Of course, I do not intend to deny that I'm selfish.

But regardless of how selfish I was, I regretted the missed opportunity.

So much so that I could not pay attention to the next message.

[Sturdier Root.

-Extreme pain and stress are often the springboard for new growth.

: The root has been upgraded to a sturdier root.]

A little later I regretted I didn't want more.

"How stupid I was! Just like how I would have asked Genie for three more wishes, I should have asked for 100 more treasure boxes above all else!"

If I had done so, I would have felt so good in all aspects that I would not have any regrets later.

"By the way, root? Hey, root?"

[...]

I shouted for the root on the off chance that it would work, but there was still no response.

"Whew…"

I let out a sigh helplessly.

After sighing, however, I made a smile before I knew it because I didn't feel empty like before when the root did not respond.

Tramp- Tramp-

Anyway, I got up and moved to the central square.

Maybe I missed an opportunity to get a lot more treasure than I thought, but there was no guarantee that I would actually get them, and I had no time to sit around regretting it.

I had already opened the treasure box, so I might as well forget about all these other things.

Moreover, I got so many rewards previously that I didn't have to regret I didn't get more in the treasure box.

Anyway, I soon arrived at the central square of Kotum Castle.

[There are skills available that you can currently acquire.]

[There are ice-type skills available that you can currently upgrade.]

I had already decided how to use the 2 skill points the moment I obtained them.

So I chose to upgrade 2 skills right away.

"Choose Ice Field, Ice Storm!"

[Would you like to upgrade level 5 Ice Field to level 7 Ice Field?

-Level 2, level 5, level 7 are available.

-In order to upgrade to level 7, you need 5.59 million golden rings and 1 skill point.]

[Would you like to upgrade Level 4 Ice Storm to Level 7 Ice Storm?

-level 4, level 7, level 8 are available.

-In order to upgrade to level 7, you need 10.95 million golden rings and 1 skill point.]

As a matter of fact, I wanted to upgrade the above two skills early on.

However, I had to learn Blizzard, which required 3 skill points, by all means, and at the same time I did not want to delete other skills, so I had to leave them as they were.

But I could upgrade them this time because of the 2 skill points I received from clearing the quest.

And I had another reason to be happy. It was due to the OIzuki brothers.

The younger Oizuki brother was a skill master, and there was only one way to escape the control of his trait. It was to have skill points that were not earned through the usual method of leveling up.

So, if I had not earned a total of 5 skill points after achieving the highest level during the 3rd Closed Beta and hunting the monsters in Region 0, I would have been defeated in the fight against the Mitsuya Guild of Japan. And I would have run away from the Oizuki brothers out of fear. However, I could beat the Oizuk brothers with only those five skill points, and now they have increased to a total of 7.

In other words, I will have more available skills when I confront them again. Of course, I will be able to handle them more easily than before.

'Hahahaha.'

So, I upgraded the skills with a smile on my lips because except for skill points, I was not bothered by golden rings at all.

Anyway, I finished sorting out all the items and skills after I was done with the quest this time, and headed to the teleport zone.

Of course, before heading there, I opened the random box with legendary grade items, for I didn't have to delay opening it any longer, and it was just a random box with legendary-grade items, not myth-grade items.

In other words, I did not care about whatever came out.

When I opened it, a common legendary grade armor item came out.

Even though I didn't care about the items, I still held some expectations deep down, such as a functional skill accessory.

'What, it's still good enough…'

Though I was a bit disappointed, I didn't dwell on it for long. I gave it a pass without any regret.

In no time, I arrived at the teleport zone.

"Move to the Cunning Vampire Garrison."

I went straight to my destination.

[You have moved to the Cunning Vampire Garrison.]

"Good morning, Asirante."

"Nice to meet you, Asirante."

As always, the Myongjin Guild's guards defending the Cunning Vampire Garrison greeted me happily when I arrived there.

Since I would have to reveal my identity sooner or later, I returned their greetings without ignoring them.

Escorted by them, I stepped into the Cunning Vampire Garrison.

Shuuuuuuuung. Shuuuuuuuuuuuung.

Soon, the vampires rushed toward me using teleport, as if they were so happy to encounter me.

"Alright. I also missed you guys very much."

In fact, I missed them as much as they missed me.

So I welcomed them with open arms.

However, since I was not satisfied with hunting several of them like that, I used Blink immediately to attract more vampires.

"Blood Storm!"

"Blood Explosion!"

"Blood Curse!"

"Blood Suck!"

These were attacks that did not harm me much a few days ago.

But now I was stronger than before because my stamina, not to mention intellect, increased by more than 2700 since then, and my Willpower increased by half that.

Of course, I was not in a position to tank their attacks endlessly, so I started using the skills that I recently upgraded.

"Ice Field!

Pasasasasak!

Going through level 2, 5 and 7, my Ice Field finally reached level 7, the last level.

Perhaps that was why it was really powerful even though I didn't back it up with Thin Ice. Besides, the vampires used Blood Suck skill more frequently than other attack skills.

"Not bad."

I was satisfied with the power of the upgraded Ice Field.

After that, I used another skill that was also upgraded to level 7.

"Ice Storm!"

Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

As a matter of fact, this was my main skill before I learned Blizzard.

Back then I selected Ice Storm to be applied to the functional skill ring.

So, my level 7 Ice Storm showed its power fully this time.

"Hmm. It's good. However..."

Aside from Ice Storm, the reason I used Ice Field first wasn't just because I upgraded it.

In other words, there was one item currently in storage in my inventory.

It was none other than the maximum skill upgrade charm that I received by clearing the quest under the name of Asirante in Pioneers City.

When I use this charm on a skill that had reached its maximum level, I could upgrade it by one more level

In other words, I could upgrade Ice Field, which had reached its maximum level of level 7, by one more level.

Of course, I wasn't the least interested in using it for Ice Field from the beginning because I intended to use it for Blizzard.

Considering its combination with the functional skill ring, I could use level 10 Blizzard.

"Yeah, it's too wasteful to use it just for Ice Field."