Chapter 32: Skill Scroll!

Nick held the [Shield of Sturdy Stone] and went to Sally, who looked bewildered. Nick didn't have that kind of twisted sense of humor, and he directly handed the round shield to her.

He said calmly, "You killed the monster Scarecrow, so this rune equipment, the [Shield of Sturdy Stone], naturally belongs to you."

"..."

Sally looked at the shield in her hand with disbelief.

Before teaming up, the agreed distribution was 7/3. But since teaming up, Nick had basically been doing all the work, and as a result, she had received an extremely valuable piece of rune equipment.

She quickly shook her head and refused, saying, "I did think about this just now... This rune equipment will be most effective if you have it."

Seeing Sally's repeated refusals, Nick chuckled. Other adventurer teams might turn against each other because of a relatively rare item.

But here he was, unable to even give away something he wanted to give.

He was a little helpless and shook his head, "What? Do you think I can pull a bow and hold a shield at the same time? Sorry, I can't do that."

"..."

Seeing that she still wouldn't nod, Nick continued, "Don't think that this rune weapon is a free gift. When we fight dungeon creatures, I need you to hold them back. You need to be mentally prepared. It's easy to get injured when fighting unknown creatures, which is why I'm giving you this rune equipment."

After saying this, he didn't give Sally a chance to refuse. He picked up the shovel and prepared to dig downwards. The abandoned library was extremely tempting to Nick.

"Alright, let's continue exploring."

"Okay..."

Sally had no choice but to nod gently. She focused her gaze on the Shield of Sturdy Stone in her hand, naturally understanding Nick's intentions. It was nothing more than to protect her own safety when facing dungeon creatures.

After all, in so many explorations, she basically had no chance to take action. Nick had always dealt with the dungeon creatures cleanly and efficiently.

And he said something about holding back the dungeon creatures...

Wasn't he actually worried about her safety? Did he have to say it in such a roundabout way?

Sally carried the round Shield of Sturdy Stone on her back, picked up the shovel on the ground, and looked at Nick's back, the corners of her mouth curving upwards slightly.

"I always feel that the captain is quite handsome when he's not talking!!"

Sally's inner evaluation of Nick had increased a lot. She just didn't know that what Nick had just said was basically serious.

The task of digging back and forth naturally fell on Sally. Nick didn't want to waste digging chances on this. After returning to the previous dungeon, he didn't make a decision immediately.

Nick looked around a few times and finally looked at Sally. He asked, "Sally, which direction should we dig now?"

"Captain, you're so lucky, you should definitely choose!"

Sally said subconsciously. After all, in their team explorations, the choices Nick made, no matter how bad, always yielded some small gains. Situations where they found absolutely nothing were rare.

And they had also obtained rune equipment from the previous dungeon.

Nick nodded slightly and finally pointed downwards, saying slowly, "Then let's dig downwards... Maybe I'll get a melee weapon or something."

"Okay, Captain."

Sally nodded in response and very consciously began to dig downwards. It was only a distance of 9 meters, and it only took a little while to dig through the dungeon.

After arriving in the new environment, she further implemented Nick's cautious style, raising the shield in her right hand and carefully surveying the unfamiliar environment in front of her.

This was also the first time Sally had entered this type of dungeon. She said with a bit of self-satisfaction, "I told you, Captain, your choice is right!!"

"..."

Nick just glanced around and then relaxed his vigilance. The hint didn't show any danger, so he didn't need to worry about safety.

He looked around. The size was only about 30 square meters. Cracks could be seen on the ground, and the walls were blocked by bookshelves, but they were definitely not in good condition.

Most of the bookshelves had collapsed. From the thick dust accumulated on the bookshelves, it was not difficult to see that Nick was the first visitor in many years.

He looked at the mostly collapsed bookshelves. The vast majority of the books had disappeared in the long river of time. Only a few parchment scrolls could be preserved.

Nick gently touched the parchment scrolls with his fingers. After confirming that there was no risk of damage, he took a thick parchment scroll in his hand.

After unfolding the parchment scroll a little, he saw a series of unknown characters. Nick opened the black panel and decisively used the [Identify] function.

[Dungeon Creature Catalogue]: Records most of the species in the dungeon world, as well as the dietary habits of dungeon creatures.

"..."

Nick looked at the parchment scroll in his hand, his expression instantly freezing. It was normal to record dungeon creatures, but why record the dietary habits of dungeon creatures?

Was this telling Nick how to become a more palatable meal for dungeon creatures?

He put away this scroll and looked at the other scrolls. After gathering them all together, he used the [Identify] function on each one.

Information about these books appeared before Nick one by one.

[Dungeon Survival Guide]

[Daily Maintenance Tutorial for Rune Weapons]

He skimmed through the first two scrolls. They didn't record anything of value. Instead, it was the last thin parchment scroll that attracted Nick's attention.

[Enhance]: A blessing-type skill that can release a buff on the target, increasing the strength, agility, and stamina of the blessed.

[Note: Before learning this skill, please reach the Transcendent stage and awaken a blessing-type ability!]

"So... there are abilities in this world?!"

Nick's expression became much more serious. If the [Gene Breakthrough Potion] he had obtained earlier opened the door to a new world for him, then this parchment scroll was equivalent to guiding his future path.

Ability users!

This kind of plot that only appeared in science fiction movies, Nick didn't expect that one day it could appear on him, which made him feel a little expectant.

Nick was even more determined to find a few more beginner Gene Potions, bring his physical fitness to a bottleneck, and then use the [Gene Breakthrough Potion] to enter the Transcendent stage.

No matter what type of ability he awakened, it would be a considerable improvement to his strength.

Nick put these scrolls into a box for separate storage. He looked around, confirmed that no survival supplies were missed, and then said slowly.

"Let's go, there should be nothing left here... We'll go to the trading market first and trade off those extra survival resources."