Chapter 948 - EXP? Did someone say EXP?!! MINE! MINE! EXP!!! LEVEL UUUUUUPPP!!!!!

[The lazy goddess wand]:

I used this so much!

So many memories!

But I like the staff Jin and Nex made for my birthday better…

Time to retire, buddy, I won’t forget you!

It wouldn’t even feel right taking this.

Still, a wand used by the goddess of mana… I can’t feel the mana inside of the display case but it’s swimming in it.

Since she did not need a weapon, Sofia did not linger in front of the wand. Following it was a stone-looking tiny pyramid with a gold cap.

[Alien Triangle]:

I already had a mysterious cube and the sphere so it felt right to go looking for a triangle. Well, it's a pyramid, but close enough.

It seems to be a compass that leads to somewhere, but I couldn’t find any void entry point that wasn’t at least a dozen light-years away… I don’t have that much free time!

Void entry points? I’m guessing she means the margin? I could do ‘dozens of light-years away’, but I don’t really have time to let my light go that far. Well, maybe by then I’ll be able to enter the vault again and grab this, if I’m still alive.

And lastly the metallic sphere to go with the triangle and cube…

[Strange Sphere]:

What came out instead of a person the first time I tried fishing a soul out of the current.

There’s a soul inside but it feels dangerous for some reason.

Probably better to keep it locked up.

“Dangerous to her? Yeah, not touching that one. If Alith could absorb the soul for her specialization, though…”

And then the bigger, more interesting sphere.

Aside from the bone wand, the second sphere was the item that had most caught Sofia’s attention from the very beginning, as it glistened with the shimmering colors of the deep, just like the bell on her staff.

[Shimmering orb]:

Turns out it’s actually the map of a city. It was a bit tricky to turn on but yeah, that’s it.

It does have markers that indicate danger and treasure in some primitive dragon language that Nex could barely just decode.

Even he has no idea where the city is, though. Well, it’s pretty clear where, but it’s not like anyone can just go there and take a stroll. I almost freaking died last time! I’m never going again!

An orb, but it’s a map?

Is this a map of Ser’Alhtra? The city was built around a sphere… Could this be part of what gave Nex the confidence to go look for the corpse of Time?

Written in dragon language, too…

I wish I could see it turned on.

That being said… Choosing a map here is clearly not the correct option. I need power for my next trial. Immediate power.

And the next contender are these purple and yellow leather breeches…

[Old pants]:

Datation returns eight hundred thousand years on these.

Needless to say these are apocalypse-grade pants.

Fucking ugly, though.

The speed boost makes it hard to even walk in with them on, as well.

Crashing into a tree is only funny the first time.

I do notably lack good enchanted pants or boots. But I think I will be fine without these ones…

Sofia immediately turned to the next object, which was a huge nacre-looking scale which was propped up against the entire length of the back wall. It was itself behind not one but five visible walls of enchanted glass.

[Small tail scale of the sky leviathan]:

The most I could take without pissing it off…

Back then Death assured me that one of his demons could probably survive eating it.

His dreams of a second demon king are nice and all, but no shot!

It’s dangerous even being near that thing, I can’t possibly let anyone eat that.

Sofia blinked once after reading the label, did not even approach the glass, and directly turned to look at the next row of display cases.

Am I reading this right?

Sky leviathan???

Absolutely not.

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Then she looked at the wooden mannequin in the next display case, and what it was wearing.

ABSOLUTELY. NOT!

[Succubus armor]:

I thought it was funny when I made it but the effects ended up waaaaaaay too strong, even when worn under something else.

This thing is dangerous.

Well… It’d be a waste to just destroy it…

What armor?! It’s a single halfway split leather strap! And how does it even–? Oh. Eww.

No thanks.

Not in a million million years.

Finally the following item was a normal looking cyan metallic ring with angular golden patterns. The more she looked at it the more uneasy Sofia felt, like it reminded her of something unpleasant.

[Galaxite Ring]:

I have no clue what it’s actually made of but that means I get to name it!

That’s some super advanced tech. It looks like this was one of the ‘holy items’ of the Dark Epoch that inspired their advancements. Apparently there was a whole huge spaceship this came from, but I just couldn’t find it. Maybe it got destroyed.

It makes the wearer stronger but I’m pretty sure there’s more to it that I don’t understand.

Wearing it makes the old remnants from the Dark Epoch super hostile though, even more than usual, they even leave their ruins to seek it, which is pretty bad.

Gotta keep that crap locked up with the rest!

For the third time in a row, Sofia decisively moved on to the next item without looking back. Learning a bit more about the Dark Epoch was well and good, but one close encounter with its surviving denizens was more than enough for her. If even Anna felt that it was better to keep the ring locked away,

Finally, going up to the third and last item in this short row of displays, Sofia finally found something normal, an apra-sized yellow fruit.

[Ancient root berry]:

We found three so everyone got one but it’s pretty useless for a goddess.

It’s a lot of stats, I don’t want to eat it and just waste it!

“If she considers it a lot of stats… This must mean it’s REALLY a lot of stats. Ah, but it could be dangerous to eat, then. Well. If I can’t decide I could always take this, it probably cannot be a bad choice. Though, unless I get mana or a mana substat… It would not be that great.”

Moving on, Sofia walked toward the last set of display cases, eight ones containing similar items, arranged in a semicircle in a corner. In addition to individual labels, there was a sign hanging from the ceiling above the cases.

- Skill shard repository: Each skill shard here is a painfully crafted, one of a kind priceless implant capable of granting the contained skill to the recipient, at the cost of the appropriate amount of bp space. These were created for research purposes and while theoretically functional, they were NOT meant to be used. You have been warned. -

The shards all looked relatively similar, transparent crystals shaped like a stalactite made entirely of tiny cubes. There were countless golden threads inside, at a scale so minuscule that even when zooming in with her magic eye, Sofia could barely see the tiny threads standing out from the golden mass. In addition, all of them seemed to contain different cores, but most of their appearance was hidden by the golden threads.

Sofia began reading the labels from one side to the other.

[Skill shard: Eternal flame]:

Makes fire stronger and impossible to extinguish. Use with caution.

Impossible to extinguish… Forever? Even by the caster?

How does that work? Does the fire produce infinite mana to sustain itself?

Looking at it from closer, from the way mana moved in the case around the shard only, Sofia recognized that the core probably contained a Phoenix’s feather. She was somewhat familiar with these mana movements now that she had a Phoenix of her own.

Well I am not really interested in that anyway. Fire that cannot be put out sounds like a gigantic headache to deal with, even as the user.

Sofia quickly glanced at all the other shards trying to guess what their cores were made of, but beyond the first one, she had no idea.

I felt a bit knowledgeable for a moment, but I suppose that was just a fluke.

Disappointed at her own performance, Sofia kept on reading.

[Skill shard: Advent of frost]:

Continuously expunges all heat from a wide area, including the caster’s. Use with caution.

That would be fine for Pareth, I suppose? He’s already producing some cold, and immune to it as well. What scares me a bit is that it says continuously. Can the skill be toggled on and off? I am having doubts after the previous one…

Let’s not.

[Skill shard: True lightning]:

Prevents magielectric instability and dramatically increases electrical output. Use with caution.

“Hey, that’s possible? I’m surprised this wasn’t integrated as a ritual within the hidden home on Cerberus then. Maybe it only works as a skill? Anyway, not for me. Explosive bolts that don’t explode? What would even be the point?”

[Skill shard: Opaline water]:

Shifts water subtly into instability, making it extremely destructive. Use with caution.

“A water mage can do plenty of incredible things with water, but wouldn’t this skill reduce it all to ‘water hurt’? At that point just directly invoke some dangerous liquid instead? Or better yet, long, hot plasma rods ready to blow up? What a pointless skill.”

[Skill shard: Special Operative]:

Adds a new powerful effect to an existing specialization, highly unpredictable results. Use with extreme caution.

“Oooh, gambling. New powerful effect for Pareth, my dispel or my aura? Very strong contender this one. The ‘extreme caution’ part is a bit worrying, though…”

[Skill shard: Ancestral recall]:

Awakens traces of your ancestral lineage, if any. Use with extreme caution.

“Wait… This is super good as well. I can get a fairy ability? Maybe the bone corruption aura I could have picked for my mana-heart instead of [Infinity Engine]? This skill shard section went from really boring to very interesting quite fast.”

[Skill shard: Leviathan’s Folly]:

Randomly grants between 1 to 10 additional System skill slots worth of usable bp space. Use with very extreme caution.

“Err… Well. As much as 10 extra blueprint slots would be absolutely incredible… The name is… The name…”

Sofia recalled the Leviathan’s appearance, the endless pile of bodies fused into its flesh, the countless spell circles stacked together when its magical tentacles attacked her.

Is that why it’s a pile of bodies?

Blueprint space?

Yeah, I… No. I can’t do it. Not taking this. No. No, no, no.

And finally, the last one…

[Skill shard: TRUE EXP]:

Allows for the strengthening of one’s blueprint through absorption of defeated creatures’. The conversion ratio is absolutely horrendous. There are not enough monsters in this world to make it worthwhile. Do not use.

Sofia stopped to think.

The warning was clear. But at the same time, when Anna was around and wrote this label, there was no invasion from billions of Phageid blotting out the sky.

But even then, how many can I really kill before someone stronger wipes them out?

No, this one is out as well.

So now… What do I pick…