Kai reappeared right beside the river in his new form. He looked inside the water and wondered if he should continue to kill the fish within the river. There were quite easy targets. Instead, he decided to spend some time practicing the new skill he had just received.
Just as he was about to turn away and head toward a calmer place to train, a glint of gold abruptly caught Kai's eyes. He paused, licking his lips just like a salamander would do, as he focused on the origin of the light.
A shiny gold ring with a small green gem set in it sat at the bottom of the river, caught on some kind of old piece of silver metal.
"Mhm…" Kai thought, taking a few steps toward the river, trying to get a better look at the gold ring. Soon enough, the ring was right in the center of the river stream. For some reason, the ring wasn't moved by the constant stream of water.
"Isla, any idea what that is?"
The fairy, who hadn't paid any attention to Kai's actions for the last few minutes, suddenly appeared as she tried to look for what Kai was talking about.
In a short amount of time, she managed to spot the gold ring at the bottom of the river, and immediately, a look of surprise appeared on her face.
"I'm not sure if this is Fate or it's the will of His Highness, but your luck is truly unmatched."
Kai blinked a few times as he waited for her to continue explaining. However, she didn't. Instead, she flew right over the river, stopping right over where the gold ring was situated.
"Are you going to tell me what it is…or?"
Isla shook her head, realizing she had forgotten to explain to Kai what he had found. "As I was saying, you're really lucky. That ring you see in the middle of the river is a Magical Artifact. Powerful beings within the nine realms of this world can imbue certain objects with messages or abilities from their Monster Core. Additionally, talented craftsmen can use their own abilities to create unique objects with unique powers, such as this Magical Artifact. In this case, the ring you found seems to be quite an old Magic Ring. It might even be Ancient."
She smiled out of nowhere as she let out a giggle.
"However, the reason I'm saying you're so lucky is that even I can't sense from which realm it comes from. This means that this ring can hold powers from the Ancient Era, the era of Gods, where His Highness had once lived. Nonetheless, those objects are usually found on humanoid creatures, whether they be Humans, Vampires, Demons, Dwarves, or those of a similar nature. It's extremely rare for monsters to use Magical Artifacts."
When he was met with all kinds of information, Kai took his time to understand everything she had just told him. Through all her information about Magical Artifacts, Kai came to understand that the God who made his System was now…dead. At least, that's what Isla led on. He couldn't be certain just yet.
The other thing that was extremely obvious was the fact that Kai needed to go and get that gold ring. If he was lucky, it could potentially hold mystical powers no one in this universe had ever seen before.
Kai removed the thoughts from his mind as he dived head-first into the river, launching himself toward the ring. He swam in the water with the help of his new tail and sent his right claw out to snag the ring.
Just as he was about to scoop up the ring, the silver piece of metal it was resting on suddenly shook. A split second later, it flipped upward, transforming from a weird metal piece to some sort of box-like monster. It snapped down on Kai's right arm, and Kai felt dozens of razor-sharp teeth digging into his scales.
Nonetheless, despite being extremely surprised, he didn't panic. He decided to swim downward, and when he touched the ground, he helped himself with both of his reptilian legs, blasting out of the water in a single go. His powerful scaled legs contained enough force to climb up a tree while running, so jumping out of the water in such a manner was child's play for Kai.
As he flipped through the air, Kai twisted and brought his right arm down underneath him, looking at the box-like creature that was latched onto him. Despite the creature's sharp teeth, it hadn't managed to dig in far; Kai's scales were a lot tougher than they looked.
-Boom!
Kai slammed the monster down hard, crashing it into a mountain of small rocks. Several cracks suddenly appeared on the metallic monster's thin material.
"Get off me!" Kai shouted as he continued to slam the monster onto the rocks over and again. He had noticed the damage it had caused to the monster and knew that it was the only solution for him at the moment. Also, despite being a small Dragonic Gloomander, Kai's physical strength was far stronger than that of a human. His bloodline was much more powerful than that of a mere human.
After slamming the monster onto the rocks more than twenty times, he felt its hold weakening. As soon as it did, Kai flung the creature away from him, hearing it splash into the water.
Kai took a deep breath as he looked at his right arm, seeing several tooth marks with a small amount of blood leaving his body.
This might have been a video game, but the pain he felt at the moment was extremely real. He couldn't imagine what death would feel like in Realms of Monsters, and truth be told, that was the last thing he wanted to figure out.
Isla also didn't move a single inch to help him. It seemed she hadn't lied about the fact she wouldn't help him fight other beasts no matter what. Well, not that Kai had been planning on relying on her.
"Ah…I'm fine. I thought I was going to die…" He muttered, his hands were still shaking. "Everything here tries to kill me. What a shitty game… If I had been a human, I would have been able to stay within that village from earlier and spend some quality time. But no, I'm in the middle of nowhere, and everything is out for my life. Ah…what have I done to deserve this."
Nevertheless, Kai dismissed those thoughts to the back of his mind as he focused once more on the situation ahead of him.
'Should I try to Devour that monster?'
It had been the strongest monster Kai had come across ever since he had entered this game, which meant that there was a good chance he would be able to evolve into an even greater monster by using 'Devour' on it. However, when he got closer to the river, he realized that it was already long gone and that it would take hours to find it again.
Instead, he turned toward Isla as he had a few more questions to ask her.
"Isla, can you tell me that monster's name? Is it another sea creature?"
Isla shook her head. "As far as I know, it looked like a Silver Box Crusher. Those creatures are extremely hard to find, and most people who come across them, whether they be humanoid beings or monsters, have always found themselves to have a strange relationship with Fate. In fact, your Fate might be one of the reasons why His Highness chose you out of everyone to obtain the Mythical Evolution System."
"What do you mean by having a strange relationship with Fate?"
"Mhm, well, it's hard to explain since I have never experienced anything like it. But most beings connected to Fate are known to have more "Luck" than others. However, while they have more "Luck," the opposite can also happen. Catastrophes are often headed in their direction. So, their "Luck" is somewhat earned. Though I must say, I'm surprised that you haven't fallen asleep just yet. After all, Silver Box Crushers like to release a strong sedative whenever they bite down on something."
"Huh? A sedative?" Kai's eyes widened. He didn't feel his body becoming dull whatsoever.
Isla giggled as she noticed his reaction. "Haha! Don't worry, Gloomanders are known to have a strong poison resistance. That's why you aren't feeling anything."
"Huh? While I might be poison-resistant, can you warn me next time? I don't really want to die of poison."
Isla only smiled at him, keeping her mouth tightly shut.
"Tsk, alright." Kai wanted to complain about the amount of information Isla had given him. It would be hypocritical of him, so he kept his mouth shut. He would only have to be more careful next time.
Instead, he looked over his right hand to see where a golden object could be found. Kai might not have devoured the Silver Box Crusher. But, at least he had managed to grab the magic ring it held. The damage he had suffered to obtain such a rare artifact was inconsequential. Gloomander had a powerful vitality, according to Isla, and small wounds such as teeth marks would heal in a few dozen minutes. In fact, it had already stopped bleeding.
Suddenly, as he observed the gold ring, a blue translucent screen appeared before Kai.
[Ancient Magical Ring]
[Owner: None]
[Rank: Divine]
[Description: By decrypting the content of this magic ring, you will be able to access all the valuable information from the God of Monsters, Varkul, on everything he learned in his lifetime.]
However, when he picked up the ring, there was once again an announcement without Kai's knowledge.
[Player Notamonster has become the world's first player to have obtained a Divine-Ranked Artifact.]