Chapter Eighty-Three

The chest contained two items, both of which were useless to Edward. If anything, they were best reserved for Brandon, the one who 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 in the ring's center socket, Edward would've assumed it was a piece of trash or some 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 at the result.

︽

Ring of Annoyance

+10% chance enemies will become blind for a moment while looking at 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 from 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 Bronze Coins (Or equivalent value) on the opponent's person + Half of User's Luck Stat)

+10% DMG if the opponent is an NPC merchant

︾

"Another strange item," Leila laughed.

"Although our enemies won't have any money on them, It'll do a lot of damage in your hands," Markus said.

"True," Edward added as he turned to Markus. After a moment, he looked back at Brandon, "You use it. Your Luck stat is the strongest of all of us, so it's like this weapon was made with you in mind. With that, you'll at least be able to deal with some damage, though it won't be as much as some of the rest of us can do."

"Thank you," Brandon smiled. He threw his rapier, which had become far worse than his new weapon, into his bag 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 their descent.

—

During their exploration, Edward and the others explored the other two treasure rooms. They easily killed the enemies guarding the two treasure chests, 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.

Because the dungeon's fights were all similar to one another, time passed quickly for the group. When they reached the boss room, everybody had just reached level sixteen. During this time, they all allocated their stats in the ways they deemed necessary, then upgraded some of their skills. Nobody gained any new skills, much to Edward's surprise, but rather chose to upgrade the ones they had.

Unfortunately, Ikarus didn't grow in size when he reached level fifteen. This meant 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 his groups 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 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 stat points 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.

As for his 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 upgrade his [Basic Morph] skill to [Intermediate Morph], which meant it now used 650 MP and increased his strength by 100% when transformed. A single more level into the [Morph] skill would bring the MP cost down to a level he could afford. It would also increase his strength to 125% when he was using it, which made him very excited for when he reached level seventeen.

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

As far as the equipment went, Brandon pulled two items from 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 of 12% in intimidation when they held it. Edward wasn't sure who to give it to, as nobody 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 could finally complete his set of sapphire armor. The boots gave him an increase of 12% in poise, a stat that allowed him to resist powerful blows without falling over, while the greaves gave Markus an increase of 12% 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.