Chapter Eighty-Three

The chest contained two items, both of which were useless to Edward. If anything, they were best used for Brandon, the one that opened the chest in the first place. 

The first item was a small silver ring with a garnet centerpiece. The ring itself didn't have any special designs or engravings. Had it not been for the small garnet fixed upon the top of the ring, Edward would've assumed it was a piece of trash— perhaps a lost part of a factory machine. The garnet itself was small, yet it shined in the light of Leila's flame like a beacon, blinding anybody who looked at it. As Brandon pulled it out of the chest, Edward quickly appraised it and gasped as the result.

︽

Ring of Annoyance

+10% chance enemies will ignore the user

(Increased to +20% if a strong light is reflected from the ring's centerpiece)

︾

"Not exactly what I was expecting," Markus laughed as he appraised the ring, as well. Brandon looked at it, confused, "It feels more like a gag item than dungeon gear."

"Can I keep this?" Brandon asked as he looked to the others, "I feel like I get attacked more than anybody else, despite my luck."

"You're right, you need something like that," Markus laughed. Edward nodded, then turned his gaze back to the chest. Once Brandon put the ring on his finger, he looked back to the chest and pulled out the second item.

Edward was surprised to find Brandon holding a small curved sword. The sword's crescent handguard and hilt were made out of pure gold, yet the blade was stained with dried blood. The weapon itself seemed like something a bandit would use. The sword didn't have a scabbard, but instead a small leather belt with a single loop meant to keep the blade in place.

︽

Pirate's Cutlass

DMG: (Equal to # of Silver Coins on the opponent's person + User's level)

+10% DMG if the opponent is an NPC merchant

NOTE: This weapon has a special property that allows it to ignore DEF

︾

"Another strange item," Leila laughed.

"It isn't much use right now. Our enemies won't have any money on them, after all," Markus said.

"It'll still do damage equal to our levels," Edward added as he turned to Markus. After a moment, he looked back at Brandon, "You use it. The rest of us are capable of dealing damage, but you're not. With that, you'll at least be able to deal some damage, though it won't be much."

"Thank you," Brandon smiled. He threw his rapier into his bag— as it would be useless unless he was fighting an incredibly low-leveled enemy— before putting the leather belt around his waist. Once the group regained what little HP and MP they lost, they returned to the dungeon and resumed the hunt.

—

During their exploration, Edward and the others explored the other two treasure rooms and easily killed the enemies guarding them, as well as the remaining seven groups of gorillas waiting throughout the dungeon's floor. During this time, Markus made sure to let Edward fight a gorilla or two solo, which Edward was extremely grateful for.

Truthfully, though, because the dungeon's fights were similar to each other, time passed quickly for the group. By the time they reached the boss room, everybody had just crossed into level sixteen. During this time, they all allocated their stats in the ways they deemed necessary and upgraded some of their skills. Nobody gained new skills, much to Edward's surprise.

Unfortunately, Ikarus didn't grow in size when he reached level fifteen. This told Edward that the dragon grew every ten levels, rather than every five. It was an unfortunate truth, but one that Edward was glad to learn.

Edward didn't pay too much attention to their stats, instead choosing to appraise them each at a basic level. The information he gathered was only enough to compare to the appraisal results he got from monsters, but he didn't care.

︽

Ikarus

Lvl 16

HP: 500 | DMG: 140 | DEF: 138 

︾

Ikarus's stats hadn't really changed, other than an increase in HP and DEF. The small dragon seemed to focus more on his Wisdom stat, allowing his other stats to stagnate for a moment. Edward didn't really mind this, as Ikarus's Wisdom also increased his DMG.

︽

The Forgotten Flame

Lvl 16

HP: 450 | DMG: 165 | DEF: 98 

︾

Leila chose to increase her Endurance and Wisdom by a large chunk, increasing all of the stats revealed in the appraisal. Edward approved with a nod before turning to Markus.

︽

The False Immortal

Lvl 16

HP: 888 | DMG: 15 | DEF: 180

︾

Markus put almost all of his points into Endurance in an effort to increase his HP and DEF. By this point, both his HP and DEF had reached monstrous levels, though his DMG suffered greatly as a result. By this point, Markus's only choice in dealing with damage was to use his [Sacrifice] skill. What little remained afterward was put into Wisdom

︽

Leapt into Luck

Lvl 16

HP: 300 | DMG: 25 | DEF: 68 

︾

Surprisingly, Brandon only used half of his stat points to increase Luck. The rest were put into Endurance to make himself beefier, yet Edward still believed Brandon was too flimsy. He wouldn't be surprised if Brandon ended up dying in only a few hits, though he was glad the Ring of Annoyance could possibly prevent that from happening, now.

As for his own stats, Edward put ten points into Agility to increase his speed, then divided the remaining thirty evenly between Endurance and Wisdom. As a result, his appraisal screen looked like this. 

︽

The Winged Legion

Lvl 16

HP: 575 | DMG: 135 | DEF: 123

︾

He used both of his skill points to bring his [Minor Mount Mastery] to the Intermediate level, allowing him to ride all common mounts and a few monsters.

Leila brought her [Advanced Dragon Tame] to the Perfect level, allowing it to reach the level of Edward's skill. Markus brought his [Minor Regeneration] to the Intermediate level, which allowed him to regenerate ten HP every second. After Brandon leveled up, he brought his [Minor Predictability] to the Intermediate level.

As far as the equipment went, Brandon pulled a total of two items from each of the other two chests scattered throughout the dungeon. 

The first chest contained another Ring of Annoyance— which went to Leila— as well as a small silver dagger called The Bloodied Knife. It wasn't anything special— as it only gave its wielder an increase in intimidation when they held it. Edward wasn't sure who to give it to, as nobody really needed it. Therefore, Brandon was holding onto it until the need arose.

The second chest contained a set of plate greaves and plate boots. Thanks to the armor, Markus was finally able to complete his set of sapphire armor. The boots gave him an increase in poise— allowing him to resist powerful blows without falling over, while the greaves gave Markus another increase in Ice resistance. Unfortunately, only Markus's plate armor increased his defense, but the stats given by the smaller pieces of armor weren't at all bad. Markus was very happy to have so many bonuses.