《Night Ranger》Chapter 9. Treasure Chest
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[Zombie Feast] was a persistent spell. Once cast, it would only end when all the zombies were put to rest or they would just keep going.
Even Marvin taking care of the caster, Heiss, couldn’t change the result.
In a few minutes, the shadows outside the small wooden room had already grouped up into a dark mass.
Marvin quickly made a decision, giving up the small room which had a huge hole from the corrosive fire and retreating with Anna to the living room.
The two quickly moved and, before the zombies burst in, sealed the doors and windows shut. This could stall for some time, but not for long.
The atmosphere was somewhat gloomy. Heiss’ body was still lying there unmoving, black blood flowing all over the ground.
Anna lowered her head in shame. She hadn’t thought Heiss was that strong. If not for Marvin lending a hand, she might have been killed by that old guy.
She blamed herself for not being able to prevent Heiss’ [Zombie Feast].
Marvin quietly said, "This isn’t your fault, Anna. You can’t really guard against a Conjurer’s spells. All these cursed zombies were carefully prepared beforehand, buried all around the house and ready to be summoned at anytime. That’s why his cast time was reduced by half at the very least."
"We have to think of ways to get rid of these zombies now."
Anna nodded, showing a hint of worry. "All these zombies are cursed, so without Holy water it’s going to be quite difficult for us to injure them."
Marvin grinned silently. "Who said we don’t have holy water?"
After he said that, he conveniently took out two bottles of holy water and put them on the table. They were labelled "Made by the Silver Church".
"One thing I like the most about the Silver Church is that as long as you have money, they will sell you anything."
Marvin skillfully applied the holy water onto his curved dagger to be ready against those intruding zombies.
His eyes had been examining the living room ever since they arrived there.
This place had another mystery, which was the most important reason Marvin wanted to look for Grave Robber Heiss.
He heard he had a treasure chest.
...
After killing Heiss, Marvin gladly received all 220 exp from the Conjurer. This generous experience gift was enough to let Marvin reach level 3 with some exp left over.
He searched the house for the possibly hidden treasure chest while distributing 118 battle exp to his Ranger class.
A heat wave surged throughout his body and his class immediately raised to level 3!
To reach level 4 from level 3, a ranger needed 800 exp. Therefore, Marvin didn’t use the 102 leftover battle exp and left it for future uses.
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The free attribute point without a doubt was added to dexterity – Dexterity needed to reach 20 points for [Wall Climb]. He was unlikely add it to another attribute than dexterity, which had now reached 18 points.
Leveling up gave him 24 Skill Points, of which he put 18 points aside for the time being and added the remaining 6 into [Stealth], unlocking the 50 point Stealth effect, [Sneak Attack].
[Sneak Attack]: When attacking an enemy while stealthed, Damage x2
This effect added to the thief skill [Backstab] had heaven defying results, able to directly deal four times the usual damage. In addition to the other skills, it let the Thief have burst damage that the other classes couldn’t hope to dream of. However Marvin was a Ranger, so his direct battle abilities was better than Thieves', but he was not as strong at sneak attacks.
And after reaching level 3, the thing Marvin was expecting the most was a class specialty.
There were three specialties for a level three Ranger: [Precise Shot], [Two-Weapon Fighting], and [Nature Affinity].
[Precise Shot]: Shooting accuracy and stability greatly increased.
[Two-Weapon Fighting]: You can wield two curved daggers at the same time. Your hands are in harmony.
[Nature Affinity]: Taming ability greatly increased.
Three class specialties for three different Ranger fighting styles: Ranged archery, Dual wielding close combat and Beast taming.
Boasting of his close combat battle experience and ability in Feinan world being better than 99% of the players, he would naturally not give up on his own biggest advantage. Compared with hiding and shooting from a distance, he trusted the blade in his hand a lot more.
He obviously chose [Two-weapon Fighting]!
A dual wielding Ranger’s burst damage was not inferior to Thieves, or the advanced class Assassin!
It was really a pity that Marvin couldn’t take advantage of the curved dagger in his hands. That common curved dagger in his right hand was too light, and as for his left hand, he had to use a poor quality dagger instead.
As a level 3 Ranger he had 68 HP, and resistance to attacks suddenly increased. This made Marvin feel more secure.
...
"What are you looking for?"
Anna studied Marvin’s actions and applied holy water onto her longsword while giving him a strange look.
A creaking sound echoed in the small wooden house as the zombies outside were close to breaking in, yet Marvin was still looking around for something.
"I heard that Heiss had a chest, and inside was the loot from all these years of plundering around the cemetery," Marvin explained.
Anna had a strange look in eyes. "Heard?"
She wasn’t a fool.
"When you went out during the day, I would walk around, asking for some information." His ability to lie was still quite good. "I heard people talking about Heiss plundering the belongings of the dead."
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"Yet, on the way here, you told me that Heiss might have an outstanding place," Anna said with a strange voice. "That kind of information is not something an ordinary person could know, right?"
"I learned that he had some dealings with a Necromancer." Marvin indifferently added, "Over time, he naturally had some tricks."
"Anna, trust me, in my dreams I received knowledge and abilities you can’t even imagine. My teacher taught me many things. I’ll never do anything to harm you."
Anna’s face showed a hint of hesitation, before finally nodding.
After recovering from his serious illness, Marvin displayed some abilities which definitely awed her. The Conjurer who made her helpless had his head easily cut off by Marvin. Even if there were class stat bonuses, his abilities were still definitely not to be underestimated.
"Found it! It was here!"
A secret compartment was exposed from below the carpet. Marvin quickly opened it, not taking any precautions.
Heiss was a secluded hermit and he was just a Conjurer, not able to place Thieves’ traps. So there was no need to be anxious of triggering a terrifying trap.
Opening the top of the secret compartment, there was a small chest inside, as expected.
Bang!
One of the logs making up the living room wall suddenly snapped from claw scratches, exposing a small crack.
A hand belonging to a plump, pus-leaking zombie stretched through the crack.
"Marvin!"
Anna’s nervous voice raised an octave.
"Don’t worry, they can’t get in." Marvin took a quick glance and knew that crack was too small for the zombies to squeeze through yet.
They still had time, but not much.
Marvin quickly lifted the chest and put it on the floor. The chest had no lock. Heiss probably wasn’t expecting that someone could have designs on him.
Marvin opened the chest, revealing the top layer filled with silver coins. Anna stared foolishly, unable to imagine that this vile grave robber was so wealthy.
"Grab those silver coins." Marvin removed the top layer and gave it to Anna. She decisively took out a few cloth pouches and put the silvers in.
The second layer was Heiss’ personal belongings. A book, [Advanced Conjurer Handbook], probably from a deal with the Necromancer, in addition to a [Casting Notebook]. Coupled with the spellbook on Heiss’ hand, it basically made up a low level Conjurer's foundation kit. In the black market, it could sell for a pretty decent price, as long as they weren’t caught by the Wizard Alliance Enforcers.
The Wizard Union blacklisted necromancers and related classes, which was common knowledge.
Marvin wrapped the two magic books and the spell book with a piece of tablecloth and put the package on the side.
He wanted something that was in the third layer.
He removed the second layer, showing that the third layer only had three things, all covered in dust.
‘As expected, these Conjurers aren’t very intelligent. They have good stuff but they don’t know how to use it.’
Marvin looked at those two items, smiling.
It’s true that the dark diamond on Heiss’ finger was useful, as it could instantly cast a designated spell, but the restrictions were also large.
But these two things inside the chest were the real treasure! These were genuine Uncommon items!
‘On top of Heiss’ diamond ring, there were three Uncommon items. Sure enough, killing human elite monsters is the fastest way to earn money!’ Marvin happily took out a pair of gloves and a plain ring from the third layer.
He was so familiar with these two things that he didn’t even need to Inspect them to know their properties.
[Ghastly Gloves]
Quality: Uncommon
Effect:
Ice Resistance +5
Fire Resistance +5
Requirements: 11 Intelligence
[Ring of Prayers (?)]
Quality: Uncommon
Effect: Additional Spell – Rainbow Jet. Usable once per day.
Requirement: 13 intelligence
...
This world’s equipment were mostly Common, and they didn’t have any additional effects. The next grade [Uncommon] had some decent properties, though some also had properties on par with Common. After that, [Magic] items could only be made by high-level wizards. Magic items weren’t often seen by ordinary people. Only a high level capable wizard might have some because the crafting process is very complicated.
As for Legendary, Epic and even Demi-God items, they were quite far down the road. Marvin had previously succeeded in being granted a God Title, using his Ruler of the Night identity, but he only had one Demi-God item, [Kingdom of Eternal Night].
Weapons in the hands of low-level adventurers are all Common, so having one uncommon equipment was already quite good.
After Marvin got rid of Heiss, he got three uncommon items in one breath. How could this not make him happy?
He quickly equipped the Ghastly Gloves and then put the Ring of Prayers onto his right index finger.
During the previous generation, Fairy Turin made 49 of the rings. Each possessed large magic power and was a genuine Magic item. The one Marvin looted today was probably a man-made counterfeit.
Despite it being a counterfeit, this ring also increased his power.
Heiss might have not known how to trigger the ring effect [Rainbow Jet], but Marvin knew.
"Marvin! They broke in!
Anna had put away the silvers, yelling somewhat nervously.
"I got this!"
Marvin got up, curved dagger in his left hand, straight dagger in his right hand. He replied with a undisturbed voice.
"Leave them all to me!"
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