The Devil's Cage

Kieran and Lawless wandered around the secret bazaar for a whole day.

Lawless told Keran all he knew about the Chosen Ones and even elaborated on other secret interesting news.

He did not give a second thought to why Kieran had asked about the Spirit attribute. Every player entering the game would eventually ask that question. It was only a matter of time.

Kieran had also asked about other things from time to time, such as the Basic Medicine Crafting Platform Blueprint, but the answer he got from Lawless was disappointing.

"It’s pure luck! I know nothing about the blueprint, or where to find the next level! If did, I wouldn’t have sold it!" Lawless answered, smirking at Kieran.

It seemed like he was very happy about his decision to use the blueprint as a secondary item in his deal with Kieran.

Kieran rolled his eyes at him.

Although they had talked a little the whole day, their original plans for coming to the secret bazaar had not changed one bit.

It was a pity that they had not gained much after spending a whole day there. Still, Kieran had managed to sell the [Soul Shard]s and the two [WK-22]s at a fair price.

There were quite a few quality items on the auction table. but none of them fit Kieran’s criteria.

As the secret bazaar was coming to an end, there was still a quite decent Magical Rank dagger placed on the auction table. However, the bidding war between the other players had hiked the price up to 8,000 Points and 5 Skill Points within mere seconds.

It was not a price Kieran could afford at the moment, so he went home empty-handed.

After rejecting Lawless’ invitation to go out for a beer, Kieran headed back to his in-game home by train.

13th Wallway Street.

As he walked into his dusty, web-filled garage, he sat down near the LED screen. The screen was in a spot he had purposely cleaned up to put stuff in. It wasn’t too neat, but it was still better than the other three corners of the garage.

Kieran thought about what he had gained that day. The Points and Skill Points were his most obvious reward, but the information he had gotten from Lawless could also be considered a form of reward. It might not be comparable to Points or Skill Points, but it had increased Kieran’s understanding of the game by a lot.

"If no skills that can increase Spirit have ever existed in the game before, that means that the [Half-Dead’s Gaze] should be able to have a considerable effect on players. Other than the Chosen Ones, that is."

"The usefulness of the Golden Attribute Points has suddenly become even greater, though. And there’s still the [Knight of Dawn Body Tempering Arts]..."

Kieran touched the ruby on the [Half-dead’s Gaze] softly as he thought about the Golden Attribute Points and the [Knights of Dawn Body Tempering Arts].

No doubt adding the Golden Attribute Point to Spirit would help him in an emergency.

It was hard for Kieran to make a decision, though.

After all the information he had learned about the Spirit attribute, the [Knights of Dawn Body Tempering Art] seemed even more important.

If Kieran had still had any doubts about the skill’s Legendary Rank at the beginning, that day had cleared them all. The Body Tempering Skill ranked even higher than Legendary.

The new possibilities that had come into play made Kieran pay even more attention to the skill.

As he thought about the [Knights of Dawn Body Tempering Art], he recalled what Guntherson had told him about practising the skill.

"It’s only small details, but it is these details that make the true quintessence of the Body Tempering Art. During the sitting stance, your spine must be straight and still. When you lie down, remember to relax your breathing and prolong it. Your body must be as relaxed as a baby’s. When you walk, your toes must touch the ground. Each time they touch it, you will feel a small vibration build up and spread throughout your whole body!"

...

As Guntherson’s words lingered in his ears, Kieran stood up and started practising what he’d been taught.

He sat down, then lay back, and finally he walked.

Kieran had mastered the posture and breathing methods from the moment the skill had showed up in the skill window, yet this was the first time he was actually practising the exercise.

During Guntherson’s lecture, all he’d wanted had been to raise the [Knight of Dawn Body Tempering Art]’s level, not explore the true potential of the skill.

He kept repeating the sit-lay-walk exercise until he could feel a slight difference in his body.

He could hear his own blood flowing in his veins, but he thought it might be him being delusional. He had seen a radiant flash shine before him, but it had been just for a fraction of a second.

He felt odd practising the moves, yet he did not feel tired, even after practising the three postures for hours.

As the hours went by, Kieran slowly exited the exercising mode naturally. He felt some slight changes to his body, but he thought he might be thinking too much.

He unconsciously looked at his character window, looking for any obvious changes.

Not in attributes or skills, but something.

After inspecting both his skills and attributes, he finally found something.

[Knights of Dawn Body Tempering Art (Entry → Master), costs 9,500 Points and 3 Golden Skill Point, Yes/No?]

He recalled that the skill had cost a hefty 10,000 Points and 3 Golden Skill Points before.

"As expected, exercising can really level up the skill rank!" Kieran mumbled.

He had actually guessed as much before, but he had not had the time to put his theory to the test until now.

"If Points can be decreased through exercise, what about Golden Skill Points?"

Kieran looked at the requirement of the 3 Golden Skill Points with excitement in his eyes. He knew exactly what they represented.

His excitement faded off quickly though when he realized he had not thought about a more important point. Time.

"So this is what ‘Enter at least one solo or team dungeon within three months’ meant! That won’t do for me, though. At least not before I cure my illness!"

Kieran sighed. Unless he achieved his short-term goal of curing his disease, he had no plans of clearing the game at the maximum time limit.

He walked over to the LED screen and started a new round of upgrades.

He was still sticking to his original upgrading plan, prioritizing [Hand-to-hand Combat] and [Tracking].

Upgrading them from Pro to Grand Master cost him 20,000 Points and 12 Skill Points. In addition to the new level of the skills though, he had also gained new special effects and attribute upgrades.

[Name: Hand-to-Hand Combat (Grand Master)]

[Related Attributes: Strength, Agility, Constitution]

[Skill Type: Offensive]

[Effects: Your hands and legs are your best weapon, Increases Damage by 50%]

[Special Effects: Grand Master of Kicks (Every time you launch a kick, you get an additional Strength and Agility +2 Rank Effect]

[Consumes: Stamina]

[Prerequisites: Strength E+, Agility E+, Constitution E+]

[Remarks: You should really consider creating a martial art clan!]

...

[Hand-to-Hand Combat leveled up, Related attributes increasing...]

[Strength D→D+]

[Agility D- → D]

[Constitution D- →D]

...

[Name: Tracking (Grand Master)]

[Related Attributes: Intuition]

[Skill Type: Ancillary]

[Effects: You can track your targets using all sorts of trails and clues!]

[Special Effects: Grand Master of Tracks (No tracks left behind can escape your eyes!)]

[Consumes: Stamina]

[Prerequisites: Intuition D-]

[Remarks: You can clearly sense the presence of supernatural beings!]

...

[Tracking leveled up, Related attributes increasing…]

[Intuition D+ → C-]

...

Kieran was extremely happy that both skills had been leveled up to Grand Master. The additional effects were exactly what he’d wanted. [Hand-to-Hand Combat]’s additional Strength and Agility and [Tracking]’s ability to clearly sense supernatural beings would be extremely useful.

The Grand Master [Hand-to-Hand Combat] upgrade had exceeded his expectations by upgrading his Strength to D Rank.

Kieran believed that if he’d used his Golden Attribute Points to increase his Strength, he might have reached the capped limit of that attribute.

The prerequisite for leveling up to Pro back then had been E- Rank Strength, Agility, and Constitution, but when he reached Grand Master, the prerequisite of those three attributes became E+ Rank.

The prerequisites had increased by two ranks at the new level. If it wasn’t for the [Knights of Dawn Body Tempering Art], he would not have been able to level the skill up so easily. The same applied to Grand Master [Tracking].

Rejoicing, Kieran opened up the [Mystical Knowledge] upgrade options. It would cost him 1,000 Points to go from Basic to Entry. Compared to the same [Tracking] level, [Mystical Knowledge] was much more expensive.

The upgrade from Entry to Master cost 5,000 Points and 4 Skill Points, exceeding the price of [Tracking] by a lot. When Kieran saw the cost and requirements to level up [Mystical Knowledge] from Master to Pro, he widened his eyes.

Translator's Thoughts

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