Indeed. Since the unconscious Milu Rabbit could be used as a weapon, it should also be possible to use the unconscious Zauna as a weapon. Although it would hurt (Zauna) to swing and hit things using Zauna, it would be a much better alternative than to let the wolf king roast and eat them. Moreover, in the off chance that Zauna's effect provided Alice with several dozen points in Speed, Alice wouldn't even have to fight the wolf king. She could just run away with Zauna in hand.
Thinking up to this point, Alice hurriedly lunged at Zauna's unconscious body before the wolf king managed to recover its mana and launch another round of attacks. Then, she held up Zauna's legs with both hands. Although Alice didn't seem like she was wielding a weapon while holding onto Zauna's legs, it did not matter. So long as her right hand was holding onto the target object, it didn't matter if she wielded the item with both hands; the system would still treat the object as a weapon. This was something Alice had verified through her tests.
Then, as expected, the moment Alice held up Zauna's legs, she felt power flowing into her body. Simultaneously, information about the weapon she wielded also appeared in her mind.
[Weapon: Mana Depleted Zauna]
[Quality: Garbage]
[Effect: Strength +1, Speed +1]
[Additional Effect: None]
"You're even worse than a Milu Rabbit!!!"
Alice got a headache looking at Zauna's statistics. The unconscious Milu Rabbit had an effect of Strength +2 and Speed +2. Its quality was also rated as "Not Bad." Yet, despite being significantly larger in size and an apprentice magician to boot, Zauna only provided a boost of Strength +1 and Speed +1. She was even rated as "Garbage," a rating similar to stones and tree branches that could be found anywhere. This was simply terrible.
Of course, there was also a possibility that this poor performance resulted from Zauna's mana deficiency, as indicated by her prefix. In comparison, the Milu Rabbit's prefix was "With Some Mana." If Alice could replenish Zauna's mana, the outcome should be slightly better.
However, Alice had more pressing concerns to deal with right now. While the wolf king might not have recovered all of its mana, it was already capable of executing another round of attacks. It was also more than capable of dealing with Alice.
Alice already noticed the wolf king looking at her with its crimson eyes, seemingly ready to launch an attack. This situation left her with no other choice. Looking at this situation, she seemingly only had one path to take.
"If you guys already have phones, then you must have invented panties as well!"
Yelling out in desperation, Alice extended her right hand into Zauna's magic robe and felt up Zauna's lower body. Then, Alice sighed in relief. As she had predicted, Zauna was indeed wearing a pair of underwear under her robe. It also showed that this world's civilization did not take a strange turn in its development. Otherwise, it would've been very strange for a civilization that had already invented mobile phones to not have invented underwear.
However, now wasn't the time to ponder over these matters. After using a little strength, Alice managed to pull the underwear down Zauna's legs.
Fortunately, Zauna wasn't wearing tights. Otherwise, removing the underwear would've been a little troublesome. Though, Alice couldn't help but wonder if tights were considered Artifacts as well.
While thinking about nonsense in her mind, Alice successfully pulled the underwear out of Zauna's robe. The instant the bear-printed panties left Zauna's legs, it released a blinding white light.
Sure enough, it's just like before. All panties are considered Artifacts.
Alice shed a tear at this sight, though it wasn't out of happiness. Out of the many novels she had read, no matter how embarrassing a trump card a character had, it was at least something they could afford to reveal to others. Yet, her trump card was panties. So long as this matter was revealed, she would most likely suffer a social death in the truest sense of the term.
Similar to the time Alice fought with the black wolves from before, the intense light that suddenly radiated from Alice's right hand had also frightened the wolf king, causing it to stumble several steps back. Then, the wolf king took on a wary stance and faced Alice. This situation also allowed Alice to spend some time learning about the abilities of this new set of panties.
[Weapon: Soft Bear Underwear]
[Quality: Artifact]
[Effect: Strength +7000, Constitution +7000, Speed +3000, Mind +3000, Control +7000, Mana +3000]
[Additional Effect:
Mana Cancellation (Passive Skill. You will not be affected by offensive magic);
Absolute Defense (Passive Skill. You will not be hurt by physical attacks);
Gaia's Power (Active Skill. Upon use, releases the power of mountains to permanently suppress the opponent's soul.)]
Do the effects and additional effects change according to the panties' design?
By now, Alice had already accepted the fact that her trump card was throwing panties at her enemies. In any case, the only conscious human present right now was herself. If she had to fight using panties, so be it. There was no longer anything to be afraid of.
After the previous lesson, though, Alice did not intend to use the Soft Bear Underwear's active skill. Instead, she planned to rely on the massive stat boost to beat the living daylights out of the wolf king. That way, she could return the panties to Zauna without the latter ever finding out that it was gone. It was a perfect plan.
"Awoo~!"
Similar to the black wolves Alice previously fought, after the wolf king sensed that the dazzling light didn't bring it any substantial harm, it immediately opened its mouth and launched a fireball at Alice, leaving Alice with no time to react at all. Meanwhile, just like the wolf king expected, its fireball landed squarely on Alice's body, covering her in flames.
However, just as the wolf king was about to step forward and take a bite out of its presumably roasted prey, Alice lightly shook her body, shaking off the scattered flames from her body. Let alone being injured, Alice didn't even receive any damage to her clothing. The Soft Bear Underwear's Mana Cancellation allowed her to become immune to offensive magic. Hence, the flames created using the wolf king's mana did nothing but heat the surrounding air around Alice.
Phew. I think I emphasize with a certain baldy's feelings now,
Alice thought. With a pair of panties in hand, she could be absolutely fine even if she stood still and received the attacks her enemies hurled at her.
Meanwhile, Alice's carefree composure seemingly frightened the wolf king, causing it to freeze up. Seeing this, Alice couldn't help but feel delighted. Although it was embarrassing to have to hold a pair of panties in her hand to gain this kind of power, if it was for emergencies, Alice felt that it wouldn't be too terrible of an idea to buy a few pairs of panties and carry them around in her pockets. When the situation necessitated it, she could gain instant invulnerability by reaching into her pockets and holding onto a pair of panties. The only problem was the blinding light her right hand radiated.
The shortcomings of this blinding light also quickly manifested themselves. The light was so bright that it penetrated Zauna's eyelids and irritated her eyes, causing her to gradually regain consciousness. Then, her eyebrows fluttered as she slowly opened her eyes. However, as she remained dazed, she did not immediately notice that a certain someone had already stripped her of her underwear. Instead, after opening her eyes, the first thing that came to her mind was the girl she brought along with her.
"Alice?! Are you still here?!"
Alice was currently throwing a punch at the wolf king with her right hand. With 7,000 points in Control, Alice was confident she could limit her strength and kill the wolf king without obliterating its corpse. She planned to use the wolf king's corpse as a weapon. After all, if even a wolf king's spit could level up a tree branch, its corpse should be even more powerful.
However, because of Zauna's sudden shout, Alice subconsciously used a little more strength than she intended. If a person suddenly had someone yelling for them while they were chopping vegetables, they would subconsciously put a little more force into their actions. This, in turn, would lead to them messing up their chopping motion and possibly even cut their finger. Meanwhile, Alice's situation was a little more complicated because her subconscious use of strength led to her...activating Gaia's Power.