The Devil’s Cage

Notifications began to pop up as Kieran scanned over the Special Mission.

[Special Mission: The Shaman’s Partner III]

[The Shaman’s Partner III: Your path has been blocked by the unknown stone gate, but you haven’t given up locating Nikorei and the others. You have started to train in harsher ways, doing your best in an attempt to open the unknown stone gate. As the Sanctuary Trials approach though, you have to take the ferry to the Trial Island first…]

[Main Mission 1: Clear the Holy Knight Trials in one week, 0/7]]

[Main Mission 2: Open the unknown stone gate in six months, 0/180]

[Note 1: The Shaman’s Partner III shares the same universe as The Shaman’s Partner I and II, and Prison on the Island]

[Note 2: The Special Dungeon entry will not be counted towards the player’s normal dungeon entries]

[Note 3: You have acquired a third Special Dungeon in the same dungeon universe, so the dungeon difficulty will be as high as the second Special Dungeon the player acquired +1]

[Note 4: The Special Dungeon requires the player to clear either a single player or a team dungeon before entering it. If there are two Special Dungeons in line, the player will be exempted from the extra requirement and will be granted entry according to their normal dungeon runs.]

[Note 5: Special Trial detected, Multiple players forbidden]

[Note 6: Special Trial detected, If the player fails the dungeon, they will suffer the original penalty +1]

...

”I need to open the unknown stone gate?” Kieran frowned at the thought.

He still had no idea how difficult the Holy Knight Trials would be, but he knew how hard it would be for him to open the stone gate.

During his first encounter with it, he hadn’t even been qualified to look at it, let alone open it.

”According to Note 4, I will go through another normal dungeon run leading to [Primordial Invasion] before going back into [The Shaman’s Partner III]! I have two dungeons’ worth of time… It doesn’t seem like much though!” Kieran calculated the time in his mind.

The result was not very encouraging.

Fortunately, this was not an emergency. Despite the +1 penalty rule, he still had enough time to change things.

Kieran remembered what he needed to do before that though.

He had to collaborate with the Broker and deal with Coll!

Before he went out, he upgraded [Mystical Knowledge] to Pro and [Burning Hand], which was a related skill, to Master. He also spared some time to go through [Kai Prism] and the stuff he had gotten from Rainer.

[Upgrading Mystical Knowledge from Master to Pro costs 10,000 Points and 8 Skill Points. Yes/No?]

”Yes!”

[Checking for prerequisites…]

[Alchemy (Basic), Potionology (Basic), Astrology (Basic), Research of Mystical Beings (Basic)…]

[Mystical Knowledge has been upgraded!]

[Name: Mystical Knowledge (Pro)]

[Related Attributes: None]

[Skill Type: Ancillary]

[Effects: You are getting familiar with an extremely rare type of knowledge and earning a certain level of understanding. This includes, but is not limited to, mythology, religion lore, mystical arts, special symbols, runes etc.]

[Special Effects: Runes & Symbols Pro (You will have a precise grasp of unknown runes, symbols and words)]

[Prerequisites: Alchemy (Basic), Potionology (Basic), Astrology (Basic), Research of Mystical Beings (Basic)]

[Remarks: You can read about any Alchemy, Potionology, Astrology and Research of Mystical Beings related knowledge and make use of their power, but you are still far from mastering this skill completely.]

...

When [Mystical Knowledge] was upgraded to Pro, Kieran’s brain was flooded by a vast amount of knowledge that made him doze off for a couple of minutes.

”I see!” Kieran exclaimed after a while. Some previously mysterious runes and magic circles started to make sense to him now, but he had no spare time to organize all that knowledge in his mind.

He pushed those thoughts aside and opened the upgrading options for [Mystical Knowledge].

[Upgrading Mystical Knowledge from Pro to Grand Master costs 30,000 Points and 1 Golden Skill Point. Yes/No?]

[Prerequisites: Alchemy, Potionology, Astrology and Research of Mystical Beings all need to be at Entry Level, and one of them needs to be at Master Level]

The upgrade required a Golden Skill Point, and the prerequisites had also increased by a lot.

”Just as I expected…” Kieran shook his head with a sigh.

He started to imagine how much effort he would need to put into upgrading [Mystical Knowledge] to Grand Master. He was definitely up for the challenge though.

Any obstacle was a challenge for Kieran. Even though this attempt of his might fail, he would still not give up without a fight!

Kieran opened up the [Burning Hand] upgrading options.

[Upgrading Burning Hand from Entry to Master costs 20,000 Points and 10 Skill Points. Yes/No?]

”Yes!”

[Burning Hand has been upgraded to Master, Special Effect acquired: Splash]

[Name: Burning Hand (Master)]

[Related Attributes: None]

[Skill Type: Offensive]

[Effects: A 55-degree, cone-shaped fire with a three-meter radius will strike and inflict Strong Level Damage, with a small chance of inflicting Burn Damage. (Burn Damage: Target is inflicted with burns for one second, If the Constitution authentication is lower than E Rank, Target will carry the debuff for another four seconds]

[Special Effects: Splash (Burn Area increased by 5 degrees and 0.5 meters)]

[Consumes: One Cracked Ruby and Jagen Volcanic Ash]

[Prerequisites: Mystical Knowledge (Pro)]

[Remarks: This is a spell that consists of hand gestures and tribute items. Every gesture must be performed in a precise order so the player can use this skill. If you don’t want it to backfire, try to remember the gestures!]

...

The increase in degree and damage area made Kieran nod in approval.

After his experience with the [Fiery Sulphur] buff, he was leaning more towards Fire Elemental Attacks. To Kieran, any kind of skill buff was a must after an enhancement.

The next upgrade was Grand Master [Mystical Knowledge], which cost 30,000 Points and one Golden Skill Point.

This meant that he wouldn’t be able to upgrade [Burning Hand] again in the foreseeable future.

”Golden Skill Points, Golden Skill Points…” Kieran mumbled, thinking about what he lacked the most.

The issue of insufficient Golden Skill Points had once again appeared before him, but he couldn’t do anything about it.

In an effort to distract himself, Kieran turned his attention to the remaining items. When he saw the details of [Kai Prism] though, his helplessness grew even more.

[Name: Kai Prism]

[Type: Etc]

[Rarity: Special]

[Attack/ Defense: None]

[Attributes: None]

[Effects: None]

[Prerequisites: None]

[Able to bring out of the dungeon: Yes]

[Remarks: This is a special item Nikorei prepared for you. Although it can only be used once, it has a very high emotional value!]

...

”Emotional value?” Kieran rolled his eyes, feeling cheated.

His previous Special Reward had been [Herbert’s Note]. Although it hadn’t provided him with a direct enhancing effect, if Kieran checked it again, he might be able to get something out of it before going back into [Primordial Invasion]. This time around though, [Kai Prism] was his souvenir.

Had Kieran gone on vacation in the dungeon world and been given a souvenir upon his return?

Speechless, Kieran turned to his last item.

[Name: Deadly Crystal Staff]

[Type: Staff]

[Rarity: Rare]

[Attack: Common]

[Attributes: 1. Death Miasma, 2. Soul Dominance]

[Effects: None]

[Prerequisites: Mystical Knowledge (Master)]

[Able to bring out of the dungeon: Yes]

[Remarks: This is among the most high-ranking equipment of the Shepherd of Death!]

...

[Death Miasma: Releases a cloud of a 25-meter radius Death Miasma within a 100-meter range. Duration: one minute. Any Targets within the miasma must undergo a D Level Constitution authentication and a Spirit authentication. Should the Target fail the Constitution authentication, they will suffer a Strong Rank Poison Mist Attack. Should the Target fail the Spirit authentication, they will suffer a Strong Rank Deadly Illusion Attack. Should the Target fail both authentications, they will suffer a Lethal Attack, Once per day]

[Soul Dominance: You are able to dominate no more than 10 unconscious spirit-like beings by capturing and trapping them into the staff, Current Souls: 0]

...

”Great attributes!” Kieran commented as he read about the unique attributes.

He happened to meet the staff’s prerequisites, so he placed the staff into his backpack. Although he did not have the corresponding basic skill, a [Death Miasma] AOE attack sounded quite tempting to him. At least he had gotten a trick he could use against a group of enemies.

As for the soul-capturing attribute, having a spirit guard would also be a good option in some dungeons. As he thought about how he would use the [Deadly Crystal Staff], Kieran checked out the rest of his loot from the dungeon.

The 18 pieces of Magical Rank equipment were a scrumptious reward, but he had no plans of selling it right away. Just as Broker had said, he could not confirm whether the assassins were hiding among the veterans at the Harvest Inn.

Unlike his previous sale, if he sold huge bulks of items now, some information would definitely leak.

Kieran dared not underestimate his enemies. If he could find out the truth by following some traces and clues, then so could they.

If people discovered about [Devil Transformation] and [Desire Summoning], his strength would diminish by at least 50 percent.

Therefore, he would sell his items, as well as the intact ruby he had promised Blacksmith, after the impending battle.

Kieran took a deep breath and leaned against the corner of his room, closing his eyes to get some rest.

There was only a short time left, and Kieran had no intention of wasting it.

Resting up and restoring his energy was his best option for now. After all, a fierce battle was waiting for him around the corner.

Translator’s Thoughts

Dess Dess

The fight with Broker?

Friday Bonus chapter, cus a little mistake I made about the Creature of Desire! Please take this as a compensation my lords! >.