Chapter 27: Great Harvest

Chapter 27: Chapter 27: Great Harvest

[Stone Scale Armor]

Type: Medium Armor (Hard Leather Armor)

Quality: Fine (Green)

Weight: 7.8kg

Durability: 29/52

Equipment Effect:

[Hard Shell Defense]: Provides extra defense against piercing and slashing.

[Heat Insulation]: Provides extra resistance against Flame damage.

Note:

"If it has Heat Insulation, why is it still so hot to wear?"

—Dragon Shield Guard Crixus

...

"Pip, this Armor looks like a good fit for you."

The Halfling took the Leather Armor, frowning slightly. "It’s a little heavy, but it’ll be wearable if it’s altered. It just needs a good wash."

"Alright, then let’s take it back and have Old Mo alter it."

Lorin nodded. He suspected the short guy was a bit of a clean freak.

There was nothing else good left on the Dragon Shield Guard. At a glance, he couldn’t even find anything that could be rated as coarse.

He thought, "Let’s see if that Scale Mage has anything good on it..."

Lorin walked over to its corpse and immediately spotted the Necklace on the ground. He bent down and picked it up.

[Oath of Bones]

Type: Accessory / Necklace

Quality: Fine (Green)

Weight: 0.33kg

Durability: 9/12

Requirement: Intelligence 12

Equipment Effect:

[Oath of Protection]: Select a target and deploy an invisible Force Field Shield for them, blocking the next attack / Activation Command: I want to be with you forever (Available daily: 0/1)

Note:

"May you be well, my true love."

—Olast Royal Arcane Academy, Eldrick Brandon

...

He thought, "A Magic Accessory? And a precious protective one at that!"

This was Lorin’s first Magic Type loot, not counting that emblem whose purpose was still unknown.

He thought, "Casters are indeed rich!"

Olast... Lorin knew this was the capital of the Kingdom. It seemed this Edric was most likely a noble.

However, with this Necklace appearing here, his lover was likely doomed.

"How tragic," Lorin sighed.

He adeptly wiped the Necklace clean and shook it at Pip. "A Necklace with a Shield Skill."

"Take it, Pip wouldn’t know how to use it."

He continued searching the Scale Mage’s corpse.

An [Ordinary] grade dagger. The short guy didn’t like this kind of weapon, so Lorin could just replace his own broken dagger with it.

A small bag of shiny little Gemstones that looked like they might be worth some money, along with a mess of miscellaneous coins.

Lorin poured them out and counted. There were only 7 silver and 11 copper coins.

"Huh, what’s this?"

He pulled a dark red stone from the Sorcerer’s inner pocket.

[Dragon Blood Stone]

Type: Consumable / Material

Quality: Fine (Green)

Weight: 0.05kg

...

"A consumable? Let’s take it back and see if Hiv knows how to use it," Lorin decided, unable to make up his mind for the moment.

The rest were all miscellaneous sundries. He picked out a few things that might be useful on the way back, then pulled out the Adventurer’s Handbook to take a look.

"Kobold bounty part: Please bring the tip of the tail to claim the reward. Other parts have no value."

"Phew..."

Lorin let out a breath, rubbed his lower back, and stuffed the tail tip into his bag.

No one told him that gathering loot would be this tiring!

Then came the most important part... a full 452 Points of Exploration Experience!

Lorin felt a bit conflicted. This was almost half of what was needed for the second-tier draw. Should he save up a bit more?

Rolling one die yielded [Formal] rank rewards, so wouldn’t rolling two dice yield...

[Extraordinary]!?

He thought, "No... I can’t be greedy."

Lorin shook his head, throwing this dangerous thought out of his mind.

The fact that he was still alive was largely due to the rewards he had drawn previously. If he had kept saving up, he would have been buried six feet under back during the Hobgoblin encounter.

It wasn’t that he hadn’t considered running all over the world to save up a thousand Points solely from the Exploration Experience of reaching new areas, but this world wasn’t Earth.

Demons were everywhere; without strength, how could he protect himself on the road?

Not to mention, what if two dice rolled a total of two Points? If it gave him something like the Goblin King’s underpants, he would probably die of anger on the spot.

Having figured this out, Lorin felt his state of mind clear up significantly. With a mere thought, he summoned his interface.

He thought, "Time to draw!"

[100 Points of Exploration Experience used. You rolled the die: 1]

[Points: 1]

[Reward obtained: Succubus’s pubic hair]

...

He thought, "Fuck! What kind of outrageous item is this?"

He didn’t take it out of the system inventory. If anyone saw it, he wouldn’t be able to wash himself clean even if he jumped into the Black Water River.

...

[100 Points of Exploration Experience used. You rolled the die: 1]

[Points: 5]

[Reward obtained: Perception +1]

[Perception: 10 -> 11]

...

Lorin felt a sharp pain in the back of his head, like being pricked by a needle, but other than that, he felt nothing unusual.

"Perception sounds like something that can only be used in special situations, but increasing Attributes is definitely a good thing. Let’s keep going!"

...

[100 Points of Exploration Experience used. You rolled the die: 1]

[Points: 3]

[Reward obtained: Weak Cleaning Technique]

[Can clean stains, bloodstains, and dust within a one-foot radius]

...

"Pip, I just comprehended a new Magic. Let me see that Hard Leather Armor of yours."

"Just now? Weren’t you spacing out? Can you Sorcerers learn Magic just by spacing out?" Pip asked in shock.

"That’s just how we Sorcerers are."

Lorin hovered his hand over the Hard Leather Armor and used it several times in a row. The Leather Armor quickly became shiny, though it still had a slight stench.

He thought, "This Magic consumes very little energy, but its range is too small."

He thought, "One last time."

He thought, "System, roll for me!"

...

[100 Points of Exploration Experience used. You rolled the die: 1]

[Balance: 52 Points of Exploration Experience]

[Points: 6]

[Fate has smiled upon you]

[Reward obtained: Midnight Touch]

Type: Magic Armor / Boots

Quality: Fine (Green)

Weight: 1.2kg

Durability: 60/60

Equipment Effect:

[Shadow Step]: Instantly teleport to an unoccupied Dark Shadow within 30 feet and within your line of sight. (Available daily: 1/1)

[Silent Movement]: The wearer makes almost no sound when moving.

Note:

"How many times do I have to tell you, don’t call me Old Sam."

—Master Thief, Old Sam Shadow Finger

...

Another six Points!

Shadow Step plus Silent Movement. Both Equipment Effects were extremely versatile and perfectly suited for him to explore the urban areas.

Moreover, the casting range of Shadow Step was a full 30 feet. If paired with Lightning Traction’s 15 feet, he could now launch surprise attacks on enemies from a great distance.

He thought, "Wait... why do I feel like I’m getting further and further away from the Mage I imagined?"

Lorin wasn’t in a hurry to take them out. Although he already trusted Pip deeply, it was best if only he knew about the system’s existence.

He swept through the mine once more, confirming he hadn’t missed anything, and then stuffed all of his harvest into a linen sack.

"Let’s go, it’s time to head back."

"Isn’t it exhausting carrying all that stuff?" Pip asked, eyes wide.

"This is all money! If we don’t take it, we risked our lives for nothing!" Lorin said righteously.

Pip swallowed hard and silently put on the Hard Leather Armor he had just received.

He thought, "No wonder humans managed to conquer so much territory. How terrifying."