Cassian examined what his chest contained: a pair of dark blue leather gloves, a black book, a transparent bottle with a white liquid, a small piece of paper, and finally, three pieces of wood.
He bent down and began to examine them one by one, but all he could confirm was that it was a book, a bottle with white liquid, a pair of gloves, and some pieces of wood.
It was when he came to the note that he found a clue as to what they meant.
{Place the Varnorr splinters against the object to identify it.}
That was what was written there. Cassian was intrigued, as it was a language with letters he had never seen before and should not have been able to understand... but even so, he read it easily, as if it were his mother tongue.
Hmm... this is strange. Hmm... I guess it's some kind of automatic translation.
Cassian decided not to think too much about why he understood that language. Yes, it was strange, but honestly, it wasn't the strangest thing he had experienced today.
More important was what the note said.
"Splinters? Oh, let's see, like this?"
Cassian thought he understood what it meant. Considering that there were three objects and three pieces of wood, with a little intuition he easily connected the dots.
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Black Leather Gloves
Type: Equipment / White / PhysicalEffect: +20% improvement in attack speedAutomatically adjusts to the user's hands for a perfect fit.[Must be worn on the hands]
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Strength Potion
Type: Consumable / White/ Enhancement Physical
Effect: When you drink, your strength increases by between 10% and 40% for two minute.
[Must be drunk completely]
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When he attached the splinters to the objects, a small floating screen—which looked like wood, but was translucent—appeared.
It's like a game. It has descriptions and everything. Now that I think about it, there are no things like a "status"... hmm, I think if that existed, Plouthys would have mentioned it.
Ideally, there would be a system, as that also fascinated him, but he felt that if there really was one, Plouthys—who was quite talkative—would have mentioned it in his introduction. So, probably, those splinters were something like an evaluation object.
Still, he would be lying if he said he didn't find it interesting. It all felt like a game, not to mention the chests and what came out of them.
He still didn't know if those items were good or not, but just opening the chest was enough to satisfy him.
Even so, there was one more item to evaluate, and he had left it for last because he had the best feeling about it. And hewas not wrong:
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Compass of Want
Type: Skill / ■■■■■■/ Spiritual
Effect: The user gains a supernatural perception that allows them to detect and track treasures, valuable artifacts, rare materials, or ≡∷『■〓¡¥⊠!¿╳』.
It ████ like a sixth sense that reacts to objects of high material or magical value.
The detection range increases according to the user's degree of ████.
[To obtain, place your hands on it and say 'discere']
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Wow! You can even learn skills from books? Hmm... that easy? also because there are illegible parts?, ...even so you can understand what he is doing,humm .....Well, no point in overthinking it.
Like everything else that had happened today, he decided not to dwell on it too much and just experience how real all those things were.
"'discere' Huh? Did I say it right?... I don't feel anything different."
When he followed the instructions, the book disappeared in particles of light and went into his body, but he didn't feel anything different, or that he had learned anything... until, suddenly, he felt a slight impulse towards something.
He felt something urging him to go in a certain direction, and when he turned to where the impulse pointed, he saw... the other chests, right beside him.
"But what?! Well, they're treasures, even if they're not mine... At least it seems to work."
Well, that was silly, considering how close and visible the chests were — but the important thing is, it seemed to work.
It wasn't really useful at the moment, but Cassian was a little happy to have his personal chest detector. It was really a good starting skill.
"Cazzy! What were you mumbling about? What was that screen with strange letters on it? Why could I understand what it was saying? What's this nonsense about being able to learn a skill?"
At that moment, Naelune seemed fascinated by what Cassian was doing.
She really seemed to have been looking over his shoulder for quite some time and appeared to have read the same thing he had.
She also seemed unfamiliar with the letters, even though she was able to read them.
Rather, now that he looked around, everyone in the group was watching him with interest, although they weren't basically on top of him like Naelune.
He had really become immersed in claiming the loot and seeing how everything worked.
"Hmm... yes, it seems the book allowed me to learn a treasure detection skill. It seems useful."
"You just got a skill like that, just like that?! Don't lie to me, Cazzy! Do you think I'm stupid!?"
Cassian responded to the curious Naelune, understanding her confusion, but upon hearing him, she was incredulous. In fact, she grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him.
"Hey, stop shaking me. What's the problem?"
Cassian finally took things in hand, stood up, and stopped Naelune, who suddenly seemed hysterical and incredulous.
"And you're asking me that?! Isn't it obvious?!"
"Stop yelling. Remember that Sir Cassian comes from a world without gods."
"Oh, right, I forgot..."
"Let me explain, Sir Cassian. Skills are not easy to obtain. Apart from those inherited or born with them, they can only be obtained if one receives the grace of a god, which is something that does not happen easily."
"Yes, as little knight says. Furthermore, it is said that all current hereditary skills are due to the fact that at some point an ancestor had the grace of a god. They are not simply obtained by killing or fleeing from some beasts."
hmm, so there was such a thing. That means Plouthys is indeed a god.
Cassian thought to himself upon hearing Valeriane and Naelune's explanation. If that is the case, it means he was not lying and was truly a generous god, as he himself said.
That made him even more curious, and he looked at the other six chests. They were obviously for the rest of the team, but he wanted to know what would be inside them.
"Well, it seems like a real skill. Why don't you guys try it? Maybe you'll get some skills."
"Huh? Seriously? You really got a skill...? If that's the case, then maybe I could too... Ugh, but this was based on contribution level, right? Damn it, I should've tried harder. I didn't think it could be this good... Well, whatever—if it's not a skill, at least give me something good!"
At Cassian's words, Naelune—who still seemed a little incredulous about Cassian's skill—wanted to check it out and went to the chest that corresponded to the color of her key.
Although on her way to the chest she was struck by a few thoughts that made her feel a bit regretful—she wasn't sure she'd tried hard enough and began to doubt if her level of contribution was sufficient—even so, she opened it, and after a flash, two objects appeared.
"Bingo!! Two books! Well, this god knows that I am the soul of the group and a key factor in passing his tests."
Cassian, intrigued, approached Naelune from behind and, as she had said, saw that in her chest there were two books, two splinters and a piece of paper, the latter saying the same thing as his.
"Luna, put the pieces of wood on top of the books."
Cassian encouraged Naelune.
"I know, I saw you before. Come on, give me a powerful skill."
And she, placing the splinter on the first book, made a screen appear with the following.
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Moderation of Words
Type: Book / Informative /mental
Effect: An enriching read that teaches the value of keeping quiet when necessary.
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"..."
"Hee~!"
She excitedly began reading the note aloud, but fell silent after realizing what it meant, earning a laugh from Cassian behind her.
She really found it funny. Of all things, that was the last thing she expected.
"..."（＾_,＾）
"...Haha."
"As I was saying, Ling—hee~ ahem—you have to be more active and—uff..."
He wasn't the only one. The rest of the group, who had also heard her, had different reactions.
Valeriane seemed to be holding back laughter, keeping a serious face, but her eyes and the corners of her lips betrayed her. Meanwhile, Ellys turned around, but you could see her trembling and hear a soft giggle.
Yefeng, for some reason, pretended to talk to his sister—who couldn't speak—but his voice betrayed his urge to laugh."
"Huahahaha!, how funny! It seems that this is really based on achievements."
The dragon didn't hold back and laughed out loud in Naelune's face without any reservation.
"Grrr, you'll pay for this later!... Besides, that's not all... let's see, the next one is..."
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Affinity to Poison
Type: Skill / Withe/ Elemental
Effect: You gain a great affinity for poison, being able to manipulate it at will.
[To obtain, place your hands on it and say 'discere']
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"Hee!! A skill! And it's a rare affinity! Who's laughing now!?"
Now it turned out to be a skill, which made Naelune gloat in front of all those who had laughed at her.
"Haaah, why do they give dangerous things to someone like her...?"
"I agree..."
Valeriane shook her head. Of all the possible skills, why that one? Ellys agreed as well.
"Hmmm, for some reason, I think poison and Luna go well together..."
"Hey, Cazzy... I don't know if that was a compliment or not, but I'll take it as one. Well, this skill alone makes it all worthwhile. I suppose the book counts as 'non-essential', so take it, Cazzy. It doesn't seem like anything particularly useful.
"No, I think you should read it. It's literally a divine message... More importantly, now who's going to open the next one?".
Cassian didn't stop anymore. It was time to open the chests. Since Naelune was done with hers, it was the next one's turn.
"I'll do it! I mean... Now, now look at me! I, who was definitely the biggest contributor, will show you what a real reward is."
The volunteer was the dragoness, who went to her chest full of confidence. And indeed, in the first part of the battle she overpowered two spiders just like Cassian, and during the escape - although it didn't do much good - she eliminated many dozens.
Her contribution could be even higher than Cassian's.
Fwwooosh!
"Good! two skill books, a legendary potion, and a legendary artifact! Worthy of my contribution!"
"Oh, you have a lot."
"Hey you! When did you get behind me?"
Cassian, who was once again interested in what would come out, just like with Naelune, approached the dragon lady from behind. It was obviously the way to see more clearly what had come out.
"I bet one is like Luna's!"
"Hmph! You're just talking nonsense. Do you think I need something like that? Take a good look at what the next legendary skill is!"
When he saw that they were also books, he really believed that one must be like Naelune's, but the dragon lady seemed confident that it wasn't, and she confidently used the first splinter and...
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Moderation of Words Vol. 2
Type: Book / Informative /mental
Effect: An enriching read that teaches the value of keeping quiet when necessary, as well as being clear and concise, and avoiding rambling.
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