Chapter 1036 Event Rewards, The Decoy Duke
...
Inside the Night Lord's Crypt...
After Izroth landed the finishing blow on Duke Zareign, he immediately began to focus on recovering his strength.
'I gained quite a bit this time around.'
As he consumed a mana potion, Izroth took the time to go through the system alerts he received.
〈System Alert: Congratulations, you have defeated the Blighted Feathers of the Dusk Duke Zareign!〉
〈System Alert: Your Contribution Points has increased by 4,500! [Total: 15,134.54〉
〈System Alert: Your feat has been recorded as a great contribution to the war effort! [Reward: +500 Contribution Points]〉
〈System Alert: Your Contribution Points has increased by 500! [Total: 15,634.54〉
〈System Alert: Congratulations, you are the first player to reach 10,000 Contribution Points! As a reward, you will receive a permanent 10% discount on all items purchased within the «Event Shop» for the duration of the event.〉
〈System Alert: You have received x1 «Special Event Treasure Chest»!〉
〈System Alert: You have received x1 «Special Event Shop 50% Discount Voucher»!〉
〈System Alert: As you have received two simultaneous «Top 100 Event Leaderboard» first player achievements, your permanent discount for the «Event Shop» has been increased to 20%!〉
Name: Special Event Treasure Chest(Event Only)
Usage: A special treasure chest created by combining 3 «Treasure Shard». Open to collect a special event-only prize!
Special Note: This item is automatically destroyed upon use.
Name: Special Event Shop 50% Discount Voucher(Event Only)
Usage: Reduces the price of a single item purchased from the «Event Shop» by 50% of its original cost.
Special Note: This item is automatically destroyed upon use.
'Oh? I figured there would be a reward for being the first to reach 10,000 contribution points, but this is even better than I expected.'
Thanks to the 200% emergency war objective, Izroth gained a staggering 4,500 contribution points from eliminating Duke Zareign. This was enough to instantly shoot him past his initial goal of acquiring 10,000 contribution points. On top of that, he even earned a bonus of 500 contribution points for his great contribution to the war effort.
Additionally, Izroth received almost 4,000 contribution points from eradicating a good portion of the Night Terror Shadow Beasts earlier.
The average strength of each creature was roughly that of a high-level skounae Viscount, while the strongest of the bunch was at the level of a skounae Earl. Still, Izroth did not expect to gain contribution points from the Night Terror Shadow Beasts. After all, even after destroying some of the Undead Night Marchers, he was not rewarded with any contribution points.
Because of this, Izroth believed that the Undead Night Marchers must have been conjured creatures that were considered an extension of Marquis Varokin. On the other hand, the Night Terror Shadow Beasts were likely tamed monsters under the direct control of Duke Zareign.
While the two were not all that different from a player standpoint, the distinction itself was important due to the way the system distributed contribution points.
After he confirmed his contribution points, Izroth shifted his attention to the two special event items he obtained. He first set his sights on the Special Event Treasure Chest as he removed it from his inventory.
Rather than a treasure chest, its appearance was more similar to that of a small ring box that fits perfectly in the palm of one's hand. The box was black with exquisite patterns of gold and platinum. It emitted a faint violet energy that gave one a feeling of awe and excitement.
'So this is what forms when you merge three Treasure Shards. I'm still a single Treasure Shard away from acquiring one through standard means. But with this, I will know whether or not Treasure Shards are worth pursuing. Since it contains an event-only item, I doubt I'll be disappointed.'
As those thoughts crossed Izroth's mind, he opened the Special Event Treasure Chest as a refreshing aura swept through the immediate surroundings.
'Oh? A pill?'
At the center of the treasure chest that Izroth opened was a spherical object with strange patterns etched into its surface.
At first glance, Izroth thought it was a pill as that's what its appearance reflected; however, he quickly found out that was not the case.
'No, while it does look like a pill and even releases a refreshing aura, it's not the same.'
Izroth wasted no time examining the item's information through the system. And it did not take long for him to realize its usefulness.
Name: Prosperous Bead of Attainment(Event Only)
Rank: Unique*
Usage: Consuming this item grants the user 1 random «Hidden Stat» and sets that stat's value to its lowest default.
Special Note: This item is automatically destroyed upon use.
'An item capable of granting its consumer a random hidden stat—its value is easily on par with the event shop voucher. No, rather, it exceeds it. The voucher can only be used once, but a hidden stat stays with a player forever. Are all items given by the Special Event Treasure Chest of similar value? If so, once news of this gets out, players will start to go crazy trying to obtain Treasure Shards.'
Izroth's Might stat was a hidden stat that he obtained from a legendary ranked item. If the Prosperous Bead of Attainment was able to grant players a hidden stat with that kind of potential, then its consuming one was almost not different than acquiring a legendary ranked item!
The small box vanished from the palm of Izroth's hand as he picked up the Prosperous Bead of Attainment.
'If it worked at that time, perhaps...'
The instant he saw the effects of the Prosperous Bead of Attainment, there was one thought that immediately entered Izroth's mind.
'It's certainly worth a shot.'
〈System Alert: The effects of «Heart of A Creator» has activated!〉
〈System Alert: This item cannot be disassembled!〉
〈System Alert: The effects of «The Unbounded One» has activated!〉
〈System Alert: System Admin Restriction[1]! This item cannot be reproduced!〉
〈System Alert: System Compensation In Progress...〉
〈System Alert: A profession related production method «???» can be added to the skill «Heart of A Creator». Would you like to add «???»? (Please Note: Adding this production method will consume one slot for Stored Production Methods.)〉
'It actually worked..!'
Just now, Izroth used the Heart of A Creator effect from his Unparalleled Craftsman skill.
Heart of A Creator allowed him to disassemble an item in order to gain access to its production method. However, unique items like the Prosperous Bead of Attainment could not be replicated—at least, under normal circumstances.
Due to his skill The Unbounded One, Izroth was not bound by the standard restrictions that the system imposed in the same way that other players were. This did not mean that the system modified the parameters it set. Instead, it simply created another solution that would not work in direct conflict with its parameters.
Of course, it was not as if it came without any risk to Izroth. For one, the Prosperous Bead of Attainment would be destroyed. Furthermore, for all he knew, the production method could have a cost well beyond his current means.
But Izroth was not someone who was afraid of a little risk. Even if its production cost happened to exceed what he was presently capable of, it did not mean that would always be the case.
Izroth confirmed the addition of the new production method as the Prosperous Bead of Attainment dissipated from his hand.
〈System Alert: A new production method has successfully been added to «Heart of A Creator»! [Stored Production Methods: 2/4]〉
Just as Izroth was about to open his system interface and view the new production method, a voice called out to him.
"Izroth, it would seem that we've run into a problem." Lances' voice sounded as he arrived at the top of the staircase.
"Yes, I've noticed," Izroth replied calmly as he set aside previous thoughts and set his gaze toward the mysterious corridor.
He then continued, "I figured that it might just be a slight delay before any changes occurred; however, that doesn't seem to be the case. If it's like this, then..."
"It's exactly as you're thinking. Duke Zareign—he's not the person linked to the life seal. And if it's not a skounae Duke, then that only leaves one possibility." Lances stated with a serious expression.
'I already suspected as much. Though I was hoping it would turn out to be a needless worry.'
The mysterious corridor was protected by a special life seal that could not be broken unless the one guarding it was defeated. When Duke Zareign was eliminated, the mysterious corridor should have opened a path that led to the area where the Night Lord Zarolas was in the process of being revived. But, there were no signs of changes to the mysterious corridor as the path forward was still sealed.
If a Duke of Zareign's strength was not the person linked to the mysterious corridor, then the only other entity that came to mind was one—a Night Lord.
If a Night Lord was connected to the life seal, it meant that they would have to find and defeat them if they wanted to proceed any further. However, there was no way the Night Lord would show themselves and risk the revival of Zarolas unless it was absolutely necessary.
'Is there really no other way?'
"Is there any way to break through this seal?" Izroth inquired as he glanced over at Lances, who appeared to be in a state of deep thought.
[1] See chapter 681