Chương 17: Chapter Seventeen: Compendium of Knowledge

SEVENTEEN ANIMATED SKELETON INFERIOR GRADE FALLEN WARRIORS INFUSED WITH CORRUPTED LIFE ENERGY. THESE CREATIONS ARE LETHALLY PROTECTIVE OF THEIR SPACES WHILE LACKING ANY SORT OF HIGHER INTELLIGENCE. BOUNTY: 10 CREDITS FOR DESTRUCTION HARVEST MATERIALS: BONE DUST, CORRUPTED LIFE ENERGY, WEAPONS (INFERIOR GRADE)"Bone dust? How do we harvest the life energy?" Roan muttered to himself as he flipped the page to see the picture of the poor-grade skeleton.

It had the same exact description along with bounty and harvest materials. Only the amount had changed, doubling in size from ten to twenty. It was his interest in the level guardians and how they activated that led him to hardly skimming the page before turning it. SKELETAL MONSTROSITY POOR GRADE AN AMALGAMATION OF BONES FUSED TOGETHER BY WILLPOWER AND CORRUPTED LIFE ENERGY. THESE MOBS ARE USED AS WEAK LEVEL GUARDIANS PROTECTING THE ENTRANCES TO THE NEXT LEVEL.

THEIR COFFINS ACT AS CORRUPTED LIFE ENERGY COLLECTORS, POWERING THE MONSTROSITY TO LIFE. BOUNTY: 750 CREDITS FOR DESTRUCTION HARVEST MATERIALS: BONE DUST, CORRUPTED LIFE ENERGY, COFFIN. The level guardians had awoken due to how many skeletons had been killed. It made sense now. Roan wondered if there was a way to stop the process to keep the level guardians dormant." Or activate them when I'm strong enough to harvest them myself."

It was a tempting thought as he stared at the large bounty that the creatures had on them. It would nearly double his current bank account. GRAVE PETAL INFERIOR-POOR GRADE A FLOWER THAT SPROUTS DUE TO THE CORRUPTED LIFE ENERGY. A KEY COMPONENT TO VITALITY BASED ALCHEMICAL CREATIONS. HARVESTING SKILL CAN IMPROVE THE GRADE OF THE FLOWER, BUT DUE TO THE POOR ENERGY ON THE LEVEL, THE FLOWER WILL NEVER SURPASS POOR-GRADE.

BOUNTY: 5-25 CREDITS Roan couldn't help but wince as he thought of his own casual plucking of the flower. It had nearly destroyed the plant and the price reflected it. One fifth of what a good harvest would net him. It wasn't what had been driving him to buy the compendium though. He had to flip through the pages slowly, careful not to rip the old paper.

AMULET OF PROTECTION SHARDS INFERIOR-COMMON GRADE COMMON GRADE AMULETS BROKEN APART IN A FUTILE GESTURE TO PROTECT THE DEAD; THESE AMULETS WERE BROKEN UP AND LAID IN THE GRAVES OF THE FALLEN. WHEN REPAIRED THEY WILL PROCESS THE CURSED ENERGY AND REFINE IT TO NEUTRAL LIFE ENERGY. BOUNTY: 10-300 CREDITS" How do I repair it?" It was the first thought he had as he stared at the bounty available on the shards.

This sent Roan back to the market place and searching for something that would work and was not surprised when he found several options. The more expensive options were better in the long run. They all had learning manuals that could be bought for a fraction of the cost too. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work." Need to get enough to buy the learn skill. Fix these amulets first and see what the coffins can net me.

Don't think I can get the coffins alone, Taoya will help me for sure. But then I'd have to split the share on the coffins." Roan stopped as he closed the tabs and looked over toward Taoya who was finishing up selling the daggers.

"Taoya, the compendium says that the coffins collect the energy from the skeletons that are broken. We have to warn them before they awaken another of them," Roan said as he bolted to his feet.

"Sit down, I'll go and warn them," Taoya said as he got up, yawning as he jogged back toward the portal.

"That went well," Roan said as the man disappeared. He quickly brought up the tab he needed and bought the inexpensive single use item. REPAIR KIT FUSE A BROKEN ITEM COST: 200 CREDITS USES: 1/1 Air displaced with a pop and a small cauldron appeared, hardly larger than a soup bowl. Made of black iron it sat waiting for him as he grabbed the shards of the amulet and fed it into the bowl. Each of the pieces clinked as it slid across the iron and settled in the bottom.

With every piece that he added the black iron lightened slowly until it was nearly incandescent. He tried to place the next piece in the pot but there was a pressure around the entrance. The harder he tried to push the piece of the amulet in, the stronger the pressure became. Roan relented and waited as the small pot continued to burn white. A few people glanced over toward him, but quickly minded their own business as he met their stares with a flat glare.

Thirty seconds after it started, the glow started to fade rapidly. With a loud clink the pot broke open, the iron suddenly fragile as thin clay. Raon leaned forward, anxious to see what his hard earned money had managed to buy for him. Inside of the middle of the repair kit sat a single amulet.

"That's it?" Roan couldn't help but ask as he picked up the chain and kept it at eye level. The chain was still made of crude iron but the links seemed better made now, not quite as brutish in their build. He turned the chain and stared at the amber center piece that had doubled in size. Nothing else had changed.

"Check it in the market place before you get pissed," Roan muttered as he brought up his tabs, hoping that repairing the shards would be enough to earn his money back. SELL AMULET OF PROTECTION (POOR) Y/N? MARKET PRICE: 100 CREDITS AUCTION PRICE: 10% OF FINAL PRICE"Spent two-hundred credits to get a hundred back. Nice going, Roan. Peak investment strategy." He pulled the necklace over his head without another thought, refusing to sell it for a loss.

It was a comfortable weight around his neck as it settled against his chest.

"It said up to common though. Would I need to repair a bunch of inferior grades to poor then combine the poor grades to get to common?" Roan mused to himself as he scooped up the leftover miscellaneous jewelry and pocketed it. He wasn't willing to sell it yet, not until he could figure out if he could actually make some better money off of it.

"That could be it. A repair skill would be much better than the items in that case. Could I farm enough of these and repair them to get that and the learn skill?" Roan immediately knew he couldn't. It would already be a struggle to hit the required fifteen thousand credits to buy learn, let alone another skill on top of it.

"Coffins next. See if I can get anything for them, then back to farming skeletons until I get what I need." It felt good to talk out loud, to firmly set his goals as he started back toward the portal. Since they had scared Nash and his cronies out of the way, the other smaller teams had clustered back around it. The yawn came with sudden urgency, his jaw dropping as he covered his mouth with his free hand. He blinked repeatedly as the day's rush of events caught up to him.

He was tempted to use the potion in his pocket, but the cost of it held him firm as he looked at the groups watching the gate.

"I don't trust them. I can wait for Taoya to come back," Roan's thoughts were interrupted when the gate spat out the big man and the rest of the association. Darren led them as they all looked around and sighed as they started to collapse on the hill by the gate.

"Woke up another of the guardians. Taoya got to us just a bit too late," Darren explained.

"Nap time, then clear the guardian?" Roan asked and he was met with a wave of nods. Feeling better about having people he mostly trusted around him, Roan lowered his weapon and laid on the grass, his eyes closing slowly and sleep stealing him instantly.