Chapter 21

It wasn't overly ornate, in fact, it was quite the opposite, looking like a low-tier gacha reward. The only thing of note about the brown wooden chest, other than it having appeared out of thin air, was the shape.

The chest was long, mimicking the proportions of a scaled-down loveseat. If I had laid down next to it, I'm sure the chest would have been nearly as tall as me.

As I approached it, I stopped for a moment to consider the likelihood of it being a trap or a mimic. Just as quickly as the thought popped into my head, I tossed it away. To me, it was the same as those intangible traps along the path up here, an inevitability.

If this reward for the boss was some sort of cruel trap, then good game, you win dungeon.

I reached the boss' fallout, the air was still quite hot as if the heat source was still hidden nearby. The chest, however, was cool to the touch, the wood old and chipped.

It had no keyhole, no locking mechanism of any kind. It made sense, what would the point of a reward be if there was no way to open it.

I slowly lifted the lid, being extremely careful to avoid any possible teeth or jaws that may be hidden beneath. Luckily, there was nothing of the sort.

The chest was bisected horizontally, the closer portion contained a small silver sphere. About the size of a baseball, the sphere seemed incredibly smooth, as if it was created by an incredibly precise machine.

This sphere wasn't what caught my eye, above it laid a long silver weapon. It seemed to be a twin-blade, shaped similar to a spear, the weapon was fitted out with a short and ornate black handle while sporting 2 longer silver blades on each end.

At first glance, the weapon looked quite simple, but if one paid close attention, the handle seemed to be hiding signs of some sort of greater function, looking as if there were hints of thorny vines buried slightly below the surface.

Without hesitation, I grabbed the twin blade from the chest, giving it a couple of test spins for good measure.

It was a little bit heavy, similar to the weight of a long metal pole, but it was much more wieldable compared to the weapons that my party members had me try out.

Another small grey hologram appeared before me while I idly spun the blade.

[ Would you like to inspect this weapon? ]

[ Yes ] [ No ]

My eyes widened. It seemed like a no-brainer, and without hesitation I accepted.

[ Weapon Menu Begin ]

Name - Immolation Twinblade

Class - Twinblade

Rarity - Rare

DPS - 43 / 94 (Aura active)

[ Skills ]

- Immolate

Create a simple battle aura around this weapon's blades by sacrificing blood to the handle. Continuously drains blood to sustain the battle aura. The quality of aura depends on the quantity and quality of the provided blood.

- ???

Insight is too low to discover this skill.

[ Weapon Menu End ]

At first glance, I couldn't help but be a little disappointed. I mean, the weapon seemed cool and all, but the simple 'rare' rarity slapped onto it stifled my excitement.

The DPS numbers didn't mean much to me either. From what I could tell, because of the fact that video game stats can't really transfer over 1 to 1 in the real world, most of these numbers were generally used to compare the quality and efficiency of items.

That meant that I, who was just discovering my first weapon, had no use for the numbers.

It wasn't until I reached the skill that my tune changed.

"Immolate, huh..." I sighed as I read it.

I wasn't too keen on the idea of using a vampiric weapon that sucked away my blood as I wielded it, but the skill kept bouncing around in my head.

It was because of my Tal poisoning, while the weapon didn't quite address the bloodletting problem I was having, it seemed to be adjacent to it.

Questions were welling around in my head. Would the aura be more powerful with my Tal-infested blood? Could I use the aura as a sort of mechanism to channel the Tal out of my blood, and possibly even cast spells from the blade? Did I even have enough blood left to try all of these things out?

I could imagine it, the most embarrassing death, dying on the floor of a completed boss room because I spent too much time testing out the new weapon dropped.

I looked down at the weapon, and to my knee, still bright red and inflamed. For now, I thought that I was better safe than sorry, and put the testing on the back burner for now.

The pants I was wearing had a simple weapon hook on the back, so I attached the twin blade and looked back towards the chest.

I had no idea what to do with the ball, it just sat there lifelessly, without a sign of its purpose. That was until I picked it up.

The moment I grabbed the orb, another grey hologram appeared in front of me.

[ Tal Contract ]

Title - Khazret Mountain Conquest (Dungeon Completion)

Difficulty - EX+ / ???

- Objective

Destroy the core at the heart of the Khazret Mountain Pyramid. Use the 8 orbs retrieved from each floor boss to progress through the pyramid.

Floor Bosses Defeated ( 1 / 8 )

??? ( 0 / 1 )

??? ( 0 / 1 )

- Rules

A time limit of 10 days after acceptance

Started upon defeating first-floor boss, if denied, will be unable to progress without exiting dungeon and redefeating first-floor boss.

Limit of 3 members per attempt.

Cannot exit dungeon until time limit ends.

- Rewards

??? [ Epic - Legendary ]

??? [ Epic - Unique ]

??? [ Unique (Growth) ]

??? [ Legendary ]

???

[ Accept this contract? ]

[ Yes ] [ No ]

It was an awe-inspiring quest, yet it only instilled a feeling of helplessness inside me.

I had thought that the golem we had just fought was the final boss of the pyramid, an incredible enemy that we defeated through error and sacrifice.

But no. Not only was this enemy one of 8 other "floor bosses," but if I left this dungeon without accepting the quest, the golem would return again as if nothing had ever happened, effectively making the sacrifices of my comrades null.

Tears rolled down my faces as I read over the contract again and again, looking for any secret or loophole that would make it achievable in any way.

I couldn't.

The quest, at my level, hell, almost anybody's level was just asking for death.

Furthermore, if I committed myself to the 10-day time limit, chances are that I would find myself locked in once I reached the entrance.

I wasn't stupid, I knew that the moment word of this quest got to those following behind, this dungeon would be deemed unsafe and sealed off.

I looked over to Bern's quiet corpse. What would he tell me to do?

No, I knew what he would say. He would tell me not to be an idiot. He would tell me not to throw away my life. He would tell me to train, train hard, and to come back here with a vengeance.

I had to get away from the option, the longer I looked, the more ways I found to justify killing myself here.

"Decline."

I was teleported out of the boss room.