After receiving everyone's agreement, Nolan put the original stone into his pants pocket, then chose to absorb it without being able to be seen.
【Bathed In The Radiant Glow Of Dreams And Hope, Obtained 3000 Adventure EXP】
Oh, finally it's not "Defeated A Powerful Enemy" huh? But speaking of which, where did the dreams and hopes come from? He didn't feel any of that at all.
Of course, the Primogem lived up to Oz's claim of its "versatility"; it could even convert to Adventure EXP. And the amount wasn't insignificant. This could be considered a discovery of a new source of Adventure EXP, other than defeating monsters.
Too bad Primogems were expensive. Not to mention their rarity, even if someone was selling them, he couldn't afford to buy them.
Looking at the suddenly abundant experience points, he raised his level 8 "Hunter's Archery" to max level.
Adventure EXP: -1700
Hunter’s Archery Lv.10 (Silent Shadows).
The familiar knowledge and experience-filling phase appeared. At this moment, Nolan, whether in mastering the techniques or the body's instinct, had reached the pinnacle of the "Hunter’s Archery" skill.
Simultaneously, a remarkable characteristic, "Silent Shadows," emerged.
Just as the words mean, when Nolan used "Hunter's Archery", due to the skill's own properties he could break through the constraints of the weapon and arrows themselves.
Achieving shooting arrows so fast they have no shadow and make no sound, as if using some kind of secret technique.
Since "Hunter Archery" is designed for hunting, it emphasizes stealth, speed, and precision. Therefore, the appearance of such a remarkable trait after reaching the maximum level was not unexpected.
Nolan was looking forward to its performance in real combat.
Apart from Without Shadow or Sound, at max level, Hunter's Archery could also fuse with other maxed level archery skills, though there were none for now so that could wait.
That was all the contents of the exquisite chest. Such gains were already very good, especially with the addition of the Primogem.
The two artifacts were, a one-star pocket watch of the Sands of Eon type and a two-star crown of the Circlet of Logos type.
After briefly equipping them, he found the buffs granted were both to max HP, giving a feeling of the body strengthening just a tiny bit, better than nothing.
Bennett and Fischl had long since joined the Adventurers' Guild and already had their own artifacts, so didn't need these low-star ones.
So, Nolan was allowed to carry them for now. Whatever may help.
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"Next, let's look around here to see if we can find a mechanism to open the iron gate."
Bennett spoke while looking at the fancy chest that had vanished after they took the loot.
"Mm, we'll each take a side."
Nolan nodded lightly. Using the faint light shining down from the hole above, the three people and one raven began exploring this large room.
In the middle were rubble and broken stones that had collapsed from the domed ceiling.
Nolan headed left, next to the brick walls. Feeling them revealed nothing special, and no switches or pull chains could be seen on the walls.
Bennett went near the iron gate, but due to the distance could only see a blurry shadow in the dim environment.
On the other hand, Fischl's companion Oz emitted a faint glow, lighting up Fischl's right side clearly.
The right leg, covered in black stockings, peeked through the slit of the black and purple interwoven skirt, revealing a slightly fair skin.
Soon after, Nolan discovered a recessed area at a higher spot on the wall. Stepping back two paces, he could see what was erected inside -
A torch mechanism that needed ignition with Pyro element.
Nolan's eyes lit up. Based on his gaming experience, if a torch mechanism appeared, there would usually be other linked torch mechanisms nearby.
If he was right, they were probably the key to opening the iron gate.
Suddenly, Bennett's excited voice came from the right front: "Great news everyone! I found a torch mechanism!"
"Oh? What a coincidence, this princess has also discovered one!"
Fischl's voice rang out right after.
It seems that all three of them found torch mechanisms, which makes things easy. They just need to light them up and see if it opens the iron gate.
"But it's so high up, I can't reach it!"
Among them, only Bennett had a Pyro Vision, but lighting it up would require some effort.
Nolan thought for a moment, then asked Bennett, "Can you temporarily gather Pyro on my arrow?"
"Ah, you want to light it up like that?" Bennett was puzzled at first, then continued, "With my current ability, I can do it, but only for one or two seconds, and it disperses easily from the wind."
"I see, that's fine, let's try and see if it works."
Nolan pondered for a little while and felt that with his current max level "Hunter’s Archery", he could completely make the Pyroelement attached to the arrow unaffected.
"Alright then." Since Nolan insisted, Bennett had no objections.
They went to the torch mechanism Bennett found first. Like the previous one, it was high up on the wall with a recessed area containing the torch.
With the wall's vertical angle, ordinary people couldn't climb up and had to use ranged attacks.
Nolan nocked an armor-piercing arrow, and Bennett guided Pyro to gather at the arrowhead, making it glow red.
The moment Bennett released his hand, in the next instant the arrow soundlessly struck the torch mechanism. The swirling Pyro on the arrowhead seemed unchanged from before.
Unaffected by air resistance, it directly ignited the torch.
The previously dim surroundings all became bright and transparent, extremely clear.
"Wow, what amazing archery!"
Bennett's eyes widened in surprise. Despite being up close, he hadn't seen clearly at all.
"My attendant, I didn't expect you were hiding your strength!"
Previously Fischl thought Nolan's archery was just a bit inferior to hers.
"No no, perhaps Your Highness's archery is just a little lacking compared to mine, which is why you didn't notice the profundities when we fought the ruin guards."
Nolan jokingly said.
"Ahem, Miss, Sir Nolan speaks reasonably." Oz nodded in agreement.
"Hmph!"
Fischl folded her arms and haughtily turned her fair face away, glancing at Nolan from the side. Her snow-white delicate ear was nestled in her golden hair.
She acknowledged it in a very reluctant manner.
"Haha, Your Highness, even if my archery is decent, its might still can't compare to yours. After all, you are the Prinzessin who wields the purging thunder of the darkest night!"
Nolan smiled and spoke using terms Fischl was accustomed to.
"Uh-huh. That's for sure!" Fischl's soft lips curved up slightly as she responded matter-of-factly.
【Fischl Has Developed Good Feelings Towards You, Obtained 120 Affection Points. Current Affection Level Lv.3 (15/300)】
Perhaps she quite liked what Nolan said. Her Highness magnanimously raised his affection a bit.
(End Of Chapter)