When I finally reached the end, I took off my blindfold and glanced back over the path I had taken. “I see…”
I shivered at the sight of a massive abyss that seemed to fall forever. There was no bridge at all. Had I not had the Map, it would have been complete guesswork. I supposed I could have made my way simply by using the spear and pressing the area in front of me, but it would have taken nearly ten times as long since I couldn’t see where the next spot was supposed to go. I could see someone easily losing their patience as they tried to work their way through that maze.
I made sure to look around and I didn’t see any more text, so I walked forward. My lips twitched as I saw a treasure chest sitting in the middle of the room and behind it another kiosk. It seemed like it was far too easy. I used Detect Trap, Detect Monster, and every other passive skill that my locked skillset allowed me to pull from to confirm that this was simply a treasure chest. Since these were passive skills, I didn’t need to have to actively cast them, just focus on them. Eventually, I had done everything I could other than open it.
Even then, it took me another fifteen minutes making sure I didn’t miss anything before I finally opened the chest. Inside, I found a sword. I picked it up and inspected it.
{Starsword – Composed of the alloy from a fallen star.}
That sounded interesting. Just to try it out, I hit my steel sword against the starsword. There was a flash of blinding light, and then a clatter as the steel blade fell to the ground. In a single hit, the starsword had cut the steel sword in half. This was a strong sword! I eagerly put it in my empty sheath. I no longer needed the spear that was nearly falling apart anyway.
I did manage to sneak away some fairy dust despite the fact I couldn’t access my Inventory, but God Eye was a borrowed ability, and I didn’t have my girls to use it. Besides, there might be other needs for fairy dust in the future, and knowing every ability of this sword I didn’t feel was all that important.
I touched the kiosk. At this point, more text appeared in front of me.
{You have completed 1 of 50 challenges. Complete every challenge to face the ultimate trial.}
Well, I had no such desire to defeat every challenge, but if each challenge did have an award equal to the starsword, I was interested in finishing a few more. Once I appeared back in the ruin, I tried to use my Map to select areas that looked like fellow ruins. It looked like for the time being, I’d be hitting up every ruin I could on the way to the castle.
I didn’t think I could defeat the boss on my own. In that case, I needed to gain as much strength as I could on my way to the castle. Lord Aberis had made a mistake. What he didn’t realize was that all the strength I had gained had happened in dungeons over about five months. Now, he had just locked me in a dungeon and given me three more months free to get stronger. He had no clue what he started.