Void Conch

Marvin got rich overnight from exterminating the Acheron Gang.

He was never stingy when it came to spending money, especially when used at the right places. Anyways, those silvers weren't wasted, as they would turn to scrap metal after the collapse of the currency system in the Calamity half a year from now, so it was better to change them into something useful.

Especially those wizard golds. They were even more valuable, so it would be a waste if they weren't used before the collapse of the southern cities' currency system.

Marvin was fully aware of this, so before he left River Shore City he disguised himself and entered the Ranger Guild.

The Ranger Guild was actually a simple organization. They issued quests, generally remained neutral and would occasionally do some business.

Marvin checked the Ranger Guild quest board and it didn't have the [Clean up the Scarlet Monastery] quest that would appear half a year later. This meant that those scarlet slaves were still keeping to themselves and their strength was still within a controllable range. As for that sleeping half-god lich, Marvin already had a plan.

People said that he failed to reach godhood and fell into a deep sleep, but in fact, he only failed at the last moment. He had successfully formed a Divinity.

And right now, that Divinity was quietly sitting inside the underground maze of the Scarlet Monastery.

Marvin wanted this Divinity, but not right now, as his current strength was too weak. That sleeping half-god lich would kill him in mere seconds.

...

The Ranger Guild had a Wizard Alliance alchemist shop, and he spent a large amount of money there to buy an essential item. The most important void conch.

[Void Conch]

Quality: Uncommon

Capacity: Four cubic chi¹ empty space.

Requirements: 10 Intelligence.

(T/N: 1 chi = 0,33 meter)

This clearly was a storage item. The void conch was the most common storage item because its raw material itself contained some dimension space. It only needed to be refined a bit and it would turn into a decent magic item.

This thing was obviously worth a lot, and Marvin spent 3 wizard golds on it.

Storage items were very expensive like uncommon items.

Another thing worth mentioning was the [Wishful Rope]. It too was an uncommon item, costing 1600 silvers, far cheaper than the Void Conch.

This was a multi-functional rope, said to come from the hand of a high elf. Based on its various kinds of enchantments, this rope could display all sorts of effects. This was adventurers' most wanted equipment.

Unfortunately, the average adventurer couldn't afford uncommon items. More than a thousand silvers… They might not be able to earn that much in their lifetime.

Marvin was different, buying the Wishful Rope while not thinking too much about it, because he was relying on this equipment to enter the Scarlet Monastery.

Without it, he would be unable to pass the monastery gate's Pain Monks.

...

Hall Mountain Range, on a nameless peak.

Marvin, with twin blades in hands and the Void Conch around his neck, carefully treaded on the rough and uneven mountain path.

Feinan's wilderness was quite a dangerous place. Although it wasn't too bad right now, after the calamity, the wilderness would be filled with monsters infected by chaotic mana. These creatures would be called devils. They were a lot stronger than they originally were, and more bloodthirsty.

A lot of cities even fell under those monsters' destructive power.

From Marvin's memories, River Shore City was one of the few southern city states that hadn't been overcome by the monsters. The reason was simple: River Shore in the south and Jewel Bay in the north both had a large scale influx of players. With the help of the players they fought back the large amount of monsters and thus River Shore City was saved.

But this time... Marvin had a bad feeling. Those "gold children" players praised by all the natives might not be there this time.

If that was the case, the problem was whether River Shore City was able to defend itself with its own power.

But River Shore City was still a relatively safe place before the calamity. Especially this mountain. Because of that Divinity's slight suppression, the creatures still possessed a bit of animal instinct and wouldn't draw close.

This actually let Marvin's burdens decrease.

Marvin followed a small path and was soon in front of a valley surrounded by dense fog. That place was the Scarlet Monastery's main entrance.

Two 2 meter tall Pain Monks each holding an iron rod were solemnly standing, looking far in the distance as if they were statues.

In fact, they weren't living beings, but once an outsider approached, they would be activated by the lich's enchantment magic.

At that time, Marvin would need to face two 3rd rank class holders, [Monk lvl5 – Ascetic Monk lvl 5 – Pain Monk lvl 2].

Pain Monk melee abilities were among of the best out of the 3rd rank classes. Not to mention the half-god lich who casted many curses on their bodies, each a strong buff. If you wanted to get rid of these guys you had to be at least Legend level.

Or send an army of 2nd rank adventurers. In some cases, human wave tactics could be quite useful.

...

Marvin wasn't intending to go through the main entrance, and instead planned to take a shortcut.

The Scarlet Monastery was built in a valley in the middle of sheer cliffs, with no suitable places to climb.

But there was always an exception.

Marvin knew that there was a cavern nearby, and after eliminating the few Gnomes inside you could find a small platform.

Using the wishful rope there he could descend to the Scarlet Monastery.

But it was a bit risky.

Inside the Scarlet Monastery, aside from the scarlet slaves, there were those freak Demon God Enforcers. Scarlet slaves stayed within the range of their areas, but those Demon God Enforcers liked to move outside their areas, constantly roaming everywhere. This added a lot of unstable factors to Marvin's infiltration plan.

But what plan didn't have risks?

Marvin circumvented the valley by using a narrow and winding road around the peak.

Half an hour later, he really found a hidden entrance concealed behind a large amount of grass.

The Gnome cavern. It often hid six to eight Gnomes. They might be carrying weapons but they should be rough weapons, as they preferred using clubs.

These Gnomes had an average level around 2. Only large Gnome tribes might have members above 1st rank.

Marvin might have been unable to defeat a Gnome before he had become an adventurer. But he had already raised his Ranger level to 4 after his battle at the Pyroxene Bar, thanks to Diapheis and his subordinates giving him a considerable amount of battle experience.

He was still a powerless noble just a few days ago. If anyone knew about this kind of leveling speed they would be shocked.

Marvin currently had 90 HP. He bought a set of leather armor at the Ranger Guild that could take some attacks while guaranteeing that his dexterity wouldn't be impeded. This level-up also gave him 24 skill points, making his skill points reach 42.

Marvin invested 20 skill points in the new skill [Climb].

In fact, he needed at least 30 points in Climb to be able to use the rope to enter the Scarlet Monastery. But the Wishful Rope had a hidden bonus lowering the Climb requirement by 10 so he only needed to use 20 points. The remaining 22 were saved for later use.

...

He pushed the grass thicket aside and crouched down before walking in.

He used a flint to light a simple torch he had also bought in the Ranger Guild, making a faint flame appear inside the cavern.

A weird shout echoed from the depths of the cavern.

With a torch in his left-hand and a curved dagger in his right, Marvin bluntly started killing his way in.

Half a minute later, a few bodies were spread on the ground in the depths of the Gnome cavern.

These Gnomes were all uncivilized so one couldn't speak with them. Their strength was low and thus, they quickly turned into corpses under Marvin's dagger.

The caverns had this particular smell of rotting creatures. Most people would directly leave. But Marvin still carefully searched the surroundings in case there was a treasure chest or maybe some spoils of war.

He knew that these Gnomes were usually quite poor but he would still not exclude an unforeseen event. Being over-cautious would sometimes bring an unexpected harvest.

Marvin found an undamaged chest in a corner of the cavern.

There was a copper lock on the chest and it looked like someone had tried to force it open. No need to guess, as it was certainly the work of those Gnomes.

'There is some mud on the chest. They probably dug it out of the nearby swamp. The copper lock has magic imbued in it, so it's probably a magic lock. However, the magic in the air seems quite weak. Probably a low rank enchantment.'

'What is hidden inside?'

Marvin took a scroll from the void conch with hesitation.

This was a costly scroll known as a [Lesser Magic Unlock Scroll] used to replace Thief skill, Unlock.

There were two kinds of unlock scrolls: the first one opened ordinary locks while the second opened enchanted locks, the latter is especially expensive. Marvin bought 10 common unlock scrolls and only 5 magic unlock scrolls.

There were many places hiding treasure chests inside the Scarlet Monastery. Marvin's target was those hidden treasure chests.

He wasn't sure if this small treasure chest in front of him was worth using a magic unlock scroll.

'From my memories, there should be three treasure chests with magic locks in the second hall, while the rest are all ordinary locks.'

'The second hall has corpse seeker with a keen sense of smell roaming about. With my current level I won't dare to try sneaking around."

'Might as well give it a shot.'

Marvin made up his mind and ripped a Lesser Magic Unlock Scroll.

A pale white key flew out from the scroll and entered the lock.

Clank! The lock opened.

Marvin listened attentively. There shouldn't be any traps inside but for the sake of being cautious he stood away from the chest and used a twig to open it.

There was no trap inside the chest, as expected.

Marvin sighed in relief and approached.

Inside the three chi tall chest, Marvin saw a few pieces of yellow parchment along with a blue colored gem.