Alice had watched it all happen from the safety of her fifth floor hotel room. With her every brush against the bizarre and dangerous elements that surrounded Ben and his town, she became more and more convinced that him and his friends could not be trusted. Her heart ached as she relived the memories granted to her by the skill, her life with Richard, all the little moments that get lost in time but which none-the-less bind two people together as powerfully as combat and shared struggle. A joke here, a small kindness there, shared dreams that frighten, shared hopes which drive.

Richard was out there, in that awful, dangerous place; out of his mind and lost inside the Dungeon.

She wouldn't leave him there. She'd sworn to give him her life, and she kept her promises. With absolute conviction in her heart, she grabbed a backpack and stuffed it full of water bottles. Rather than the elevator, she took the stairs not daring to stand around for even a moment. Alice ignored the crowd of people outside who were examining piles of coins, strange rocks and scaly leather that sat on the ground. She went straight to her rental car and started to drive.

She wasn't going home without her husband.

–

Melmat stood in the hallway outside his room in the Luxury Motel Six. Inside, four acolytes methodically took apart all furniture, inspected for spying devices, then reassembled it. One of them was carefully peeling up the carpet, and was rewarded for his efforts with a small listening device embedded in it's underside.

“All clear, Master.” One of the men bowed to him and left, followed by the other three. Melmat silently thanked his own master for the emphasis on training to train others.

“No matter what, nobody gets inside. Keep guards posted for as long as is required.”

Entering the room, he shut the door and closed the blinds. He had given the other items to Johnnie, the leader of the posse, but kept the ring concealed. Melmat pulled it from his pocket and, feeling rather foolish, firmly said a single word.

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“Identify!”

You are the first known discoverer of this item in your world.

Congratulations, you have been granted The Boon of Discovery. Item is automatically identified and all effects are buffed to their maximum possible value.

This is the first item drop of its kind in the world! Automatic legendary and Grand legendary effects added!

Name: Jade Ring of Chaos. Rarity: Original. Rank: Perfect.

A jade ring formed from liquid chaos. This is the original Jade Ring of Chaos.

Soulbound

20% Distortion Blur chance upon taking damage.

+100% Maximum Mana

+20% intelligence

+20% dexterity

+20% wisdom

Summon Chaos Spirit Charge 5/5

Grants the Chaos Bolt skill

All critical strikes negated with Distortion Blur

Grants the ability Fortune's Favor

Grants the permanent ability Chaos Walk

Allows the user to die once a week and respawn in the last bed they slept in.

Melmat sniffed loudly and quickly put the ring onto the middle finger of his right hand.

Would you like to soulb-

“Yes.” Melmat said before the text could finish displaying.

Congratulations, you have soulbound The Jade Ring of Chaos.

Melmat didn't feel significantly different. He held out his hand, and Librorum appeared as a violet purple orb. “Librorum, am I smarter or wiser?”

“The ring appears to be assisting your mind by simultaneously increasing avaliable mind power, and reducing the load mental operations have on you. The wisdom increase seems to function by increasing the Organization of your mind, though the methodology through which it does this is currently unknown. Why don't you try doing a backflip?”

Melmat jumped into the air, and found himself in danger of hitting the ceiling. He was surprised to find he could stop just short of it without any real thought. He picked up a pen and began flipping it through is fingers, amazed at how smoothly his fingers were operating.

His face twitched, and he quickly pulled a pistol out from a nearby nightstand. With a terrified scream, he put the gun to his head and fired. The bullet failed to exit the other side of his head, and just passed right through, lodging itself in the wall behind him. Melmat examined his body, and saw that it was insubstantial, a blur for a moment, then solidified once again.

“What the shit!” Liborum screamed, taking immediate control of his body and locking him in place “Are you out of your fucking mind!”

“I guess that was considered a critical strike,” Melmat said, then started laughing like a madman.