RD 3 Ch 17

Chapter 17

I was currently sharing the highest step with this ignoramus of an inscription master, rubbing my temples as I stared down at the hourglass that was slowly draining away. "So, Leonardo," I stared at the inscriptionist, "given that we're both at the top, I say we split whatever rewards we can take." 

The old man stroked his beard. "We'll get whatever we can. Who knows, maybe it's just an early start on the next section."

However, as the last few drops of sand fell down to the lower chamber of the hourglass, the room shook and the stairs shone bright enough that I had to look away. On each one of the occupied steps, a treasure appeared for each person present.

On our step there was a plain red apple and blue fruit that had white light shining through the thin skin.

I stared at the two fruits that appeared, a moment too long.

Leonardo snapped up the mystical-look fruit and spun it on his fingers before holding it tightly.

"Rude," I said, and grabbed the other fruit. It looked less mystical, more like a simple apple. The one use of soul gaze told me it was anything but. 

[Apple of Strength - raises the consumer's strength by 100]

I rolled it in my hand and tossed it into my spatial ring without another thought. It actually turned out to be something fairly good. 

"Ho, ho," the old man on the other hand stared at his fruit a moment longer before stuffing it in his own spatial ring.

We both weren’t in a rush to consume our new treasures. Though the effect of them was listed plainly before me, I knew it wouldn't be nearly as simple. When I had some more time, I would examine the fruit later.

Lower down the stairs, there were a number of others collecting their prize. Giddy with excitement they were holding them up, I got a good look at the fruits before they stuffed them away after noticing the greedy eyes looking around.

One had to know that after reaching a high level it was more and more difficult to raise stats. A prize like this was valuable to those here that didn’t feel like they had any more room to level.

Those who had at least stepped up onto the stairs got ones that gave them plus five to a stat. Meanwhile, every five stairs they conquered gave them another five to the fruit they received. In the end, it was a rather fair system. 

I understood why the demons were doing it. Ultimately, they were going to try and possess everyone present, increasing their stats, but only to turn them into better hosts. Not a single one of those fruits that were given out contained a bonus to spirit. Instead, they were all physical attributes, with the occasional intelligence mixed in there. How could I not understand what the demons were planning? 

The mist at the top of the steps began to thin out, revealing a blurry path to the next trial.

The atmosphere on the stairs grew tense, though I didn't care about other people's rewards.

Instead, I rushed through the mist, emerging on the other side when leaves crunched beneath my feet. A small bank of mist was disappearing behind me as I turned around, finding myself completely alone in a massive forest.

“Huh. This one isn’t as obvious.” I said.

After a quick spin and finding nothing immediately concerning. I pulled out the fruit I had gotten from the stairs. Peering at it with my Soul Gaze, it showed the same system window.

[Apple of Strength - raises the consumer's strength by 100]

Yet, I wasn’t done. I pushed my gaze as hard as I could, my eyes giving off a faint light that reflected in the shine of the apple. The screen flickered and new information appeared, revealing that not only did it raise strength, but it also temporarily weakened my spirit.

[Tainted Apple of Strength - raises the consumer's strength by 100 and weakens spirit for one week]

The demons had too much control of this space, they could even hide the nature of an item from Soul Gaze if I didn’t look too closely.

I snorted and stuffed the apple back into my spatial ring. Of course, this whole thing was designed to make perfect little hosts. I would hold onto the apple for now.

There was no reason to take the debuff for a measly 100 strength right now. Though, after I left this place, I could find a safe time to consume anything and time out the debuffs.

I continued walking through the forest until I heard a crash in the distance.

My blood poured down my wrist, sliding down into my hand, and forming a large red sword. I shot forward, interested to see what this trial would hold. 

Two beasts roared and challenged each other as they fought up ahead. Both of them were fairly strong. As Soul Gaze gave me their stats.

[ Blue Maned Lion

Level: 250

Status: Tired

Strength: 2486

Agility: 2962

Vitality: 2501

Intelligence: 1

Spirit: 200

Skills:

Rake A

Thick Skin B

Scent A]

[Silver Back Bear

Level: 250

Status: Wounded

Strength: 3218

Agility: 2198

Vitality: 2765

Intelligence: 1

Spirit: 300

Skills:

Burrow A

Charge B

Maul A

Protect A]

Their combined stats were around 8,000. However, as I inspected them, one thing to note was that neither had a listed rank next to their name.

I smirked at that.

The demons could manipulate a lot of things within this vault. However, it seemed system ranking had been thrown out the window. Or perhaps it was because these monsters were more akin to initiates. They did possess skills that had ranks, however the monsters themselves weren’t created by the system. 

Rather than watch, I shot forward, rushing up behind the wounded bear. With a slash, I cleaved its head off in a single blow. I then spun and took the leg of the lion.

It roared at me and clumsily tried to lunge and bite me. But its reach wasn’t nearly what it expected.

I danced out of the way before taking advantage of it’s over extended position, finishing it off with another execution strike.

Its mane was painted crimson as it fell to the forest floor. I had a chance to take both of them by surprise, and I didn’t waste it. 

As if this was an instance, both beasts' bodies began to melt into the floor, leaving behind loot and revealing what they were fighting over.

There was a vine creeping along the forest floor, and on it were several almost-ripe melons. I picked them up, but didn't pull them from the vines. Using my Soul Gaze to determine what they were.

[Unripe Torus Melons]

Not exactly the most helpful. I didn't know what they would do, but I put the vines gently back down, not wanting to disturb their growth.

Given the fruit we got at the end of the last trial, my guess was these would provide some stat boost. The demons would have arranged this like a game, give you one fruit that raises stats and then introduce more fruits, of course they were going to be similar.

I picked up the loot from the two monsters, both of whom dropped meat. This could be used to survive within the vault if I hadn’t already brought with me plenty of food. 

Also if they weren’t real system monsters the demons were probably taking those bodies away and butchering them. It wasn’t like the demons could make the monsters drop swords.

If I had to guess, this trial was probably more about surviving than finding a way out. The unripe melons told me we’d be here a while, at least until they ripened.

I quickly made a talisman and hid it under one of the melons. If it was disturbed, the talisman would give off a blinding light and warning me that someone had messed with what I now considered my fruit.

Whatever this place was, it was going to be filled with treasures we could use to improve ourselves. My only question was whether this was also tiered by levels, or if I would be able to find my people in this forest. 

The thought of finding my women in this forest spurred me on. I shot through the forest, only to hear a thunderous roar off in the distance. There were certainly far stronger monsters in here than the two I had just fought. Perhaps that meant those melons weren't worth that much after all. Either way, it was going to be busy trying to search this forest.

One of these days, I needed to get abilities that gave me more movement. Running, even with all of my strength, is always going to be somewhat limiting. 

People like Circe with her control of wind, had a certain advantage over me, both in combat and with her ability to get around much faster.

Once the rapture came, planes wouldn't be running anymore, and sailing across the ocean was a massive pain in the butt. I smirked at a sudden thought about my time sailing in my past life. There were ways to make it suck less.

The grin on my face was broken when a giant shard of ice crashed down in front of me.

I changed directions on a dime, dodging backwards, though I realized the ice would have only blocked my path rather than smash down on me if I had continued. 

"And what do you want?" I squared up against the woman holding a crystalline staff. 

She hadn't done that bad in the previous challenge, especially considering she seemed to be more on the caster side of things and those stairs really did favor physical combatants. 

"I want to know why you're running through this place so quickly." She held her staff out like it would stop me from attacking. Well, perhaps she could.

I used soul gaze to inspect her.

[Name: Merlin Ambrosius

Level: 687

Class: Arch Magus SSS

Status: Healthy, Curious, Calm

Strength: 1912

Agility: 1724

Vitality: 2873 

Intelligence: 6218

Spirit: 5712

Skills: 

…]

She was actually fairly powerful. If it weren’t for my freakish spirit she’d have more stats than me.

"Merlin?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. “I always kind of figured that for a white-bearded old man.”

She broke into a laugh and the tension of the situation melted away. The robe that covered her figure parted slightly with the motion, and silky black hair spilled out from the hood. 

"You would think that. They like to attribute anything with a modicum of strength to men, don't they?" She pursed her lips, sounding disappointed. "Now, it's not the first time I've heard that one, and I suppose I should be used to it by now." 

Seeing a little more of her face, I greeted her with a broad grin. Though she may have thrown a block of ice at me, she didn't seem so bad. 

"I have no idea what's here. I killed two beasts back that way. Both were about 8,000 total stats, though of course they leaned physical. I don't think they would have been a challenge. I don't think they posed too much danger, at least to the group that was on the stairs with us." 

Merlin nodded along, her head coming further out of the hood, but the rest of her body remaining wrapped in the heavy folds of her blue robes. 

"That makes sense. Do you think this place is divided by strength as well?" 

I could only shrug. "On the off chance it's not, I was going to look for my companions." 

That made Merlin's lips twist in slight distaste. "Right, the three ladies you walked in with. They must have been cold." Merlin's lips went flat and I couldn't read her expression.

"I doubt it. They all have enough vitality. I bet they could wear that on a trip to Antarctica and it would only be a mild inconvenience." 

My words only made Merlin look away. "Given that you're the first person I've seen here, how about we have a go at this together?" Merlin asked. "I think it's always best in these sort of situations to find someone to watch your back." 

I checked Merlin with soul gaze. Given that Merlin's disposition wasn't that concerning, I decided to agree. 

"Sounds fair, but can you keep up?" I asked.