The Devil’s Cage

Kieran frowned as he looked at his stats. Although his attributes had all increased, according to his calculations, his Intuition should have reached C- Rank.

However, when Kieran had leveled up the [Firearm Weapon (Light Firearm)] skill to Pro, the skill’s related attributes had all been capped and unable to level up any further, ruining Kieran’s original plan for his Intuition.

”As soon as the attributes reach E+ Rank, the restrictions will be similar to the basic skills going from Master to Pro.”

”Using that as a base for further speculation, once my attributes reach E+ Rank and surpass ordinary men’s limitations, it will be hard to level up attributes by leveling up the skill itself. It might take two or three levels just to level up the attributes once, if at all!” Kieran speculated.

He kind of understood why a Legendary Skill Book’s appearance could spark a full-scale war.

It wasn’t just because of the powerful skill. It was also because of the related attributes and character growth.

Even if the Legendary Skill’s prerequisite was high and hard to learn, it would still have people chasing over it like a flock of ducks.

After all, using the Legendary Skill, one could already improve like a rocket while others were still stepping on the ground. It would only take a couple of dungeon runs for the power gap between the players to increase greatly.

”So, the Golden Attribute Point...”

Kieran looked at the Golden Attribute Point longingly.

Although it could level up any attributes by one, it was mainly there for the purpose of compensating the players. If not for it, even if there was a Rare or Legendary Skill Book, one could not learn it because of their lacking attributes.

For example, the [Knights of Dawn Body Tempering Art] prerequisite was to have five F+ Rank attributes. Kieran had all basic skills except for Spirit, so it was easy for him to meet the requirement.

If he wanted to increase his Spirit, he would have to learn Spirit-related skills or directly increase it by using the Golden Attribute Point.

When it came to Spirit-related skills, other than [Knights of Dawn Body Tempering Art] itself, Kieran had not come across any other relevant skills. Obviously, it was very hard to achieve, at least at the current stage of the game. Therefore, the existence of Golden Attribute Points became a necessity.

The problem was, Golden Attribute Points were also very hard to come by. An SS rating clear of the dungeon was enough to prove its rarity.

Kieran had had to go through that brutal fight with Primus to earn it.

The Golden Attribute Point could be used in dungeon without the need to return to the lobby, and could level up any attribute +1 in an instant. Kieran had originally wanted to use it as a last resort.

He might have to face some immense danger and need that point to level up his Strength or Agility. Being stronger or faster could turn around any situation.

Even though he had understood the real purpose of Golden Attribute Points, he still held onto his intention for it. He did not have any Rare or Legendary Skills with high prerequisites yet.

He pushed aside his thoughts regarding the Golden Attribute Point and looked at his remaining Points and Skill Points.

[Points: 5,900]

[Skill Points: 3]

...

While he looked at them, Kieran opened the option for Pro [Hand-to-hand Combat]. The next rank after Pro was the Grand Master Rank, which cost 8,000 Points and 4 Skill Points.

[Firearm Weapon (Light Firearm)] required 6,000 Points and 4 Skill points to Grand Master,

[Evading] and [Undercover] cost 7,000 Points and 4 Skill points respectively, and [Tracking] was the highest of them all, costing 12,000 Points and 8 Skill Points.

Although Kieran had been prepared, the cost to go from Pro to Grand Master had still overwhelmed him.

He had gotten an SS rating in his first dungeon, but despite the rewards, he could only level one skill up to Grand Master, and [Tracking] was not even close.

Should he upgrade [Knights of Dawn Body Tempering Art]?

Upgrading it from Entry to Master Level would cost a hefty 10,000 Points and 3 Golden Skill Points, which made Kieran miss Guntherson’s lecture even more.

The [Barsical Kick] cost 6,000 Points and 4 Skill Points to level up from Entry to Master, and the same went for the basic skill going from Pro to Grand Master Level. However, the [Barsical Kick] was restricted by the [Knights of Dawn Body Tempering Art] level, which made it even harder to upgrade.

Obviously, the remaining points could not level up any more skills.

The newly acquired [Explosive Weapon (Explosion)] and [Lockpicking] were also in Kieran’s upgrading plan. After all, one of them was related to the use of grenades, and he did not plan on giving up such a practical way of dealing with threats. Therefore, he definitely had to level up [Explosive Weapons, Explosion].

As for [Lockpicking]? No one could confirm whether further down the game there would be a treasure chest behind some locked door that would require a certain level of [Lockpicking] to open.

After spending 2,400 Points and 2 Skill Points, both skills were upgraded to Master Level.

[Explosive Weapon (Explosion)] leveled up to Master Level, Choose a special effect]

[A. Master Explosive (The explosive in your hand can deal bigger Damage, Increases Damage by 10%)]

[B. Master Throwing (You can throw better and more precisely at your designated target, You’re even able to land things under your enemies’ feet).]

[Please choose one...]

”B!”

After some minor consideration, Kieran made his choice. Although he was quite fond of the damage increase of the grenade, he was even more keen on improving the precision of his throws.

After all, what good would a grenade do if it did not reach his enemy?

Master Throwing was what Kieran needed the most.

[Player chose B, Master Throwing]

[Name: Explosive Weapon (Explosion) Master]

[Related Attributes: Strength, Agility]

[Skill Type: Offensive]

[Effects: You know how to use homemade explosives, TNT tubes, grenades and other similar weapons more, Increases Damage by 30%]

[Special Effects: Master Throwing (You can throw better and more precisely at your designated target, You’re even able to land things under your enemies’ feet)]

[Consumes: Stamina]

[Prerequisites: None]

[Remarks: Explosion is an art, but you are far from qualifying as an artist!]

....

[Explosive Weapon (Explosion) leveled up, related attributes increasing…]

[Strength has reached the capped limit, Unable to level up any further]

[Agility has reached the capped limit, Unable to level up any further]

...

[Lockpicking leveled to Master Level, choose a special effect…]

[A. Master Fast Lockpicking (Increases Lockpicking Speed)]

[B. Master Silent Lockpicking (Limits Lockpicking Sounds)]

[Please choose one...]

”B!”

Although Fast Lockpicking was all well and good, Kieran preferred Silent Lockpicking, because if he was discovered while picking a lock, speed would serve him no use.

[Player chose B: Master Silent Lockpicking]

[Name: Lockpicking (Master)]

[Related Attributes: Agility, Intuition]

[Skill Type: Ancillary]

[Effects: You know how to use a hairpin, steel wire and screwdriver to pick complicated locks!]

[Special Effects: Master Silent Lockpicking (Limits Lockpicking Sounds)]

[Consumes: Stamina]

[Prerequisites: None]

[Remarks: Make sure there is no one near you when you try to pick a lock!]

...

[Lockpicking leveled up, related attributes increasing….]

[Agility has reached the capped limit, Unable to level up any further]

[Intuition has reached the capped limit, Unable to level up any further]

...

When all skills had been upgraded according to plan, Kieran had 3,500 Points and 1 Skill Point left over.

It was still enough for him to buy 5 more grenades. Kieran remembered that in the forum a grenade similar to [U-II] cost around 300 Points.

However, before he could go on the Forum to search for grenades, Lawless started spamming him with messages.

...

Lawless: There’s a player asking to contact you!

Lawless: This guy is not like Blacksmith. He’s not my friend, okay?

Lawless: But his information is accurate and he is one of the founders of the secret bazaar. He’s one of the best brokers in the game.

Lawless: One of his biggest clients wants to clear a fifth time dungeon, and to lower the difficulty, they’re looking for a player with certain strength and less times in the dungeon!

Lawless: Then u popped up in his radar! He says that he will make a contract with you and offer you a good deal.

Lawless: What do u say?

...

Kieran was not surprised that he had been noticed by the veterans. Truth be told, it was unavoidable that he would get noticed ever since he had put the two [Tekken-II]s up for sale.

The veterans contacting him through Lawless was not unexpected either. After all, Lawless had just come back from a team dungeon.

As soon as he brought up the [Tekken-II], the truth would have been revealed to the other players.

If Lawless said that the veteran had accurate information, then he had to have his own way of finding things out.

Kieran’s attention had been captured by the phrases ”fifth time dungeon”, ”promised to make a contract” and ”a good deal”. He went ahead and asked directly.

2567: How much?