The next morning, Langa's Dent interface was alive with comments. Jandri had posted his fight against Statia, cutting out the parts where Langa chewed out Aquila’s team, making him seem like a good hero who helped his friends recover their party member’s body and got revenge for them. Then, she added in the video of him wrecking the guild members who tried to ambush him as a sort of before and after becoming bonded to a deity comparison. Langa laughed in satisfaction at the visible anger on Statia's face. He sat and checked every single name, hoping for any of his family members to be there, but he did not find any of them.
Annoyed, he went outside to the valley to meet Mesala. The kitekin gushed about how pissed the Retessa Guild must be because of Langa's video, as he gave him some strange fruits for breakfast. To his surprise, the number of players still living in the Valley of Guardians had dwindled by a lot. Had they left since today was the last day of the free seven, or did the 1st Floor prove to be too much for them and they died.
Well, he did not have the luxury to worry about other people. “Find out for me if these items exist in the Tower,” Langa said as he and Mesala walked towards the seating area of the valley, handing him a list of things that he had written down on a scroll.
“What’s umsuzwane?” Mesala asked, looking at the list.
“It’s a plant that we use in my world for cleansing ceremonies and to wash the dead. If you can’t get it, I’m fine with something similar,” he said. He didn't expect to find every herb in the exact specifications of what he wanted anyway.
Mesala nodded.
"Langa!" A delighted voice called out to him. He turned around to find Aramaga running towards him. He barely had time to react before she wrapped her four arms around him. Well, he could have sidestepped if he really wanted to, but, it was nice to get a hug. "You're okay."
"Um, yeah," he said, patting her back awkwardly. He was glad her group had made it past Statia unharmed.
Once she was unwrapped from him, he looked around to find Aquila and the dwarf sitting on rock benches close to the Guardians' lucent carriage rank. He and Mesala walked over and sat with them. They greeted him enthusiastically as well, glad to see that he made it out of the dungeon alive.
"It's only been what, four days and you guys have already levelled up. Good work," he said. Aquila was even level 9 already. He was impressed with their effort; a loss wasn't something meant to keep a person down. It was supposed to motivate them to work harder and surpass their current limits.
"Yeah, it wasn't easy. I had to make a vow to my deity that I wouldn't tarnish his name. The only reason he even allowed me to become his Disciple despite my poor performance was that he was obligated to do it by the system since I'm his Chosen One," Aquila said with a sigh. "I have to work harder."
Langa raised his eyebrows. Was this really the same pompous idiot who had interrupted Alfsol that first day, and tried to threaten Langa? "Where did you go to level up?"
“Dagro Valley. We figured it was better to grind in low-level areas than to try and level up faster by fighting against higher-level monsters,” Aquila said as he handed over 1 silver and 20 copper coins to Langa. “Here, this is what we got for the parts of the baboon.”
“Thanks,” Langa said. More money was always welcome, especially now that he needed to save up 1 gold to go to the capital and meet Liv in 14 days. He turned to Aramaga. “I’ll give you back your Feathervault bag once I organise my items and-“
“No!” she said forcefully. “I told you you could keep it. Please, it’s the least I can do to thank you for what you did for us. We were able to put Klonu to rest thanks to you.”
Langa hesitated, but Aquila interrupted him. "Please take it. It'll make us all feel better."
Well, he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. He sat back on the bench and peeled the fruit Mesala gave him, then he asked them something that he had been wondering about. "What Floors are you guys from?" Aquila was human, but he did not seem to be from the 36th Floor like him.
"33rd for me," Ormeth said, "32nd for Aquila and 31st for Aramaga. We ain't do it on purpose, I swear."
"Hmm, one of my tutorial teammates was from the 32nd Floor," Langa said, eyeing Aquila with a frown. "You don't look like a Viking."
The look on Aquila's face darkened. "Vikings? Those bontelags were a scourge on our cities. They hunted anyone found using magic, raiding our homelands and kidnapping our women. Our world was always at war because of them, and I lost my friend to them. I was actually Chosen because of what I did to a group of Vikings who came to raid my hometown. Once I get back home, they will pay the price in blood."
There was venom in his words, and Langa remembered what Sigurd had said back then, that the constellation watching over their world made them slay witches.
"Well, then you should just speedrun the Tower and take over their territories, I mean, according to The Pioneer, the theme for the Third Storey is conquest, right?" Aramaga said with a shrug as she sat down next to Langa.
Mesala shook his head, looking at her as if what she said was impossible. "How many years would that take? The Pioneer and Kimi'Ndashin are monsters, and it took them 12 years to get from the 1st to the 31st Floor. They are the only two players in the Third Storey right now, since The Hallow Reapers are struggling to defeat the Floor Boss of the 30th Floor."
"It ain't impossible, Anarchist cleared 19 Floors in five years, something that took those two seven years," Ormeth argued. "Hell, it took your guildmaster 9 years to clear 28 Floors, which took those two, what, 10 years or something?"
Aquila held up his hand when Mesala made to retort. "No, he's right. Guardian Knight Merreddyd and Anarchist are outliers within their tutorial batches. Besides, I haven't even cleared the 1st Floor, so it's useless to think about the 32nd Floor right now." He turned to Langa, changing the subject as the other three eyed each other, clearly wanting to continue arguing about the feats of the top ten rankers. “Did you know that you got a bounty on your head yesterday?”
Langa frowned, the news surprising him. Had the Guardians found out about his Void Star? “How? I'm not a voident, and I'm still here,” he said, looking around at all the Guardians milling about in the valley. “Shouldn't these guys be hunting me for the bounty?”
“It’s not from us,” Mesala said, turning away from Aramaga and Ormeth.
“It's the Retessa Guild; they posted your picture all over the Dent. I'm so sorry,” Aramaga said, fidgeting slightly. “This is because you helped us.”
Langa shrugged, biting into his fruit. “My Sponsorship Challenge was in a dungeon that was in their territory. Even without you three, they wouldn’t have let me in without a fight,” he said. "How much did they put on my head?”
“25 silver,” Ormeth said. "That's a pretty penny for a level 10 neutral player."
Langa almost corrected him, saying that he was level 11 now, but then he realised people couldn't scan him anymore now that he had a Shroud. Only those bound to deities more powerful than The Lackadaisical Herald or his master would be able to scan him. Or, he guessed, those with skills like his 'Team Player' title.
“Wow, that’s more than the bounty for an F-rank voident,” Langa said. “I don’t know if I should be flattered or appalled. Statia must be pissed, but if he’s not willing to pay more than that, I doubt anyone will be willing to get their hands dirty.” He smiled. Someone as strong as Statia putting this much effort into chasing after him made him feel like he had accomplished something.
“No, that only applies to voidents. Most people avoid them because of the debuff effects of their pseudovoid territories. But a regular player like you, for that amount of silver, here on the 1st Floor, people will be lining up for your head." Aquila informed him.
“Well, who cares? I’ll deal with them when they come,” Langa muttered, disinterested.
Aquila shook his head in disbelief. “Be vigilant.”
“Well, since you don’t care about being hunted, can I ask you something that I have been dying to ask all morning?” Mesala asked eagerly, and Langa raised his eyebrows. “Are you going to do the Celestial Clash exhibition match?”
“What’s that?” Langa asked, once more enjoying the sweet fruit. It tasted like a cross between an orange without the acidity and a mango. The entire group of people at the table gaped at him as if he were crazy again. “I don't know how many times I have to keep saying it, but I'm from a lost world,” he said, shaking his head.
“First of all, you need to check your forum notifications on the Dent, man. The greatest Celestial Clash coordinator on this Floor, Zavi, asked if you would take part. Most of the others he tagged have responded,” Mesala told him.
Curious, Langa checked his forum notifications, and he found the current most popular post on the 1st Floor forums by a verified player.
> @Zavintarithe.MadewClan
>
> The Magistrate of the capital has scheduled a friendly game of Celestial Clash for the Welcoming Ceremony for players of tutorial batch 4. To make it more interesting, she wants the top ten players to participate.
>
> It's set for 01/05/12 MDCCLXXIII (DWT.T).
>
> Please reply here if you are willing to participate or if we should find other players to replace you.
>
> To:
>
> @Livkungsadu
>
> @thesecondvos
>
> @pranavchandra
>
> @langelihle
>
> @fikindaroiii.
>
> @vavucidsforenkka
>
> @queensynn
>
> @thenextgreatsage
>
> @mari0864
>
> @corawinter
>
> ----------------------------------------
>
>
>
> @Livkungsadu:
>
> I'm free, I can do it.
>
> ----------------------------------------
>
> @pranavchandra:
>
> Apologies, I am in the middle of an important quest at the moment and I will not be available at that time.
>
> ----------------------------------------
>
> @vavuciadsforennka:
>
> What are the rewards? I'm not going all the way to the capital for some measly Faith.
>
> ----------------------------------------
>
> @thenextgreatsage:
>
> No.
>
> ----------------------------------------
>
> @Zavintarithe.MadewClan: to @vavuciadsforennka
>
> Each player will be adequately compensated for their participation according to contribution.
>
> ----------------------------------------
>
> @queensynn:
>
> sounds fun, but I can only participate if the ceremony is in a red or yellow zone.
>
> ----------------------------------------
>
> @corawinter:
>
> Sure, I'll participate.
>
> ----------------------------------------
>
> @Zavintarithe.MadewClan: to @queensynn
>
> Appropriate arrangements will be made for all players wishing to participate.
>
> ----------------------------------------
>
> @queensynn:
>
> great. count me in.
>
> ----------------------------------------
>
> @linorathesecond:
>
> Vos Kindaro II has agreed to participate.
>
> ----------------------------------------
>
> @fikindaroiii:
>
> Interesting, it seems like many of my enemies will be gathering in the same place.
>
> ----------------------------------------
>
> @Livkungsadu: to @fikindaroiii
>
> Are you coming or not?
>
> ----------------------------------------
>
> @linorathesecond: to @fikindaroiii
>
> I dare you to show your face. Your brother will have your head.
>
> ----------------------------------------
>
> @fikindaroiii: to @mari0864, @vosthesecond, @livkungsadu
>
> If I have time, perhaps I shall pass by to see you all.
>
> ----------------------------------------
>
> @fikindaroiii: to @langelihle
>
> Your little brother says hello.
>
> ----------------------------------------
>
> @Livkungsadu: to @fikindaroiii
>
> Watch yourself, fool.
>
> ----------------------------------------
>
> @Zavintarithe.MadewClan:
>
> Excellent. We have four confirmed participants. The rest of you, please give me a response within 7 days.
>
>
Langa's whole body tensed when he saw Fi Kindaro's name. That bastard dared to taunt him by bringing up Makoto? What was that about all his enemies gathered in one place?
"What the fuck is a celestial clash?" he asked. If Fi Kindaro was going to be there, then so was he.
"It's a game," Ormeth said dismissively. "There are leagues for every Tier."
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Mesala gaped at him, looking offended. "It's not just a sport, it's a way of life! If you're fatally wounded in Celestial Clash, you lose a respawn or perma-die!"
"You're both exaggerating." Aquila rolled his eyes. "Langa, the Celestial Clash tournaments are a pseudo-divine war. It's a huge spectacle because deities bet karma and items on their players, so a loss is bad for their faith. Deities do it for bragging rights too, but it's also where they see who has the potential to be drafted to fight in an actual divine war for them. For those of us below Tier 3, it's the best way to practice for when we do reach that Tier and can participate in divine wars."
Aramaga nodded enthusiastically. "That's right. We didn't have it back in my world, but one of the Chosen Ones who returned from the Tower would let us watch some matches on his comcer interface. It was one of my favourite experiences growing up. Klonu and I would always play at being the Striker when we were kids."
"You know the overall number 1 player in the Tower, Hucielbicon the Pioneer? Most of his karma came from his matches in the Celestial Clash. I heard that he has also participated in a divine war for The Flaming Blade since he got to Tier 3, and that's even more than his guild master has. He's a legend in the making, I tell you," Mesala gushed excitedly.
"What I'm hearing is that it's a fun, dangerous, and deadly sport with good rewards," Langa said, intrigued. "Tell me more."
Before Mesala could continue, Aquila opened his comcer interface and grinned. "It's better to just show you. This is the highlight of last year's Tier 3 league finals between the Dungeon Seekers and Menika Shin," he said.
"You've only been in this Tower for one week, how do you already know about last year's league?" Ormeth asked exasperatedly.
"I'm a bit of a fanatic," Aquila said with a shrug. He took out a pair of goggles from his Feathervault bag and handed them to Langa. "These Lucent goggles will make you feel like you're in the match."
"I think we should show him a less intense match. Maybe something from the Tier 1 league," Mesala said. "Showing him the final battle between Hucielbicon and Kian Dir Besta is like showing him the peak of players in this Tower. He'll be disappointed when he has to watch other matches."
Aramaga shrugged. "Who cares? It's a battle between the best Avatars of the two leaders of the Deiwos Clan. Show it to him, Aquila."
That got Langa's attention as well. One of his master's Avatars was in the video? He leaned over as Aquila shared his interface with him. Once he put on the goggles, he was mesmerised.
He was suddenly standing in a vast, snowy field, stained red with the blood of fallen creatures, surrounding two players. Kian Dir Besta, a lionkin of immense size, stood firmly in front of a shrine, clad in full-body armour that appeared to be made of dark green wood rather than metal. Approaching him was Hucielbicon, The Pioneer, an angelkin with pale skin that almost blended into the red snow, his golden eyes fixed on his opponent.
It was like watching a movie in 3D while being inside it.
A halo of light appeared over The Pioneer's head, he infused mana into the strange handle he was holding, and a sword made entirely of blue plasma materialised in his hand. The snow melted beneath his feet as he advanced towards Kian. "Step aside, Galebringer. Or suffer the same fate as last year," Hucielbicon said calmly, his voice cold and detached.
"Come closer, and you'll see that I'm not the same person I was last year," Kian said, raising his sceptre. "Besides, this isn't like you, Hucielbicon. Usually you beg me to kick your ass."
The angelkin shrugged. "You never do, so I'm sparing myself the disappointment this year," he said. "The only worthy opponents I've ever had were the Tier 3 players from the Agora Tower that I faced in my master's divine war last year."
"You'll eat those words," Kian said, looking annoyed. Storm clouds gathered overhead, and thunder rumbled as he stood his ground in front of the shrine. A terrifying tornado emerged from the storm, headed straight for his opponent. Despite the fierce winds from Kian's storm cutting into his skin, Hucielbicon continued to move forward, his wounds healing as quickly as they appeared.
"Is that it?" he asked casually. "How boring, you know my regeneration is nothing to mess with."
"It doesn't matter. Your defences are shit," Kian Dir Besta growled through gritted teeth as he raised his sceptre again, swinging it in a circular motion, the air around him spinning. He summoned a giant blade of wind from inside the tornado.
With his halo glowing brightly above him, Hucielbicon seized the wind blade with his glowing hand, leaving Kian Dir Besta shocked. "You almost killed me with that move last year. I came prepared," he said, suddenly behind Kian.
He had moved faster than Langa's eyes could trace. Was it a teleportation skill like Flash Step, or was he as fast as light itself? He slashed calmly with his plasma sword towards Kian, who quickly activated a shield of wind. The plasma shattered through Kian's shield, the force sending him flying to the side of the shrine. Taking advantage of this, Hucielbicon dashed towards the shrine, only to be caught as Kian's storm suddenly gained strength, turning the entire area black and grey.
Over twenty bolts of lightning rained down on Hucielbicon unceasingly. It seemed he had triggered a trap. In agony, he leapt to the left, then to the right, to the side, and back. He was fast, but unable to dodge all of the bolts. As Kian Dir Besta raised his sceptre again and pointed it towards the struggling angelkin, Hucielbicon's halo lit up again, and he once more appeared behind him in an instant, his plasma sword at the ready. But Kian swerved, the wind from his sceptre blowing The Pioneer back. He had responded insanely quickly, as if he had been expecting this.
Hucielbicon's face lit up, and his cold calm disappeared. "Good. I was right to have low expectations, now I can be impressed," he smiled.
"There you are, finally," Kian said, and from his hands, dark energy flowed into the air, heading straight for his opponent.
Hucielbicon struck down with his plasma sword, and the snow stood no chance. The ground melted and the earth shook as it was cut in half, dividing the landscape into two separate island-like environments. Kian thankfully jumped high into the air, as there was nowhere to stand on the ground now. Surprisingly, though, the shrine remained intact.
"More! Come on! Give me everything! Enflame me, Galebringer!" Hucielbicon shouted, unhinged laughter in his voice. A delighted smile demented his face as his hands swept out, the snow long melted and the ground beneath him gone. Golden wings propelled him into the air as his plasma sword haphazardly slashed against Kian's dwindling wind shield. "MORE!"
Anger, frustration, and exasperation coloured Kian's face as he pulled a cloud from the air down towards himself, standing on top of one of them, his wind blades jutting out both in defence and trying to strike the angelkin. An even bigger tornado surrounded him as the cloud carried him. The earlier trap of lightning started to form in the clouds, and thunder rumbled hard.
This was power unlike anything Langa had ever seen. This was what a lightning storm looked like.
"Is that Divine Fusion?" Hucielbicon asked, surprise on his face, then the surprise was replaced with a smile. "YEEEEEES!" he screamed, arms wide open, as he welcomed the thundering bolts of lightning aiming for him.
They struck true, and Langa wondered if The Pioneer had a death wish as his wings were burnt to ash and he was struck numb, falling from the sky towards the ground below. The lightning storm followed him, with Kian never relenting, even as the bolts of lightning combined with the tornado and giant wind blades tore The Pioneer's body apart. Langa wondered if that wasn't a bit excessive.
Hucielbicon fell below into the hole in the ground he had previously created , landing where no one could see him.
Kian slowly descended on his cloud, not calling back the storm, instead, it seemed to further increase in power over the fallen angelkin. Langa thought perhaps it was overkill. A cloud of smoke blew up where Hucielbicon had fallen. Kian's wind blades shot straight towards that area, he was breathing heavily now, and it was clear he was falling into mana exhaustion.
It was honestly insanely impressive that he had managed to keep what Langa assumed were two divine skills running simultaneously for such a long period of time. He must have had exorbitant amounts of mana.
Kian's performance perfectly showcased the potential of Adtonifulmin's power. It was the first time that Langa understood what the sponsorship contract meant when it said an Avatar was to bring glory to his patron deity's name. Everyone who saw this battle would praise the great power of Kian Dir Besta, the Avatar of The Lackadaisical Herald.
But contrary to Langa's thought process, the battle was not over. Out of the smoke, hundreds of laser beams bolted out of the hollow ground, penetrating Kian's cloud. He put up his shield once more, but the lasers burned through it with no trouble. From the ground below, wings completely healed, came Hucielbicon. His body had shrunk to half its normal size, and his many wounds were still slowly healing.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Kian cursed in a tired voice as he knelt on his melting cloud, the holes left by the lasers on his body barely healing. How much health did these players have? "Since when could you do that, you battlecrazed Jehrameelspawn?!"
"I've always been able to do this. You're the first to push me this far outside of a true divine war! Marvellous, marvellous!" Hucielbicon said in delight. Kian sighed, and slumped down on his cloud, clearly spent.
The Pioneer once again activated his plasma sword. "I look forward to our next clash, Galebringer. Challenge me more, next time. Fill my blood with the spirit of battle," he said, his eyes were crazy wide, and his beautiful angelic face distorted with satisfied glee. "Grow even stronger, for this is still not enough for me. More," he laughed. "I still need more FIRE."
The sword plunged itself into Kian Dir Besta's neck, killing him instantly. The Pioneer flew over the wreckage of the battle and produced a small black orb from nowhere. Then he placed it inside the shrine Kian had been protecting, and the video ended.
Langa's hand trembled as he looked at the frozen image of the Pioneer. What power, what a crazy bastard! How much more powerful could he get? He was only Tier 3 at the moment, so it made Langa shudder to think of how much further he still had to go. His head was spinning, and his whole body was alive. Langa wanted to fight The Pioneer. He knew that Hucielbicon could probably kill him without using a single skill, but he still wanted to stand on the same battlefield. His heart was racing uncontrollably.
"Show me everything," Langa said to Aquila. Needless to say, Langa spent the rest of the day watching Celestial Clash matches on the Dent.
When it came time to decide if he would participate, he was interested purely for the chance to fight against people at his level and because this would mean exposure. His family would know exactly where he was.
Adtonifulmin had said not to sweat the small stuff, but Langa wondered if he cared about this. “Master, do you want me to participate in this exhibition match?” he asked.
[The Deiwos Clan god: The Lackadaisical Herald of the Lightning Storm, says, “It will help improve your Faith Level, however, it’s your choice. But if you decide to participate, you absolutely cannot lose. That would bring shame to The Deiwos Clan. Also, I want you to crush the Avatar of The Thousand Undead.”]
“Got it,” he said. He didn't need Adtonifulmin's encouragement, he was going to crush Fi Kindaro and his brother anyway.
> @langelihle to Zavintarithe.MadewClan
>
> I'll participate in the match
>
> @langelihle to @fikindaroiii
>
> Go fuck yourself.
>
>
----------------------------------------
Before organising his gains, the first thing Langa did was distribute his free attribute points from the previous day’s level up. As much as he wanted to put everything in Agility and boost his speed, he needed more mana for his divine skill and his most neglected stat, strength, was the one responsible for stamina regeneration. He sighed, placing three points in Mind, 1 in Strength and because he couldn’t resist, one in Agility.
When he left the dungeon, Langa thought that he had enough loot to make him rich, but upon organising his loot, he discovered that he was not rich at all. Quite poor, in fact. He was not going to sell the allemak lifeblood, it was too precious an item, and he was also not going to sell the strange scrolls that he found in the dungeon either, he wanted to go to the library and try to decipher them first. This was the type of stuff that his father had spent his life studying and researching, finding out about ancient civilisation and religions. Langa was not an academic, but that didn't mean exploring did not interest him.
He could sell some of the low-level enchanted weapons he had earned from the dungeon, but he needed to keep some to disenchant them to improve his enchanting skill. The same was true for the enchanting grimoires and tools.
It was a shame that he couldn't sell his most valuable items, the allemak lifeblood as well as most of the lucent crystals. He needed them to practice his enchanting. All was not lost, however, because when he was listing his vitality saffrons on the Dent auction site, he had priced them at one silver for ten, but there was a pop-up on the interface.
[Product: Ripe Vitality Saffron was last sold on auction for 50 copper each. You have underpriced the item. Override: Yes/No?]
"No," he said hastily, correcting the price to the one suggested by the Dent.
He listed the items he had no use for, like the darkness mana potion. He also discovered that while the auctions tab was useful, he only had access to items listed on the Floors he had already climbed—the 1st Floor only in his case. For more valuable items, he would have to attend a physical auction.
To his surprise, the items that flew off the shelf were the two rare darkness lucent stones. He listed them, not for coins, but in exchange for rare lightning lucent stones, which were becoming the bane of his existence as he was running out of charges for Thunderbird’s Stunning Strike.
Next, he did the same for the boss' corrupted mana core. The description said it would help with mana control, but since he had a full lightning affinity, and it was a corrosion mana discipline core, which was a subset of both darkness and poison, he wanted to sell or exchange it for a level 12 lightning boss mana core.
He had not expected it to have such a fierce bidding war. He hadn't known that anything containing mana from the other 130 mana disciplines other than the main 13 was rare, even from low-level boss monsters. He had only listed it in exchange for two level 12 lightning or adjacent mana cores, thinking he had overpriced it, but now bidding was at six level 12 lightning mana cores. He was floored.
The auction did not accept simple common items, so for the low-level weapons he'd gained, Langa sold them to Instructor Rancho. Rancho also paid some good money for Psike's throne. Langa made sure to check the forums for the price of the material that the throne was made of so that he was not cheated. It netted him almost 20 silver.
He also gave one of the Guardians' alchemists some vitality saffrons as well as Psike's healing sac, commissioning some uncommon health potions for himself. She had been hesitant at first, claiming she was busy, but when he offered her one flax of Allemak Lifeblood as payment, she got right into it. He also gave her some of it to use for the potion. Psike's body was sold for parts at the crafting cave, but since it was a low-level boss monster, it barely netted him 5 silver.
When Langa tried opening the bronze chest that he had found in Psike's room, he found that unlike the wooden ones, this one required a key. He searched on the Dungeon guides in the Dent for where to find such a key, but the guides stated that the key to the boss monster's treasure chest was hidden somewhere inside the boss room.
"Fuck," Langa said in frustration. He would have blasted it open with his glaive but the guide said if a person tried to force open the chest, it would self-destruct. The only other way to open such chests was to get lockpicks or help from a Rogue with a lockpicking skill. Those types of items were not available on the Dent auction site, either.
He had no choice but to take a lucent carriage up to Risa's Plateau to Rekona's shop to try and sell some of the common items. He also wanted to see if he could get some lockpicks.
"1 silver," the goblinkin said with a straight face.
"You're kidding, right?" Langa asked in surprise. "1 silver for a single common lockpick that will disintegrate if it doesn't work?"
Rekona folded his arms and said, "That's right. You can get a bunch of 10 common lockpicks for 9 silver, or a bunch of 5 uncommon lockpicks for 9 silver. If it's an uncommon chest, the common ones won't work."
Langa shut his mouth and painstakingly handed the goblinkin 9 silver coins. He was sure that whatever was in the chest was worth a lot more than 5 silver.
[Allali's Lockpick
Item Rank: Uncommon
Effects: Has a 50% chance of opening common locks. Has a 20% chance of opening uncommon locks.]
The lockpicks looked less like lockpicks and more like keys. A 20% chance was one in 5, right? Hopefully, one of these would work. "Okay, do you have any Lucent Patches?"
Lucent Patches were something that Langa had read about when researching how to improve his Lucent Enchanting skill quickly without using skill points. They were used as simple household items, made from excess powder waste from industries that processed lucent crystals. Lucent crystals needed to be purified before being used commercially, and in most cases, they contained waste lucents from other mana disciplines that would have to be filtered out. For instance, a lightning lucent crystal might contain traces of light lucents which would then be filtered out into these patches. Since they were waste from lucent crystals, the lucents were unable to be used for anything but absorbing lucents of the same mana. Instead of wasting them, they had been processed and sold to enchanters, alchemists, blacksmiths, and other crafters to clean magic waste. Then the crafter just needed to infuse their mana into the Lucent Patch, and the lucents could be absorbed harmlessly into the mana in the air, including the Lucent Patch itself. They were cheap and relatively easy to use.
Langa was excited that he might be able to use them for something else (Bombs. He wanted to make them into explosives) with his Lucent Enchanting Skill.
"Yeah, I only have the ones for the basic elements," Rekona said. "50 copper for a pack of 20. Which ones do you want?"
He had been hoping to find lightning ones, but they weren't available. "I'll take two stacks of fire lucent patches and 1 stack of wind lucent patches."
Once he was done selling his useless junk to Rekona, Langa bought a few more things he needed for enchanting, looking longingly at a portable uncommon enchanting kit. It would cost him 50 silver, which he currently did not have.
He sighed and dejectedly went back to the Valley of Guardians.
The first two keys failed to open the chest, but Langa was optimistic, so he tried two more, and they also failed. He wanted to scream in anger, as he looked at his last remaining key.
“Please let this work, Master,” he said desperately, putting in the last key. Lo and behold, it broke into pieces. Langa glared at the ceiling.
[The Deiwos Clan god: The lackadaisical Herald of the Lightning Storm, shrugs and states that he is not a god of locks and keys. He advises you to make sure that you use every key you have.]
“I’ve already used all of them,” Langa snapped in frustration but there was no response from the Lackadaisical Herald. Was that a clue? Every key he had? The only other key in his possession was the one he stole from the F-rank voident Fidser. Perinda had said the key belonged to Anarchist, and Alfsol had told him he could keep it as long as he didn’t use it for unauthorised void magic.
Langa took out the Corrupted Fusion Key. There were too many deities' eyes watching him but he placed the worn-out key on the keyhole and a second later, it opened. Inside were plenty of common corrosion lucent crystals, money, a dreamcatcher, a pair of gauntlets and a scroll. In total, it was 97 silver and 59 copper. All in all, the dungeon gave him a decent haul.
*
Langa wanted to improve his enchanting skill, and he figured it was better to learn from someone with experience than read the grimoires he got from the dungeon. When he went back to the Guardians’ Crafting Cave, he went straight to Aria.
“Hey,” she said with an enthusiastic smile when she saw him. “I was on the edge of my seat with worry when I saw you use the defective orbs in your video! Were you not scared?”
He’d been injured, annoyed, exhausted, and excited during his Sponsorship Challenge, but scared… hardly at all. “Nope,” he said with a shrug. “But your enchantments really helped me out.”
She beamed in delight, and her hair glowed pink. “Did you get something interesting to sell, or do you want to buy some more of the explosive orbs?”
“Neither,” he said, looking around her table. "I learnt an enchanting skill, and I wondered if you could help me raise it.”
“You have an enchanting skill?” She looked at him in surprise.
“I recently got it a few days ago, and you're the only enchanter that I know, so I came to you for help with how to raise it; I just need a few lessons.” Langa explained. “Of course, I will pay you.”
Aria’s hair turned blue. “I can't just teach you enchanting all day long. Besides all the commission work that I have from the Guild members, I still need to prepare enough weapons that work against the undead for our 6th Floor players.”
“If you're busy, then that's cool,” Langa said as he pulled out one of the enchanting grimoires from Psike’s Grotto. He was sure it was not a common book, as he hadn’t found any information on it in the Dent. He would only give her this one, though, and keep the others for himself.
He handed the book to her, and she squealed, eyes glued to the pages. “Oh my gods, this is awesome.” She looked at him. “Fine. Let’s see what you’ve got.”
She pulled out an arrow from a stack of bare weapons on her table. “Sit down, enchant something. Let me see,” Aria said, pointing at the chair next to her.
“Uh,” Langa hadn’t come here for that, but the look on her face was insistent, so he sat down, and got to work. He enchanted the arrow with the only appropriate glyph that he had, the +5 Sharpness one, and it took, lowering the durability from 17/20 to 9/20. It was honestly an improvement from his previous work.
Aria watched him work and picked up the arrow. “Your technique is very clinical and bland. Besides the auink, your process is rather impersonal. How long have you been doing this?”
Langa mentally counted the days. “About five days,” he said.
“What?” Her eyes snapped from the arrow to him in surprise. “You got the skill to beginner level 4 in just five days? How? Weren’t you doing a Sponsorship Challenge?”
“I used 4 skill points,” he explained.
“You did what?” She looked ready to burst a vein. “You used skill points on a beginner-level skill? You have no idea how hard it is to raise a skill at Advanced or Master level. This is a crime against enchantment. For the next week, get your arse here every day. I am going to whip your crafting into shape!"
Langa honestly dreaded the boring crafting training, but if he wanted to make great bombs he had to be patient.