouldn’t accept it."

"I know, but you are the only mage here. If you find a better-suited person, give it to him. Or your old one. It doesn’t matter to me. Also, that one wasn’t enchanted."

Arlon’s reply was curt, but it wasn’t heartbreaking. He was too obviously trying to pass it off as something unimportant so that the others wouldn’t feel jealous.

"Lastly," Arlon said, lighting the fire inside everyone again, "this necklace."

He took out the Necklace of Lightness and gave it to Evan. "As long as you wear it, you won’t make any sound while walking," he explained.

"Thank you so much! I knew you would have something for me!" Evan’s fondness for Arlon had increased instead of dimming.

But Arlon had one other thing in mind right now.

Actually, he had already forgotten about this necklace until yesterday when he was training.

After his warrior training, Arlon went back to Agema’s A Magician’s Secret. Even though he had already finished reading it, he still couldn’t use every spell there.

It was natural since some spells inside the book were high-level.

And the one Arlon trained yesterday was spatial magic. He was trying to form his own spatial space- or inventory.

Even though he had one thanks to EVR, it didn’t belong to him and it was small. He didn’t know when he would need a bigger space.

Of course, he couldn’t learn it in one day and he was still trying.

He also needed spatial magic to use spells like Teleportation instead of the skill form.

If he could learn the spell, he wouldn’t need to leave a mark on the place he was going to teleport to.

He would still need to see a place beforehand to be able to teleport there, but the difference was huge.

If he could learn the Teleportation spell, he could go everywhere he went and see in the past timeline.

And Arlon had wandered around almost the entirety of Trion.

Anyway, while he was trying the skill, he checked his inventory for useless things. And what he found was this pendant, as well as a note.

The note that he looted from the Keldar he killed underneath the Oceina but couldn’t read since EVR’s system didn’t translate it.

He had tried using the Eyes of K*T** on it to see if it was possible to read it. But, it didn’t do anything.

So, Arlon still didn’t know what it was and he was planning to ask Zephyrion or Lady Rael.

"Arlon," Zack said, breaking his thoughts. "You’re not secretly a treasure hunter, are you? Because these gifts are unreal. Or... Are you maybe Santa? It is too early for Christmas."

"Yeah, next time, can you find me a castle while you’re at it?" Lei joked.

"Or a pet dragon like Nyx," Maria added with a grin.

"Don’t push it," Arlon said flatly, earning a round of laughter from the group.

Nyx, perched on the table, chirped in agreement, as if scolding them for their greed.

With the mood lightened, the players continued chatting late into the evening when Arlon reconnected to the copy.