Hidden Quest Complete!

Revealing the Hidden.

Discover and raid more than ten hidden locations.

Reward: Secondary Attribute Perception 2.

Wait! What? I read it again. Secondary attributes are a myth. Well, obviously, they are not a myth as I have one. At level 2 as well. This is amazing.

It was like my eyes had just been opened. Everything was clearer, and there was a bubble of space all around me that I could perceive all at once. This was incredible. Then I used my two sight skills, and they were super boosted. Observant Eye was picking up things it would never have before, and Spectral Vision had doubled its range, strength, and sensitivity.

This is amazing. I scrambled into the luxurious space, pulled up the ladder behind me, and sat for a bit, just getting used to it.

I didn’t sit for long because my perception showed me what a treasure trove was in front of me. There were the standard Potions and spare weapons. These must have been the favourite of the monarch. The swords were all curved, one-sided blades that could be used with one hand or two.

Draped over a mannequin was an ornate robe.

Vestments of the Al’rashian Monarchy

????

And that makes three.

There was a pile of gold coins, but the real treasure was the shelf of Skill stones.

A lot were simple, and I already had them, so they went into storage to sell. I found a Create Trap stone to go with my detected and disarm traps. I learned Basic Archery so I could at least use the bow I had picked up, although I don’t plan to focus on it.

The Scribe Skill was there, but I couldn’t learn it. I would need to train or something, or maybe I just found it boring.

What I debated over was the Harvesting Skill Stone. I was sure I would be able to learn it due to the close nature of Butchering, but did I want to? If I learned it, I would not have loot appear, and the monster corpses disappear. I would have to harvest the corpses of the monsters first, and then the loot would appear. Yes, I would get that extra stuff from the corpses, hide, teeth, claws, venom sacs, etc, but did I want to do that? I am no hunter. I do have Storage now, so I can store blood and guts without it spoiling, but… do I want to?

I guess I didn’t hesitate to learn butchering, so why would I hesitate here? Monsters are inherently worse than animals. Why would I want to harvest a rotting zombie? On the other hand, some of the poison from the Devils would be very useful. If I chose not to harvest something even though I could, I would miss out on the loot, including the monster cores. I am happy to make that choice. I learned it. I can choose to miss out if I want to.

There were several technique stones, most of which I had never heard of. What is the Ocean Meets the Shore technique? It sounds like beach combing, not a weapons technique. I stored them away until I could find out more. There was also an Unarmed technique called Three Steps. I stored it away as well. If it only had three steps, I would be better off with what I had.

There were five Ability stones there as well. I learned Farsight, which would pair well with my Perception and other sight skills. I debated learning the Map skill, as it would sell for an amazing price, and I wasn’t sure I needed it. I did learn it in the end, as it would be good to map what I could see.

I wasn’t able to learn Earth Manipulation. I also now had another copy of Storage to sell. I was a bit annoyed that I couldn’t learn Air Manipulation either. I could see a lot of uses for that. Never mind, I can’t be good at everything. They would all sell very well, and I was going to be rich.

What I have to concentrate on now is making it out of this god's forsaken place alive. I have not found the vault yet, but I think it would have already been targeted and raided. My inner thief is telling me there will be hidden stuff like this, but more.

What makes me a successful thief is my ability to know when I should quit and not go for the shiny extra because that is when you are caught and killed. I have hit the jackpot, and I am very conscious I am in a trial that is out to kill me. Has it given me this stuff because it tried to kill me, and I survived, or is the challenge still to come? Will it try to stop me from leaving with my loot? Absolutely, it will.

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I don’t even know how to leave this Trial. I have completed quests, although the Monarchy’s Raiment hasn’t yet been completed. With the reward dependent on how many items you found, I figured it would be complete when I stopped looking or maybe when I left the Stronghold. There are obviously more than three items, or it would have been completed already.

I am used to managing my Thief Class, which wants more. I am getting to know this trial as well. If I go down to find the vault, there will be something equivalent to the Orcs waiting for me. But it will be worse. The Trial is out to kill me, and the vaults will be a death trap for certain.

There will probably be another two or three pieces of the Raiment and hidden loot there, along with a Quest and associated reward. My Slayer Class says I can handle it, like I handled the Orcs, while my Thief Class wants the loot.

It is time for me to take charge and stomp down on both of those. The Trial wants to kill me. I have enough loot. It is time to get out with my life. It will probably also have another piece of my armour set. If I don’t make the full set of armour, so be it. The pieces I have are excellent, regardless.

Which way do I go? On the plains before the stronghold, I saw a large horde of Undead and Infernals with a huge Undead boss. In the valleys below, there was a large horde of Infernals and a Devil, or greater Devil boss. I don’t plan on attacking either boss. I plan on running. I survived for weeks in rolling and running fights, and it is time to go back to that plan.

My skills are better against the Infernals than the Undead. I have more potions, including antivenom.

I am going back down the cliff.

First, this is a relatively safe place, so I am going to catch a bit of sleep. Once I get back out there, it won’t be more than a half hour at a time. The rug is soft.

I woke with a start. I don’t know what I heard, but something woke me. I am reasonably rested, so it's time to clean this place out and get back on the move.

I shoved everything I could into my storage and a few things into my Spatial bag. That included the rug, the chairs, and the desk. If only there had been a bed. In the desk drawer, I found a key. I am sure it was not there when I went through the place before I went to sleep. The Trial is trying to tempt me. It is tempting to just go and have a peek, but I clamp down on that hard. I am leaving.

The first question is, what is waiting for me in the room below? There is no other way out. This is built like a safe to keep the monarch secure. I am tempted to wait here as long as possible, but I probably shouldn’t have stayed here this long. Something woke me.

I moved to the trap door and disabled the mechanism that lowered the ladder. I put the ladder in my storage. Then, I bent light around me and lifted the door slightly to see what awaited me.

Undead heads turned to face me. That was interesting. Some sort of enchantment blocked the undead's senses until I opened the door. I wanted that, but now was not the time, as an Infernal lion’s claws raked the ceiling as he jumped at me.

Plan A. I swung the door wide, stepped back, and pulled out one of the bows with bouses against infernals and a quiver of arrows. It was time to test out new skills in a target-rich environment. Even with Basic Archery, I was pretty shit at it. I had never fired an arrow in my life before, and knowing the skills and doing them are two different things. At least I didn’t put an arrow in my own foot.

I had plenty of quivers of arrows, so I could afford to waste a lot. I wasted a lot. I felt I was starting to get the hang of it by the time more than half were dead or disabled. Basic Archery had not levelled, though. I was still shit at it.

I stored the bow, equipped the Lightreaver and Shadowbane, and dropped down into the room below. This was much better. I moved and learned how good my new Perception was in combat. You might say it was eye-opening. Knowing what was around me the whole time made me feel like I had taken everything to a new level.

I could fully make use of my new Cat Reflexes and intercept strikes that would have wounded me before. I didn’t get off without any wounds, but it was fantastic. My perception also made transitioning to and from Light Speed much better.

I dampened my enthusiasm as the trial was just going to throw harder things at me.

When I cleared the room, I realized I needed to start harvesting. Why the hell did I get that skill? First, I had to learn what to harvest by Appraising every part of the monster to see if it had value. This was slow! Getting Harvest was a bad move. I had to stop mid-way and deal with two Zombie Guards. This was frustrating.

I collected a lot of teeth, claws and hide from the infernal cats and eyeballs, fingernails, and lungs from the zombies. The lesser devil had claws, teeth and a heart, but there was no poison. I wanted that poison. I am starting to think it is not poison now but some sort of Death Affinity.

I got a chainmail shirt but chose a new hide vest because my Medium Armour skill would not work with metal. Wait. Don’t be an idiot. I put the chainmail on top of the hide.

I harvested the cores as they came up—I was that slow at harvesting. None of the cores had anything. I suppose I had room to store them for sale now if I wanted, but I didn’t want to. I had plenty for sale, and I still needed skills if I could get them.

What was the quickest way to get to the wall? Out the window and down the side of the building. Light Speed across the road and then up the inside of the wall. When I got to the top, I had to fight a pair of zombie guards. I harvested them and checked where I was. Farsight, even at Level 1, made a huge difference to what I could see.

I am too near the plain, and I want to move past the next tower before I descend. I turn to move along the wall and look toward the canyons.

“Oh, Fuck you, Trial.”