A Pink Ribbon...?

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Made out of simple wood, and covered in thin layers of a copper-like material. Its size did not surpass one meter. It had something to it, something that attracted those that seek treasures over anything else.

A treasure chest.

These crates made out of simple wood and iron, varying in colors depending on the rarity of the treasures inside were one of the biggest goals that any adventurer would look for when adventuring inside dangerous dungeons and labyrinths.

But… one question emerged through the mind of Veronica in her previous life, as she studied these objects.

What is a treasure chest?

After being taught by her teachers and reading several books about dungeons and the studies that the Demon Nations did on them, she came out with several conclusions.

A treasure chest is an 'incentive' created by the dungeon itself, to always drive people to its dangerous lairs.

But how can a 'creature' such as a dungeon create a treasure chest?

Starting from the beginning, in ancient times when all gods were allies and when all the intelligent races were living in peace, the gods would send their strongest warriors towards dungeons, to vanquish the monsters that appeared inside.

Dungeons are naturally created through the corruption of mana in certain locations, the more monsters you see around a certain area, the higher the chance of a dungeon to suddenly pop out in there.

Dungeons are a 'natural' phenomenon that had happened since the beginning of the world of Kritias when the two Great Gods fought and killed each other. Their corpses began to decay, and the world emerged from within them.

Unlike many other worlds, in Kritias, the knowledge about the origin of the world was a factual truth, similar to the existence of gods.

Dungeons' origins were easy to discern from the origin of Kritias. Although in modern times, humans and elves attribute the existence of dungeons to demons and dark gods, alongside the great dark god corpse fault…

But it was further proven that the existence of dungeons is thanks to both the Great Bright God and the Great Dark God corpses converging together in their decay… without both of them mixing up, dungeons would have never come into existence.

Dungeons inherited several traits from both Great Gods, such as 'life', 'destruction', and 'nourishment'. Dungeons' purpose is to nourish the intelligent races and to fill the world with life through monsters… even if monsters may be seen as spawns of hell by the Bright God extremists.

Dungeons will offer countless trials to its invaders, but those that pass them will be rewarded by treasure chests.

Treasures created by the dungeon itself, powerful items that can help an adventurer to become someone recognized through a whole country.

After falling into a trap and being sent to a 'secret dungeon', Veronica fought against a horde of monsters and came out victorious. No matter how much the dungeon saw her as an 'invader', she needed to be rewarded for her efforts.

And so, a Copper Rank Treasure Chest appeared.

Veronica rushed towards it, quickly opening it without a cheer of doubt in her movements. It had just appeared, so she was sure that it was not a Treasure Chest Mimic.

"You seem very enthusiast about it…" muttered Shade.

"Of course, I am, Shade! It's a treasure chest!" said Veronica.

She was excited because in her previous life, although she explored dungeons, it was always with the help of her servants, to gain levels, and the chest would barely appear in those times. Mostly because she would kill monsters that appeared in corridors, and not those inside hidden rooms, which the dungeon qualified as challenges.

"It has been so long since I saw one! And it is all mine" said Veronica, glancing at its contents.

"…Eh? What is this? Is this a joke?" asked Veronica, baffled.

"Hm? What is it?" asked Shade, moving away from Veronica's dark soul and glancing at the treasure chest's contents.

"A pink ribbon," said Veronica, all of her enthusiasm gone.

"A pink ribbon? For what is it? Equipment? For you?" asked Shade, he didn't say anything wrong with it if it could increase Veronica's strength.

"But I am a Living Armor! How can I stick a ribbon in my helmet? I cannot… And it's not like I am a cute little demon girl to even wear something like this anymore…" muttered Veronica.

"Well, you sure act like one sometimes, don't get so frustrated," said Shade.

"Sigh… don't reprimand me… Hm? Aqua?"

Veronica glanced at Aqua, who was grabbing the bright red ribbon and equipping it in herself…

She was adorable.

The moment Aqua put the ribbon over the top of her body, she felt a bit stronger.

"You can equip it too? And you look… so cute…" muttered Veronica.

"I-Indeed… perhaps this treasure was for her," said Shade.

"Guubo!"

[Red Ribbon of Friendship]

A special ribbon is created from a magic fabric infused with special runes that strengthen the one equipping it. Ideal for your best friend (pet).

Equipping it will increase Strength and Defense by +10.

Equipping it will grant the wearer with the [Self-Strengthening; Friendship] Skill.

[Self-Strengthening; Friendship]

A skill that increases all statistics by a small amount if the user is near someone that he considers a true friend.

"Hey… It's not that bad, good job Aqua" said Veronica, petting Aqua.

"Good job for equipping it… Is that a job well done?" asked Shade.

"I just want to congratulate her…" said Veronica.

"I see…" muttered Shade.

"Guubo!" said Aqua, bouncing around.

As Veronica began to consider leaving the hidden room, she glanced at the chest and decided on trying to absorb it.

However, it seemed to have been rejected.

[Armory Skill Level insufficient to absorb and assimilate 'Dungeon Item']

"Ah, I can't absorb it? It's just a piece of wood and iron, why not?" wondered Veronica.

"Can you save it inside the Item Pouch?" asked Shade.

Veronica tried to do so, but it seemed impossible as well. If she wanted to bring the thing with her, she would have to carry it around.

"Ah, forget it… I will one day absorb a treasure chest… for now, let us get out of here, hopefully, we weren't sent to a different floor" said Veronica, as her party helped her find the switch to open the hidden room.

After a few minutes, Aqua found it below a large brick in a wall.

"Bloobb!" she said, indicating it to Veronica.

"Ah, good work Aqua!" said Veronica, activating the switch.

The hidden room walls and ceiling trembled, as they opened, revealing the long corridors where they were a few hours ago.

"Ah, it seems that it's the same floor that we were on before." Said Shade.

"Indeed, let's continue," said Veronica, taking Aqua with her. Aqua extended a thin layer of her slime over Veronica, and activated 'Stealth' and 'Camouflage'.

The party of three then continues their journey through the dungeon, encountering a few monsters on the next floors.

They came across a Giant Armored Snake, which was alone. Veronica ambushed it from behind, with the help of Aqua and Shade, and inflicted heavy wounds on the creature.

Through her Soul and Phantom Form combined, she managed to inflict even greater damage to the creature, and putting that together with her Unarmed Fighting Techniques and Aqua's support, the snake struggled but ended coughing mouthfuls of blood and died while trying to crush Veronica's leg.

Too bad that Veronica was immune to poison because of being a Living Armor, and although its entanglement was strong, Veronica barely felt pain through it, the snake was crushed to death and fried alive by Shade, who overused 'Light Rays' over it.

[Experience Points have reached the required level!]

[Individual 'Rank' has increased from level 1 to level 8!]

[Furthermore, the Individual's 'Job' has increased from level 1 to level 8!]

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