The Devil’s Cage

A two-wheeled, small wagon was heading towards Lightning Fortress swiftly while remaining undercover.

After taking off the heavy [Armor of Excellence], Kieran was sitting on a side of the wagon donning simple clothing. He was staring straight at an empty vial of potion in front him with doubtful eyes.

[Name: Dispel Potion]

[Type: Potion]

[Rarity: Great]

[Attribute: After consuming, able to effectively dispel Medium to Low level curse debuffs]

[Prerequisite: None]

[Remark: If you want to dispel the curse faster, drink the whole vial!]

...

Kieran’s doubtful face was not because [Dispel Potion] was ineffective. Quite the contrary, it had quite the effect; the curse debuffs were almost cleared upon drinking.

It was because of the immediate effect of the potion that made Kieran feel unbelievable!

The potion was crafted by Mary’s mother.

”This is one of my mother’s treasure that she left behind. It will be of use!”

The image of Mary speaking those words appeared in Kieran’s mind again.

”So she really was a witch?” Kieran mumbled.

He realized that his understanding of Mary’s mother was too limited. The woman seemed to be much more complicated that he could imagine.

However, soon enough, Kieran’s expression turned odd. He recalled that Mary took the [Bug Pipe] when she handed him the potion.

Kieran, of course, wasn’t concerned about an equipment that couldn’t be brought out of the dungeon, but it was Mary’s expression that caught his attention.

”I hope I’m overthinking!” Kieran muttered once more.

Then he turned to a cowhide envelope beside him. It was a confidential document that was sealed with wax. Inside it were the arrangements of troops of Lightning Fortress and the secret passage!

The seemingly impenetrable Lightning Fortress had a secret passage that could lead one away from the fortress walls. A secret passage known only by the king of Warren.

Kieran remembered King James VIII’s terrified face when he asked him whether Lightning Fortress had a secret passage.

In fact, Kieran only realized it after the Prairie invasion.

A fortress so close to the imperial city... if the royal family of Warren didn’t plan ahead and save a secret passage for themselves, how would they be at ease with a mere defending commander leading his elite troops to defend the place?

Although there was a saying to never doubt a person in use and never use a person in doubt, but the human heart itself was the hardest to predict.

One could bear the respect for others to worship and at the same time have the selfishness that others could learn to despise.

A moment ago, one could still be a hero, but a moment later, one could end up being the villain.

No one could guarantee a person’s loyalty, just like one couldn’t demand a piece of bread to never go rotten.

Based on Kieran’s guesses, the royal family of Warren would save a way for themselves to escape in case of emergencies at Lightning Fortress.

”If firearms are advanced enough in this dungeon world, the secret passage might be filled with explosives!”

Kieran thought to himself while looking at the map within the cowhide envelope.

Even though it took the Warren royal family 30 years to build Lightning Fortress, but if anything unexpected happened, Kieran believed that if explosives existed, the royal family would definitely blow up the fortress as an option.

After all, the huge place would drag quite a number of enemies down with it, and it would solved the invasion problem at Riverdale; everything would be worth it.

Though, that was not the case, and Kieran had to resolve it in the most primitive way.

By infiltrating the fortress, and causing the maximum damage to the Prairie invaders.

In his mind, Kieran already had a general idea of what he would do. For the rest of the journey, he would need to give his all to perfect his plan, and it wouldn’t cost him too much effort.

So most of his remaining time was spent on reading the books that Bosco could gather for him, the ones related to the two-handed sword skills.

From the basic levels to the significantly high levels and there was even 2 skill books among the bunch.

Obviously, finding two skill books at once was not something Bosco was capable of. It was King James VIII who was willing to reveal his royal vault to Kieran.

Kieran felt grateful for the king’s generosity. Even though he could very well treat them as rewards, his moral values and education prohibited him from mixing both up.

One thing differed from another; nothing could replace it.

Having such a character, being branded as a stubborn and old fashion was not too surprising for Kieran.

As for himself, he enjoyed the bitter things as if they were malt sugar.

Everyone had their own way of dealing with things. That was why the world was such a fascinating place, wasn’t it?

Leaning back in the carriage, Kieran got himself into the most comfortable position possible and flipped the book in his hand.

”Summary of the Monolith Sect Sword Skills”

The book was a summation of all the specialties and techniques of the Monolith Sect sword skills. The contents were too shallow and could only be treated as an introduction. It was not the skill book that Kieran thought it was.

In fact, among the near twenty books, the only ones that could be recognized by the system as skill books were the two from the royal vault.

[Sword Skill, Dragon Force] and [Sword Skill, Tiger Stance]!

Both of them were Rare rank skill book, and the moment Kieran had gotten his hands on them, he chose to learn them without a second thought.

[Name: Sword Skill, Dragon Force (Basic)]

[Related Attribute: Strength, Constitution]

[Skill Type: Offense]

[Effect: Whenever you attack, you could perform a 5 second charge-up and unleash a slash with 30% increase in attack, consumes 200 Stamina, cooldown 5 minutes]

[Consume: Stamina]

[Prerequisite: Sharp Weapon, Heavy Arms (Master of Two-handed Sword), Strength C]

[Remark: This is one of the secret esoteric sword skills of the Dragon Sect, and the base for all Dragon Sect secret skills]

...

[Name: Sword Skill, Tiger Stance (Basic)]

[Related Attributes: Strength, Constitution]

[Skill Type: Offense]

[Effect: Whenever you use a two-handed sword, battle mace, battle axe and successfully block an enemy’s attack, if you counterattack, +10% in Strength, +10% in Agility, consume extra Stamina when attacking]

[Consume: Stamina]

[Prerequisite: Sharp Weapon, Heavy Arms (Master), Strength C]

[Remark: This is one of the secret esoteric sword skill of the Tiger Sect, it’s the first step in mastering two-handed weapons.]

...

”Sects?”

Kieran looked over the description of both skills.

Instantly, he related to the Viper Sect and Raven Sect that Folly mentioned during their battle.

It allowed Kieran to understand that the dungeon world he was in had more valuables that were worth digging, but of course it was not possible now.

Gulu, Gulu!

While being cascaded by the noise of the wagon wheels colliding with the ground, Kieran submersed himself into ”Summary of the Monolith Sect Sword Skills”.

Even though it wouldn’t allow him to learn some skills instantly, some theories behind the book were worth the time. The applying techniques were something he had never learned in [Sharp Weapon, Heavy Arms].

The unknown techniques made Kieran hungry for more knowledge on the books, absorbing whatever he could until the wagon slowly stopped.

”Sir 2567, we will enter the sight of Lightning Fortress soon!” Bosco reminded Kieran.

Translator’s Thoughts

Dess Dess

New skills yo~