Chapter 117: The King's Protector

"Congratulations! Warrior! Your brave battle deserves a reward. Come on! Open your loot!" The voice from the statue suddenly became incredibly pleasing to the ear.

The Stormwind elite soldiers who had just been fighting for their lives were a bit uncomfortable with this sudden victory. But since their boss had killed the enemy boss, there was no questioning the victory.

Almost everyone was panting, except for Duke, who looked calm and relaxed.

Surprisingly, the system spirit was kissing up: "Oh oh oh, dear host, you did so well. How did you know that killing Blackhand would lead to victory?"

"Humph! Back in the day, I was a solo player who cleared the chess game in Karazhan!" Duke responded arrogantly in his heart, but said aloud, "Hey! Would you believe that every time I played here in the game, the other nine idiots were drinking water, going to the bathroom, or chatting, while I was the only one working?"

Over time, soloing became a habit...

Ah, it's all tears when you talk about it.

However, Lothar was skeptical of the chest that had appeared so blatantly next to the huge chessboard.

"Could there be a trap?" Lothar furrowed his brow.

"No!" Duke and Garona said in unison.

Duke was just being funny, while Garona came to the conclusion after a quick inspection.

Lothar turned his head, and the muscles on his face twitched as he looked at Duke. "You or me?"

Seeing Duke retreat a bit fearfully, Lothar knew the answer: "Okay, I'll do it."

Lothar really didn't know why Duke was like this. In Lothar's opinion, Duke was a contradictory combination. He was so young, yet so experienced in battle. He was fearless in the face of the enemy, but afraid to inspect his own loot?

What kind of quirk was this?

Well, mages seem to be secretive, neurotic fellows.

Compared to Duke's quirks, Lothar didn't mind treating Duke as a perfect saint.

Lothar didn't even reach out his hand, and the gem-encrusted wooden chest opened on its own with a "clunk," revealing its contents.

A sword.

A ring.

A leather shoulder armor.

First is the sword, with its unique curved blade and red blade, Duke guessed it right away - it's the [King's Defender].

It's not a weapon that appeared in 'history,' but rather a single-handed sword in the game. Although it has impressive attributes, the fact that a curved blade is classified as a sword still caused many players to mock it.

This single-handed sword, beloved by tank build warriors, made Duke feel that Lothar's hand was truly lucky.

Interestingly, with so many warriors in the arena, not a single one was willing to take it.

"What?! None of you want it?" Duke was stunned.

Lothar raised the King's Sword in his hand and said, "A warrior's weapon is the most important, and we won't change our weapons unless we absolutely have to. In a life or death situation, even the slightest difference in feel can be fatal."

The other warriors nodded in agreement.

Well, alright, you make a good point. As a mage, I'll just disenchant it and sell it to Windseeker for some cash. After all, there's no such thing as 'soulbound' in this world.

Duke nobly disenchanted the defense warrior's treasure and stuffed it into his expensive space bag.

Yes, that's right, there are space bags in this world too. But they're so damn expensive!!

Produced in Dalaran, this linen space bag can hold up to eight items totaling no more than 10 kilograms of dead weight, and it costs a whopping 100,000 gold coins. And it's a fixed price, no bargaining allowed!

Damn it, if Duke wasn't in a hurry, he would have exchanged all his gold coins and crushed that swindler.

I have to go learn the [Tailoring] skill, Duke thought to himself.

Then there's the leather shoulder armor, [Cruel Shoulder Blades], which of course belongs to Garona. This half-human female just took off her metal shoulder armor and put on this leather one, looking ready to fight anyone who tries to take it from her.

"Alright, alright, take it if you like it," Lothar said to Garona, without any irritation.

The last item is the ring, [Ring of Circulation], a typical mage ring.

When Duke put the ring...on his left thumb, he once again felt the expansion of the magical circuit. A new, small circuit was built, and mana flowed into the ring through his finger's artery, amplified by the ring and flowed back out with an even more surging feeling.

System prompt: You are wearing a magical item, the 'Ring of Circulation,' which surpasses your current level by far. Obviously, the creator of this ring is quite friendly to low-level spellcasters, as its peaceful magic circuit amplifies your abilities as an earth mage, giving you a 30% boost to the ring's original properties. Your magical damage and chance of critical strikes are slightly increased."

Looking at his "Doom Star Belt," "Capacitor," and the "Ring of Circulation" on his hand, Duke felt a more urgent desire to advance.

He had no idea what the higher levels of the magical world were like.

Obviously, it was a world he couldn't imagine.

It was just a feeling - that he could advance if he defeated Medivh.

The breath of fate told Duke so.

At this moment, Lothar approached him and asked, "Did we alert Sargeras just now?"

Duke shook his head. "We shouldn't have. Someone as important as Sargeras must be busy too. After returning from the chess space, I sensed several interstellar communications across the world. Don't forget, Sargeras is the boss of the Burning Legion!"

Lothar nodded.

The enemy was too powerful, so powerful that it could make most mortals despair. Ten thousand years ago, almost all the strongest people on Azeroth were gathered together to barely destroy the portal and drive Sargeras away.

Now, can they do it with just their small group?

Hesitation was only brief. Lothar quickly shook his head and got rid of the bad idea. He turned to his subordinates and said, "Gentlemen, the road ahead is still difficult, but I believe we can overcome it. We'll take a fifteen-minute break for the upcoming battle and then continue on."

Lothar's subordinates did not suffer any casualties in the previous battle. Even the worst among them had only suffered moderate injuries and had barely regained their fighting strength after being healed by the priest. Anyway, this result was already very remarkable.

Having defeated a demon boss and broken through a strange chess level, the morale of the group had increased significantly.

"What's next?" Lothar asked.

"I don't know. The space in Karazhan is distorted. If we're lucky, we'll end up in Medivh's bedroom or study. If we're unlucky..."