Dungeon Hunter - Chapter 28

Chapter 28: Episode 8. Auction of Devildom – 1 – (2)

‘I knew it…’

My abilities were slightly higher, but that was because I got the Heart of Hell Lord and the blessing from Lyhee. Without those, I was sure that it wouldn’t have been so similar.

Those two increased my abilities over 40, so we were at a similar level. Archduke Ariel was becoming strong rapidly.

Now I’d recovered 80% of my fighting abilities from my former life, so my Abilities were increasing slowly.

It was different for Ariel. It was possible that she would increase everything until she reached her potential of 500.

If you looked into the flip side, I was able to catch up with Ariel who was absolutely strong and talented, and that also meant I would be able to keep doing it.

Ariel didn’t have the memory from her former life, but I did. The full power of the Heart of Hell Lord was not open yet.

But my skills…were out of my control.

In Devildom, I was strictly physical. The skills I’d learned with points in for my former life reset when I came back to life.

Ariel was the one with strong skills in Devildom. Her every skill was able to turn the sky upside down and break the ground.

She had Potential to level up her skills as well.

She had yet to recover all the power she used to have in Devildom, as well as her skills.

‘Didn’t she learn Abyss Sword yet?’

I was not able to see Ariel’s signature skill, Abyss Sword.

It was a skill that was so strong that almost looked like cheating. It was a skill that made everything level zero when touched by it. I wasn’t able to see it on Ariel’s status window.

‘She doesn’t have enough Abilities to learn Abyss Sword yet.’

I was able to understand. Since she hadn’t recovered all her Abilities, she wouldn’t be able to use the Abyss Sword skill.

An extremely strong skill was like a double-bladed sword. If you got it in your hand without enough power, it would destroy you.

Archduke Ariel was looking at the weapons. She was so good at using weapons that she had the nickname ‘Weapon Master’. I was sure that she was shopping for a good weapon.

I looked at Ariel from head to toe.

Two horns on her head proved that she was the direct descendant of Dark Lord. She had pointy ears like elves and a beautiful face as if she’d come out from a painting of a famous painter. Black armor was covering her body. Everything made a beautiful harmony and made it impossible to approach her. Inaccessible beauty, that was Ariel Diablo.

“Hmm?” Ariel turned her head around and looked at me.

I didn’t avoid her eye contact. “I’ve never seen you before. Who are you?”

I was wearing the skeleton mask that covered half of my face.

Of course, we’d seen each other. Even if I took off my mask, she wouldn’t remember me. She was too noble to remember all the devils’ faces who were under her.

I challenged and was crushed by Ariel in Devildom, so it would be better if she couldn’t remember me at all.

It made me have a bitter smile. “Randalf Bruciel.”

Ariel changed how she looked at me

I opened my Mana when I told her my name.

That didn’t really work. The mask that gave fear to others with my Mana didn’t work for her either.

“You have an okay level of Mana, not bad. Which Archduke are you serving?”

I told her my name, and she didn’t remember. As I said, that was ok.

By the end of my former life, she called me a cockroach because I didn’t die easily. I knew she’d never remembered my name in my former life.

The past is just the past.

Now I will let her hear my name so many times that my name would be engraved in her brain.

I will be the real rival.

I will become the rival of all four Archdukes.

“I don’t serve anyone.”

I was planning to become the Dark Lord.

I wouldn’t serve mere Archdukes.

Ariel looked like she was curious. “Are you ridiculously confident? Or are you a bit naive? Either way, you are not a wise one.”

“Wisdom is not the necessary factor for victory.”

Sometimes, a stubborn attitude and almost reckless force brought victory. That was why Ariel was able to be the last devil standing in her former life.

She tried and tried and tried and finally cut the throat of Archduke Ufa.

She didn’t have any wisdom in her attempts.

Now, she was talking about being wise.

It was quite funny.

Ariel laughed as well.

“You are right. Warriors fight with physical combats. Using tactics and sitting at a desk to make a plan is not my cup of tea. Those devils can’t become the Dark Lord.”

She looked right into my eyes with her smile. “Hey. If you don’t serve any others, serve me. I think we have a lot in common.”

Then, at that moment, something happened.

[Kotodama(U) has activated. Mind’s Eye(U) started to read it.]

[Reading complete, Kotodama’s mind control level lowered. Defense rate 50%]

[Intelligence adjustment 66! Defense rate 85%]

[Your Mana is higher than the user of Kotodama. Defense increased by 20%, defense rate 102%. Now you are free from Kotodama’s mind control.]

Ariel Diablo had activated her skill ‘Kotodama’, but I neutralized it.

I had slightly higher Abilities. I didn’t know my Mind’s Eye would help me this way, but anyways Mind’s Eye was a strong skill, at least as strong as Kotodama. Since I had higher Mana, I was not affected.

That was so close.

If I didn’t have the Heart of Hell Lord to increase my Intelligence level, I’m sure I would be under Kotodama’s influence by now.

‘I need to increase my Intelligence.’

Intelligence was related to my status error as well.

I needed high Mana and Intelligence at the same time to avoid having any weaknesses due to my Status Error.

I looked at Ariel and answered coldly, “I refuse.”

“Haha!” Then Ariel laughed out loud and continued, “Well done. I thought you were just a silly man with overconfidence, but now I see that you are confident with your abilities. You blocked my Kotodama! If you said yes, I was planning to cut off your head right away.”

She was just feeling me out.

As I’d know my whole life, there was no Archduke who was sane.

They all had a worldview of their own, and they operated in their own ways.

If anyone was out of that view, they would kill the person right away.

That was so natural as a devil and sounded like the Archduke Ariel that I knew.

“If you are not trying to start a fight, stop this provocation.”

This was the other side of Devildom. A place ruled by the fairy king of darkness.

If we used our powers here, that would cause a bit of trouble with the fairy king.

Although she was a ruthless Archduke, I knew that she had that much common sense.

I spoke a bit provocatively, but Ariel looked at me as if she’d found a cute fluffy toy.

“Haha! Randalf Bruciel. Okay, I will let you go today. This place is so fascinating, and I don’t want to cause trouble here.”

Ariel left me.

I was not able to move for a second.

In my whole life and in my former life, this was the first time Archduke Ariel called me by my name.

She always thought I was just a cockroach that was surviving everything and didn’t even ask my name.

‘I will change my future with my own hands.’

I clenched my fist.

Overall, I knew that the direction I was heading to was the right one.

“Khehehe. She is a scary one. She is the notorious Archduke Ariel Diablo.”

The fairy of darkness was not able to even breath until now.

Ariel Diablo. She was already quite famous, and her Abilities and Skills were not fully open yet, but they were still overwhelming to the high-level fairies.

I calmed myself down and asked the fairy, “Where is the potion to level up my skills?”

“Are you talking about Secret Potion of the Wise Man?”

“Yes.”

“Khehehe. Good guess. It is an exceptional item. Follow me.”

He thought I’d made a guess about the potion.

That made my life easier.

‘I must have it.’

The Secret Potion of the Wise Man was an item that appeared sometimes in the auction of Devildom. Depending on how the potion was used, it was worth more than a few million points, so devils tried to buy it and raised the bidding.

I didn’t even have to compete with anyone.

I was sure I was the only devil who had 1,500,000 points.

None of them would have a million points.

The fairy of darkness stopped at a spot and pointed at a small bottle of potion with his finger.

“That’s it, but don’t touch it. It is protected by the magic of Devil God; if you touch it without a rightful process, you will be destroyed.”

I already knew that. There was magic protection around the items. It was not difficult to feel it if you tried to move your hand towards it.

It was some kind of warning, and if you ignored the warning and touched the item, you would be destroyed.

Once, I used a high-level monster with strong protection skills to touch it. The monster evaporated on the spot. Thanks to that experience, I never wanted to try to touch it ever again.

I opened my Mind’s Eye to check the item.

Name: Secret Portion of the Wise Man

Description- The essence of alchemy. Level up by one level for all skills below Unique(U) level. Used on Unique(U) skill, the skill reaches Exceptional Unique(Ex U). No effect on the skills above Unique.

Right.

I nodded and told the fairy, “I will buy it right away.”

“Khehehehe. I don’t know how many points you have, but we know the average devils have around 130,000 points. The direct purchase price was set accordingly. You need 520,000 points to purchase the Secret Portion of the Wise Man right way. Don’t you think it is reasonable to go to the auction to buy it?”

130,000 points.

That was lower than my expectations.

I’m sure I helped them increase the average points because I had 1,500,000 points.

‘There will be no competition.’

That was just the average.

I was sure there would be devils who had double or triple that.

I had ten times more than the average.

Still, 520,000 points were quite a lot, but I had my plan.

`I need to get the Secret Portion of the Wise Man now.’

I had to take it right away. If I bought it during the auction, I would not be able to get the item until the end of the auction.

I had to improve my Mind’s Eye.

Mind’s Eye had a lot of functions that I didn’t know about.

It had some side functions, just like working through Ariel’s Kotodama.

It was just my speculation, but as my Mind’s Eye had worked through the activation of Kotodama, if my Mind’s Eye leveled up, maybe it would read the sealed skills or items.

There were always a few sealed weapons among the auction items.

They were all very expensive and only had a 50% chance to be really useful, so not many devils would buy them.

In my former life, Duke Impella, who owned the Mind’s Eye skill, wasn’t able to see through the sealed items.

What if that was because his level of Mind’s Eye was low?

The Secret Portion of the Wise Man was not an item that could be purchased with points. You needed more requirements.

Whenever it appeared, Archdukes would take it, so Duke Impella was not in the position to get one.

Archdukes usually rewarded his devils with Secret Portion of the Wise Man, and Duke Impella had hunted for points using Mind’s Eye. He was hated by the Archdukes, so he had no chance to get one.

Skills obtained from Devildom were not too difficult to level up, but the skills you’ve got with skill books were difficult to level up by yourself.

Mind’s Eye was right up on the Unique level.

‘It’s worth an experiment.’

Anyways, I had low Intelligence, so I had to improve my Mind’s Eye to make up my Intelligence.

My weakness was my Status Error. If I could find a way to prevent it, I wouldn’t have many more chances in everything.

My Abilities were above Ariel Archduke!

So the points I had to spend weren’t a waste at all.