Chapter 111: Sorting Inventory

With a cheerful wave, Snow stepped out onto the porch and bounded down the stairs, heading off toward the main thoroughfare of the Dragonkin village.

Leon stood in the quiet room, listening to the sliding door click shut behind her. The silence of the estate washed over him, thick and absolute, interrupted only by the distant, soothing roar of the mana-waterfall outside.

His brief moment of domestic tranquility had concluded. It was time to return to the cold reality of his existence.

He was Level 100. He had crossed the boundary of the Steadfast rank, transitioning from Experience Points to Essence Points. The Adept region of Sector 12 was completely trivialized, offering absolutely nothing in terms of raw progression. When the elimination cycle finally ended in fifty plus days and the golden barrier to Sector 11 fell, he would be stepping into a realm populated entirely by entities Level 100 and above.

To survive a Steadfast region, raw physical attributes and talents would not be enough. He needed to perfectly optimize his loadout, discard the obsolete, and identify the true conceptual value of the high-tier loot he had hoarded.

Leon walked toward the back of the main room, his footsteps quiet against the polished floor. The conversation downstairs had come to a natural end, and he had already begun considering what he needed to accomplish before the day was over.

There were several things he wanted to examine, particularly the items he had accumulated since entering Eternal Heaven. With his recent growth and the changes to his abilities, it was becoming increasingly important to understand exactly what he possessed and how best to put it to use.

He reached the staircase and began climbing, the wood creaking faintly beneath his weight despite his effortless, near-silent gait, each step carrying him further from the lingering warmth of the conversation downstairs and deeper into the quiet calculus of preparation. Soft, warm light spilled through the windows, illuminating the wooden walls and the neatly arranged furnishings.

His room was spacious enough to accommodate a large bed, a wardrobe, a writing desk, and several shelves. It was a comfortable space, certainly more luxurious than anything Leon had grown accustomed to during his previous life.

He glanced around the familiar room briefly before closing the door behind him. He then crossed the room and approached the window, looking out over the village for a few seconds. The settlement was peaceful from this height, with its narrow streets, clustered buildings, and distant market stalls, the faint glow of bioluminescent flora still visible even in the daylight hours.

Leon then moved away from the window and approached the center of the room. He sat down on the floor, crossed his legs, and rested his hands comfortably on his knees. His posture was relaxed, but his attention had already turned inward, his thoughts moving through the various abilities and resources at his disposal.

He could have inspected everything individually, but that would have been unnecessarily tedious. With the size of equipment, artifacts, materials, and miscellaneous items he had accumulated, a more organized approach was preferable.

Fortunately, Eternal Heaven’s system was capable of handling precisely that sort of request.

Leon closed his eyes briefly, gathering his thoughts before opening them again.

"System," Leon commanded. "Open full inventory manifest. Filter by equipped gear, stored artifacts, and high-tier crafting materials."

The holographic interface materialized directly in front of him, its soft blue glow casting faint, shifting light across the polished wooden floor.

The list was extensive, a testament to the absolute slaughter he had conducted within the Void Mist:

Blade of the Dragon God (Mythic)

Epitaph (Legendary)

The Sovereign’s Mantle (Platinum)

Pendant of the Undying Ember (Artifact)

Band of Deflection

Band of the Chronos Lord (Mythic)

Flawless Sapphire Dragon Scale

Aether-Lightning Core

Spatial Disruptor Core

Abyssal Blueprint (Mythic)

Void-Lord Core

Hollow Core

2 Tears of the Ash

Phalanx Shield Core

Crown of the First Era

Millions of Eternal Coins

He was about to thoroughly go through them all. It was time to know exactly what would be useful for him now that he was at the Steadfast rank.

He started at the bottom of his equipped utility gear. He tapped the holographic icon for the Band of Deflection.

[Item: Band of Deflection]

[Description: A simple ring, unremarkable in appearance, etched with faded warding script along its inner surface. While worn, the bearer gains a small but permanent chance to entirely negate incoming ranged projectile damage, the ring flashing faintly each time it activates.]

Leon stared at the description with cold, uncompromising logic.

"Obsolete," he declared aloud.

When he had first acquired the Band of Deflection, its ability to completely negate incoming ranged projectile damage had been a valuable safety net. Against the arrows, bolts, and other conventional projectiles used by early-level monsters, even a small chance of negating an attack could mean the difference between life and death. Back then, every opportunity to avoid damage had been worth keeping.

But he was no longer fighting monsters in the lower sectors.

In a Steadfast region, the threats he will face operated on an entirely different level. His enemies could wield supernatural energy, launch devastating magical attacks, and unleash projectiles carrying enough power to tear through fortified structures. Even if the ring could negate one of those attacks, its activation was never guaranteed. Relying on such an uncertain defense against opponents capable of killing him in a single well-placed strike would be foolish.

Worse, the ring offered no protection against the countless other dangers he might encounter. It could do nothing against a close-range assault, an area-of-effect attack, or a technique that bypassed conventional defenses entirely. Its usefulness had become far too narrow to justify keeping it equipped.

"Unequip," Leon commanded.

The silver ring materialized in his palm. It looked small and unremarkable against the collection of equipment and artifacts laid out before him, its faded warding script barely visible along the inner surface.

"I’ll give this to Snow to dismantle. With her SS-Rank talent, she should be able to acquire the necessary forging skills relatively quickly. If she has a suitable salvage technique, she might be able to recover the magical silver and preserve it for future use."

He placed the ring on the stone floor beside him.

For a moment, Leon remained silent, reconsidering his decision to ensure he wasn’t discarding a useful item simply because he had grown impatient with it. The ring still possessed a valuable effect, and under different circumstances, he might have kept it as a backup. But his current circumstances were anything but ordinary.

A small chance to negate a ranged projectile had been useful when he was weaker and every advantage mattered. Now, in a Steadfast region, he needed equipment that could keep pace with the enemies he faced. Anything that couldn’t meet that standard would eventually become a liability, regardless of how useful it had once been.

The conclusion remained unchanged.

The Band of Deflection had served its purpose, but its time in his inventory was over. It was nothing more than a relic of his early days in Eternal Heaven, belonging to a version of himself who had long since left the lower sectors behind.