Chapter 69: Descent into madness
When in battle, Ryuji felt his emotions surge with an intensity akin to a raging bull. His senses heightened, and he focused solely on the battle. This heightened state, far from uncomfortable, was exhilarating.
Now cooling down, the familiar voice and screen displayed the results of his efforts. Ryuji's body grew stronger with each level up, his muscles tightening with a pleasurable ache.
[Gained Sprig Prince Pae'Lom Tattoo]
Sprig Prince's Tattoo of Madness (Rare)
Increase Intellect by 5
Learn Spell Wind Blade
Learn Spell Blizzard
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Status
Name: Ryuji Vincenzo
Title: Deathbringer (Kobold), Murderer (Human)
Class: Berserker: Lv.13 /?????????: Lv.3
Rage: 0/120 (0 Reserved) [40% damage resist]
Rank: C
Attributes
Strength: 42->44 (+4)
Agility: 20->21 (+2)
Stamina: 22
Grit: 55-> 57 (+5)
Intellect: 20->24
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'Oh? A tattoo that grants magic is pretty interesting.' Though Ryuji wanted to try the tattoo right away, he felt he would need another magic type to make it worthwhile because of his low intellect and that attribute affecting magic damage.
"What's got you so excited, Ryuji?" Yumiko's body only shuddered for a moment before she recovered and rushed back to his side. Both of them ignored the golden chest, instead focusing on each other and their changes. "Did you gain something cool?"
Ryuji looked up, and then, with a smirk, he temporarily changed the tattoo before a burning sensation filled his back.
He removed the lizardman tattoo made him feel a little more vulnerable.
However, the moment the sprig's tattoo embedded itself onto his back, forming two butterfly wings, he could feel a strange connection to his mana.
'Before it felt blurry, something I used by instinct when casting my blood claw... Now I can feel the movement of mana. It's flowing through my body like blood.'
Snap!
He snapped his left finger and thumb, creating a spark of green light—the next moment, three blades of wind formed a whistling howl as they shot forward and tore apart several trees with their bladed arcs of green magic.
These trees caused the strange magic cast by the Sprig Prince to shatter as if the base of the spell used those trees specifically to split the party.
The next moment, everyone returned, looking at Ryuji, who was still casting magic, the lingering glow of mana on his fingertips.
"Woah... you beat him?!"
"Damn... Ryuji you... How did a berserker gain magic?!" Paul gasped.
"Hmmm.... a berserker with magic that can cause so much destruction..." The face of Sheila twitched, her eyes narrowing with an oddly sharp glare at Ryuji, different from her previous gentle and kind looks.
Some members of the party were shocked to see Ryuji, the master of brute force, who was now using magic out of nowhere! Especially Paul and Sheila, who noticed he had cast the spell just by clicking his fingers.
"What did you just do?" Sheila's eyes flashed with surprise as she asked. Ryuji's previous combat style never showed magic, especially such a refined and powerful spell.
Her sudden change back to normal was noticed by nobody, while a golden glow in the depths of her eyes flickered while looking at him carefully now.
"It's a secret." Ryuji grinned at Sheila, who appeared interested in what he just did, and suddenly turned towards the last remaining golden chest.
"Secret? This can't be allowed. Hey, Yumiko, you have to tell me if you know.!" Sheila spoke with a baby voice, but Yumiko just batted her tail in Sheila's direction and followed Ryuji with a pleasant smile.
"How did you manage to cast without chanting, Ryuji?" Paul pushed up his glasses, looking truly interested, while stepping forward and examining his fingers with a stern gaze.
"Let's just say I'm special." Ryuji evaded the question as he rubbed his finger and thumb together, creating a beautiful display of luminous green light, the moment of the spell's creation seemingly simple for him. He then looked at Paul's curious face and bloodshot eyes, saying the only thing he could. "It's about how you envision the spell, from how it would form to how it will fire."
"Interesting." Paul paused, not sure if he could achieve that kind of proficiency anytime soon, and let the matter slide. However, from that moment, he constantly snapped his fingers while watching them with the most intent gaze.
"Seriously, aren't you going to tell me!?" Sheila swayed over, her hands wrapped around Ryuji's left arm, pressing her abundant chest against him, slotting his arm between them. The warm, squishy feeling of her cleavage felt wonderful. However, Ryuji just shrugged and enjoyed the sensation and revealed nothing.
"Alright, can we see what's in the treasure chest?" Simon stood beside the chest, his arms folded with a bitter smirk on his face. Sometimes, he seemed to act older than he looked, but it seemed he was giving Ryuji a chance to escape the two bugging him.
"Oh, let's open it." Sheila excitedly rushed ahead of the others and looked at Ryuji with a flirtatious wink before she snapped her fingers and opened the chest. "Oh, isn't this exciting?"
Inside the chest, there were several items, the first being a bag of gold coins. Sheila counted the money quickly with a solemn face before nodding. Her hips swayed, leaning to grasp the coin purse. "Ten more gold coins."
She continued to take out several objects. First came a shiny black crystal, similar to the ones embedded in the turtle at the start of the dungeon. Second were two scrolls. Sheila explained as she pulled out each item. "There is an unknown black crystal, two scrolls, and finally, a weapon."
The weapon, a longbow with a beautiful figure carved into the wood, lay at the bottom of the chest. The bowstring was a thick rope of green hair. Everyone stared at the bow, amazed that such an exquisite bow appeared within a C-ranked dungeon.
"Congratulations, Alicia," Ryuji said, the elf hovering at the back unaware before noticing the bow. Her face transformed as if she had seen a god, and her expression was full of reverence.
"What is this bow made of? How does it exist within a C-ranked dungeon?" Alicia slowly reached for the bow with trembling hands, her face frozen in awe. She touched the bow as if she were touching a divine treasure.
"I don't know," Sheila said in response to Alicia's question. Alicia shot a pitiful look at the pouting human. However, Yumiko pointed at the scrolls, causing the group to fall into contemplation.
"Should we use them or sell them?" Yumiko asked, her eyes looking at the scrolls, seeing nothing but fancy paper.
Ryuji was also unsure of its use, so he asked. "What do those scrolls do?"
"Each scroll can give a person a spell scroll or skill. However, they are extremely expensive, usually costing over 50 gold coins a piece. The issue is the scrolls will only last one use. So the moment you use them, they lose all their value and burn up." Sheila explained, her eyes still glued to the chest. "I don't know if we need the spells.
Should I hold onto them, and if we don't use them, we'll sell them after returning? Firewall and Cone of Cold aren't really spells we need."
Ryuji didn't mind that plan since he had the magic tattoo now, not really needing more magic skills, and nodded along with everyone else.
"Since everyone agreed, I will hold onto them for now." Sheila closed the lid of the chest and hugged the scrolls tightly to her chest before hiding them in her cleavage, where she hid her storage item, where they both vanished instantly.
Ryuji couldn't help but look at the spot where the scrolls disappeared with a bitter smirk, unsure if Sheila actually hid her storage item there or was just showing off her amazing breasts, noticing her wink towards him before the group headed down the worn stairs leading to the fourth floor.
After leaving the chest behind, they descended the broken stairs in a single file line and noticed the difference immediately. The dry and sandy floor created a smooth rustling sound when walking on it. The moist air and musty smell made everyone more alert as they reached the fourth floor.
As they entered the cavernous fourth floor, they found themselves in a cave much larger than the one above, yet more natural-looking. Ryuji couldn't believe this was the dungeon. 'How can it make such different, immersive floors so easily?'
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