Chapter 111

Chapter 111 – Black Tree (1)

1 .

“I’ve heard the news . I heard you have granted a big boon to the Magician’s Tower . I heard you are helping us out in a major way . ”

“Let’s just go . ”

It was a very dark hallway . There weren’t any light source around, so one had to rely on the candle in one’s hand to traverse the hallway . If the stairway heading towards the lower floor wasn’t distinct, it would have been strange to see someone roll several dozen times down the stairs . Not too far ahead, one could see a spiral staircase, and the path downwards gave off an eerie atmosphere .

Two men were heading downwards .

“You are really amazing . In truth, countless people benefit from the Tower, but not even half of half of those people return the favor . You have made decision that is counter to what innumerable people chose to do . I respect you . ”

“……let’s just go in silence . ”

One person was speaking in an excited manner . The other person was very severe in his countenance .

“I can’t believe you are donating 100 thousand gold . It is an amount of money that I wouldn’t even be able to gain even if I saved up for my entire lifetime . I just can’t help, but admire your ability to donate . The sight of you giving the donation so willingly is admirable . ”

This was obvious, but there was no upside in walking with this character . Moreover, the small hallway made it stressful to even walk here, so the NPC’s excited voice grated on his nerves .

“It’s 100 thousand gold . I can’t believe…”

In the end, he exploded .

“Dude . ”

“Yes?”

“Let’s just hurry up and go . ”

He growled out his words like a wild animal . It was hard to even call it words .

NPC Peun of the Magician’s Tower tilted his head in confusion instead of being surprised . This User had voluntarily given up an enormous amount of gold to the Magician’s Tower, so Peun didn’t know why Hyrkan was angry at him .

It was a reaction that stoked Hyrkan anger . Eventually, Hyrkan spoke one more time .

“I’m in a very foul mood, so shut the hell up . ”

“Ah, yes…… . ”

Peun finally comprehended Hyrkan’s feelings, so it shut its mouth . After the NPC shut its mouth, its expression worsened considerably . Peun’s affinity toward Hyrkan had been very high, but this conversation had pretty much bottomed out that affinity .

Hyrkan was well aware of this fact .

However, Hyrkan didn’t care about Peun’s affinity towards him .

‘Why did a bastard like this have to stick to me… I’m already going nuts from the stomach ache caused by this . ’

It hadn’t been easy to gather 100 thousand gold for the donation .

Of course, if Hyrkan sold all the Items he had on, he could easily get over 100 thousand gold . Even now the Skeleton were equipped with gears that was each worth an expensive bike .

In the real world, it was hard to find a rich person sitting on a huge amount of cash . Similarly, it was hard for Hyrkan to immediately gather 100 thousand gold . The selling of his Items would be a last resort . However, even if he did decide to sell his Items, it wasn’t as if he would be able to get fair market price on all of them .

It was also difficult to purchase the gold through cash . He couldn’t purchase 100 thousand gold in one sitting . When he saw the additional fees that was deducted at each transaction, Hyrkan truly felt frustrated .

Anyways, he cleaned out everything he could give up to reach the 100 thousand gold . He even emptied the money he had set aside for his payment and maintenance fee for the V Gear . He also emptied next month’s subscription fee . Of course, he emptied his food money too . He stocked up on a lot of delicious ramen, cheap coffee and grape candies .

There was no way Hyrkan would be in a good mood . Hyrkan wouldn’t have reached this point if such things didn’t bother him .

He followed after the quiet Peun . Hyrkan sharpened the knife before his inside could rot away .

‘If he really was lying, I’ll hit him an amount equal to his likes on his video . Every time he gets an additional like, I’ll beat him to death again . ’

Bbah-dook, bbah-dook .

The sound of Hyrkan grinding his teeth filled the silent hallway .

2 .

“Which Tree Map do you want?”

After descending the numerous steps, they reached a space where not a single iota of light reached . It was an underground cell . It felt as if he was being sent to an underground prison for donating 100 thousand gold .

Moreover, unlike before Peun spoke with a very cold voice .

‘Patience . Be patient . ’

His temper was worsening considerably . He pushed down his anger as he replied with his choice .

“Body Modification . ”

“Black Magic Body Modification . Please wait a moment . ”

After several minutes, Peun opened the door once again, and it gave Hyrkan a scroll . The scroll was large enough that the sides of the scrolls were protruding even as Preun carried it with both hands .

“I’ll return in 30 minutes . Please come to a decision before then . ”

Peun handed over the scroll then it immediately left the room .

Then… .

Ddoo-roo-roo, kwahng, kwahng!

The sound of several locks turning roughly assaulted Hyrkan’s ears . Hyrkan smirked .

‘It feels like I’m paying them to treat me like an inmate . ’

“Hoo-ooh!”

He wiped the smirk off his face, and a long sigh immediately escaped his mouth . Several emotions were mixed in with the sigh .

He was sighing because he had paid 100 thousand gold to see this old scroll . He was also sighing in relief, since it seemed Woody hadn’t lied .

Then there was the final feeling…

‘Shit . If I see something I like, I bet I’ll once again empty out my account to buy it . ’

Seeing is wanting .

There might be some amazing skill he hadn’t known about in the Body Modification Skill Tree . Eventually, he knew he’ll be tempted to buy it, and he would inevitably have to fork over a massive amount of money . He was worried about the future, so he let out a sigh of worry .

As the sound of his sigh made up the background noise, Hyrkan opened the scroll . He kept unfurling the scroll, but it abruptly came to an end . It was like unfurling a toilet roll, and the scroll ended at the level 190 Skills . It looked like the one half of a scroll .

Level 200 .

It basically meant it won’t be able to show him the Skills one receives after the 2nd Advancement .

‘I paid 100 thousand gold . Couldn’t they have shown me the 2nd Advancement skills too? Are they perhaps going to ask me for another 100 thousand golds later to see it?’

Hyrkan spoke in a brusque manner .

Of course, the light in Hyrkan’s eyes was more serious than ever . He quickly looked through the Skill Tree .

He had been given 30 minutes . He had to identify all the Skills he didn’t know about in the Body Modification Skill Tree . On top of that, he had to choose a skill he needed .

First, Hyrkan checked the level 190 Skills .

‘There are two level 190 Skills . ’

There was a level 190 Normal Rank Skill and a Unique Rank Skill . There were a total of two Skills .

These two Skills were the pinnacle of the Skill Map he could see . These two fruits had numerous roots branching out towards the bottom .

There was the normal Rank Skill [Golden Tattoo] . It was the skill above Skin Sewing . The location where the Golden Tattoo was placed increased the defense of that region . One had to use a gold type Item coin, and the ingredient would be destroyed once the new tattoo was placed . It was a consumption type skill .

‘Why do all these skills require spending of money?’

There was a Unique Rank Skill called the [Piercing Pocket] . One could create holes in one’s body, and consumable items like Skeleton Fragment and Bone Explosives could be stored inside these holes . Basically, it would make one’s body into something akin to a drawer .

‘That’s not too bad . ’

The Skill was unexpectedly decent . If he could store it inside his body, there was a very low chance he could lose his Items . This was a problem for Hyrkan, who had to carry so many things into battle .

Moreover, it was a Skill that reeked of being specifically made for a Necromancer . He could use his body as a chest of drawers? This wasn’t something that couldn’t be done in reality, but Warlord allowed for such customizability .

‘Won’t it be cool to open up my forearm, and take out a lot of Bone Explosives?’

For a brief time, he forgot about the fact that he had to give a payment of 100 thousand gold for this opportunity . The desire to purchase these Skills overrode his previous emotions . Currently, the Body Modification Skill Tree Map was like a home-shopping commercial for him .

‘This is?’

A Rare Rank level 160 Skill called the [Black Heart] drew Hyrkan’s attention the most .

‘……it exists . ’

Hyrkan touched his Skill Window to read a detailed description of the Skill . The hologram window floated on top of the old scroll . Hyrkan’s gaze planted itself squarely on the Skill’s effect .

– Magical Energy is consumed to increase Strength .

‘Even the Black Magician Class has a Magic Swordsman type skill . ’

The Skill allowed one to consume magical energy to strengthen the User’s physical ability . It wasn’t a unique skill . In the White Magician’s Body Research Skill Tree, there existed a level 100 Skill called the [Body Revolution] . It allowed for a very similar effect .

The [Body Revolution] Skill allowed one to swap Intelligence Stat with Strength Stat and vice versa . This skill was the reason why White Magician’s were the best at surviving, and as a magician, they had developed a unique style of Magic Swordsman .

The Magic Swordsman Style used Body Research and Transcendence Magic . It was a style that utilized these two Skill Trees as their main power . The Body Research was akin to the Body Modification . The Transcendence Magic were Buff type magic .

The Magic Swordsman style was unexpectedly very popular . Most of Warlord’s monsters targeted the magician when hit with magic . This style used this fact against the monster . A talented Magic Swordsman was very good at Aggro Control .

There was no Class that could rival the Magic Swordsman at the job of luring monsters . They weren’t great at one thing, but they were able to carry out various roles . In a Raid where there were multiple opponents, a skilled Magic Swordsman was valuable .

This didn’t hold true for the Black Magicians as they didn’t have a Sword Magician type . Black magic had a debuff magic of Curse rather than the Buff Magic of Transcendence .

‘It is less effective, but…… . ’

Of course, the [Black Heart] allowed one to burn magical energy to increase one’s Stat, so the effect wasn’t that great . Moreover, wasn’t magical energy the lifeline of the Necromancer class? It wouldn’t be much help to Hyrkan .

However, the important part for him was the fact that there was a branch heading upwards .

There was a higher level Skill that was better than the [Black Heart] skill .

He didn’t know what it was, but he was well aware of the implications . At the very least, he thought about the possibility .

‘I hope I’m not going to have to spend all my money on buying the skill books in the future . Shit . It isn’t as if I can resell Skills like Items… . ’

Of course, there were other implications too .

3 .

[Life Vessel]

– Proficiency : Rank F

– Skill Effect : When the skill is activated, Stamina is increased by 500 points . However, when the Life Vessel is activated, any type of Stamina recovery skill will not work on the User .

After reading the description for the Life Vessel skill, Hyrkan had an expression as if he had just eaten a rotten egg .

‘It was a skill I had been pining for, but I never expected to gain it by giving away 100 thousand gold . ’

Life Vessel Skill recovered a portion of one’s Stamina in a flash . It was one of the best skill for him . He had wanted it no matter the cost . However, he never expected that price to be 100 thousand gold .

If Rich Lich was given the choice of purchasing Life Vessel for 100 thousand gold, even he would have probably balked at the price .

Hyrkan shook his head from side to side as he closed the Skill Window .

‘Yes . I’ll just think of it as an investment for the future . Isn’t this is better than investing in some weird company?’

He tried hard to derail his thoughts away from the cost . Hyrkan once again went through his immediate goals .

His Level Up was important . At the very least, he had to be level 160 to participate in earnest at the Immoral Prince Raid . If he wanted to be on the safe side, he had to reach level 170 .

If he wanted to achieve this, he had to choose the right hunting ground . Hyrkan knew many hunting grounds that was good for leveling up . However, he had to worry about how many people used the hunting ground, and how much money he would be able to gain from filming in that location .

‘Where would be a good spot?’

There weren’t that many likely spots that fulfilled those requirements .

However, a past relation solved Hyrkan’s problem for him .

4 .

[Your Level has increased . ]

After he finished leveling up, Hyrkan immediately checked the caller ID .

‘Who the hell just called me?’

There was nothing worse than getting a call during a hunt . Hyrkan had a thunderous expression on his face as he checked his caller ID . If this was about something trivial, he planned on blocking this number from ever calling him .

However, Hyrkan’s expression quickly changed when he saw the owner of the number . Hyrkan immediately dialed the number .

– Were you in the middle of a hunt? If you had been in a hunt, I’m sorry for the distraction .

“What is it? I never expected you to contact me again . ”

It had be awhile since he had heard the voice of the Whistling Pitbull .

‘What is really going on?’

Hyrkan had been surprised when he suddenly received a call from Whistling . He had given his number to the Whistling Pitbull, but the Pitbull had never contacted him until now . Of course, there hadn’t been any reason to contact each other . Whistling and Hyrkan walked roads that was too different from each other . Both of them understood this truth .

This was why Hyrkan contacted him immediately even if he had just leveled up . A User usually checked one’s Stats first when one leveled up .

If the caller had been someone unimportant, he wouldn’t have even called back to spite the User for interfering with his hunt . Hyrkan was someone who would absolutely do such a thing .

– May you help me?

Whistling words were something he would have never expected . Hyrkan struggled with his thoughts for a brief moment .

‘He is asking for my help?’

Whistling was part of the Fighters guild . Since he was asking for Hyrkan’s help, this meant he was asking for a personal favor .

“Is it related to the Elves?”

Since this was Whistling’s personal matter, there was a high possibility that this was related to the Elves .

– You picked up on it immediately .

It was as Hyrkan predicted . Hyrkan’s continued to hypothesize as he spoke .

“If you require my help, then this must be something really hard . I’ll hear you out first . I’ll determine if this is worth me helping you . ”

In truth, Hyrkan planned on turning down Whistling . Whistling’s words wouldn’t change his mind .

‘I don’t have time to help out on an Elf related Quest . ’

He felt apologetic towards Whistling, but he had suspended even the Main Scenario Quest for his Level Up . He couldn’t waste his time on someone else’s Quest .

At that moment, Whistling asked Hyrkan a Question .

– Do you perhaps know about the Black Tree?

“Uh?”

Hyrkan’s reaction was weird .

“Could you repeat what you just said? It’s loud where I’m at . What did you say again?”

– Do you know about the Black Tree??

“Black Tree? Is it a monster’s name? Or is it a landmark?”

Hyrkan answered as if this was the the first time he had heard the word . However, Hyrkan’s expression indicated otherwise . He was excited, surprised and taken aback . Hyrkan was trying hard to hide his reaction .

‘The level 160 Rare Boss Monster Black Tree’s name had just come out of Whistling’s mouth . He is really like the namesake of Pitbull . He had bitten into something really big . Maybe I should have named my nickname after a dog too . ’

Hyrkan had the opportunity to capitalize on a reward for his past good deeds .