Chapter 31 - Dark Celestial Sphere
"Gnolls appeared nearby?"
When Zwei heard this piece of news, he was carefully wiping a wand.
…
Zwei's harvest from the Yellow Sand Dunes was more bountiful than he expected.
The dungeon's treasure chest had been buried right beside the sword shark lizard's corpse. Moreover, the explosion his Magic Bullet caused had partially unearthed the treasure chest. After effortlessly digging out the treasure chest, Zwei discovered a Fire Element Mutated Mana Core (Use unknown) and an unbound Return Crystal, in addition to the Proof of the Strong.
Although the system wrote that the mana core had an unknown use, its uses in the real world were countless. In addition, the mana core Zwei obtained was overflowing with mana and pure fire elementals. Despite the mana core being only the size of a silver coin, he could most likely exchange it for a manor—the type of manor that came with a bed warmer.
As for the unbound Return Crystal, it could be bound to any location in the real world. Afterward, regardless of where he was in the world, activating the Return Crystal would instantly return him to the saved location. This was an excellent lifesaving tool!
As for the Proof of the Strong, Zwei did not hesitate to use it to activate Mana Barrier, a branch skill of Mage Hand. When it came to offensive capabilities, his Exploding Flame Arrow and charged Mana Bullet were more than enough for his current self. In fact, given enough time, he could even charge his Magic Bullet to a point where it actually rivaled some offensive second-circle spells! Not to mention, he could also exhibit second-circle-level bludgeoning effects with Mage Hand!
In comparison to his offensive capabilities, Zwei's defensive capabilities were pitifully weak. He might be able to stop simple blows or slashes using his Mage Hand, but against physical attacks with high penetrative power or magical attacks, his Mage Hand's defensive capabilities were negligible.
Previously, as the number of Proof of the Strong he had access to was limited, Zwei had no choice but to supplement defense with offense. However, after experiencing a series of battles, he realized that ultimately, he was still only a magician. Meanwhile, a magician's greatest weakness was their weak physical body. On the off chance of fighting multiple opponents, he would definitely suffer if he didn't have any defensive spells.
In addition, he planned to head to the Honing Tower's First Floor immediately after clearing the Yellow Sand Dunes. He still didn't know what opponents awaited him inside that dungeon, but given the fraudulent system's reminder, the dungeon would most likely be a challenging one. Rather than pit his life to clear the dungeon, it would be much better if he prioritized survival. He did not wish to lose a month's lifespan just because of a careless mistake. Not to mention, the feeling of death wasn't actually a nice one.
After spending his skill point, Zwei teleported back to camp using the provided Return Crystal and collected his clear reward. However, the evaluation for his dungeon clear stunned him.
["Yellow Sand Dunes" conquest completed.] [Evaluation - S] [Receive reward]
There's actually an S-rank?!
Zwei felt that his raid this time wasn't perfect. Although he had completed it without suffering a single scratch, he had spent so much time, so his raid couldn't be considered perfect. After all, had he known he could lure the Boss to him after killing a certain number of prospecting lizards, he could've completed the raid at least ten minutes earlier!
If he had managed to achieve an S-rank evaluation even with such conditions, then he should've long since obtained an S-rank evaluation for the Night Forest's Depths.
Were there other evaluation criteria he hadn't thought of?
Zwei pondered about the differences between the Night Forest's Depths and the Yellow Sand Dunes.
"Don't tell me…I can only get S-rank on my first clear?" If that was the case, even if he cleared the Night Forest's Depths with his eyes closed, he still might not get an S-rank evaluation.
Regardless, compared to guessing the criteria for obtaining an S-rank evaluation, it would be much better just to draw his prize.
Hence, Zwei gladly chose to receive his reward.
He immediately discovered that the rewards offered for an S-rank evaluation and the rewards offered for other evaluation ratings were worlds apart.
Firstly, the Academy Resource rewards available offered 200 points—even for the Gem resource, which was the most difficult resource to accumulate! If he won the Gem resource prize, he could immediately start construction of the Mana Lake. He would also be one step closer to completing his final quest!
Apart from the resources, the roulette wheel had other prizes—the Achievement Building "Baptism Fountain," Legendary Weapon Design, Summoning Contract · Nightmare, Supreme Phoenix's Tail Feather, and Dark Celestial Sphere.
In the case of the Baptism Fountain, according to the description, the water the fountain sprayed out was no ordinary water. It was holy water that had healing, mana recovery, and evil banishment properties! Although the holy water would become ordinary spring water once removed from the fountain for more than three minutes, the Baptism Fountain was still an invaluable building.
As for the Legendary Weapon Design, so long as he collected the listed materials, he could use the design to convert the materials into the recorded Legendary Weapon. It should be known that even if the mainland's several major countries combined their national treasuries, the number of legendary gear they would have could be counted on the fingers of one hand. If he completed the weapon, he could challenge ordinary Advanced Magicians!
As for the Summoning Contract · Nightmare, it was different from ordinary summoning contracts, which had all sorts of restrictions and conditions. With it, he could immediately summon a Level 15 Nightmare at no cost!
As for the Supreme Phoenix's Tail Feather, although it was a consumable, its effect was resurrection. If he got killed with the feather on him, it would immediately resurrect him and return him to his peak state!
Finally, there was the Dark Celestial Sphere, which was the Treasure-rank wand Zwei had won.
…
[Dark Celestial Sphere (Treasure)]
Wand/Damaged State
This is a legendary magic item created by the night elves from the fragments of Dark Stars. It originally possessed dark magic power comparable to that of Demon Archdukes. However, an Angel damaged it, causing its rank to fall considerably. Even so, as a prestigious magic weapon that was known even in the Heaven Realm, its light cannot be hidden!
Magic Attack: 70~130
Shadow Domination: While wielding the Dark Celestial Sphere, you can freely control the shadow energy under your feet! All non-attribute magic will be converted into shadow damage.
Turbid Impact: Release a massive wave of darkness with the Dark Celestial Sphere! Deals AOE shadow damage. Can be used once every natural day.
Land of the Dead: Imprison the dead with the Dark Celestial Sphere and transform them into your servants! There is a certain chance of capturing the soul of your kills and transforming them into shadow servants (0/10). A certain amount of mana is required for each summoning.
Remark: "Shadows are my life!" — by the previous owner.
…
Although the other prizes also tempted Zwei greatly, he still felt that the Dark Celestial Sphere he won was the best reward.
After all, he would eventually accumulate the amount of resources he required, regardless of the difficulty.
As for the Baptism Fountain, he could also purchase it from the Achievement Store, although the price was ridiculously high.
As for the legendary weapon, while it sounded powerful, he would have to collect the materials himself. Who knew how long it would take before he actually got his hands on the weapon?
As for the summoning scroll, although the nightmare summoned would allow him to walk over monsters below Level 15, the effective period of the nightmare was too short. It wouldn't be long before he could similarly dominate Level 15 monsters without the nightmare's help.
As for the Supreme Phoenix's Tail Feather, while it was indeed an excellent item, now that he had an unbound Return Crystal, he didn't have much desire for the feather.
In contrast to all these items, the Dark Celestial Sphere was an item that would remain useful even after Zwei had risen to the Advanced Magician rank. He had gotten far more than his money's worth!
Hence, after leaving the dungeon, Zwei had been delighted all the while…until Alyssa came with some bad news.