Chapter 107 - Treasure Hunt Complete, Rejoining The Party

From an outside perspective, Cynrik's antics of running around while throwing his body at different angles may seem useless and childish, but in actuality, it had a purpose. Gripped in both his hands were the two unsheathed Kodachis, giving him an added +10 AGI breaching the 200 point checkpoint. So as he jumped around and dodged imaginary traps, he was effectively getting used to the increase in his AGI.

Although it did take some effort to carry both swords and hold onto his two treasure chests, after a couple of seconds of readjustment, he was able to pull it off and set about collecting the other chests from the remaining two treasure rooms. After about 30 minutes of prancing around humming the Pirate theme, he finally had collected a total of seven Bronze chests and was sitting inside the final treasure room inspecting them with fervor.

'If memory serves, Egress chests are broken down in that "generic" standard of Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, but then it deviates and goes to Mithril and Orichalcum. Making a total of six categories. Typically, Green Alphas are limited to Bronze chests, except for the Boss room reward, which has a 30% chance of spawning a Silver chest.'

Cynrik scratched his cheek in thought as he leaned forward and grabbed the closest Bronze chest.

'Hey Tobs, how do these chests work? Do I just pop them open and get free shit, or is there, like, some unique way of opening them?'

-Egress Chests are probability-based. Upon being opened, the Egress Core runs a randomly generated probability skill after designating the potential rewards for the Grade of the chest.-

'…so it's basically a gacha.' Cynrik shivered as memories of the numerous gatcha games he played in his last life surfaced.

-Yes…by your standards and memories, the closest comparison to be made is what you refer to as a Gacha game where the prize pool is predetermined, and a choice is randomly made. Once the prize object has been designated, the Egress Core will use Mana generated from the creatures within its confines and create the object before summoning it into the chest. This process creates a visible effect that can determine the object's rarity according to your memory of these types of games.-

'Well, that's a thing. Even after living in Vinestra for 12 years, I still get surprised by how RPG things are. Oh well, let's crack this bad boy.' Pushing aside any unnecessary thoughts, Cynrik flicked out a hidden blade and used it to pry open the first chest.

'Please don't let my trash hand carry over, Please don't let my trash hand carry over, Please don't let my trash hand carry over.' Cynrik repeated the same phrase three times in his head since important things must be said in triples.

With a loud click, the chest unlocked and began emitting a Bronze-colored flash of light, nearly blinding Cynrik, who was staring directly into the chest expectantly. The light subsided about three seconds later, revealing the chest's contents, a glass bottle resembling Ramune filled with light blue liquid.

-Congratulations, you have received a Medium Mana Potion from the Bronze Chest.-

-Medium Mana Potion: A fizzy, blueberry-tasting potion that restores 500 Mana Points when consumed.-

Picking up the potion and giving it a shake, Cynrik nodded and tossed it carelessly into his inventory before watching the empty Bronze chest dissolve into particles.

'Eh? Guess I can't keep them and later melt them down for resources. Damn, based on its size, I could have gotten a few grams of metal from the bracketing and ornaments. Oh well.' Cynrik blew out a puff of air towards the hair in his eyes and reached for the second chest, repeating the process. But this time, when he opened it, he suddenly sensed hostility and thrust his exposed hidden blade into the partially opened chest. In doing so, he felt a little resistance and heard a high-pitched scream before the box exploded into particles.

-You have killed a Level 17 Tier-1 Mimic.-

-You have received 9,100 XP.-

-You have received +1 MIND point-

-1 Psychic Affinity Codex has been located and stored in your inventory.-

'Tsk, little shit tried to bite me.' Unfazed by the Mimic's sudden attack, Cynrik simply shook off the green blood from his hidden blade and went about opening another chest. He repeated the process finishing off the remaining five chests, of which there was one more Mimic hiding.

-Congratulations, you have received a Shard of Skill from the Bronze Chest.-

-Congratulations, you have received a Tier-1 Skill book: Basic Fletching from the Bronze Chest.-

-Congratulations, you have received a Small Health Potion from the Bronze Chest.-

-You have killed a Level 18 Tier-1 Mimic.-

-You have received 9,800 XP.-

-You have received +1 MIND point-

-1 Psychic Affinity Codex has been located and stored in your inventory.-

-Congratulations, you have received a pair of Fleeting Foot Boots from the Bronze Chest.-

Cynrik swished a mouthful of air around, causing his cheeks to puff out in the process as he scrolled through the lackluster treasure he had obtained. The Shard of Skill and Health Potion caused him neither joy nor discontent, and when he read through the stats of the Fleeting Foot Boots, he grimaced slightly.

-Fleeting Foot Boots-

-Tier-1: Basic Grade-

-Classification: AGI enhancing Foot Equipment-

-A pair of worn-out-looking leather boots from unknown origins. Upon putting them on, like magic, the boots will automatically adjust their size to match the feet of the person wearing them. Despite their appearance, they are surprisingly comfortable. 

-+2 AGI

-Durability 2000/2000-

After double-checking their description with [Inspect], a single word came to Cynrik's mind, "Meh," the boots were neither good nor bad, just basic. However, when his eyes fell on the Fletching Skill book, he broke into a smile. When used, it would give the passive skill [Basic Fletching], a crafting skill that taught the user how to make their own arrows. When upgraded, it would allow for added buffs to be applied to arrows. It was the perfect gift for Gabby, who would choose the Archer class after her first Evolution.

"OOSH, alright, time to meet up with the party, I have wasted too much time here, and we need to take down that Boss room." Cynrik stood up and, like usual, patted the dust off his butt.

{Hey Brance, get the kids ready; I just finished up the treasure rooms and am on my way to yall.} With that said, Cynrik sprinted off with the hologram map floating over his arm.

Brance, having received the message, stood up and clapped his hands, drawing the attention of Gabby and Benny, who were lying lazily next to the campfire, half asleep. 

"Wakey, wakey, Cynrik is heading over, so it's time to get ready for the Boss. We have to clean up the campsite and store our belongings."

Brance's words drew a groan of agony from Gabby, who was notorious for leaving messes everywhere she went. Even the dorm room she was staying in looked like a hurricane had gone through after only one night.

"Buuuuutttt Branciiieee, isn't this an Instance Dungeon? Won't everything be wooshed away after we leave?" Gabby puffed out her cheeks in a pout, clearly not wanting to clean up the pigsty of food wrappers surrounding her tiny body.

Brance smiled gently before viciously flicking the little girl's forehead, making her yelp more in surprise than pain.

"Little Girl, it doesn't matter if this is a temporary dungeon or not; you must get in the habit of cleaning up your mess; otherwise, who would marry you in the future if you leave a trail of dirty wrappers and clothes everywhere you go."

Gabby froze for a moment before placing her hands on her hips and striking a vaguely "Cynrikesk" pose. "Like I have to worry about that, you will obviously be my husband in the future; you already are used to picking up after me, so it's no biggy, right."

"Hmmm," placing his hand to his chin in thought, Brance cast a gaze at Gabby, who stood triumphantly as if she had spoken the truth.

"I don't know; when I think about my future wife, she is someone who is good at household chores and leaves the house spotless."

Gabby went wide-eyed as tears threatening to spill over bubbled up into her eyelids.

SMACK

"Jerk, who the hell are you trying to mimic right now," spinning around and lashing out with his open palm, Brance smacked Cynrik, who was standing behind him under [Shadow Veil] upside the head, hard enough to cancel the skill and almost knock him over.

"Don't listen to Big Bro Cyn, just pick up the area Gabby; we are pressed for time right now." Then, crossing his arms and shooting a glare at Cynrik, who was rubbing the spot he'd been hit and wearing a "what was that for" look, Brance once again told the little girl to clean up her mess.

{Why must you tease her like that?}

{Che, clearly, I was using a diversionary tactic. If I showed up, she would have probably been scared of me; instead, the first thing I did was crack a typical joke. All according to plan, trust me, little brother.}

{You do realize it took me hours to calm her down, and now she's gunna be wound up again, just look, you nearly made her cry just now.}

{Eh, I have no idea what you're talking about, it was clearly YOU who said those words, not me..} Playing it off as nothing happened, Cynrik walked forward with his hands behind his head and kicked the pile of ashes left as a byproduct of the campfire.