Level Up Inquisitor [EN]: Chapter 12

12. Blasphemer (4)

Thud, thud, thud!

Eil felt the ground tremble from ‘something’ moving above, but he didn’t rush to move.

The cave wasn’t about to collapse immediately, and looting was the priority.

Taking his time to look around, Eil first approached Ratma’s corpse.

It was the spot where Ratma had turned to ashes and scattered, leaving only traces, but there were no problems collecting the items and money left behind.

– Acquired item!

[Ratma’s Staff (Superior)]

[Torn Robe Fragment x 11 (Common)]

[Unidentifiable White Light Skill Book]

[6 Shillings 14 Krone]

This was a considerable sum compared to the 4 shillings he had earned from hunting zombies in this hunting ground.

In addition, he got a magic staff as a superior item.

It was a pity that it was low-level, but since the boss’s name was attached as a modifier and it was a superior equipment item, he could sell it for a good price at the auction house.

But what caught Eil’s attention the most was something else.

It looked like a worn-out book with an old leather cover, but it was an item, the only means for a user to acquire skills.

Eil looked down at it and placed his hand on it without hesitation.

Then, a faint white light emanated, enveloping the book, and a system message popped up.

[Tough Skin (Low Grade)]

– Trains and hardens the skin to withstand enemy attacks.

– Defense increases by 3 (proportional to level).

“…….”

However, after looking at the description window for a moment, Eil threw the skill book he was holding onto the floor.

He had no intention of learning the skill that had just appeared.

If he had activated the skill book and learned it, he would have gained a passive that immediately increased his defense, giving him some leeway, but the problem was that the number of skills he could learn was limited by level.

It was a low-performance, low-grade skill, and not the kind of passive that could be upgraded to a higher skill. It would only take up one of the skill slots that increased by one every 10 levels, preventing him from learning other skills.

Filling up with just any skill was a shortcut to becoming a failed, ruined character.

Of course, there was a way to remove learned skills, but the cost of replacing them with other skills was very high, making it difficult to do easily.

“Well, I didn’t expect much in the first place, so…”

Eil clicked his tongue and muttered.

In fact, there was hardly any disappointment on his face.

Each of the Warlock’s skill books, which randomly determined the skills given, had a ‘potential’ that gave a higher probability of obtaining better skills, and the potential grade could be distinguished by the color of the light it emitted.

In order, from the white light skill book, which had the lowest probability of giving a useful skill, to crimson, red, purple, and black, and finally, the golden light skill book, which had a high probability of giving an amazing skill.

For ordinary users, who found it almost impossible to obtain high-grade skills, even low-grade skills would be gratefully accepted at the beginning, but Eil was not the kind of person to be satisfied with just that.

And so, the skill book, abandoned by Eil and rolling on the floor, disappeared into the air since it was an item that could not be exchanged between users.

“Well, the immediate harvest was better than expected…”

Eil got up from his spot without regret and looked around once more.

This place, the magician’s research and training chamber, was filled with dense bookshelves, cluttered tables, and other miscellaneous items.

“Then, let’s get started!”

Item farming.

It was one of Eil’s favorite times while playing the game.

He rummaged through the bookshelves, looking for useful items or valuable antiques, and smashed every jar, dragging out a silver box hidden in the corner and searching through it.

In that way, he completely ransacked the monster’s remaining possessions, taking everything he could.

“Okay, found one!”

* * *

“Kkyaaaak!”

The man’s scream echoed through the hunting ground, the forbidden ruins.

He was running through the hunting ground, dodging the swarming zombies, when he was suddenly chased by a field boss monster that appeared out of nowhere, and eventually caught and met a tragic end.

As a user without any prior information, there was no way to deal with it, and dying was the best he could do.

And there were those who watched the scene, hiding on top of an old building.

“…It’s really a Treagoul [A powerful, tree-like monster]?”

“Damn it, who the hell did this?”

Several users grumbled.

About six or seven users who were hunting around here had taken refuge here to avoid the powerful boss monster that had suddenly appeared, and were discussing the emergency situation.

“I think we’ll have to wait until a high-level user nearby hears the news and comes…”

“Does anyone have any connections? Or a guild member or something.”

“Well… I am in a guild, but everyone is far away…”

“Aish, I was finally getting some honey in a relaxed hunting ground!” [A ‘honey’ spot is a location with easy and plentiful resources or experience points.]

One user burst into frustration.

He was just getting used to the zombies’ gruesome appearance and his hunting speed was starting to pick up when he was suddenly deprived of his hunting ground.

Then, another user who had been staring at the Treagoul suggested boldly.

“Why don’t we just step up and challenge it ourselves?”

“…What?”

“I mean, let’s just catch that Treagoul ourselves. It’s a tricky guy, but we should have enough people.”

Clearly, this ‘Forbidden Ruins’ was a hunting ground avoided by most users.

But those who took the risk and willingly set foot here were all confident in their skills.

But even those people shook their heads without thinking deeply about the proposal.

“No, it’s impossible. We haven’t even coordinated before the raid, and many of us are meeting each other for the first time. If we challenge it like this, it’ll only be a dog’s death [a pointless and futile demise].”

“Yeah, if we die by mistake, we’ll drop our equipment and get a 48-hour connection penalty.”

“…And our level will drop.”

The users, who were holding their breath in fear of being discovered, sighed deeply.

But their frustration and resentment soon turned to someone else.

“Who the hell is doing this…”

“I’ll kill him as soon as I catch him.”

A commotion was heard from the lower floor, and two users came up, grabbing a man and dragging him along.

They were the users who had gone to the dungeon entrance leading to Ratma to check the identity of the unmannered user.

“What, is that him?”

The users who saw the face of the man being dragged in whispered.

They tried to open his information to check his name, but it was set to private and could not be seen.

Seeing that he had already set his information to private, he was indeed an unmannered user who lacked basic etiquette.

“Um… what are you all doing here?”

Eil, with an awkward expression, opened his mouth.

Then, the users were enraged by his brazen attitude.

“Whose fault is it that we’re in this situation…!”

“Do you think we didn’t catch it because we couldn’t!”

“That’s enough, let’s just catch that guy and make up for our losses.”

A man drew his sword and strode forward.

He was thinking of making up for the lost experience and items from not being able to hunt with PK [Player Killing, attacking other players], and of course, the main reason was to vent his anger on the person who had caused the trouble.

“W-wait, everyone calm down! We haven’t heard his story yet.”

A woman in white robes, like a priest, stepped forward to stop him in the suddenly fierce atmosphere.

Of course, she wasn’t really a priest following one of the seven faiths of the Warlock, but simply a woman with the job of a healer class.

“What story are we going to listen to in this situation?”

“It might be a mistake… but maybe he has an acquaintance nearby who can catch the Treagoul.”

The woman’s words made sense, and the man who had drawn his sword stopped, and the gathered users nodded and focused their attention.

The unspoken rule of this hunting ground was that Ratma should not be touched ‘if the Treagoul could not be caught’.

If he had an acquaintance who could get rid of that giant boss monster, there would be no reason for him to be picked on like this.

But even with everyone’s attention, Eil shook his head.

“I knew it! He looks slippery!”

“Kill him right away!”

The enraged users poured out their criticism towards Eil.

But Eil didn’t even blink and replied.

“I don’t need acquaintances. I’ll catch it myself.”

“Puhaha, you’re going to catch that? Sorry, but we’re not going to help you. If you want to die, go alone…”

“I didn’t ask for help.”

Eil interrupted the man.

Then, he shook off the arms that were holding him and jumped down from the building.

“W-where are you going…!”

“Everyone, don’t interfere and just watch from there.”

Eil waved his arms and moved forward.

Just as the users were about to chase after him, wondering if he was going to slip away, Eil suddenly shouted loudly and attracted the monster’s attention.

Then, the Treagoul’s head turned this way, and the flinching users quickly hid behind the wall and held their breath.

In that moment, when they thought that he was not an unmannered user but a crazy user, Eil took out items from his chest.

“This should be enough…”