Before we jumped into looting I quickly pulled up my system interface to check over my notifications.
[Congratulations you have learnt the skill - Root Wall]
Nodding to myself I glanced over at the body of the elf I first noticed her sword which was on the ground next to her only to sigh with annoyance as it appeared to have snapped with her death. Next I did a perfunctory check of her person while Kana did the same with the mage. The only thing of note that I found was a ring on one of her fingers. Looking it over I tried to run my mana over it to see if that gave any clues only to slap my forehead when I got a somewhat unexpected notification.
[Congratulations you have unlocked the skill - Inspect]
Seems like I just needed to use my mana to check things out instead of squinting really hard. As for the ring.
[Ring of boundless mana - this ring will increase total mana capacity and mana regeneration by a small amount.]
The ring itself was a simple band of silver with a small emerald imbedded. Liking the sound of its effects I placed it on my left middle finger. Instantly I felt my mana regenerate faster than before and smiled already loving the effect.
Kana seemed a bit disgruntled as she found nothing of note on the mage past her staff which turned out to just be a fancy piece of carved wood, grumbling to herself she nevertheless placed it into her bag.
Next we walked over to the coffins again I went to the elf's and Kana to the mages. Inside I found what looked like a bracelet, inspecting it showed it to be an anklet instead.
[Anklet of Impervious Movement - this anklet can be imbued with mana to provide a brief burst of speed. Whilst no footwear is being worn will passively provide minor protection to the wearers feet.]
A touch dubious about the lack of footwear part I nevertheless clasped it around my ankle. At first it looked like a simple chain with a flower motif but when I clasped it shut it seemed to sink into my skin and showed up as a beautiful flower tattoo reminiscent of a Celtic knot. Confused I tried to take it off and found with relief that it could turn back into a jewelry piece with a thought, letting it go back into its tatto form I looked over to see what Kana found.
It turns out she got possibly the best item yet. She found a necklace that when imbued with mana would instantly create a weak but reliable force shield around her body. Smiling happily to herself we compared loot with each other she was fascinated with my tattoo/ anklet as apparently items that could change form like that were exceedingly rare and valuable. Meanwhile I was somewhat jealous of the force shield but we both agreed to keep what we already had.
Deciding to play it safe we did a quick sweep around the hall to check if any hidden rooms could be found. And it turns out their was one! Behind the two coffins and dungeon core there was a loose brick on the back wall, upon pressing it a small section the size of a door folded in on itself revealing a short corridor into another chamber.
Inside this smaller room maybe 5x5m their wasn't a whole lot other than 3 pedistals each containing a different item. On the right one was a pair of boots, the central held a scroll and the left one was another ring. Inspecting them all revealed them to be.
[Boots of Silent Steps - passivly reduces all sound made while moving]
[Scroll of force spear - use to learn the force spear spell]
[Ring of Preservation - can be activated once per week to instantly restore a large amount of mana, stamina and health]
After looking them over I made the executive decision to give Kana both the boots and the ring and kept the scroll for myself, whilst Kana equipped her new items I opened the scroll only to revive a system prompt asking if I wanted to learn the spell which i naturally accepted.
[Due to Low force affinity but high nature affinity spell has transformed into Spear of the Wilds. Effect - summons a spear based on the surrounding elemental mana and launch it at your foe]
Raising my eyebrows at that I shrug and just accept that I am basically a Druid at this point so looks like it's Nature themed everything for me.
Once we were both settled we made our way back into the main hall where we approached the dungeon core. Out of interest I poked it only to be surprised when another screen appeared in front of me.
[Congratulations you have cleared Ryla's Lamment.
You can either destroy this core or claim ownership of it]
Quickly retracting my finger I explain what happened to Kana who's face went slightly pale before rapidly saying. "Do not claim ownership!" Her face showed actual panic so I froze and looked at her expectantly. "If you claim ownership of a dungeon core you become bound to it and you can no longer leave its depths, granted you will also potentially live forever, or at least as long as the dungeon survives but it is not worth it. Best bet is to destroy it." She urgently explains.
"Oh yeah I don't want to be stuck in this creepy place forever, definitely gonna be breaking this thing." I eagerly agree. Making sure we had checked everything once more I again poke the core before very carefully selecting the option to destroy it, double and even triple checking I selected the right option before confirming.
Immediately the hall started shaking, starting off quite mildly but already I could notice it getting steadily stronger. Quickly looking at Kama we nodded and both dashed towards the exit, reaching the door we quickly opened it and behind running down the long tunnel. Looking at Kama as we ran I raised an eyebrow and asked in a cheeky tone. "Race ya to the entrance!" Before pushing some mana into the new tattoo and and suddenly doubling my speed in an instant.
Laughing in delight at my current speed I started laughing even harder when I heard Kana shouting from beind me. "Cheater!!" The boost only lasted for around 30 seconds but in a fight 30 seconds can be quite a while. I also discovered that it had a cooldown of about 2 minutes, after which I activated it again and managed to reach the exit just after my second speed burst ended.
Quickly looking around to make sure there wasn't anything lurking nearby I rested my hands on my knees and took deep breaths whilst catching my breath. As I was doing so and waiting for Kana to catch up I finally revived my quest completion notification!
[Quest Complete - due to fully clearing the dungeon whilst still in the Mortal Rank your rewards have improved.
Reward 1: flower of space (Iron) - this item has the ability to store none living and living non sapient organisms. This item has a temporal protection so items will remain in stasis until removed.
Reward 2: New Boon - Expositional Aid - whilst equipped with 3 or less items you gain the following benefits
- you gain a 20% bonus to Health, Mana and Stamina.
- you gain an increase in Health, Mana and Stamina regeneration depening on the amount of you body that is uncovered]
After finishing reading that I am left with many, many questions but before I can truly process my new Boon an item materialises in my hand. It appears like a regular flower with a particularly beautiful flower with a emerald seeming resting in the center of the petals. Thinking it must wrap onto my body somewhere and based on the length of the stem I assume it's a necklace so I go to wrap it around my neck only for it to slip from my grasp as it clasps itself whilst shrinking and adjusting to better fit. Once it has settled down at appears more like a choker made of thin vines in an intricate pattern around my neck with the flower and emerald facing forward.
Pushing some mana into the chocker and thinking of placing my sword into storage, the sword simply vanished from my hand, I can also feel the space within and it seems like I have a 50x50x50 cube of space that I can do with as I please. And upon my sword vanishing from my hand I can sense it appearing in that cube of space. It is easy to take it out thankfully with nothing more than a thought required to summon it back into my hands.
It is at this time that Kana finally makes it out of the dungeon entrance. "Well someone took their time." I joked. To which I only got an eye roll before she answered me.
"Well I also still have a small hole in my stomach which helped slow me down." At this my face paled slightly as I quickly rushed over to her.
"Oh hek I'm sorry I completely forgot about that, here let me sort that one out for you!" Feeling pretty shitty about my stunt there I quickly pour mana into natures touch and ensure that every cut scrape and bruise is healed from Kana, eliciting a small moan of delight to escape her lips. And a wide smile to appear on mine and she flushes adorably.
Coughing slightly and stepping back Kana looks at me and comments. " when did you get that chocker by the way it looks great!"
I smile at that and answer. "It was part of my quest reward and it's iron rank! It's basically a storage item that will store both living and non living objects whilst keeping them in stasis, although it specifies non sapient so I'm assuming it means plants and the like." Upon hearing that Kana's jaw quite literally drops open in supprise.
"How lucky do you have to be to unlock something like that!?" She eventually blurts out with a hint in incredulity.
"Well I did also receive a new boon." I say somewhat conflicted in how I feel about it.
"Oh what does it do?" Kana questions. After explaining what it does she looks at me with a mix of pitty, humor and a touch of excitement. "So let me get this right. You get a flat boost in all resources and recovery so long as you are wearing no more than 3 items and flashing as much skin as possible?"
Nodding I sigh in exasperation. " I'm just thankful that my dress doesn't seem to count as an item given that it is a skill of mine so I can at least still use all my magic items and still be covered." I then add on somewhat dejectedly. "Well only just covered. Still feel a little slutty showing so much skin like this."
At this Kana pulls me into a hug to try and comfort me. "Well I think you look beautiful with what your wearing!" This causes me to blush slightly and hug her back enjoying being surrounded by her mountains again.
After a moment Kana asks. "Hey didn't you say you already had a boon? Is this one your second?" At my nod she continues. "So what does you first boon do again?" I have to pull up my status screen to remember that myself.
[Status
Name - Lilliana
Species - Elf
Age - 18
Titles - none
Boons - Magically malleable, Expositional Aid
Class - locked until new beginnings system is complete
Stats - locked ]
[Magically malleable - your body is able to be moulded to a certain extent. This can be initiated by yourself or by another. ]
After reading her the description of my first boon she gets a slightly worrying glint in her eyes. Seeing this I try to separate to no success whilst asking in a somewhat worried tone. "Kana what do you have that look in your eyes for?"
She looks down at me with obvious delight sparkling in her eyes. "Well you've just told me that I can reshape your body at will as soon as I figure out the trigger. I guess we will have to do lots of.. Experimentation now won't we." I can only gulp and nod nervously at that.
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End of the dungeon arc! How we all feeling about these rewards? Think they are too much? Too little?