The Devil’s Cage

Kieran, of course, hadn’t forgotten about the armor he was wearing, [Armor of Excellence].

The [Dark Nether Stone] was prepared exactly for that purpose.

In fact, without a higher rarity gemstone like the [Dark Nether Stone], Kieran would definitely follow Blacksmith’s advice: embedding the [Ghastly Sapphire] onto the [Armor of Excellence].

After all, he knew how important good armor was.

Though most of the time, there was no need for the armor’s effect, but once it was needed, it would be a matter of life and death.

No one could neglect the importance of life and death.

Though, as Kieran took out the [Dark Nether Stone], the atmosphere in the room turned subtle.

Before the astonishment in Blacksmith’s eyes faded, another layer of doubt was added.

”Where did you get the info that I needed to appraise a Legendary gemstone to ascend?” She asked.

The moment Blacksmith said something like that, she might have run through all the possible candidates that were related to this matter but she had few friends, to begin with. Kieran even knew some of them but based on the relationship between them, she would not reveal such a private matter to others.

Of course, he might be able to form a theory based on how she consumed the gemstones through embedding but Kieran didn’t fit such criteria, in fact, no one in the whole game did.

In order to achieve that, not only would the person need to have a total surveillance of all Blacksmith’s trade records but also need to know her core skills.

It was impossible for such a thing to happen so it spiked Blacksmith’s curiosity even more.

”What if I tell you this is all just a mere coincidence? Will you believe me?” Kieran opened up his hand.

Blacksmith was silent, she didn’t express her disbelief nor bought what Kieran said.

She took the [Dark Nether Stone] and placed it on the table.

Kieran looked at how Blacksmith behaved, meaning that she had acknowledged what he said.

A full minute later.

”You can leave now, I’ll need around a week to finish this.” Blacksmith said.

A contract appeared before Blacksmith as her words finished.

”Okay!” Kieran nodded and after signing the contract, he parted with Blacksmith.

Kieran was used to the few words and coldness from her and frankly speaking, he was quite enjoying the simple way of communicating.

Not only did it not consume any extra time, it was efficient as well.

It was great for him to deal with this kind of person!

While exclamation lingered in his heart, he went off.

Though just when the door was about to close after he left, he suddenly heard a light grunt.

He turned around, looking at the closed door in a strange manner.

”How is it?”

Just when Kieran trying to find out what happened, Lawless came over.

”Done!” Kieran turned around with a smile and showed the glove on his right hand.

[Name: Seattle Right Hand]

[Type: Glove]

[Rarity: Legendary]

[Attack/ Defense: Strong]

[Attribute: Ice Hand Shield]

[Special Effect: 1. Frozen Touch, 2. Frost Breath]

[Prerequisite: Hand-to-hand Combat (Grand Master)]

[Remark: Its defense is not the strongest, but it will keep you alive!]

...

[Ice Hand Shield: The glove will transform into an ice shield with Extreme defense. Lasts 5 seconds and when the ice shield duration is up, it will fire out 1 Strong freezing air attack with a 3 meters radius range with the user as a starting point. When the defense reaches its threshold and the ice shield is broken, reflect 20% damage to the attacker, 2/day]

...

[Frozen Touch: When activated, the glove you wear has to touch the target in order to fire a Powerful freezing attack, lasts 5 seconds. When you touch any other things other than yourself and your belongings, it will be deemed an attack and the freezing duration will be over after the attack. 2/day]

[Frost Breath: Create a 60° cone-shaped icy breath in a 5-meter range in front of the user, has Powerful damage and a small percentage to trigger the Freeze effect. (Freeze, the target will have to undergo a Constitution authentication, when lower than C rank, the target will be frozen on the spot for one second and receive Lethally Wounded worth of damage), 1/day]

[Note: Gather Seattle Left Hand to trigger the hidden effect]

...

”Not only did it provide a boost to its original attribute, it even has an extra special effect?”

Kieran smirked when he saw the description of the newly embedded [Seattle Right Hand].

Although [Hand Shield] was transformed to [Ice Hand Shield] and reduced its usage to 1 per day, [Ice Hand Shield] wasn’t just a little stronger than the original.

[Ice Hand Shield] was perfect for Kieran since he was always an aggressive attacker by nature.

The additional [Frozen Touch] and [Frost Breath] did amplify his attacking methods and power, making him more all rounded in certain aspects, but at the same time, it made [Wilco’s Grudge] look a little awkward.

The similar properties [Frozen Touch] could be activated twice a day and didn’t have any drawbacks, while [Wilco’s Grudge] only has a one time per day activation and would damage the user from its repulsion.

Kieran then listed [Wilco’s Grudge] into his to-sell list without further ado.

Together with [Wilco’s Grudge], there was also another 6 more low tier Magic rank items and the damaged [The Slicer] for sale.

Kieran believed after selling all these items, it would be enough to compensate for his Points and Skill Points that would be used up soon.

Though when he handed the list of items to Lawless, Lawless was stunned when he saw [Wilco’s Grudge].

”Eh? A cursed item?” Lawless voice attracted Kieran’s attention who was across from him back in the room.

”It’s quite rare to find cursed items in the game, mostly drops from those natives that held a grudge before they die. Maybe from some monsters also, the situation may vary but one thing for sure, once the curse is removed, the cursed item will gain another chance of leveling up!”

Lawless explained to the already confused Kieran.

”How do you remove the curse?” Kieran asked.

Although [Seattle Right Hand] had replaced [Wilco’s Grudge], it didn’t mean Keiran would sell off a potential Legendary rank item as Rare equipment.

He would explode on the spot if he really did because of his stingy personality.

”The curse dispeller! A person that dispels curses! Leave that to me!” Lawless said.

”A curse dispeller?”

”Yes, curse dispeller That guy is a strange one. The lone wolf of lone wolves, other than me and a couple more, he never really talks to people. Even his trades are done through PMs and never leave any traces behind when he moves around. If I didn’t still save his name in my friend list, I might think I’m talking to a ghost!” Lawless nodded.

”A peculiar person eh?” Kieran commented.

He didn’t mean anything else with his words, because if it wasn’t for Lawless, Kieran might go through the game like how the curse dispeller did.

So, it peaked his interest after noticing there was a player who shared his point of view.

Though it didn’t affect Kieran’s original plan, which was to increase his strength and prepare for the next dungeon.

He would leave it to Lawless in communicating with the curse dispeller as he believed Lawless would do a good job since he has no intentions of mingling around.

Maybe the curse dispeller had a similar character to Kieran yet he knew if he was to be involved, the end results might differ from expectation, so his option was to wait for answers.

Days passed by during the wait.

The sale that Kieran entrusted Lawless went on smoothly. Kieran had received a total of 30,000 Points when he considered the cost of summoning demons from [Fantos Manuscript], he didn’t spend the points further but kept it for a rainy day.

Though contacting the curse dispeller was not that smooth, that person hadn’t gone online for a couple days and it was a helpless matter.

On the other hand, at Allen’s place. Things had been quite merry, or should it be noisy. Allen was caught in battles almost every day but he didn’t request any help from Kieran or Lawless.

It seemed like he was waiting for a perfect chance to use both of them.

Kieran acknowledged his methods though.

During the resting period, some lone wolf players sent invitations to Kieran, wanting to gather for a drink but were rejected by Kieran. The lone wolf players were much more persistent than Kieran had thought.

He couldn’t help but laugh bitterly after coming back to his senses from his exploration of the Dawn Force.

He wasn’t quite used to a crowded place anyway.

Then, Kieran took in a couple of deep breaths, regulating his body and preparing his equipment.

The dungeon cooldown was finally reset.