Liam and his friends celebrated for a while before calming down. Immediately Cyclone approached the bodies of the two bosses.

“Hehe, be amazed by my improved luck!”

Cyclone rubbed her hands, waiting until everyone’s attention was on her before looting the bodies.

After a brief delay a gorgeous light green chest plate decorated with fine golden lines appeared in her hands. It was surrounded by a yellowish sheen, sparkling mysteriously.

[Uromloh’s Armor of nature

Category: rare

Level requirement: 25

Physical Defense: 15

Magical Defense: 21

Constitution: +9

Effect 1: Increase elemental resistance by 20%.

Effect 2: Increase void resistance by 10%.

Restriction: Bound upon wearing

The famous wood elven hero Uromloh wore this chest plate during the defense of the Sacred Grove of Elements. His presence allowed the desperate wood elves to vanquish the void-corrupted human army.]

Without much discussion the armor went to Silver Blade. The female tank donning the gorgeous armor appeared reliable and heroic. Fortune’s eyes lit up, looking her up and down:

“Wow, Silver, you look great.”

“Well thank you. If someone should know, it would be you.”

“Haha. Come, let me take a few pictures. Maybe I can use them as thumbnail.”

Silver Blade appeared somewhat unaccustomed to the situation but eventually agreed. Cyclone watched the scene with jealousy, determined to get a beautiful robe for herself.

Eager to start looting Kelsnim, the blond woman directly pressed a scroll she received just now in Liam’s hand.

When the calm veteran unrolled the piece of parchment, his eyes immediately lit up brightly and he handed the scroll back to Cyclone.

“Hmm? Mirage, I don’t need these spell scrolls. You take it.”

“Really? Maybe you should take a look at this one…”

Noticing the teasing tone in Liam’s voice, Cyclone raised one brow and snatched the scroll from his hands. Scanning the piece of paper, her expression turned confusing.

The young woman felt like she held something precious in her hands but couldn’t quite rank it.

“Mirage, can you explain what this is?”

“It’s a blueprint for an intermediate smithy!”

“I can read as much…”, said Cyclone while rolling her eyes. “But what is its use?”

“Every guild needs a headquarter. And every headquarter can be expanded with various rooms and buildings. But in order to do so, you need blueprints.

With the blueprint in your hands, we can build an intermediate smithy, which facilitates the work of blacksmiths up to the intermediate rank.”

“And this is… something good?”

“Of course. Compared to basic blacksmiths, intermediate ones are a big upgrade and even offer a few additional services.

Furthermore, not only is this a place to upgrade the gear of our guild members, but it will also attract talented blacksmith players to the guild! This is an absolute dream start!”

With every word of Liam’s, Cyclone’s grin increased. She gradually understood the significance of the blueprint. The others overhearing the conversation were impressed as well.

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Only Balm sighed faintly:

“If it only were an intermediate alchemy… place? Workshop?”

“It’s workshop, yes.”, confirmed Liam.

“Don’t worry, Balm! Don’t forget that you have the queen of looting here. Watch and be amazed!”

Balm chuckled lightly, not taking Cyclone’s boast seriously. It would be too much of a miracle if she…

Suddenly Balm’s thoughts froze. She stared at the scroll which had just appeared in Cyclone’s hand.

No. It can’t be… impossible.

Balm didn’t dare to get her hopes up. But Cyclone nodded as if it was only natural, turning to her friend. She didn’t even inspect the scroll herself, unfurling it for Balm to see.

Noticing the healer’s dumbfounded expression, Cyclone raised her head high, knowing that they got what they wanted.

“Impossible! How did you do it, Cy? Did you already have this in your inventory and swapped it out?”

“Of course not. This is the genuine loot procured by your Queen of Looting!”

“Queen of Looting indeed…”, agreed even Liam with disbelief.

Cyclone enjoyed everyone’s amazed gazes while graciously putting the blueprint for an intermediate alchemy workshop in Balm’s hands.

“Are you the reincarnation of the goddess of luck?”

Quickstep’s amused voice drew a pretend mysterious smile from Cyclone:

“Who knows. Maybe I am, maybe I’m not.”

While saying this the blond woman twirled around as her robe suddenly changed. A gorgeous red mage robe, flowing mysteriously, highlighting all the right places now adorned her body.

It gave the petite woman a devilish look, able to draw the attraction of a large part of the male population. The moment the robe appeared arcs of red lightning flowed on Cyclone’s body.

“You even got a robe? Is this a rare item as well?”, asked Quickstep in surprise.

“Of course. I only draw the best stuff!”

Cyclone chuckled to herself, but a displeased cough brought her back down to earth. She turned around, looking in Silver Blade’s stern eyes.

“Cyclone, did you loot this robe just now?”

“Ehm… yes…”

“Why didn’t you share it with the group before putting it on?!”

“Well, it mainly boosts lightning damage… this is…”

Cyclone’s voice gradually weakened under Silver Blade’s stare.

“Ok. You are right. I’m sorry everyone.”

The others weren’t particularly bothered, but they understood that Silver Blade’s point was important. Loot had to be given out fairly to those who needed it or else it might lead to fights in the future.

Since Cyclone felt guilty the mood took a hit. Silver Blade noticed everyone’s look, suggesting leaving the dungeon. But Liam had something to say first:

“Let’s not be so eager.”

“Why? Is there something left to do, Mirage?”

“Sure. Don’t you remember how we got here in the first place?”

Silver Blade mulled over it for a moment before looking at the center of the room. At some point the staircase had silently reappeared.

“Are you hinting at the barrier blocking our way earlier?”, guessed Silent Acacia.

“Exactly.”

Liam only threw out this hint. Now that the dungeon clear was theirs, he took a step back, stopping to spoon-feed his party.

Silver Blade noticed the change in attitude, naturally taking back the role of the leader. She brought everyone towards the staircase, investigating the barrier blocking their way down.

Balm was intrigued by the puzzle, circling the barrier with a thoughtful look.

“It seems we need a key…”

“Sure. But where should we get it? Do we have to search the whole tower?”

“Cyclone, did none of the bosses drop something?”

“Nope.”

The friends racked their brains when Watchful Eye suddenly mentioned something peculiar:

“The body of Kelsnim didn’t disappear!”

The others perked up, realizing that this might be a great clue. Everyone except for Silent Acacia, who wasn’t into puzzles, and Quickstep, who stayed with her boyfriend, left the staircase and surrounded Kelsnim.

Balm kneeled down and searched the devil child’s body with some reluctance. Luckily it didn’t take her long before she pulled a scroll out from his sleeves.

The party returned before the barrier where Balm unfurled the scroll, looking at it with some confusion. A sense of familiarity came form the scroll. A second later Balm recalled where she had seen something similar, handing the scroll to Silver Blade.

Taking the item, Silver Blade glanced at Liam who stood at the back of the group with an unbothered face. She let out a low chuckle before placing the scroll on the barrier and using her [Transfer] auxiliary skill.

A moment later the scroll crumbled, and a magic circle was branded on the barrier. Immediately a dark pulse washed over the room. The barrier twisted before receding in a ring shape, opening the way towards a dark underground floor.

An ominous aura came from downstairs, causing everyone’s hairs to stand.

“Maybe… there is no need to go?”, asked Cyclone carefully.

“Don’t worry. What can happen? The game is just trying to play with our minds.”

The others mostly agreed with Silver Blade. Watching the tank taking the first step, everyone braced themselves and followed into the darkness.

Going downwards, a ghastly smell slowly entered the party’s noses, causing them to scrunch their faces. Soon, a faint purple sheen fell into their eyes. A few steps later they reached the lowest floor.

The party stood in a spacious room weakly illuminated by a few purple crystals inlaid in the ceiling. Their light revealed scattered tables carrying strange magical utensils. On some of the tables lied body parts of different races and small violet crystals pulsing with violet light.

These tables were surrounded by clouds of the familiar lingering void energy, spelling danger for everyone who got too close.

The most attention-grabbing object in the room was a grey stone disk hanging from the wall, having a circle of runes engraved into it. A slim violet crystal was attached to its center, making it look like a compass.

“Is this the thing we’re here for?”, asked Silver Blade Liam, who nodded calmly.

“But I suppose it won’t be as easy as simply taking it away?”

Liam continued nodding, drawing a sigh from the tank.

“Ok guys. Get ready for a fight!”