[16:03:01]

Despite all the struggle, greeting Luke's eyes was a timed reminder. He still wasn't free of this damn cave. He was glad to be alive rather than stay in a bad mood.

Sooty had saved his life after all. Killing Vincent, the Coven Lord, let the Interface distribute enough experience to level him up. The heal let him cheat death. Fate hadn’t given up on him yet. Before Luke could get too deep into his thoughts, he got himself up. Then, he was immediately tackled back down by Sooty. "Ha ha, happy to see you too, pal," Luke said.

“You pulled through, lad. I was nearly ready to toss me gears into the abyss, thinking I led you astray. It'd have haunted me till the end of time if you'd fallen on the path I guided you on." Wayfinder issued a rare apology.

"You've been doing what you can, Wayfinder. I've taken this trial on way too early, haven't I?" Luke was sure. The ramp-up in difficulty made him feel this place was something one came and prepared for.

And when he entered this tomb, he was the furthest definition away from prepared. Luke petted Sooty for a few minutes. Then he asked her. "Sooty, do you have any water left? I'm thirsty."

Sooty got both the cup and water out of her Spatial Feather. After a few cups, he was ready to go. Luke silently got up and started moving back to the vampire den entrance. Time wasn't exactly waiting for him. Sooty hopped up on his shoulder and wouldn't leave it.

Luke glanced through the most essential notices in the combat log out of his drops. Unfortunately, he hadn't looted the three Blood Circlet Vampires. He'd be sure to do so on his way back. There was nowhere else to go after all.

"Ready yourself, lad. We won't have the time to try finishing this cave again. Me needle is becoming' too pointy, never good on me springs. Do you know how hard it is to be a compass in a tomb? I miss me sunny magnetic fields of the surface." Wayfinder started blabbering.

With Wayfinder going off-topic, Luke moved on. Taking a slow walk forward, Luke did his routine of buffing the group and inspecting the interface log.

[Your companion, Sooty, has gained 3 levels, reaching level 18. Acquired 3 skill points]

[Your companion, Sooty, has, through a remarkable feat, raised Reaver's Link to rank III]

Luke's eyebrow raised. "You can strengthen skills even without skill points?"

Wayfinder gave his view and knowledge. "With training or pushing one's skill beyond the limit, you might have a skill go up a rank. Don't count on it. , That fancy screen of yours is more erratic than it appears."

Luke pondered. That means it's not something we can focus on. It’s too unpredictable, and the time to test it out is non-existent.

He ingrained the new knowledge and moved on. They were getting close to where he had his near-death experience. The stale air and scent of blood were still pungent. More dust filled the path. Continuing through the log, Luke saw only three other important notices.

[You have discovered the third hidden mechanic of Essence Lance, Essence Feedback]

[You have gained 1 level, reaching level 16. Acquired 2 skill points]

[You have stolen 20 HP, 3 Strength, 2 Agility]

Luke figured the first hidden mechanic of Essence Lance was its AOE effect. There was no description of it being able to do that after all. As for the second, he had no idea. The payoff of investing in Roll of the Reaver was already showing, with Luke stealing this many stats from only three enemies.

Readying the skill points Luke gained after his level up, he spent them. There wasn't any suspense. Luke threw three points into Roll of the Reaver, increasing its roll range to 1-8.

They had now come up to the "remains" of Coven Lord Vincent. It was more like a decomposing smear of blood. Sooty was ruthless in her desecration. She let out a dissatisfied sound upon seeing the corpse.

Luke's face grew tight. His body shivered, and his steps paused for a moment. After having his eyes shake, Luke frazzled his hair. The visible body language firmed itself and grew steady. He had looting to do. After putting his life at stake, Luke would make sure to get every reward he could in return.

Even if it was from the enemy who should have taken his life.

"He's dead and gone now, lad. Best you take the valuables and go. One day, something like this wouldn't even be able to touch your coattails." Wayfinder encouraged Luke.

Luke agreed. "I know. I'll bottle it up for now. Time is ticking, like you said."

Three items, all of the Coven Lord's loot, appeared in a series of flashes and were added to his inventory. The first was a large sum of silver. The second was a blood-red key. The last was a pendant. Luke had the interface place the tooltip before him.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

[Coven Lord Pendant]

Quality: Rare

Stats: +9 Intellect

Passive - Regeneration: Enables in combat regeneration of health at a slow rate.

A reward for my most exciting guest in decades.

"That bastard sure had a weird taste in guests," Luke grumbled.

After putting on the pendant, he was getting close to having an item in every slot. Only a shoulder piece, weapon, and special item slot were empty now. The trio walked briskly, avoiding the rubble along the way. The previous cold splendor of the pathway was wrecked. It had become a true ruin now.

Luke accepted the fact his boots would have dried blood to step over as he came into the silent feasting hall. Kicking aside vampire corpses as he could, Luke went into the final chamber he had explored.

Sooty had a hard sparkle in her eyes as she looked at the two blood circlet vampires. Her feathers shook. The crow also wanted to jump off Luke's shoulder to tear them apart.

Ultimately, she decided she'd rather stay put. This time, the two vampires' loot was surprisingly little, only about half the silver Vincent had on him. The Interface wouldn't let Luke loot anything. Not even the tome Lilian had.

Moving on, he gazed around the room. The place still had the feeling of a great council's throne room. The three thrones were gaudy with gold and jewels. Abstract paintings were on the interior walls between the stained glass windows.

Feeling slightly regretful for further ruining the velvet on the floor, Luke stepped off and walked on the bare stone instead. Looking around, there was no obvious way forward. He took out his mysterious rune, having it snug in his hand. The rune grew brighter after returning near the entrance to this throne room.

Then, as he stepped around, the rune would only start to dim as he got closer to the three thrones.

Edging closer, the rune finally let out no additional light. Luke still didn't see an entrance or anything. He scanned the area with his eyes. The short search was fruitless, so Luke kept expanding his perimeter instead. After a few paces, he knew precisely where the rune would light up again. It was a perfect circle around the three thrones. There had to be something in that area, Luke decided. He looked up. Nothing stood out to Luke. Unlike the last mystery, Wayfinder didn't have any help to offer.

Luke paced, then slowly took his hand around each throne, trying to inspect every inch. Doing this over three times, he found a slot under the arm of a throne. The one in the center likely was the throne for Vincent. Luke felt the slot out. Judging by its size, a smooth-shaped object would snap right in. Taking the rune from his left hand, Luke slid it in there. The rune held and wouldn't budge once in place.

Sooty decided she liked the throne chair to the left and perched on it, watching Luke closely.

"Standing there gapping like a stuffed haggis won't do us any favors. Go on, take a gander around, lad. Sometimes the quiet changes are the most telling," Wayfinder urged with a touch of guidance, nudging Luke back into action.

Seeing Wayfinder's point, Luke returned to one end of the circle. Going slowly, Luke found a keyhole that appeared on the back of the throne near the right. Trying the key he had looted from Vincent, it wouldn't fit.

This hole had to appear for a reason. Luke thought. But it doesn't look like it's needed to move forward.

Remembering Sooty had a key of her own, he called out to her. "Sooty, come here for a moment, pal. Let's try the key you found. You're done playing with it, right?"

Sooty turned her head in thought. Then she hopped over. She let the spatial feather drop the key at Luke's feet. Luke bent down and patted Sooty on the head once before saying, "Thanks, Sooty, let's see if it works."

Luke used the key Sooty found in the shadow cave, and sure enough, it fit right in. A hidden compartment in the back of the throne popped out, and a chest could be seen. It only had latches, no locks. Sooty looked on with interest as Luke undid the three latches at the front of the chest. It popped open, and a dark gold flash lit the dim throne area. The same color of light that Luke saw when he looted Wayfinder.

The chest revealed a wand—a blue crystal at its tip and a swirling white shaft giving it length. A metal guard was at the top of the wand. Luke picked it up. He tried to look at it through the interface as usual, but nothing happened.

Perplexed and with the wand acting like a dead piece of wood, Luke did what he always did to his weapons. He put Infusion on it. The wand sprang to life, its blue crystal aglow with a piercing gray shimmer. Then, a feminine voice echoed from it.

"Finally! I thought I'd be stuck again until the next Reaver. Thanks for taking me out of that dusty chest. Do you know how many trials I've gone through where Reavers waltzed past me or never found the key? Nearly all of them!"

The wand let out a visible huff of essence. Then, she continued.

"You're the first to find me since the last Reaver with me died... it's been decades." The womanly voice had an undertone of genuine relief.

Luke's face twitched. Not another talkative object. He sighed dramatically and began to put the wand back.

"Please don't lock me back up again after all that waiting. It was torture! I went out of my mind in there. Well, figuratively speaking. Any other artifact would've lost it long ago. I've had enough of that place."

Wayfinder spoke up for Luke. "The lad's already got his hands full with my sparkling company, hasn't he? Doesn't have room for another widget, especially not one that can't hold a candle to me charm,"

The wand snapped back, "Who asked you? And what are you? A... talking compass? Now I've seen everything."

Luke decided not to comment about how a talking wand was shocked a compass could talk too. Was it really all that surprising at that point? Sooty displayed her impatience toward the wand with a sharp wing flap.

Luke massaged his temple, "Maybe all you sentient items are locked up or thrown in a pond for a reason."

The wand implored, "Wait! You need every edge you can get in this tomb. Trust me, I'm that edge. You can't pass up on such a magnificent and helpful sword wand like me."

"A what?" Luke asked back.

"A sword wand! Don't tell me you've never heard of one. They aren't common but trust me; you won't find another as good as me." The sword wand answered with complete confidence.

Luke reluctantly stopped putting the sword wand back in the chest. He held it in his left hand and brought it to his face.

"Tell me about yourself and how you'll help me. Then we can decide if I need you for this tomb. You better explain why I'd even need a wand or a sword, whatever you are. I've already got a good sword." Luke gave in to this strange ‘sword wand.’

"Rather than that, why don't you have that god-awful Interface do the talking for me? It should work now that I'm awake," The sword wand answered cheerfully.