"-Elemental Rings, a few pounds of Seer Metal, an... enchanted bracelet?-" The knight said questioningly while twisting the wide bracelet he held on his arm around, Jacob stared too, he thought it looked nice, the accessory was twice as wide as his thumb, fully made of shining bronze carved with intersecting snake-like lines all over its surface, and to top it all off, an orange amber colored gem sat on where the bracelet's "topmost" portion would be, hexagonal, clear, and immaculate.
It looked perfect.
"-A Wizard's staff," the knight pointedly looked at Jacob as he said that, "Looks like it's been made from ashwood too," he adds, "thing's as black as they come."
"Something that's clearly worthy of a cracked Dungeon then," Says what Jacob assumes is the lead knight. His helmeted head turned to Jacob, "... as well as the one capable of defeating it."
"I'm more interested in the bracelet actually." He replied, trying to not sound offensive. The knight seemed like he wanted Jacob to accept the offer but Jacob didn't see the need to use staffs or wands, his hands are good enough. "Anyone here knows what it does?"
Sadly, everyone who would have any knowledge related to it- Etia, the half-ling mage, and as the other mages - shook their heads in unison. "If I were to throw a guess, then I assume it makes you stronger physically right as long as you wear it. Fossilized Resin does that." That got a round of nods from the other robed people in the room, "As for the effects of the bracelet itself... I'm going to throw a guess and assume it's some form of protection which is just redundant when your shield is stronger than everyone else's."
"I actually want it for its looks," Jacob said, taking their attention away from the fact that the thing can potentially give him a stat boost, "I want to start wearing it since I..." He gestured at himself, "Didn't really bring mine."
Etia shook his head and turned away, muttering- "Nobles." - all the while.
Jacob can only smile to loosen the tension, "I want it. Keep the staff."
"Well you can potentially have both," Says the knight and Jacob nodded in response. Just how big is his cut? Well- 12% but how much is that really?
The check for magical items continued after that and the things that got picked out from the pile of money started to get counted one by one; more elemental rings came out, a few other metals like iron were also there, other accessories also got unearthed and Jacob took note of them, one was a necklace with a silver chan and a sapphire for a head- the knights said that it was just a regular necklace, sadly, - a few rings that aren't elemental also came out, one of them being capable of casting a weak [Shield] once per day, then finally, something caught Jacob's eye: It looked like any other stone out there, rough, course, and edged but what sets it apart is the fire red glow it was emanating.
"What's that?" He asked as the knight threw it to the pile of items behind him.
"Some sort of trapped fire elemental," He replied, "One time use, outright useless."
"I'll take it if I can." The knight merely nodded before continuing to dig through the pile again.
More elemental rings cameo out, a wand or two, and then finally, the once mountain-of-coins became a pile of fully counted currency on top of three wooden wagons that had been dragged into the Dungeon by a trio of generous farmers. As the lead knight walked forward, the others stepped aside, he made his way to the person who accompanied the farmer's here- the mayor's secretary, Froan, "I counted mine till-" And so, as the lead knight stated what he counted to the secretary, a cascade followed and all four of them soon said their respective numbers and the coins totaled up to...
"...That's over 10,000 Silver." Says Froan with a raised eyebrow, "What the hell happened? That's twice the usual haul."
This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
All heads turned to Jacob and it didn't take long for the worried yet suspicious secretary to follow, "You?" Jacob nodded at her question, "What happened?"
It was the lead knight that answered, "He managed to find the method of cracking the Dungeon."
Froan stared, then her eyes moved away and landed on Jacob, who only shrugged as she narrowed them, "He managed to crack it?" She asked, incredulous. "How?"
"Had enough fire power, consistency, and a good aim to kill the... ammoni on the Boss' back." Replies the knight.
"Anemone." Corrected Jacob.
"Right. That- Apparently his brother like to eat them or something." The knight's words caused Froan to shake her head with a disgusted expression before turning away.
"Did your people want to die or something?" She said.
Jacob replied with a shrug.
Everyone seemed to have decidedly leave the conversation at that and the proceedings for how the earnings were gonna get split continued with silence and waiting for an hour and a half for the knights to count the coins as they dug through the mountain earlier and then another extra hour for some oily looking man to assess the value of the enchanted items- Jacob finally managed to get his cut of the share and true to the knight's words, he got the bracelet he wanted earlier as well as an extra gold coin and 400 silver.
Oh, and he was also given a piece of paper that had been delivered to the Dungeon by a panting teen that asked him to go to the mayor's office again so that he can collect the paycheck for... finding out the method of making the Dungeon much more efficient?
Well, isn't that nice?
Jacob took the formal piece of paper with a smile that's not dissimilar from the one the oily jeweler has. "Thank you, I'll make sure to visit the mayor's office after I'm done with my current affairs."
"And that would be?" The lead knight asked but didn't wait for Jacob to reply as he quickly added, "if you aren't so busy, the duke can always use the help of a skilled mage such as yourself."
He shook his head, "I'd really rather not. That sort of life is way too tiring- exhausting actually," He corrected, "I might get gray hair and wrinkles earlier than natural if I live like that."
"You don't need to fight-" Jacob raised his eyebrow and pushed back the retort where he wanted to ask why did the knight ask for a skilled mage if he didn't want said mage to fight. "-you can always just be the Duke's advisor or better yet, you can also teach his children-"
"No thank you." Jacob said irritably, "Now, if we are done, I would like to leave."
"Yes, of course." The knight bowed, "I hope we see you again."
"I plan on staying on this village, actually." Jacob hinted without looking back. Not that he'd get anything from doing so, the knights were wearing helmets and if that doesn't make their expression hard to read, then maybe their training will.
Jacob walked out of the Dungeon much richer than before and with a bracelet that boosts his strength to boot. He inspected the thing before throwing it around his wrist and connecting the key and bind it had as a lock, it made the thing stuck to his wrist and after a few seconds of staring at it, expecting something, Jacob felt a sudden burst of strength and decided that Etia said was actually true, and now, if only he knew what kind of spell the enchanted item had in store.
'Well, I can actually find out can't I?' At the though of that, Jacob opened his system,
Health: 20/20
Amp: 26/26
Class: Energy Mage (Lvl 5)
Stats (0) :
Physical- 5 (+2)
Cognitive- 18
Mental- 2
Spiritual- 1
Skills:
Jabbing (Lvl 2)
Haggling (Lvl 3)
Financial Management (Lvl 3)
Cooking (Lvl 1)
Crafting (LVL 3)
Spells (4/5):
-Sharp-Bolt (Lvl 6)
-Shield (Lvl 1)
-Guard (Lvl 1)
-Locate (Lvl 3)
Miracles:
-Commune (MAX)
Well... it certainly didn't tell him what kind of spell the item has but at least he now knows that it gives him an extra +2 on his physical stat? That's gotta account for something, even when it's only showing him what he already knew, at least Jacob's well aware of the specifics. Also, an extra two on his physical stat didn't sound all that special...