“What kind of person puts a body in a broach?” Erik asked.
“Huh? Wha-?” Rugrat looked at the body that appeared on the ground.
Erik threw the broach back to Rugrat as he looked at the man on the ground. The man looked as if he had died just minutes ago as his corpse hadn’t aged in the storage ring.
Erik used Simple Organic Scan on the man, looking him over.
Unlike animals, people wouldn’t disappear immediately if they were looted. It took up to three weeks, even if the body was looted, for it to disappear. Putting them in your storage ring meant that you didn’t want their death to be discovered or you didn’t have time to loot them and needed to run away.
Mortal grade major rings of holding had an ability that touched on something that the Earth grade storage rings could do as well: they could hold a storage ring inside of their storage space. This was one of the reasons that they were so prohibitively expensive. Although they were listed as a base price of three gold, they rarely went for anything less than seven gold.
Now, only one other storage item could be held in the Mortal major ring of holding, so it couldn’t be holding another Mortal major ring of holding and then that was holding a storage ring and so on and so forth.
Rugrat was looking at the warrior’s armor and his weapons, not the rings or the necklace around him. Erik looked at the rings. He had to cut himself again as his wound was already starting to heal itself.
With a few drops of blood, he covered the three different rings. Nothing happened with two of them, but the third did.
Erik quickly checked inside.
There were a number of powders inside; the warrior hadn’t spent the money to get the more powerful potions.
There were also manuals on different fighting techniques, on smithing, and the upkeep of one’s armor and weapons.
There were a few weapon ores as well as smithing tools to repair and maintain the armor.
Erik pulled the rings that didn’t activate off the warrior’s hand and looked at them.
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Beyond limits
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Weight: 0.1 kg
Charge: 73/100
Base Value: 2 Gold, 15 Silver, 7 Coppers
Slot: Takes up finger jewelry slot
Ability: Increase user’s Stamina Regeneration by 10% (13 minutes left)
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==========
Greater Reaction
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Weight: 0.1 kg
Base Value: 5 Gold, 43 Silver, 72 Coppers
Slot: Takes up finger jewelry slot
Ability: Increase user’s Agility (+4)
==========
The attributes and abilities of the two rings was stunning. The increased combat ability couldn’t be matched in the First Realm.
“This armor looks like it’s part of a set. Each piece gives the user an ability or enhancement, but with all of them together, the effects are multiplied. A 3% bonus of Strength on the legs will turn into 10% increase in Strength when one is wearing all of the pieces of armor,” Rugrat said.
Rugrat touched it lovingly, as if it were the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.
“Well, I don’t think he’s going to be needing it anytime soon,” Erik said.
Rugrat nodded and started to strip the man. The armor showed signs of being hit with magic. Melted metal, scarring and pitted as it was, would incite a war in the First Realm.
Erik pulled out the scroll he had found.
Simple Guide to Maintaining One’s Journeyman-level Armor and Weapons.
“Heads up!” he yelled.
Rugrat looked over just as the scroll was coming over. With his increase in Agility, he caught it easily. He was about to shoot off an angry retort as the title of the scroll registered in his mind.
“What?” Rugrat sat down, forgetting about the armor in front of him as he started to look through the scroll.
It was a simple scroll, but here in the First Realm it was a treasure, allowing Rugrat to learn more about weapons and armor not normally found in the First Realm.
It had to be known that the armor in the First Realm could only reach the Novice level; the Second Realm, it would reach mid-Novice level, with some pieces in the Apprentice level.
The Third Realm would have different weapons and armors due to the realm’s odd attributes compared to the other realms. In the Fourth Realm, the battlefield realm, one could find mid- to high-Journeyman level weapons and armors, with rare Expert armor appearing. Expert weapons and armor were enough to make the battlefield realm turn into a bloodbath with countless warrior sects and nations clashing over just one piece.
One’s stats were the basis of their Strength: first, the power of their original stats; then what they got when leveling up; then the ultra-rare and hard quests that could increase one’s stats. The Body Cultivation and Mana Gathering quests were these kinds of ultra-rare quests.
After that, it came down to one’s weapons, armors, Alchemy concoctions, with skills and spells allowing them to draw greater power from their own bodies.
If someone in the First Realm was able to get a piece of Expert weaponry or armor, then the boost in their combat abilities would turn them into a god of the First Realm. Their strength couldn’t be underestimated.
Erik could only shake his head bitterly at Rugrat’s actions. It was understandable; he had only made a Novice smith and here he was looking at a manual talking about Journeyman-level armor.
If he could get some insights and knowledge from this simple manual, then it would be possible for him to increase his skill quickly and not waste his effort.
Erik held onto the ring, waiting for when Rugrat came back up to drop the rest of the items and information on him.
After all, there were a few maintenance kits and smithing tools inside the ring with ores that were incredibly hard to find in the First Realm.
The corner of his mouth lifted as he thought of what Rugrat’s reaction might be.
He moved to the body and started to remove the armor. He stored the pieces away. Inside, he could see that there were complicated formations that were used to increase the power of the armor and the user’s abilities.
It was truly not a simple set of armor.
There was a nasty wound on the warrior’s neck where the last blow had landed, ending his life.
Erik was about to leave the body when he stopped. With a thought, he used his Simple Organic Scan spell and looked through the warrior’s body, focusing on his body.
“I thought so,” Erik muttered to himself, feeling a deep sense of excitement and anticipation.
The warrior had undergone Body Cultivation. His bones looked like polished jade and could be used for Apprentice-level weapons if someone were to refine them down. His blood had stilled in his veins, but Erik felt a sense of deep energy in them, no weaker than what he felt in his own veins.
As Erik’s eyes looked through the man, searching out the secrets of Body Cultivation, he looked into the man’s Mana channels.
Erik could only shake his head. The man’s veins had clearly been altered; even now they were drawing in some Mana from the surrounding area. This was the power that came with altering one’s body to increase their strength.
Clearly these Beast Mountains were not a simple place. There were many treasures and items to be found that weren’t just in the bodies of high-leveled beasts and rare ingredients.
Erik moved the skeleton and body off to the side of the cave and sat down.
He pulled out the different manuals from the two. Most dealt with swordsmanship, using a shield, or casting high-leveled spells.
This information would be useful to others but Erik and Rugrat were walking down the path of a Marksman currently. Their biggest gains were from the two deceased’s supporting Alchemy concoctions and their support manuals.
Erik pulled out another manual. It was
a well-worn book but kept in good condition. Erik shook his head. Clearly this was a basic manual but to Erik it was an unmitigated treasure.
Basics of Mana Gathering: From Mana Drops to Core Compression.
Chapter: Midday Moss
Erik closed the book in his hands gently, as if wary to damage the well-worn book. It quickly disappeared into his storage ring as he rubbed the ring, his gaze thoughtful.
There were thirteen Mana gates within one’s body. Erik had always wondered where the fourteenth gate that was mentioned in the Mana gate-related quest came from. Now he understood.
The thirteen Mana gates created an array inside his body, all of them meeting up at the location of his core.
When someone’s Mana Regeneration reached level fifty, then they would be able to compress a Mana core easily. If they had resources and aids, they could compress it earlier.
There was a third mythical possibility: once one opened all thirteen Mana gates, then there was a chance that they would be able to open their gate core.
All other compressed cores were simply called Mana cores. Once one compressed a core, they would open another gate according to the Mana gate quest—the elusive fourteenth gate.
If someone was able to open all fourteen gates, and open their Mana core, then they would undergo a Mana Rebirth, which would greatly increase their control and power over the natural Mana around them.
This was, however, legend and the information stopped at this point.
The main information talked about how one could move from the Vapor, Mist, and Drop stage, culminating in the Core Compression stage.
With these aids, one would be able to advance through Mana Gathering stages easier.
Erik turned his attention to his Mana system. His total Mana Regeneration was only at fifteen. He had five stat points to use when he went to sleep, but according to his plan, he would increase his Mana Regeneration by two.
It would take him to seventeen Mana Regeneration, close to the twenty to twenty-nine needed to advance into the Mist level.
With this manual, he was confident that he could compress his Mana enough to reach that stage. Once he did, then he could then attempt to open another Mana gate. He felt that at his current strength, it would take a day to open the next Mana gate. He didn’t have that time.
His reasoning was simple. The first gate took some six hours to open and the second nearly twelve. Based on this, it would probably take up to twenty-four hours for him to break open his fourth Mana gate.
If he was able to compress his Mana further, he felt that it was highly possible he could break open that next Mana gate in less than a day.
“It would be nice to have some of these Mana agglomerating pills or even some Mana Gathering powder,” Erik complained. After reading about the different aids that were seen as common in whatever realm this mage came from, Erik could only sigh helplessly.
If he wanted those resources, he would need to make them himself, or find other ways to push forward.
If his healing abilities had been stronger, it would have been easier for him to heal himself. Instead of hanging onto life by just a thread, he would be able to easily conquer the poison and overcome his tempering of blood.
“With healing as a support, if I was able to find poisons for the different temperings, then I could advance through quicker.”
But he didn’t have the resources, so he would need to rely on his own efforts, skills, and abilities.
Erik pulled out a ration and started eating as the sun started to set. Rugrat was still reading over the entire maintenance scroll. He had rolled it out and was moving up and down, comparing the information and trying to gain greater insight. He was also noting down different important bits of information on his own pad of paper.
Erik took out the gift from Alchemist Tommins. The piece of paper with the different ingredients fell out. He checked his map and the marker listed as Possible Midday Moss Location, opening the general compendium on Alchemy ingredients and searching for midday moss.
Once he’d read through it, he checked the list of ingredients against the information in the book to gain a greater understanding on them.
Erik let out a short laugh. Many of these ingredients were rare, for the simple fact that they were hard to discern. Take the midday moss. It was a simple-looking moss that grew on Slastz rock, but it was only in the midday sun that someone was able to tell it was different from common moss.
Erik had gotten through a third of the book before he found himself unable to keep his eyes open. “You going to be up for a bit?” Erik asked.
“Yeah, I’ve got first watch.” Rugrat stood and rubbed his eyes.
“You might find some more useful things in there.” Erik tossed him the warrior’s ring.
Rugrat had a look inside as Erik pulled out his sleeping bag and quickly got ready for bed.
Rugrat started to pull out different items that were collected inside the ring.
Erik got into his sleeping bag and went to sleep, only to find a screen greeting him.
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You have 5 attribute points to use.
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He quickly distributed the points with one to Strength, Agility, and Stamina instead of Stamina Regeneration as he had gained one point from tempering his blood already.
The last two went straight into Mana Regeneration.
He confirmed his selection and looked on his new character sheet.
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Character Sheet
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Name: Erik West
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Level: 8
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Race: Human
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Titles: From the Grave
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Strength: (Base 7) +6
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130
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Agility: (Base 6) +8
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70
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Stamina: (Base 10) +1
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165
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Mana: (Base 3) +0
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30
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Mana Regeneration (Base 3) +14
4.15/s
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Stamina Regeneration: (Base 7) +11
4.35/s
==========
Erik woke a few hours later and took over for Rugrat. They kept watch throughout the night. Sounds of fighting could be heard and alarms as creatures in the night snuck up on the sleeping adventurers or fought in the depths of the darkness.
Erik and Rugrat cleared up all of their gear in the morning, making ready to move. The cave had been an unexpected windfall.
They leapt out of the cave and headed for the marked area on their maps. They took their time as Erik waited for midday to come.
As the book said, there was a spot of moss that started to glow purple in the midday sun. Erik carefully peeled it back. A potent fragrance was released, making Erik’s muscles relax and feel energized slightly.
Creatures in the area could smell the moss. Howls could be heard as they rushed to claim it.
Erik and Rugrat quickly headed for the next location on the map.
As they were running out, they caught the sight of an omagree. It was a mutated monster with four powerful lower limbs and pincers that it used to cut its enemies apart. It was covered in green chitin and looked similar to a praying mantis but about five times larger.
Erik and Rugrat split apart as the animal charged at them. They kept on running away from where the moss had been, which was quickly turning into a battleground for the surrounding animals whose territories bordered the moss’s location.
They drew their bows and fired their arrows.
Rugrat’s arrows glanced off the mantis while Erik’s arrow missed completely, hitting a tree. He’d used
one of his precious piercing arrows, so it cut cleanly through the side of the tree.
Erik could only pull out another arrow as the omagree skidded around, crashing into a tree to face the two who had run past it.
Rugrat’s M40 appeared in his hands. He raised the rifle to his shoulder and fired in one fluid motion. Gray blood splattered over the area as the omagree let out a howl; half of its head was missing.
Rugrat was already working the bolt action on his rifle. As the omagree made to move forward, Rugrat fired again. His Strength and Agility made his action fluid and easy as the recoil barely affected his aim.
The omagree’s cries were cut off as it dropped to the ground.
Erik was closest to the creature as its tombstone appeared. Erik took everything from the tombstone. The omagree faded away in light as Erik’s new storage ring glowed, the items being deposited inside as they took off again. Rugrat found the casings for his two rounds and put them in his storage ring.
They ran on, not wanting to get caught up in the animals that were racing toward where the omagree had died, smelling blood.
The two figures flashed through the forest before they came to a riverside. They looked around for threats, getting their breathing back under control. Erik and Rugrat had escaped the animals fighting over the midday moss. They quickly checked their map and headed off in search of the next ingredient Tommins wanted.
“I hope that the reward is goddamn amazing,” Rugrat said as they took off.
“Didn’t you just make it to level nine?” Erik asked with a bit of jealousy. With killing the omagree, Rugrat had increased his Marksman and his Experience greatly, becoming a high-level Apprentice Marksman.
“Yeah, wish we could use our guns more,” Rugrat said.
Erik grunted. Each round they used was another one that they couldn’t make. They could reload them, but they only had a limited amount of gunpowder, bullets, and premade primers.
The Two Week Curse Page 17