Read Novel Full Chapter 961: Epic Grade Treasures [2]
Chapter 961: Epic Grade Treasures [2]
In the five hundred years since Shojo had ascended to Rank 4, its record against intelligent races at the same level was surprisingly limited.
Aside from the monsters it had farmed and eliminated across its territory and occasional excursions into surrounding regions, Shojo had only ever fought a total of seven Rank 4 intelligent race beings.
Four women and three men.
Of those seven, only five had carried epic grade treasures.
With Shojo’s memory to reference, Michael could piece together the ownership clearly enough. Three of the five epic grade treasures had belonged to men. Two had belonged to women.
The spear and the Emperor’s Aegis Decree had come from the two most dangerous opponents Shojo had ever faced among intelligent races.
The remaining three, the jade crown, the bamboo shaft, and the string instrument, had come from opponents that ranged from mid to high difficulty by Shojo’s own internal assessment. Challenging encounters, each one, but not the kind that had left lasting impressions the way the spear’s previous owner and the Black Serpent human had.
Michael picked up the spear carefully.
As a spear user, Michael was naturally drawn to it before any of the others. His current soul-bound spear was only Extraordinary Grade three stars, and after the battle with Shojo it was no longer usable. Michael had been meaning to address that particular problem and simply had not had the time.
Michael cast Detect on the spear.
[Item Name]: Venomflare Lance
[Grade]: Epic Grade ★★
[Effect]:
• Passive: The lance continuously emanates a dark flame that does not spread or consume but lingers on whatever it touches. Contact with the flame introduces a corrosive burning effect that bypasses ordinary resistance. The flame cannot be extinguished through conventional means.
• Active: When driven forward with deliberate intent, the dark flame surges along the full length of the lance and concentrates at the tip into a compressed point of poisonous fire. Anything pierced by the active strike receives a deeply embedded flame that continues burning from the inside, resisting suppression and accelerating the breakdown of internal defenses and regenerative ability.
Before the Black Serpent human’s existence, the owner of the Venomflare Lance had been the strongest opponent Shojo had ever faced among intelligent races.
What made that fact particularly interesting to Michael was that she had been an elf.
The common understanding of elves was that they were creatures who naturally favoured distance and long ranged attacks. Finding one who was dominant in close combat was rare.
Michael could not help but smile.
Just like his previous weapon, this one carried a poison attribute. The expression of it was different, built into flame rather than a direct toxin, but the underlying nature was the same.
Michael did not actually have strict requirements for the spear he used. A spear was a spear. But having a familiar attribute was something good.
To find a replacement so soon, and one that was better in every way, was not something he had expected after killing Shojo.
At this point Michael found it genuinely difficult to summon any lingering frustration toward Jester for interfering with his fate. If Jester had not acted, none of this would have been his anytime soon, or possibly ever.
Michael knew his own character well enough. Even if Shojo had met the stronger version of him and not attacked, unless Michael had specific need of a corpse he would not have actively gone after any monster. There was a real chance Shojo’s treasures would never have reached his hands at all.
Michael took one last look at the spear and stored the Venomflare Lance carefully alongside the Decree.
"I suppose I owe you one," he said quietly, though Jester was nowhere nearby to hear it.
Michael turned to the next treasure.
The jade crown.
This one had belonged to the second woman among Shojo’s five defeated opponents who had wielded epic grade treasures. Among the five figures, if the Black Serpent human sat at the top and the elf sat just below, this woman occupied the fourth position in Shojo’s internal assessment.
Michael picked up the jade crown carefully and cast Detect.
[Item Name]: Veilborn Circlet
[Grade]: Epic Grade ★
[Effect]:
• Passive: The wearer’s presence becomes naturally difficult to perceive. Detection abilities, sensory skills, and spatial awareness directed at the wearer experience consistent interference, reducing their accuracy and range. The effect is not invisibility but a persistent blurring of the wearer’s existence in the perception of others.
• Active: When activated, the passive interference intensifies into a complete suppression of the wearer’s presence for a short duration. During this window the wearer becomes effectively undetectable by anything below the wearer’s own level. Against equal-level opponents the suppression creates a meaningful delay in detection rather than complete concealment.
"Seems rather ordinary."
Compared to the Venomflare Lance and the Emperor’s Aegis Decree, this one felt relatively understated. Perhaps that was why it sat at one star. Among one star epic grade treasures it might even rank in the lower ranges.
But Michael was not dismissive of it.
An epic grade treasure was still an epic grade treasure. The gap between the highest tier of Extraordinary and the lowest tier of Epic was not a small one. Only special treasures like the one he had received from the academy were exceptions, and even that treasure had once been a one star epic grade item.
The Veilborn Circlet’s effect itself was genuinely useful. Fighting an opponent who wore this would be incredibly annoying in ways that raw strength could not easily address.
Michael thought about which of his undead would get the most out of it.
"If I have no immediate need for it I can always give it to Fade. Together they would probably make a perfect fit."
With that thought settled, Michael stored the circlet and reached for the bamboo shaft.
[Item Name]: Everbloom Staff
[Grade]: Epic Grade ★★★
[Effect]:
• Active: Continuously radiates a dense concentration of pure vitality, accelerating natural recovery for all allies within range. All allies within range receive a +25% boost to Constitution and +15% boost to all other attributes.
• Passive: Mana consumption for nature-based abilities is reduced by 70%, and as long as the wielder can consistently provide mana, all sustained injuries will be healed instantly except in exceptional cases.