Chapter 82 - 80: Imitation

Chapter 82: Chapter 80: Imitation

"Furen, I feel so gloomy today..."

At the Dome Pillar, a gentle breeze was blowing, and the sunlight was as golden and warm as ever.

It was breakfast time, and Furen and his three companions were gathered around a stew pot, eating.

But after just a few bites, Bai Ya quietly set down her wooden bowl and bread, looking up to ask Furen.

"Do you feel it?"

"Yeah, a little..."

Furen scratched his head, answering honestly with a hint of confusion, "I definitely don’t have much of an appetite, that’s for sure."

"You too? Then maybe we ate some bad mushrooms last night."

Bai Ya theorized with a frown, "Maybe we ate some poisonous mushrooms."

Huh? Poisonous mushrooms?

Beside them, Zovir and Anna were so startled they immediately put down their bowls. They were, after all, drinking the leftover mushroom soup from last night.

"That can’t be it."

Furen asked, surprised, "Aren’t you able to tell which mushrooms are poisonous?"

"I might have gotten it wrong. Some mushrooms look very similar, after all."

Bai Ya said, a little self-reproachfully, "I was pretty tired yesterday, so I can’t be sure I looked at them carefully enough."

"Er... I don’t think that’s the reason."

Furen paused, then shook his head. "If it were the mushrooms, we should have felt it last night."

"But I slept fine last night. It was only after waking up this morning that I started feeling a little down... but I actually feel a lot better now."

"Huh? Now that you mention it, I think I suddenly feel much better too."

Bai Ya blinked. "How strange. Is it just because we woke up?"

"Probably. Just groggy from waking up, or something. It’s perfectly normal."

Furen took another bite of bread and mumbled nonchalantly,

"In any case, let’s just eat."

...

...

"CRACKLE..."

When Lu Wei awoke from unconsciousness, he found himself still in the damp, dark cave.

However, a brightly burning fire now crackled beside him. The warmth from the flames enveloped his entire body, feeling most intense around his head and neck.

The back of his head rested on something soft.

His headache had lessened considerably, but it still felt as if he had a severe cold and a raging fever.

Fortunately, he had at least recovered some of his ability to think.

’So this must be a lap pillow...’

’Yep, just as I thought.’

He shifted his gaze upward and saw Mirana kneeling by the campfire. One of her hands was cradling the back of his neck, the other resting gently on his head, while her eyes remained fixed on the cave entrance. ’This feels kind of like being held by my mom,’ Lu Wei thought.

’It’s actually really comfortable... if only my head didn’t hurt so much.’

’This is agony.’

’I never want to experience that again.’

Recalling the sensation of his brain turning to mush before being frantically stirred by a stick, Lu Wei now finally had a firsthand understanding of the phrase "a fate worse than death."

’So when physical pain reaches a certain threshold, you really do start thinking you’d be better off dead.’

’Sigh, at least I managed to save her.’

’Otherwise, this all would have been for nothing.’

Although Lu Wei wanted to enjoy the moment a little longer, he couldn’t stop thinking about the 22 goblins whose ears he still needed to collect. Muttering to himself, he let out a deliberate cough.

Hearing the sound, Mirana immediately turned her head, and their eyes met.

They stared at each other, and the atmosphere suddenly grew awkward.

After all, their current position was rather embarrassing.

’If this were some sappy drama, a kiss would be the next logical step.’

This wasn’t a drama, but the situation was still a little too intimate.

In any case, it was the first time Lu Wei had ever seen embarrassment in Mirana’s eyes.

"Ahem. How long was I out?"

He sat up with some difficulty, rubbing his temples as he searched for something to say.

"...About ten hours."

Mirana lowered her head and gently straightened her skirt. "It’s almost nightfall."

Lu Wei paused. "That long?"

"Yeah."

"And you just stayed here the whole time?"

"What else was I supposed to do?"

Mirana looked at him, confused. "I couldn’t just leave you here alone."

’Of course not!’

’What kind of person would you be if you did abandon me?!’

"That’s not what I meant. I mean, you could have at least tried to get me back to Moon Creek Forest. Our backpacks are still hidden there. What if some monkeys steal them?"

Lu Wei frowned and scanned the cave, his gaze landing on the two enormous corpses in the corner.

"And it stinks in here. You’ve had all this time; couldn’t you have at least cleaned up a bit?"

"..."

’He just woke up and he’s already complaining?’

"I drank a Healing Potion, but I didn’t get much of my strength back. I couldn’t carry you."

Watching the ever-complaining Lu Wei, Mirana waited a long moment before replying softly, "Besides, I think it’s safer here than in the woods. The scent of the Leader Level Monsters should deter most beasts and Low Level Monsters."

"Er, is that right..."

Lu Wei froze, embarrassed. He then struggled to his feet and walked straight toward a corner of the cave.

"What are you doing? Let me help."

Seeing this, Mirana immediately tried to stand up as well. But she had been kneeling for so long that her legs had gone numb, and she nearly stumbled.

She only managed to steady herself by bracing her hands on her knees.

"What else? I’m going to see if risking my life was worth it."

Lu Wei muttered, his eyes fixed on the large Wooden Box in the corner.

While there was plenty of scrap metal and some scattered Copper and Silver Coins on the ground, their value was probably just barely enough to cover the cost of the Healing Potion.

Besides, it wasn’t even certain he and Mirana could carry all that junk Equipment back.

’So it all comes down to this box!’

"Buddha, bless me..."

Standing before the Wooden Box, Lu Wei didn’t open it right away. Instead, he closed his eyes and offered a solemn prayer.

He may have been praying to the wrong deity, but that wasn’t important.

It was the thought that counted.

’Come on!’

’Golden legendary! An SSR! C’mon, drop for me!’

...

...

"Hmm..."

Three minutes later, Lu Wei and Mirana were huddled in front of the box, their expressions grim.

Especially Lu Wei. The fact that he wasn’t ecstatic meant he hadn’t found anything good.

But he also wasn’t cursing up a storm, which meant there was at least *something* of value.

Forty-some Silver Coins, three Gold Coins, seven or eight Bronze Badges, one Black Iron Badge, a pile of miscellaneous trinkets, and a dark red ring engraved with a Magic Pattern.

[Lion’s Heart Ring]

[Type: Accessory]

[Level: High Level (Worn)]

[Value: 2 Gold, 1 Silver]

[Introduction: When worn (must be in contact with skin): +1 Power. Material: Gold and red copper. Seems to contain the fury and courage of a lion.]

[Note: An in-class assignment for the "Magic Pattern Carving" course at the Anzada Craftsmanship Academy.]

Sigh.

’Fancy junk.’

After examining each item, Lu Wei slipped the ring onto his left hand and shook his head in resignation.

Clearly, the haul hadn’t met his expectations.

Counting the scattered Copper and Silver Coins on the ground, he had a total of about eight Gold Coins in cash.

The pile of trinkets were all Ordinary items—Brooches, necklaces, and the like. Even though some were made of gold and silver, he estimated they would only sell for one or two Gold Coins all together.

Add in this ring... and the total haul was worth about 12 gold coins. While that was more than they got from the Kobolds, it was only by a meager two or three Gold Coins.

But the difficulty and danger of the two encounters were worlds apart!

’Seriously? Two Leader Level Goblins! How could they drop so little?!’

’You guys were such slackers!!’

Gritting his teeth, Lu Wei glared at the two corpses nearby. He wished he could resurrect them just to torture them!

But just then...

"Wait, there’s something else here."

Suddenly, Mirana bent down and pulled a tattered, dusty, white-covered booklet from the gap between the Wooden Box and the cave wall.

’What... YES!!’

Lu Wei glanced over, his anger instantly turning to joy.

After all, he hadn’t just seen one of these things before—he’d used one.

The cover’s color and material were different, but its size and thickness were nearly identical to the Stealth Skill Book!

"It’s a Skill Book!"

He took it from Mirana’s hands and, without a second thought, used Precise Identification.

And then...

[Universal Skill Book — Imitation]

[Type: Special Consumable]

[Level: High Level]

[Value: 1 Silver Coin]

[Introduction: Imitation is not merely the replication of another’s Skills; it is a form of salvation. Everything in this world, save for the creations of the great God of Creation, is but an Imitation. There is no shame in this. If you cannot understand the principles, then you need only perfectly memorize and repeat. Even if you fail to grasp the essence, you can still obtain the form...]

[One of the three Universal Skills with the fewest known masters. Due to its extremely harsh and bizarre stat checks for Intelligence and Perception, almost no one ever buys it.]

[Note: From this day forward, no one will ever dare call me an idiot or a fool again!]

"..."

’Wait, what the hell is this thing???’

’A Skill Book worth 1 Silver Coin???’