Chapter 18: Harvest
Time slowly passed. Soren’s physical condition gradually recovered, and the wound on his thigh had become somewhat numb, accompanied by a tingling sensation.
This indicated that the effects of his physical constitution at 19 points had begun to take effect, and the wound was slowly healing, though not to an extraordinary degree. If he rested properly at this time, his injuries would heal completely in a day or two at most. However, Soren clearly couldn’t wait that long; he disregarded the risk of reopening his wound and continued to explore the treasure cave.
The serpent demon’s long swords were placed at the entrance, and their weight was too great; carrying them felt like wearing full armor.
This significantly affected his speed!
He retrieved the Unpredictable Card, which was special and might have its uses. He pulled out the crossbow bolts from the serpent demon one by one, then reloaded them. If there was a battle later, the crossbow mechanism would save him a lot of trouble. The treasure cave had two branching passages; he had only explored one, and the other passage should lead to another secret chamber.
Most of the traps in the passage had already been triggered.
But Soren still didn’t dare to be careless, cautiously advancing by the foot. Sure enough, he discovered another trap behind a stone wall. It was a spike trap.
If triggered, sharp blades would pierce from the ground, smeared with some toxins.
A cold breeze swept through.
This side of the passage should connect to the surface, with faint light refracting through.
The air was filled with the smell of a preservative, somewhat like formaldehyde but much stronger, with a hint of bl**d. Soren’s expression turned serious as he placed his hand on the sword hilt and proceeded through the passage. His vision revealed some corpses, all wrapped in bandages.
“Mummies?”
The scene before him instantly activated his memory, data from hundreds of previous adventures.
“Mummy.”
“Challenge Level 3, Personal Level 6, possesses spell-like abilities.”
“Maximum attributes of 18 points, minimum of 5 points, total attribute value of 65-75 points.”
“Specialty: Undead Physique, Negative Energy Corruption.”
“Challenge Difficulty: d+.”
A slight rustling sound.
Sure enough, as Soren approached, two or three of the corpses began to stir.
Their movements were stiff and slow, the speed even slower than a child. These were ordinary mummies, without any extraordinary abilities, possessing only the basic talents of undead life. Mummies had very low agility, but strength above an adult’s. Their constitution, due to their undead nature, was conservatively estimated to be above 15 points, making them the second-best meat shields among low-level undead, right after zombies. “sh**t!”
A volley of crossbow bolts flew out.
The foremost mummy was instantly hit, six bolts piercing its body; it swayed and then fell to the ground.
Undead life forms harbor d*ath energy; disrupting this energy can k*ll them.
However.
One point must be noted: many undead creatures have negative energy corrosion effects. If scratched by them, one is very likely to contract diseases or suffer additional damage from necromantic energy.
“If only there was a priest.”
An idea flashed in Soren’s mind, then he drew his longsword and charged forward; the mummy’s slow actions made it one of his easiest enemies to deal with.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Soren maneuvered around the remaining two mummies; even with some difficulty in his legs, they could not land a hit on him.
The agility of low-level mummies is generally below 10 points, so it’s easy to chip away at them through evasion.
Of course.
If you encountered an ancient mummy, it would be a tragedy.
Ancient mummies have a challenge level of 12, a personal level of 18, and a conservatively estimated agility of above 21 points.
In many ancient ruins, ancient mummies are the nightmare of adventurers!
After a brief battle.
Soren quickly dismantled the mummy in front of him, earning 300 points of Killing Experience.
He originally planned to retrieve the crossbow bolts, but upon seeing the rot on the mummy’s body, he abandoned this idea. It was not just because it was disgusting; the undead truly were repulsive.
Behind the mummy was a door.
When Soren pushed it open, he immediately saw many corpses, along with some human-like organs soaking in an unknown liquid.
The smell of bl**d became more intense.
On a workbench, he could see a jar of dark red liquid, with a fist-sized eyeball floating inside.
“Unknown Eye Cyst.”
Soren couldn’t determine what it was, so he had no intention of taking it with him. The secret chamber was saturated with necromantic energy.
Because a lich had once cast spells here, negative energy would gather here to some extent, not a good thing for any living creature.
Staying too long would expose one to necromantic energy radiation!
A priest must purify the area before the negative energy field can be dispelled.
After checking for traps, Soren began rummaging through the place for valuable items.
He found several books, some bizarre symbols recorded, more than ten Gind, and a strange bracer.
The books contained historical data.
After a glance, Soren collected them up.
He possessed the ability of memorization, and if he took them back to study, they should increase his Knowledge skill points. Because in the past, Soren had not received any proper education, he had not awakened the innate Knowledge skill – at the very least, he needed to recognize most common languages to acquire the corresponding Knowledge skill.
This was advantageous for those with the Scholar profession, who naturally have 25 points in Knowledge skill.
The bizarre symbols were experimentation records.
They seemed to document experimental processes using a special coded language. Soren lacked sufficient Knowledge skills and could not decipher spells, making it impossible for him to read this data.
Moreover, it seemed that this related to research conducted by undead creatures.
These items were not very useful to him; it would be difficult to sell them, so he left them in place.
Finally, there was that strange bracer.
He was somewhat familiar with it, and after attempting to identify the item, its data immediately appeared.
“Item Type: Ogre Power Bracer.
Item Level:
Item Description: A curious object specially made from ogre skin; wearing it can increase one’s strength, up to that of an ogre.
Equipment Requirement: None.
Equipment Effect: Strength +2, maximum strength increase of 18 points.”
Surprisingly, it was this equipment!
A hint of joy appeared on Soren’s face as he picked it up and wore it on his wrist.
The ogre power bracer was one of the most popular gear in the early game. This set of equipment consists of three pieces: the ogre power bracer, ogre power gloves, and ogre power belt. Each piece of ogre equipment can raise strength by 2 points, but the limit is 18 points. This meant that if one’s strength exceeded 18 points, the equipment became useless.
Previously, this item was completely useless to him.
Because players inherit hero profession templates, their starting stats reach 90 points, and most melee players have an initial strength of 18 points.
Such equipment is intended for spellcasters and similar professions!
But for Soren now, this ogre power bracer was extremely useful because wearing it would allow him to barely use the serpent demon’s long sword.
Even with a 2-point strength penalty!
If a necromancer were to come here, there should be many valuable items. However, Soren had no interest in those corpse parts. He bundled up the books and gold and took them with him, leaving everything else behind. Considering the time, he had already spent half a day here, and it should already be dark outside.
The rations Soren brought had disappeared because of the Thief card, and after the fight, he was already quite hungry.
Two serpent demon long swords.
More than ten Gind, three books, three Unpredictable Cards, and an ogre power bracer.
Soren was quite satisfied with the harvest of this adventure, despite some unforeseen events that nearly cost him his life here.
However, if he could get these gains sold, he should have enough to ensure both he and Vivian had the status of free citizens.
At the same time, he could buy some necessary items.
Such as a small dimensional bag with three feet of space; this is essential for professionists venturing into the wild.
It costs about 100 Gind.
Every city’s Arcane shop sells them; they can hold some assorted daily necessities. It is impossible to carry back everything from a wild ruin adventure. A small dimensional bag has about 1 cubic meter of space, enough to hold some adventure gains. Otherwise, twenty Gind would weigh a pound; sometimes just the harvested Gind could weigh a hundred or more pounds.
Are you sure you can still walk with all that Gind?
…………..
“Creak!”
The heavy dark door slowly opened, and Soren appeared with two long swords, a small bundle made of a corpse’s clothing slung over his back.
He cautiously observed his surroundings, then headed in the direction of Amber City.
But!
Just as he stepped out of the cemetery’s perimeter, he keenly heard faint groans ahead, and it was a woman’s m*an.
Since it was quiet nearby, the sound traveled far.
He silently placed his hand on the sword hilt, unsheathed the longsword from his back, tensed all his muscles, and carefully scanned the surroundings, prepared for battle.
This was the cemetery!
Who would come here in the middle of the night for a wild encounter? Seeking thrills and gore should also have its limits!
He feared he might encounter something unclean.
…………..
