Chapter 87 - Sulgata’s Boots

Nie Yan picked up the wooden case and carefully removed the lid. Almost immediately, like the rolling tides, swells of magical energy began diffusing into the expanse of the tomb. The source of such a phenomenon was a shimmering pair of fine boots situated quietly within the case.

No mistake, this is it! Nie Yan inwardly exclaimed. He nearly choked from his own excitement when he was greeted by the dazzling radiance of these boots.

In his previous life, Legendary-grade items were out of reach existences he could never hope to obtain. Although the item in his hands was merely a fragment, its price was high enough to make people faint. Even when he advanced into a Great Thief in the later years of the game, he had only been able to obtain a single fragment from a different Legendary-grade item. It was part of a breastplate only Fighters could equip, and for the sake of putting food on the table and supporting himself, he reluctantly sold it. With the money he obtained from selling the fragment, he was able to purchase a full set of Dark Gold equipment and enough Fortune Gems to upgrade said set to +9 while still having more than enough leftover to cover his living expenses.

Given this example, one could well imagine how high a price an intact Legendary item could fetch.

Sulgata’s Shadow was divided into three fragments: Sulgata’s Boots, Sulgata’s Feather, and Sulgata’s Cloth.

He needed to collect them for the remnant magical energy to restore the boots to its original form.

Sulgata’s Boots (Legendary)

Requirements: 130 Strength

Description: A fragment of Sulgata’s Shadow that has been broken into three pieces. These boots contain remnant magical power and so can still be equipped. The player must seek out the other fragments, as all three, Sulgata’s Boots, Sulgata’s Feather, and Sulgata’s Runic Cloth, are required to restore Sulgata’s Shadow.

Properties: Dexterity +30, Speed +10, Jump +10, Stealth +10, Cloaking +10, Reflex +10.

Steal (Rank 3): Allows the player to steal money or items from other players or monsters.

Shadow Waltz (Rank 3): Stealth +30, Cloaking +30, Speed +30; cannot be detected through stealth for 6 s upon activation. Afterward, stealth has a chance of being seen through.

Restrictions: None

As a fragment of a Legendary item, the properties of Sulgata’s Boots were indeed astonishing. It raised Speed, Jump, Stealth, Cloaking, and Reflex uniformly. Moreover, it also bestowed upon the player two additional skills, Steal and Shadow Waltz, both of which were rank three. They were high-level skills that could only be learned once the player reached Level 30. Not to mention, if the player wanted to improve these skills to rank three, they needed to be at least Level 40 or higher.

Steal enabled a Thief to reap additional profits from players or monsters. However, only items from a player’s bag could be stolen, meaning Thieves were unable to steal gear directly equipped on a player’s body. The success rate of the skill and what sort of item was stolen depended on the level gap between the Thief and the target; though, the formula for calculating the rate was complicated since many variables besides level were also factored in. Generally, successful uses of the skill stole money from the target, and in some rare circumstances, equipment and other items could be stolen as well. As for Shadow Waltz, it was quite useful for retreating or stealthily approaching a target since a multitude of things could be done within six seconds. Despite that, even if the player’s stealth couldn’t be seen through, it didn’t mean they were invincible. All it meant was the opponent wouldn’t be able to see them. In other words, after the first six seconds of the skill, the opponent had a chance of detecting the player every three-second interval, which counted as a round within the game. If the opponent failed to detect the player, they would continue every round until the player revealed themselves or their stealth was seen through.

“One hundred thirty strength? Ah… Why does it have to be so high?” Nie Yan wrinkled his brows. He was still seventy-three strength away from being able to use it. Such a high requisite was extremely harsh for him, especially since Thieves mainly focused on Dexterity while Strength was only secondary to them. If he put everything into Strength now, levelling in the future would become much more difficult. Fortunately, Sulgata’s Boots somewhat made up for it by providing thirty Dexterity. “God dammit! Why did I have to end up losing ten Strength!?”

Assuming they worked hard, an average player would probably need to be Level 40 or higher to put sixty points in Strength. If their equipment was good, however, then it was possible to have one hundred and thirty Strength by around Level 30.

Had Nie Yan not been cursed and permanently lost ten Strength, he would’ve reached one hundred and thirty Strength by Level 25.

Now I have to wait until Level 30 to equip this.

I’ll have to come up with a way to make up for this loss… Earlier, when he had noticed Sulgata’s Boots gave him rank three Steal, his eyes had lit up with anticipation. He knew better than anyone else what it meant to have Steal, let alone obtaining it at rank three, prior to Level 30.

Getting one hundred thirty Strength before Level 30 wasn’t impossible. In fact, after thinking over it some more, it was possible for him to reach it by Level 15!

Of course, there was a time and place for everything, and now wasn’t the time to be thinking about such things. The moment Nie Yan stuffed Sulgata’s Boots into his bag, Dark Gladiator suddenly trembled, causing him to feel an emerging sense of crisis. It wasn’t suitable to stay in this tomb any longer. He needed to flee, immediately!

Just as he planned to turn his head and flee, a terrifying scene played out before his eyes. The mummified corpse of Seres Thoth suddenly moved, and a pale cyan flame ignited in his eye sockets. Albeit an insignificant ember, it pulsated and gradually grew in intensity.

Without a doubt, this was the signal for him to retreat, lest he planned to lose his life. This mummified son of a bitch wants to revive!

Nie Yan didn’t dare to dally and dashed toward the exit. However, to his dismay, the pond he had emerged out of became sealed as larger and larger boulders came crashing down!

From the moment he opened the sarcophagus, his escape route had already been blocked.

Nie Yan glanced at the Return Scroll in his bag. Good! I can still use it! He had already checked earlier, but this confirmed it. The tomb wasn’t a sealed room; he could at least teleport out!

In the next instant, the tall armoured corpse slowly rose from its sarcophagus.

Shit, there’s no time... The Return Scroll needs twenty seconds to activate!

In spite of that, he quickly put aside these thoughts and began channeling the scroll. As the ancient script within the scroll glowed with ever increasing intensity, a faint radiance soon enveloped him and a bright teleportation circle appeared beneath his feet.

The seconds seemed to stretch longer and longer.

By now, Seres Thoth, or more accurately his corpse, had fully arisen. Wearing a full set of golden armour, it wielded an equally dazzling longsword in its hands and emanated the aura of a ruler.

In life, he was a powerful lord who governed over Sulgata. After his death, he was buried in this tomb and eventually turned undead like the other inhabitants of the city.

Seres Thoth (Lord): Level 15

Health: 50,000/50,000

A Lord-class monster possessed a terrifying amount of health. Nie Yan knew that if an elite team of Level 15 players came, they’d stand no chance of defeating Seres Thoth. Discussing the possibility of him defeating this boss by himself was even less necessary. If he was even just a step too slow, he would subsequently lose his life.

Three seconds… Four seconds… Five seconds… He impatiently counted down as time seemed to slow to a crawl.

Nie Yan felt like he was going to explode from the nervousness building in his heart.

In the next second, the pale cyan flames in Seres Thoth's eyes locked onto Nie Yan while he emanated a powerful aura of death, nearing ever closer with every step.

At Nie Yan’s level, Seres Thoth's damage was simply too monstrous. There would be little suspense if they fought. With a single slash of that sword, his body would be cleanly bisected while his health bar fell to zero. It was impossible for him to withstand a single attack. Even if he was a Fighter, the end result would be the same.

Seres Thoth gradually drew closer, and the sense of crisis bore down on him even more intensely, yet he couldn’t move a single step. Otherwise, the Return Scroll’s channeling would be interrupted.

“Crap, just a little bit longer… Wait!” Nie Yan turned his head and glanced at Dark Gladiator, who patiently awaited his command, and ordered it to hold off Seres Thoth.

Without the slightest hesitation, Dark Gladiator lumbered over, brushed past his side, and then stood in front of him in order to obstruct Seres Thoth. Although it was a being with minimal intelligence, it still possessed an innate fear and reverence toward the existence that lay ahead. However, its loyalty and drive to protect Nie Yan was even more absolute. With the sliver of consciousness in its mind, Dark Gladiator understood it was heading toward its demise; however, regardless of all costs, it would protect its master to the bitter end.