Chapter Eleven: Inventorying the Spoils

After resting for a while, the master and servant began sorting through their spoils.

Layla laid out the items she had taken from Mike on the ground: a waist pouch-shaped magic bag, a necklace, and a pile of bracers and greaves.

It was their first time taking spoils from a slain foe, and both were excited as they looked over their loot.

Roshu first picked up the necklace.

It appeared quite unremarkable—a simple black cord threaded with a blood-red crystal about the size of a thumbnail, with no other gold or silver embellishments.

But Roshu had experienced the power of this necklace firsthand; it was thanks to it that his wounds were healing now.

According to the blue-haired youth, this necklace was called the Thorn Guard.

Not only did it weaken enemy attacks, but it also inflicted full counter-damage.

Such an effect clearly qualified it as a top-tier magical item.

Roshu wondered how effective it would be against stronger opponents.

His mana was nearly depleted after casting a healing spell, so he couldn’t test the necklace’s true power immediately and intended to put it away for now.

Unexpectedly, the moment he thought about activating it, a crimson light flared from the necklace in his palm, expanding outward to form a circular shield about one meter in radius.

Layla, enveloped within the shield, gazed at the faint red membrane with delight and gently touched it. The light rippled like water under her fingertips.

Roshu stood stunned, realizing the item didn’t consume mana.

But then he noticed something was amiss—his hand holding the necklace, once soaked in blood, was gradually clearing.

This artifact consumed blood?!

Roshu was deeply astonished.

No wonder the youth, only a first-rank assassin, could wield it. In a way, this was perfectly suited for those with less strength.

Feeling the blood in his palm diminishing steadily, Roshu estimated he could maintain the shield for two or three minutes, though the limit remained to be tested.

This was already quite remarkable.

Amid his excitement, Roshu couldn’t help but marvel, “No wonder the lord of Bantanda City…”

Ahem, no, he mustn’t think that way.

Snapping back to reality, Roshu quickly dismissed the unsettling thought from his mind.

Maybe it wasn’t like that at all; no need to scare himself.

After stowing away the Thorn Guard, Roshu had Layla open the waist pouch-shaped magic bag.

A cascade of items tumbled out.

The two spent some time sorting through the loot and gained a generous haul.

First were thirteen gleaming silver coins.

Their eyes sparkled at the sight.

Before coming to the Sunset Jungle, Roshu had exchanged all the copper coins earned from days of goblin slaying for supplies.

Besides the bracers and greaves they wore, and the food and tent for overnight wilderness stays, Roshu had also acquired a first-rank iron hammer enchanted with lightning and a first-rank skill book for the “Duststorm” technique.

In other words, they carried no coins, and the only valuable items were the four goblin corpses in Layla’s magic bag.

Roshu had been a bit unsettled that they hadn’t collected the goblin body they killed today, but seeing the thirteen silver coins instantly lifted his spirits.

Truly, slaying goblins was just for skill points; to make real money, one had to go after humans!

Thirteen silver coins equaled 1,300 copper coins, roughly the worth of five or six days of goblin hunting.

Roshu cheerfully put away ten silver coins and had Layla store the rest in her waist pouch.

Besides coins, the pouch held eight or nine unidentifiable herbs, which Roshu also had Layla gather to exchange at the guild later.

There were also two skill books.

One was a first-rank hunter skill called “Rapid Strike.”

The other was intriguing; it was the first time Roshu had encountered a universal skill book.

He had never seen one like this with Lise.

This was also a first-rank skill book named “Examination.”

According to its description, it seemed any profession could learn it.

Roshu placed his palm on the book’s cover and focused his mind; the book instantly shattered into fragments and dispersed.

[Skill: Examination LV. 1 (0/1)]

[LV.1 Examination: Upon use, if the opponent’s rank is equal to or lower than the user’s, a layer of light veil will appear on their body surface.]

A skill to assess an enemy’s strength.

Understanding the effect, Roshu realized that Mike likely relied on this skill to discern that he and Layla were at most of equal rank, which is why he had been so confident from the start.

This skill was indeed practical, and Roshu was very pleased.

What pleased him even more was:

[Next Level LV.2 Examination: Upon use, a layer of light veil appears on the opponent’s body surface. The color changes according to their rank, from first to seventh rank the colors are red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and purple.]

[Available skill points: 1]

If LV.1 Examination was practical, LV.2 was unquestionably a divine skill.

Roshu hadn’t expected such a universal skill book to have such a powerful upgrade effect.

Seeing he had one remaining skill point after upgrading Duststorm, Roshu wasted no time and immediately raised Examination to LV.2.

With the upgrade complete, he packed the remaining miscellaneous items, including the bracers and pauldrons, back into the waist pouch-shaped magic bag.

Thus, the loot tally was complete.

Roshu attached the new magic bag to his waist, conveniently concealed beneath his coat.

“Master, where shall we go next? Back to town?” Layla asked.

With such a haul, she assumed her master would visit the guild.

“Not yet,” Roshu shook his head.

Recalling the message Mike had mentioned, he said, “Let’s go check out the east side of town.”

…

Although Wheel Town lay at the kingdom’s northeastern edge, it was well connected.

To the west lay the capital Bantanda, to the south an industrial city central to the kingdom, and to the north and east were the territories of two great monster races.

To the north were the goblins Roshu was familiar with.

To the east lay the slime plains.

Since Roshu’s arrival, guards in town often spoke of the goblins in the Sunset Jungle to the north, but rarely mentioned the slime plains to the east.

Roshu had asked several times but received no clear answers.

Only a guard named Dave once mentioned, “Roshu, don’t go to the slime plains. That thing is beyond your imagination. I saw it once and immediately requested reassignment from the east to the north guard post.”

“That creature, in a sense, isn’t even on the same level as the goblins.”