A Rare Treasure

“Greatsword of Ice!”

As the words left her mouth, a greatsword made of sparkling ice appeared in her two hands. In her position, the blade of ice extended until it pierced through the vampire's chest. He was only barely able to avoid death by twisting his body in such a manner that the blade had avoided his heart.

However, Freya was not done yet. With her feet firmly planted in the wooden floor and her hand holding the ice sword, she used all her strength to push her opponent backwards. The vampire that was badly injured was able to do nothing as the girl quickly pushed him into one of the beams of sunlight.

The taller man began to writhe in agony, moving his body left and right to get out of this beam. His struggle further damaged his insides, as the greatsword was still inside him and the ice had formed around the wound, preventing him from pulling it out.

Freya held onto the greatsword strongly as the vampire began to hysterically swipe his claws at her, but the sword was long enough to keep her out of his range. He began to hit the sword, but it held on, Freya had to struggle a lot to keep him in control, but she gave her all to keep him in the sunlight until a message appeared before her eyes.

[You have killed a level 23 'Bloodborne Vampire'. +1896 Exp points.]

[You have levelled up to level 15! +10 Distributable stats point.]

She finally let go of the handle before fall back on to the floor. Her heart was pounding against her chest and her breath was racing. She knew she was only able to kill because he was trying to capture her and not kill her. She was also surprised by the durability of the ice greatsword. In the past it would have been unable to hold against such powerful blows, but now it only had a few small cracks. She pondered how her other spells had also grown much powerful as she looked at the ashes of her now dead enemy.

'Get up now, Freya.' Artium spoke, 'We don't have much time. Search the captain's cabin to see if there's something valuable.'

The female mage finally got up as she began to walk towards the open door of the captain's cabin. As she entered the room, she found a dark room illuminated by a few tables on a desk in the middle. Luckily, a ray of sunshine also came into the room, and she also cast a small fireball that further increased visibility.

A large map was spread on the table, along with a compass and a few other tools of navigation. There were also a few books. She walked forward as she looked at the map. It was a large map showing the whole of the Sea of Two Kings. The sea was named so because the navy of the two kingdoms, Kraus and Chemor, had fought for centuries, yet none managed to take its control.

Freya was observing the detailed map when suddenly a new message appeared before her.

[The 'World Map' function has been unlocked.]

'Ignore that for now.' Artium spoke up. 'Search the drawers quickly. The storm is almost upon us.'

She searched the drawers and only found a few large bags filled with silver coins. It was enough money to fund a team of adventures for a few months, perhaps more. She put the bags in her backpack and continued searching, but only found a gold necklace with a green gem embedded in its center. She thought nothing of it until the system displayed a message.

[Necklace of Meditation

Rank: Uncommon

Description: A Necklace forged by a beginner Runesmith. Its mediocre craftsmanship makes it an acceptable neck piece until a better one is found.

Effects:

1. Mana recovery increased by 5%]

'It's a low quality piece, but it'll do for now. You should also search the chest in the corner.'

Freya noticed the wooden chest in the corner of the room, as Artium pointed out. It had a large lock. She held it in her hand with a little pulse of her mana, the lock froze over and shattered.

Inside the chest was a set of leather armor. A torso piece, boots and gloves. The chest also held some more bags of silver coins and a scroll.

'If you take each piece into your hand, the system will show its details.'

She quickly picked up each piece of armor.

[Bronze Leather Torso Armor

Rank: Uncommon

Defense: 410

Durability: 340/340

Description: A piece of armor forged from the skin of a Bronze Skinned Rhino by an amateur blacksmith. It has acceptable defense for the materials used.]

Bronze Skinned Rhino was known for its hard skin and excellent defense. So armor forged from its skin also had high defense, regardless of the skill of its creator. It was considerably better than her current 'Ranger's Leather Armor'.

The pair of gloves and boots also had higher defense than her current equipment. Both were of uncommon rank, she didn't know what it meant, but it was certainly better than her common rank equipment and the description similar to the torso piece.

She didn't give it a second thought before she put on the new armor and put the bags of silver coins in her backpack.

Finally, she picked up the scroll at the bottom of the wooden chest.

[Scroll of Instant Retreat

Rank: Rare

Type: Consumable

Description: A Magic scroll created by a sixth circle mage using the advanced Space magic. It is a rare piece that will teleport the user and one more person designated by them to a designated Transport Gate within 1000 meters.]

'Well, this is unexpected.' Artium spoke, taking advantage of her silence. 'This should make it a lot easier for us. Where is the nearest Transport gate?'

A Transport Gate was an ancient heritage that not even the wisest mages of the current age could uncover its workings. They used a branch of magic long forgotten, but Artium himself was an ancient mage, so he was well aware of Transport Gates. In the current age, these gates were an important mode of transportation for the rich and the powerful. A mere silver rank had no hope of using one, even if it meant they would be able to reach their destination in a matter of moments instead of months. This was due to the stupendous cost of using one.

“The Harbor city of Betlam, it has a Transport Gate.” Freya answered. “It was our destination in the first place, before we're forced to stop at this island.”

'In that case, see if you can find anything else, and we should get going.' The Ancient Mage spoke up. 'Also make sure this ship is also destroyed just like the other one. It would trap the vampires on this island, ensuring they wouldn't send another team after you for at least a month.'

Freya nodded and began to search the room, but after a thorough search, she only found one more bag filled with silver coins. She left the room and went to the hull. There she picked up the sword of her defeated opponent. She only knew how to use a dagger and not a sword, but Artium had told her that she would need a good sword in the future. So instead of wasting her coin, she decided to use this one, as the owner no longer had any use for it.

[One-Handed Steel Sword

Rank: Common

Attack Damage: 216

Durability: 115/150

Description: A steel sword forged by a beginner Blacksmith. It is more than enough for any adventurer, as it can cut novice level monsters with ease.]

It was a long blade, about 80 centimeters, with a curve at the tip. The handle had a guard that protected the hand. A small round red stone was used as a pommel. Freya noticed the durability of the sword had diminished, probably due to the lightning spell it took.

'It will do for now, but as you grow stronger you will need a better weapon.'

Artium's voiced echoed in her head. She put the sword in its sheath that she found among the ashes of its previous user and began to cast a powerful second circle spell.

“Penetrating Ice Shard!”

A huge ice crystal, almost five meters in length and a meter in diameter, appeared above the ship and continued to hover there, held by the mana of its caster. It was one of the most powerful spells in her arsenal that would have cost her three fourth of her mana previously. But now she could repeatedly cast this spell at least four more times, not to mention it was much larger than she had been previously able to.

Freya pulled out the scroll and channeled her mana into it until the magic circle began to glow. A larger magic circle appeared at her feet, and a moment later she vanished in a flash of black.

The huge ice crystal, no longer supported by mana of its caster, began to descent towards the black ship. With a tremendous crash, it broke through the hull and the lower floors until it appeared from the bottom of the ship. Water from the sea began to rush into the ship, and it only took less than an hour before the sea swallowed the flagship.