[Skill-Eater 2] Chapter 99: Sealed Chest (Patreon)

Since Edge couldn’t afford to let the Crimson Claws catch him, he intended to spend his remaining time inside the Savage Garden hunting within the crumbling structures scattered across the city.

The clusters of buildings covering the islands were extensive and ancient. Just like the temple he had found in the crevasse at the start of his adventure, their construction displayed none of the hallmarks of magitech that were ubiquitous throughout inhabited space. If that were the case, these structures predated the colonization of Ord, which made him question everything the feed had told him about the planet.

According to official records, this world had been unoccupied when the System emerged from the portal network centuries ago. But these buildings didn’t match the technology used by the first generation of settlers.

While he pondered the mystery, Edge took a closer look at the edifice in front of him. The walls were formed from white marble with bands of color running through them—most notably peach and rose.

The longer he looked, the more certain he became that these ruins were the real deal—genuine artifacts of an alien civilization that predated humanity’s discovery of the portal network. When he spotted a series of etchings along a doorframe, marking the height of children growing up, it cemented his certainty that everything he’d been told about Ord was a lie. The story that the System built these ruins as a prop for Prison World must be part of the coverup. What are the wardens hiding?

By this point, he had seen enough of the ruins to discern more details. Before the Savage Garden had risen to engulf them, these buildings had formed a sizable city that was home to thousands of residents. The islands had been linked by a series of bridges that had collapsed relatively recently, and the rubble around their foundations hadn’t been exposed long enough to be bleached by the sunlight.

Roughly 90% of the buildings had collapsed walls or ceilings—their contents exposed to the ravages of the elements—but some were still complete. Edge didn’t have time to explore them all, but while waiting for his reservoir to refill in between killing monsters, he stopped to inspect the most impressive structures he came across.

He was mostly looking for treasure, but he was genuinely curious to learn more about the people who had lived here and the history of their lost civilization. Some of the walls were covered in runes and pictograms, depicting individuals and events whose names he would never know.

Despite the lack of magitech, it was clear that these people had been capable of wielding Ord’s magic. According to the images, they had used skills for a wide range of tasks—from everyday chores to repelling kaijus from their borders.

The most interesting records that he came across were in an ornate structure that reminded him of the temple where Edge had found the reliquary with Skill-Eater bound inside. Most of the pictures had been scoured from the stone walls, and he didn’t see any depictions of the ravenous lord bound in chains, or any entities like it for that matter.

Even without being able to discern their contents, the shattered images were suspicious. There are 21 of them—the same number of Unique cores mentioned in my Wanted trait. After the boss is defeated and the dungeon reopens in a few years, we should send a team to study these. Assuming that any of us are still alive.

He eventually found a structure with intact walls and a basement that featured a stone fireplace. He decided to use this place as a base of operations for his remaining time in the dungeon. It would let him build a fire and cook meals without having to worry about the light giving him away.

Edge retrieved his pile of valuable resources from his old base under the cover of mist, made himself a hot meal, then continued his hunt. One day, I’ll unravel the mystery behind it all.

***

Two hours later, Edge was ready to explore the largest island he’d seen in the zone.

It had caught his eye for two reasons beyond its prodigious size. The first was that there wasn’t a monster in sight, or any buildings for that matter. The second was that instead of being covered in tropical plants, the entire isle was coated in a dense blanket of fungi.

He wasn’t too worried about the mushrooms, since there were more animals here than anywhere else in the dungeon, so he decided to cross the river and take a closer look.

He began by walking along the shoreline, staying far enough away from the water that nothing could reach out and grab him. After he completed his circuit and discovered nothing of note, it was time to survey the island’s interior.

He soon came across a game trail crossing a vast field of mushrooms—pale yellow caps with bright green spots. Edge came to a stop a few minutes later, rubbing the stubble on his chin. He was considering collecting a few fungi, in case they were another valuable resource, but something about the prolific growth didn’t sit right with him.

There are animals everywhere on this island. Everywhere but here. Before he tried plucking one of the stalks, he sent Foebinder out to prod one of the shrooms from maximum range.

Even still, they almost got him.

The instant that the black chain touched the mushroom, a three-foot barb extended in the blink of an eye, jabbing out and then sinking back into surface of the creamy cap.

Since Edge was standing fifteen feet away, the surprise attack wasn’t a problem. The problem was that the motion set off the mushrooms next to it, which set off the ones after that, creating a rippling chain reaction. Within a matter of seconds, the entire field had transformed into a sea of spikes—hundreds of blades firing off every second.

It was horrifying to behold, but he couldn’t sense any mana at play. Thus, instead of Hardening his body, he shifted into shadows, completing the transformation a heartbeat before being perforated in dozen places at once.

Edge raced for the border of the environmental hazard—immensely relieved that he was immune to physical attacks in shadow form, although anything that passed through him sapped some of his mana. He didn’t change back until the last skewer-shroom was 100 feet behind him.

While he had received one hell of a scare, the frenzy of motion had revealed an object that was buried in the thickest part of the patch. Now that he knew it was there, he pulled out his spyglass to take a closer look.

When he realized what he’d found, he broke into a broad grin. There was a chest sitting on a tree stump that was completely encrusted with skewer-shrooms. When he saw the seal embossed beside the clasp, Edge knew that he had discovered a chest. Picking up valuable resources was always nice, but this was a chance to claim a superior prize. All he had to do was head back in and retrieve it.

Since dungeons were so damn dangerous already, and the lure of treasure was one of the primary draws that had kept viewers glued to the Prison World feeds, sealed chests were never trapped. They were invariably placed in insanely dangerous locations, but the containers themselves were safe to grab and held some of the best rewards that a dungeon had to offer.

While the lethal mushrooms would be a considerable obstacle to most people, Edge’s skills were ideal for retrieving the chest from within their midst.

After making sure that nothing hostile had approached while he was distracted, he turned around and walked right back into the environmental hazard. This time, he Stepped before entering the field, and as he was hoping, the shrooms didn’t react to his ethereal form. It meant that he didn’t have to spend too much mana on the way in, but getting back out was going to be tricky.

What he was planning was simple in concept, and it all came down to the timing. All he had to do was change back and pick the chest up, then shift into shadows and get the hell out.

Once he was in position, Edge took a deep breath and then sprang into motion. He reached out until his hands were touching the chest, then deactivated Shadow Step, picked up the box, and shifted back into shadows again.

Despite his abundance of caution, he was nearly skewered for his trouble. A half dozen blades punched straight through his body, draining a chunk of his mana. The shrooms around the chest attack faster than the rest. Fucking insidious.

By now, he was sprinting at top speed, racing the chain reaction while dodging as many spikes as he could. Retrieving the chest wouldn’t have been possible without Shadow Step. Even with Harden, he couldn’t have escaped before he ran out of mana, since the shrooms didn’t seem to have a limit on how many times they could fire.

He came to a stop once he was out of the field, then resolidified, laughing in exhilaration as the adrenaline ran its course. He smiled from ear to ear when he internalized that he had just picked up his very first sealed chest.

He had found the reliquary back at the start of his adventure, but those were so insanely rare that most people didn’t even believe they existed. Sealed chests were more common, especially when exploring dangerous locations within the frontier or an unconquered dungeon. But they were still scarce enough that most treasure hunters only found one or two in their entire careers, with rewards inside to match.

Edge took another minute to savor the thrill of the moment. Then he reached down, broke the seal, and lifted the lid. His excitement jumped from ten to eleven when he realized what he had found. Holy shit. It’s a piece of runic gear.

Rune magic predated the ascension of magitech. Only a handful of crafters made runic items anymore, since they were extremely costly and labor-intensive to produce. Thus, each piece was a priceless artifact. While magitech was powered by aether to enable a specific function, runic gear altered it bearer’s magic on a fundamental level.

Each piece took an implant point, since it put strain on their bearer’s energetic network in a manner similar to internal magitech devices. Like implants, runic items were graded by rarity and had to be bonded before someone could receive their benefits. While breaking the link was possible, doing so would shatter the rune, effectively destroying the item.

The only exception was when the bond was broken by its bearer’s demise—one reason among many that most people who had runic gear kept its existence a closely-guarded secret.

His prize took the form of an azure medallion, with a design that reminded him of ice crystals under a microscope. One side was covered in elaborate runes, so small that he couldn’t make out the details even with his superhuman Perception.

Before he decided if he wanted to bond the item, Edge needed to know what it did. Fortunately, his Guide had appeared the moment he cracked open the chest, providing an update that listed its contents.

You have opened a sealed chest containing runic gear.

Medallion of Frostfury (Rare)

Implant Slots: 1.

Binding this medallion will significantly increase the output of any cold-based magic, acting as a multiplier to your Amplification.

The instant that he read the last line, Edge put the chain around his neck, then slid the medallion beneath his armor.

The surface was shockingly cold, even after several minutes had passed. He willed the runes to bind to his energetic network, then accepted the prompt that appeared before his eyes, warning him that breaking the bond would ruin the item.

The instant his Guide disappeared, he felt the magic suffusing his core shift. When he stepped inside his inner world, Elemental Blade was shining with a glacial blue light, far brighter than ever before. Its exterior was covered with intricate silver runes, pulsing in time with the beating of his heart.

He was excited to find out what the rune-bolstered skill could do, so he returned to his body and ignited his core. When he conjured his iceblade and it emerged from his palm, it was so cold that it would have frozen the blood in his veins if it wasn’t for Regulate Temperature.

The reason why he had bonded the invaluable item without a second thought was simple. Edge had originally been planning to cut out the hydra’s heart, but now he had a better idea.

If he put a few more points into Amplification, took Elemental Blade to rank three, then combined the Frostfury Medallion with Overdrive and the damage bonus from his Big Game Hunter trait, it might be enough the freeze the big bastard solid.

He needed to finish today’s hunt and wait for Extraction’s cooldown to expire, then he would be ready to go all out and bring the elite monster down.