Surprising rewards

Taking a bit of a red berry, Frederick frowned for a moment at the curious sweet taste and patiently waited to see if those fruits were poisonous. After a while and noticing that it was not toxic, he simply shrugged and shoved it down his throat whole. His sight was no longer blurry and most of his aches from running were reduced. Still, it would probably take a few more hours for him to fully recover. 

Once he was ready, Frederick stood up and glanced at the emerald forest, this time to look for anything of value. He scanned for any object or creature that could be of interest, whether he thought they'd give any value or not. Looking around, he noticed that this forest was surrounded by tall cliffs. From afar, the forest looked like an emerald jewel resting in the middle of the snow-covered rocks. 

The forest of tall trees was filled with fruits everywhere. The strange thing about these fruits wasn't their size but rather their coloration which seemed very odd yet alluring. They ranged anywhere between green, and white to light red colored.

The ground itself had many types of shapes of grasses. Some resembled wheatgrass while others looked similar to bamboo leaves. There were also flowers blooming throughout the entire area. Similarly to the fruits, all flowers were colorful and had various shades. Overall the forest almost looked like a natural Christmas decoration.

Examining closely, Frederick could see some birds the size of crows with dazzling feathers as well as some peculiar brown rabbits, but a bit smaller and much cuter. These creatures appeared extremely docile even when confronted directly. They would approach anyone without any fear whatsoever.

'Let's ignore them for now.' said Frederick as he kicked a rabbit out of his way. 

Walking in the green forest with his dagger, he noticed a small pond nearby. Its water was clear blue transparent enough so you could tell fishes were swimming inside.

The atmosphere was truly majestic, however, he did not waste his time appreciating the scenery. Instead, Frederick spent several hours searching around. It didn't take him that long to reach the other edge of the woods where he found a door incrusted into the cliff itself.

The door was very ordinary and plain, but what puzzled him was the fact that it seemed to have an ancient aura and was made from some special kind of stone that was cold to the touch. After some thought about the risks and potential gains, he ultimately decided to go explore.

Strangely enough, the door was not heavy at all, despite being made from this rock-like texture. Carefully opening the door, a stale smell greeted him followed by the sound of dripping water. He slowly took a step inside the cave, ready to stab whatever was inside. The cave wall was rough and the smell of water was much more potent as he was walking down.

Unlike what Frederick would expect, the place was exceptionally clean and silent. Walking further inside, Frederick could vaguely see some familiar blue lights flying around. He still did not know what these lights were but did not bother much about them as his focus was on something else.

At the very end of the cave lies a black coffin surrounded by a very familiar dark veil. It was very similar to the veil that split the second stage from the rest of the maze. However, the veil seemed way denser and looked as if it was ready to swallow everything in its vicinity. After some thinking, he slowly approached the coffin with his dagger in hand.

Once there, he carefully poked the coffin with his weapon but nothing seemed to happen. With a sigh, he decided to touch it. It would indeed be a dumb move for anyone except for Frederick. In the worst case, he will just restart over.

When he reached out to touch the coffin, everything around him changed in an instant.

The air became heavy like water, his muscles contracted instantly, and Frederick felt he could not move. The ground beneath him began to crack rapidly due to the growing darkness surrounding the spot until all light disappeared completely. The darkness was so suffocating that every breath had become difficult. 

However the next instant, the darkness vanished without a trace with Frederick's body still intact from any harm. With a frown, his emerald eyes quickly scanned the area, ready to either attack or escape. Once he saw that the surroundings were empty of any potential threat he turned his attention to the coffin.

Looking at the direction of the casket he quickly noticed that it was somehow opened with the lid nowhere to be seen. Slowly approaching the coffin, he examined its contents and was astonished for a second.

Inside the dark cavity lays a tall human skeleton. Every bone of the skeleton was marked by countless scars and cuts, showing just how dangerous its life had been. Its skull was especially damaged as if someone used it as a ball during a game. Moreover, one of its arms was missing, However, what Frederick was staring at wasn't the skeleton itself but what it was wearing. 

It was a large black trenchcoat with a glove directly attached to its right sleeve. The material was unknown yet seemed to be top-notch. The coat itself had the appearance of a cloak while the glove was more like a gauntlet. The design was somewhat simple yet complicated.

 However what surprised Frederick was that this coat was an authority item! He didn't need to be very clever to grasp what that meant. Other candidates had arrived at this location way before him. The body in front of him was probably another candidate.

Slowly crouching down beside the coffin, Frederick grabbed the corpse's clothes and examined them closely. The reason Frederick could immediately notice that it was an authority item was because of a very simple thing.

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< Authority Item >

-Name: Dark Cache Trenchcoat

-Forged Authorities: Dark Veil (medium), Spatial Vault (medium)

-Assimilation rate: 36%

Abilities:

-Spatial Vault Access: This trenchcoat comes with a single glove attached to its right sleeve, providing the wearer the ability to access a subspace capable of storing various nonliving items.

-Dark Cloak: The user can activate a dark veil that envelops their body, hiding their presence and appearance, making them elusive to observers.

Description:

-The Dark Cache coat is the last creation of a dying item smith using Dark Veil (medium) and Spatial Vault (medium) as the main material. Crafted as a black trenchcoat with an integrated glove, this item allows the wearer to access a subspace and hide the user's presence or appearance.

-Due to the assimilation rate, certain potential abilities that might have been present in the original authorities have been lost.

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'... An authority item. Were there other candidates here before me?'

More importantly, he was a bit speechless. The Dark Cache Coat was a truly valuable item because of its enormous potential. It was just too useful! With this item, Frederick would not be restricted by his storage capacity. He would be able to bring practically any weapons, tools, or food without having to worry about carrying weight anymore! 

And best of all, since this is an item, he doesn't have to bear any curse at all. That alone made this side story worth it. Moreover, it could mask one presence and appearance, giving the user many advantages during battles.

However, the longer he observed the coat, the more confused he became. 'An authority item created using two authorities?' thought Frederick as he stared at the item in his hand. 

He knew that some of the most powerful people in the town he goes to had items they obtained through loot boxes, but all of them were composed of a single authority. He had never heard of an item crafted using two authorities before...

Perhaps was that something of common knowledge for item smiths? That was understandable as there was not a single piece of information available about item smiths in town.

Frederick was sure that this corpse was a candidate like him, but how did they end up here? Looking around for any clues, he did not find anything. The cave was extremely empty. Even the corpse itself seemed to have lost everything it had when it died.

Frederick sighed and stood back up. Honestly, he did not care much about this unknown person's identity or their story. He was only interested in useful pieces of information that could benefit him. And right now, the coat in his hand was the only thing worthy of his attention.

Examining closely the coat one last time to ensure nothing was wrong, he then pondered whether it would fit him. Considering the corpse was several heads taller than him, he was wary of any potential hindrance to his movements. After a brief moment of hesitation, he shrugged and decided to give it a try.

Immediately after putting the coat on, he noticed that it was strangely comfortable, like wearing soft cotton. He then proceeded to check the pocket of the coat. He could feel the material to be very sturdy and comfortable, however he frowned slightly.

 The coat was surprisingly loose for him. It was not his size. It wasn't very noticeable, but it was a little loose around his hips and arms. He looked back at the tall corpse, so he figured that the coat might have been custom-made. Luckily, the glove fit him perfectly.

Shaking his head, Frederick wanted to check the subspace access first. He was interested in how it worked. Reaching his right hand towards the open air in front of him, he focused and waited for something to happen.

"... How do I do this?" he muttered.

Suddenly, a small mass of dark haze appeared in front of him out of nowhere. It was pitch black and Frederick could see nothing inside. Somehow, it reminded him of how the first guardian appeared. 

With a doubtful gaze, he slowly stretched his hand further into the dark mass, he felt that his hand was touching some sort of substance. He could feel it clearly but it was not solid or liquid at all. It was like a thick smoke.

After a moment of hesitation, he finally inserted his whole arm inside and began to feel around. At first, he felt nothing for a long moment. Just as he thought that there was nothing inside, he touched something. He wasn't so sure about what it was nor the material it was as the glove on his right hand prevented him from feeling the texture directly.

The more he looked around, the more calculative power it took so he did not waste too much time and directly grabbed the unknown item and pulled it out. In an instant, the dark mist dissipated as if it was never there to begin with. Looking down at his hand, Frederick couldn't help but be surprised. What came out of the mist was a book.

It was a brown book, no bigger than his hand, with a very simple appearance. The book was plain and had no patterns on the cover. Upon opening it, he delved into its contents. As he read, Frederick's eye grew bigger.

'...A diary of a candidate of the 7th turn.'