Chapter 20: Holy Sword Level Upgrade

The Gargoyle was one of the top picked guardians for a Mage. This was only because Mages could utilize its usefulness as much as possible. Although the Gargoyle was a useful guardian, it was a colossal waste merely to use it as a shield. As such, other than its primary use, a lot of Mages also like to use it as a safety box.

And these two Gargoyles were just the same.

Rhode found a lot of good things. As a level 15 rare elite, the Gargoyle's 'loots' were worthy of their rarity. In addition to precious gems, crystal and gold coins, Rhode also found three kinds of magical equipment.

[Ice Talisman [Elite Item]: When attacked, can automatically trigger an ice shield, able to resist 50 to 150 damage and immune to water attacks]

[Oath Keeper [Excellent Item]: Increase the caster +5 spell power, + 5 spell resistance.]

[Ring of Fog [Excellent Item]: Every 10 days could activate "Ethereal Body", lasts for half an hour.]

All of these were great equipment. If sold to the auction house, it would provide a lot of money.

Unfortunately, these equipment were meant for casters.

In the end, Rhode gave these pieces of equipment to Lize. As a Cleric, even though she was a non-combat class, these equipment were still useful to her. He gave her the Ice Talisman and the Oath Keeper but kept the Ring of Fog for himself. In the game, this ring helped a lot of players to solo a dungeon, so he unreservedly kept the ring for himself.

But Lize was delightfully surprised when she received two rare equipment by doing almost nothing. One must understand that usually within a mercenary group, even though when they adventured as a group, most of these loots were given to the mercenary leader to be sold. The money earned from it would be used to maintain the operation of the entire mercenary group. The action of transferring equipment directly to group members was rarely seen.

From this, the difference between NPC and player could be seen. As a living, breathing person of this world, the mercenary's ultimate goal was to earn money to live. So, when they found a piece of equipment, they wouldn't use it for themselves. In fact, many small mercenary groups rarely picked up difficult missions. However, in the player point of view, they were merely doing some third-rate task since all they wanted to do was to make money to survive. Those who were eligible to acquire these magic equipment were those highly respected, powerful individuals within the group. As for those who were not strong enough? They could only drool while looking at it.

But players were different. When they entered this world, their goal was to become better and stronger, acquire good gear, gain more experience, increase reputations, and upgrade their character. Those were their goals. To these players, magic equipment wasn't considered to be very rare, and so they wouldn't worry if they wore it casually ——— They could even sell it after they had found better equipment.

Just like these three pieces of equipment. To Rhode, these things were simply level 10~15 equipment. Once he over-leveled the equipment, it would be useless. Even though the Ice Talisman was quite good, Rhode did not need it. If he could procure a Water Elemental spirit, then he could also get the same advantage such as being immune to water attacks. So these 'low-level' equipment wasn't a big deal to him. Unless it was the legendary or ancient level equipment such as 'Sky Sword' or 'Saint's Heart', then maybe he would reconsider.

But to Lize, these three pieces of equipment were considered to be very 'high-level'. Even a mercenary group leader only equipped three to five magic equipment. Mages require slightly more gear. But, as a supporting class, it was tough for her to have a share of the loot. From her class position standpoint, it was unnecessary for her to have it. But right now, as a small mercenary group's Cleric, she actually received two rare magic equipment?

It made Lize doubt whether she was dreaming or not.

But compared to Lize, Matt was more surprised.

As a traveling merchant, he understood just how precious one magic equipment was. Specifically these magic equipment. From Matt's point of view, even if the items were auctioned in the most prosperous North Carolina port, it might worth at least two to three thousands gold coins. But Rhode actually gave it casually to Lize. He was so calm as if he was handing out a piece of bread. It was also not an act of calmness where the main point was to leave a good impression. But instead, he was truthfully calm ——— meaning that Rhode honestly did not care about these magic equipment at all.

Without a doubt, this was something that an average person could not do. In his life, Matt dealt with many kinds of people, mercenaries, and nobles. Even for them, these magic equipment were extremely precious. Very few people could throw these equipment out like what Rhode did.

So what does this mean?

This meant that in Rhode's point of view, these magic equipment were simply not worth mentioning. This also reflects on his extraordinary identity.

If Matt only thought of Rhode as an ordinary member of a noble on the continent before, then now would have begun to relate him to those high nobles or royal families. Because only those kind of people had the capital to look down on magic equipment ——— Just like a man with innumerable wealth, he wouldn't care about this little money. But this 'little money' could be something an ordinary person wouldn't be able to earn in their entire life.

Just the thought of this made the fat merchant excited. As a minor figure among the merchants, he did not have the opportunity to meet with high nobles often. Usually, high nobles had their own personal backings. They wouldn't really bother to look at merchants like him. But now was his chance! If he could grasp it, then maybe there would be hope.

While these thoughts flashed through his mind, he suddenly remembered about his failed attempt at throwing the statue just now. Even if this young man did not complain, he could understand that his actions until now didn't prove himself to be worth any value to Rhode. He could only sigh when he thought of this.

Rhode truly didn't bother about those three pieces of equipment. What he considered precious was the two gems on his palm, the Gargoyle's Heart.

Artificial soul condensation medium.

Saying it like this might sound a bit complicated. But from a player point of view, if the Gargoyle was a robot, then the Gargoyle's Heart was the CPU chip.

It was extremely valuable.

In the Dragon Soul Continent, life alchemy was a very high-level skill. Only God had the ability to create souls. Even a Mage could not violate this rule, and thus, creating an artificial soul was their last resort. It was precisely because of this—a complete artificial soul core was incredibly rare and not every Mage could use it. But for Mages, artificial life alchemy was one of the highest goals in their life. It was like men who were tall, handsome and wealthy. They still must own a sports car to be able to prove their value.

Most Mages keep it close to them. It was rarely circulated in the market, and manufacturing of the artificial soul core was also very rare. Naturally, the price was very high. If sold in the normal auction, it would worth more than ten thousand gold coins, and probably even higher in the black market. Based on the color quality, the best artificial soul could even sell in millions, which was enough to buy a piece of small territory.

Not to mention, Mages were usually very rich.

But Rhode did not care about the money. His years of experience as a player had taught him that money could be earned gradually. But no matter how much money one could make, it would still never be enough.

Because there were things that even money couldn't buy.

For example, another function of the Gargoyle's Heart.

Force level upgrade and summoned spirit evolution +1

The summoned spirit's experience was shared with the holder. Usually in the battle, if Rhode earned 1000 EXP, in truth he will only receive 700. The other 300 EXP will be given to the summon spirit. Even though 30% of the EXP didn't seem like much, but it meant that the more EXP he got, the more it would be deducted.

This was another reason why the Spirit Swordsman class was more difficult to level up than the other classes. Let's say Rhode took another class. If he was a level 8 player and he received a five-man dungeon clear EXP, his level should rise to approximately level 12 or 13. But in contrast to the Spirit Swordsman, because of the Green Bird and Star Mark, he would just level up to 10 instead.

As for his summoning item...

[The 10th Rank Eternal Holy Sword: Star Mark, No attributes, Available for Fusion———no matter how long time has passed, still unable to bury its dazzling brilliance. LV:5, the victory glory ahead, sharp edge characteristic]

A summoned spirit highest level was 10. After reaching Level 10, they could evolve. After evolving, not only would they change form, but their level cap would increase by 10 again. The Gargoyle's Heart could force a summon spirit to skip 10 levels and then evolve once. This way, not only he could save up more EXP, but it could also reduce the leveling time.

What things could money not buy?

Time could not be bought with money.

Rhode did not know the level limit for the Star Mark. But according to his experience, the level of summoning card deck that positioned at the end of the deck was usually not too high, and three evolutions were the limit. If he fused it with the two Gargoyle's Heart on his hand, then at least when he fought the same level monster, the sword wouldn't rob his experience anymore because of the forced upgrade.

But...

Rhode fell into deep thought. This Holy Sword card was unique. When he got it from the B&M Company's director, he clearly told him that in this world, there's only one of this card. At that time, Rhode didn't really bother about the details, but thinking of it now, he felt a bit strange.

Only one?

But didn't the system prompt explicitly informed him that he only acquired 1/10 of the eternal deck? Then how did it became the only one? So how about the remaining nine?

Nevertheless, this deck did not even exist in the game because it was just a souvenir in reality. In the Dragon Soul Continent history, he had never heard about this sword. This could not be hidden from the game since he got this deck when he had won the game championship. Because his guild was called the Starlight Guild, the company had specially designed this deck of cards for him as a prize and memento. This kind of rushed product was impossible to enter the game system.

But no matter what, he would still try it.

Rhode stretched his right hand and held one of the gems in his hand. In an instant, a line of system prompt appeared in front of him.

[The Gargoyle's Heart was detected (Magic Item), do you want to use it? ]

Use.

Rhode made an answer in his heart.

Followed by Rhode's answer, the magic circle on his right hand immediately emerge a small magic light. After that, the dark red gem broke into tiny shards which disappeared under this light. Soon, a new information appeared in front of him.

[Target? ]

Star Mark.

Rhodes lowered his head and replied in his heart.

[Target - Star Mark - Forced Evolution]

[Level upgrade finished]

[Evolve? ]

Yes.

The white card once again appeared on his hand, the light emitting from it made Lize and Matt curiously stare at it.

At the same time, lines of system prompt appeared in front of him.

[Evolution has finished]

[The 10th Rank Eternal Holy Sword: Star Mark, No attributes, Available for Fusion———no matter how long time has passed, it's still unable to bury its dazzling brilliance. LV:10,

The Victory Road Ahead: Sharp Edge

White Wings to Protect: Winged Guardian

Holy Light to Disperse the Darkness: Star Piercing]

[Attached skills: Sharp Edge Technique, Winged Guardian, Star Piercing. Each skill can be used three times per day]

Not bad!

Looking at these system prompts, Rhode nodded his head. Star Mark had three special skills, and these skills were directly attached to the weapon. It means that when he used these skills, it wouldn't consume his Soul Power. Three times per day for each skill each was also considered to be top grade. These skills would surely be useful in the next battle.

But the next system prompt caught him off guard.

[Magic condensation detected]