Shadow Seer (Rogue Merchant Book #3): LitRPG Series by Roman Prokofiev (english reading book TXT) 📗

potions, a clan gonfalon, a glaive, Pinprick’s mantle and cloak, and Ran Dom’s helmet, part of a set. I started to doubt whether I could carry all of that. Once again, I addressed my test subjects,

“I hope you can count. Eleven charges mean five deaths for each of you, plus a bonus one. Enough to undress you completely, I think. Do you have legendaries, I wonder?”

In truth, I was bluffing. The Greater Shield of Shadows had less than a minute left, and as much as I would have liked to, I couldn’t make good on my threat. They, however, didn’t know that.

Ran Dom: How can you guarantee that you won’t stand us up? You’ve already swindled our clan once!

 

Apparently, one client was ripe for the picking. Maybe his set armor wasn’t bound to him, and he didn’t want to lose it. I told him the truth—I would let him go but couldn’t give any guarantees—and started the countdown once again. After “two,” I got fifty thousand gold transferred to my account with a crude comment in German. Being an honest merchant, I resisted the temptation to cheat him and clicked “No” in the Resurrection menu, releasing his soul to respawn. Pinprick was silent, her head haughtily tilted back. Oh, so she was a big fish swimming in a puddle? Well, that puddle was about to eat her alive. It was time to get this over with. I raised her and cheerfully watched her once again die in the lake of acid. Considering that all deaths in the Hole always left scars, this meeting was bound to become a memorable one for the bounty hunters’ team.

The Shield of Shadows was counting down the last seconds. 14…13…12…

I didn’t have time to pick up Pinprick’s loot. I opened the menu of Aelmaris and selected Blazing Warrior, the most powerful weapon at my disposal: the avatar of True Fire capable of destroying any target. The Magister had expressly told me to use my abilities as one of the Seven. I wasn’t going to pull any punches!

It was the third time bringing into play the abilities of the Seven after Daine, the Mistress of the Succubate, and the dome of Pandorum’s juggernaut. Neither of them, however, was as enormous. Honestly, I wasn’t quite convinced that even the phenomenal True Fire could kill this monstrosity.

True Fire was said to be the developers’ way of destroying worlds. Aelmaris used it as an element dealing fixed damage, and transforming into Blazing Warrior made this damage uncapped. Basically, the fiery avatar annihilated everything it touched. However, many items in Sphere were complex, composed of many small parts, like building blocks. A juggernaut was a good example. I remembered how Ragnarok’s deck burned under my feet, but I hadn’t incinerated the entire vessel. I was afraid that something similar might happen with the squid—a humongous beast like the Guardian might easily be above my paygrade.

…3…2…1…

Unwilling to risk being killed by the acid DOT, I activated Blazing Warrior. Waves of heat ran down my body, transforming it into blue flames, and my aura emanated fire. I felt the Guardian’s flesh come apart beneath my feet, melting, and charged forward—my plans didn’t include falling out of the monster through a small hole. I had to destroy it completely!

Something dark descended on me from above, and everything around me shook as the Guardian started furiously contracting its stomach, trying to belch out the burning splinter. That, however, only served to harm it all the more. I walked, swam, tore through its flesh, immolating everything I touched. Incredible numbers—billions of damage—popped up in the combat log. The squid’s stomach, liver, craw, gullet, heart... The Guardian really did consist of multiple parts, and losing one organ probably didn’t matter to it—it could easily regenerate! All of it continued for an agonizingly long time, and I started thinking that the whole enterprise was pointless...until I found myself outside the creature in the black depths of the Sea of Terror.

The last line in the long list of destroyed organs was the squid’s brain. Disemboweled, opened like an oyster, the Guardian slowly sunk to the bottom, its guts blacker than the water around us. I couldn’t help but dismay at the result of my actions. The tentacles were still alive, writhing and lashing in all directions, but it was clearly the death throes. As it died in a cloud of spurting blood, the monster hit the bottom next to the edge of the chasm and stopped dead, limply spreading its tendrils like a torn starfish.

You destroyed the Deep Guardian! Unique achievement unlocked: Deep Slayer! You are the first player in Sphere to receive this achievement! Unique achievement unlocked: Dauntless! You receive 5 free attribute points! You receive 5,000,000 XP!

You destroyed the Deep Guardian single-handedly! Unique achievement unlocked: Beyond the Impossible! Unique ability unlocked: Monster Menace! You receive 5 free attribute points! You receive 1,000,000 XP!

Congratulations, you have earned 500,000/500,000 XP! You receive 1 free attribute point!

Congratulations, you have earned 1,000,000/1,000,000 XP! You receive 1 free attribute point! Achievement unlocked: Milestone! You receive 3 free attribute points! Attention: From now on, you will receive 1 free attribute point for each million of earned XP!

Congratulations, you have earned 2,000,000/2,000,000 XP! You receive...

Holy crap, six million XP! I was so immersed in reading the long list of rewards raining down on me, most of them unique, that I almost died, forgetting to turn on Air Bubble. That would have been one stupid death. In total, I got six achievements and twenty-two free attribute points. It made sense; without the cheat-like Blazing Warrior, only a raid of hundreds, if not thousands, of players could kill the Guardian. Two of my new abilities stood out: Dauntless and Monster Menace.

The latter, proudly flashing a whole outline, took the place of honor next to “Smart” and “Ancient Gene” traits. It granted a weird effect: all creatures tagged