Chapter 422: Malachar’s Items and Violet’s Talent
Since every single monster in this dungeon beside the bosses were simply undead made by Malachar’s necromantic power, none of them gave any experience points or loot when defeated, making the journey through the catacombs feel somewhat empty and unrewarding despite the constant danger lurking around every corner.
Leon would have absolutely loved to have hundreds of monster essences at his hand already.
The prospect of such a massive stat boost tantalizing, but it didn’t bother him much in the grand scheme of things because he knew the boss loot would be worth the effort.
After all, Malachar’s loot by itself would surely be more than enough to get what Leon wanted.
Ding!
[Congratulations, you have leveled up to Level 96.]
[All your attributes have increased by 1,000 and you have gained 1,000 free attribute points.]
Only four more levels between him and the [Eternal Battlefield], the final stepping stone before the Eternal Domain.
Though of course, the experience points required increased tremendously again with each level, making progress slower than ever.
[Level: 96 (2,530,000/15,600,000)]
It would take defeating almost three opponents at the level of Malachar or the Vessel of War to level up even once, a daunting prospect given how much effort they had required.
Leon also took notice of his free attribute points at that moment, realizing he had accumulated a significant amount that he had yet to allocate.
[Free Points to Allocate: 16,600.]
"Damn, well, I guess I’ll just put half on 10,000 on Strength and the rest in Spirit, I only use those two mainly anyway," he muttered to himself, allocating the points efficiently to maximize his combat potential.
And with everything related to level done, Leon finally opened his [Storage Space] to check what Malachar dropped, his eyes scanning the loot with anticipation and excitement.
[Catacombs Lich Essence: Consuming will increase Spirit by 15,000 and boost the strength of your undead.]
[Undead Lich Scepter (Ancient): +50,000 Magical Power, +40,000 Spirit. The undead you summon using this scepter are much stronger than normal. Requirement: Clear the Catacombs in Abyss difficulty.]
[Malachar’s Plan: A piece of paper showing what the Lich’s plan was exactly.]
[Sub-Talent Scroll: Expert Necromancy (A-Level)]
[x30 Skill Stones]
[x20 Enhancement Stones]
And finally, the item that Leon had been hoping for the most, the one that would determine his success in the quest...
[Stronghold Crystal x5 (Mythical): Can be used on a stronghold to level it up and make it stronger.]
"Five?!" Leon’s eyes widened, genuinely shocked by the number that appeared before him, "No wonder that guy was so relaxed about the requiem guild’s demands, he could still continue for over 5 years without running out of crystals to give them."
Still, the fact he had them on him meant that Leon was able to obtain them through his victory.
And more importantly, a notification appeared that made Leon’s grin widen even further, adding another layer of opportunity to the situation.
Ding!
[Celestial Hand has triggered on "Catacombs Lich, Malachar"]
[Please select one of the items to extract.]
"Oh?" Leon’s eyes glinted with excitement, "I guess I got good luck today!"
Leon was able to immediately clear the requiem guild’s quest if he took the crystals, handing them over and fulfilling his obligation, but he didn’t do it immediately, choosing instead to think carefully.
’Maybe they’ll receive a notification if I do it, and they’ll get suspicious about how I got them so quickly,’ he thought, his mind already planning ahead and considering the consequences.
He would much rather take things slowly, especially now that he only needed one crystal to complete the quest.
So instead, he selected the essence, obtaining another one to boost his stat and necromancy powers.
Fwoosh!
The celestial hand rushed toward the lich’s corpse and seeped into it, pulling out the essence and bringing it back to Leon, the glowing orb hovering in his palm with an ethereal light.
And with that, he acquired every item he could from the Lich, the exit portal appearing in the middle of the chamber, glowing with a soft white light that beckoned them to leave.
"Did you do it?" Violet asked as she approached Leon, her voice filled with curiosity, "I’m still confused as to why we would even come here for stronghold crystals, it seems—"
"—I got five," Leon cut her off with a smile, and Violet’s eyes widened in disbelief.
"What?!" she exclaimed, clearly shocked by the number.
"Oh right, you don’t know about my talent, though I don’t know much about yours either," Leon admitted.
Leon hadn’t had the time to tell Violet about his talent, but that also meant that he didn’t know much about hers either, leaving a gap in their understanding of each other’s abilities.
Leon trusted Violet after everything they had been through, from the forsaken city to the imperial kingdom, and he assumed she’d be one of their companions as well moving forward, so it was time to share.
And so just like that, everyone told their talents to Violet, explaining what each one did and how it helped them in battle and their journey.
"[100% Drop Rate (SSS)], [Elven Saintess (SS)] and [Eternal Ember (SS)], huh," Violet mumbled to herself, processing the information, "Incredible, truly incredible."
More precisely Leon and Celeste’s talents, as they seemed truly out of this world compared to what most players could ever hope to acquire.
As for Emilia’s, it was kind of underwhelming compared to the others, but still good overall and had served her, proving its worth.
"Well, I guess I can say my talent as well then," Violet sighed, slightly reluctant, but wanting to trust them, "Its [Dragon Queen]."
"Wow," Emilia’s eyes sparkled with wonder, "So its like mine, but instead of a saintess of your race, you’re the queen!"
"Yes and no," Violet smiled, a hint of mystery in her voice, "Your talent has several passives that actively help you, while mine is... useless, to say the least, at least for now."
"What’s it about?" Leon asked, curious about her abilities, "And what’s the rank?"
"SS," Violet explained with a faint smile, "Like Emilia and Celeste."
She tapped into the air several times before sending over the panel to Leon and the girls, allowing them to read the following:
[Dragon Queen (SS-Level): Holding the authority and strength to command over all other dragons, the Dragon Queen needs to prove herself first before unlocking this power.]
[This talent will become available once the user reaches the Eternal Domain, that is their one and only test.]
"Interesting," Leon mumbled, processing the information, "But still, that means you reached this far without any talent at all, that’s a remarkable feat."
Even Leon would have struggled if not for his [100% Drop Rate] that allowed him to accumulate items and power at an accelerated rate.
"I still want to move forward, that is my only choice," Violet turned toward the exit portal, her voice filled with determination, "I am... so close to achieving my goal."
"We’ll need to go through the [Eternal Battlefield] before that, but I’m sure that we’ll manage, and you’ll be able to return to your world and stuff," Leon placed his hand on her shoulder reassuringly, and Violet simply smiled, grateful for the support.
Then while the three girls were talking among themselves, Leon took the time to see what he wanted to do with the items he obtained just now, his mind already planning his next moves.