Cold wind on the dungeon blew silently across the swamps. The surrounding sounds seemed to be so ever quiet and peaceful.

Richard and his team were standing in a semi circle surrounding a yellowish black glowing object.

Watching as the former curtain pole morphing into a scythe, the group briefly eyed each other with an expectation.

Finally breaking the silence, Nadia could not suppress her curiosity and asked Richard.

''That looks so cool! Please let me have it.''

''Sorry but no one can do it. Curtain-kun has been with me ever since all this started and I would not be standing here without its reliable bashing power. Even if it morphs into an cool but impractical scythe, it should be still useable as staff or hammer.''

Hearing this Nick could not help but interject.

''Bruh. There is kick-ass scythe forming in front of you and you think of it as a club to bash enemies? I really can't follow your logic here. ''

''It's not what you think. I remember that scythes in wars by peasants and alike have always been the most impractical of all weapons. It is hard to master and to be honest I think I will make do with bashing a lot better than trying to imitate some First Hunter maneuvers .''

''First hunter? What is that?''

''Just a character in a game I once played, he too used a scythe.''

''Okay fine then you don't need to explain any further since I would not get it anyway. Let's see what the scythe turn out to be like first.''

Falling silent the group focused their attention back to the weapon upgrading process and it seemed that it was about to end.

The yellowish black glow started to fade a little by little, before fading completely.

Richard went ahead and picked up his new upgraded Curtain-kun.

Title obtained:

Novice enchanter Fulfilled condition : Upgrade normal item into rare class weapon. Title effect: Passive. Increases chances and effect when enchanting weapon with new effects or rarity tier

'' Enchanters' endless journey starts with the first step.''

- Master Enchanter M'Dungru

Startled by the system title notifications he quickly scanned the effects from the title and nodded his head secretly. It really does pay off to try out new things.

''Seems like enchanter as an job could be pretty awesome if it can let me modify my weapons like this all the time.'' Thinking to himself he started to have expectations for his still empty job class.

Turning his attention back to his trusty weapon, he picked it up from the ground and used Inspect.

Curtain's End Rating: Rare upgradeable [ Scythe ] Damage: 40-78 Additional effects: Bound on equip Spirit +5 Strength +5 12,8% Chance on hit to Lifesteal 33% of the damage done Weight: 4.5 kg Durability: 400/400 With Curtain's End in hand, Ruler of the land.

- A naive young man from a Blue planet

''Jackpot! This sweet child of mine has even considered my feelings and it has small war hammer style blunt edge on the opposite side of the blade!'' Giggling manically he gently rubbed the staff part of his new weapon and muttered incoherently to himself.

''So how is it? How did it turn out.'' Nick asked curiously.

Telling honestly the stats and abilities to the rest of the group, Nadia could not help but to curiously ask.

''What does a bound item mean? Does that mean others can't use it? ''

''I would guess so? Would you like to try?''

After Richard said that he quickly added: '' It's still mine though.'' Afraid that Nadia would take his precious.

Nadia eagerly wanted to try and Richard too was curious about the bound weapon properties.

Handing the Curtain's end to Nadia, she grabbed on it tightly and Richard still had not let his hands go off the weapon.

''My precious...'' Richard said in a creepy voice to which Nadia replied.

''Do you really do anything but reference old movies or memes? Get a life and let me look at the scythe properly. You have to take your hands off it for me to test it properly.''

Looking at Richard like people look at local crazy hobos, she thought that this man is beyond saving.

''You might be beyond salvation... Let me test it and we should know what the bound means afterwards.'' Nadia continued to coax Richard into letting go.

After a minute of hesitation, Richard let go of his weapon and let Nadia have it to test it properly.

The weapon started to shimmer in a black and red glow. Immediately afterwards Nadia let go of the scythe, dropping it on the ground.

Slightly pale from the face she looked at her hands in a frustrated manner, staying silent and thoughtful.

''Are you okay Nadia? What happened?'' Nick asked in a concerned manner.

''It's nothing serious. I just felt uncomfortable holding that weapon, and it was a strange feeling. It was like it was rejecting me. Somehow it is hard to describe how it felt, but that about sums it up.'' She answered.

''So in conclusion, bound weapons rejects other users except the bound person and it would be difficult if not impossible to use it.'' Nick nodded his head after drawing his own conclusions of the bound system.

''Seems convincing enough based on the evidence, let's go find the temple. I can't wait to try out my new and improved Curtain-kun! '' Richard took his weapon back to his arms and started to caress it like it was his own child.

''Eww, stop it Richard. That's disgusting. Your obsession to a weapon is already borderline insane.'' Nadia spat out harshly with a disgusted tone.

''Nope! With Curtain-kun in hand, ruler of the land.'' Richard started to skip ahead towards the direction the lizardmen had come while humming happily.

Shaking their heads, the couple followed behind Richard at a steady pace.

Alert of the enemies that might lurk in this smelly swamp, Richard saw a few patrols of 2 lizardmen and signaled his teammates of the enemies nearby.

Quickly taking up positions for an ambush, they waited for the nearby patrol to arrive at their location.

Nick climbed to a branch of an ancient tree about 2 meters high, ready to blast their enemies completely free of obstructions. Nadia and Richard took up positions behind thick trees and then waited for the patrol to arrive.

Fully aware that when they attacked one of the patrols, the others would likely come to assist it.

They waited for an opportunity for maximum efficiency to progress this dungeon.

Knowing that it was a risky move, they had to adapt to this new reality as best as they could. And the best way to adapt was fighting, experiencing new things and growing stronger.

After 10 minutes of waiting, the patrol was about to enter Richard's range of attack. Richard signaled Nick to start the battle with his magic and soon the glob of fire started to manifest in his hands.

Blast burn

Continuous fire started to rain down on the two unsuspecting lizardmen and they started to scream in pain as loud as their lungs could handle.

''I received level up and two notifications, they are dead but the problem is that the other patrols were alerted. Stay hidden for now and I will lure them here.'' Nick instructed calmly.

Soon three other patrols totalling to 6 lizardmen arrived in their location and Nick started his bombardment.

Blast burn

The lizardmen focused their attention on Nick, and tried to dodge incoming waves of fire. Two of the targets Nick had not focused with his fire were about to throw their spears at Nick.

That was the time for Richard to emerge from behind the bulky tree with his scythe.

He prepared Mighty Strike and charged at the nearest lizardman with great expectations of his improved weapon.

Smashing at the unsuspecting lizardman's head with the blunt end of the scythe, it immediately exploded like a water balloon popping.

The other spear throwing lizardman was startled in a great horror as it got parts of his former patrol partners head raining upon it and froze completely in place.

''Surprise motherfucker!'' Nick yelled in a deep voice.

''NICHOLAS I AM SO PROUD OF YOU! You finally get the joy of bad puns, and at bad moments.'' Richard yelled in an overjoyed manner. For him it was like discovering a long lost brother from a different mother.

''Hahah I knew you would enjoy it.'' Nick chuckled in carefree manner while bombarding the lizardmen from above.

From the sides Nadia just kept quiet and stabbed the wounded lizardmen while thinking in her head. ''Men. Why can't they just grow up?''

Shaking her head silently, she just focused on the task at hand.

Richard was in full swing as he looked somewhat comical swinging his scythe with its blunt side, fighting with the remaining spear thrower.

It tried to dodge as best as it could but still in shock, it was a bit sluggish.

Having got a few hits in on its arms and lower body, it was already near death.

Finishing his foe quickly, Richard moved on to the bombarded lizardmen that Nadia already was bullying with Nick.

Seeing that one of the lizardmen tried to disengage from the chaotic brawl filled with streams of fire, Richard chased after it.

The lizardman quickly came to a stop after ten meters and threw its spear towards Nick.

''Nick be careful! Incoming spear!'' Richard yelled with great urgency in his voice.

Barely reacting to Richard's words, Nick turned his gaze on the straggler on the side and saw a sharp, three meter long spear approaching him at high speed.

Seeing that dodging was not an option on the tree, he put all his trust on the new bracers and raised his arms wearing the bracers as a shield. Following the impact from the spear, Nick fell from the tree on the ground with a backflip.

''Nick! Are you alive???'' Richard felt that even with better equipment and recent power ups, the shadow of death was lurking in every corner if they were not careful.