Swoosh—wind suddenly picked up, and a figure appeared from thin air above the tree line. He let out a sudden scream as he fell down like a boulder, landed heavily on a steep hill, and then rolled down like a bowling ball.
Thud—he crashed into the tree with such force that the leaves fell down. He let out a groan and then widened his eyes in shock.
A brown treasure chest slid down the hill, going straight at him.
“Oh!” Ambrose let out a sudden cry and jumped out of the way. The treasure chest crashed into the tree, scaring all the nearby birds.
He breathed rapidly and looked around to see the treasure chest. He couldn’t believe it. He had to rub his eyes and open them again to be certain he wasn’t seeing things.
“Haha, I can’t believe it.” Ambrose laid over the flowers and grass blades. He wasn’t certain that the treasure chest was going to be teleported alongside him.
Crack—a sudden crack appeared on his hand. He looked over, and he was still holding the green pearl, which slowly had cracks manifest like spiderwebs. The cracks surrounded it before it exploded.
“It only had one use…” Ambrose thought about it and tossed away the broken pieces. He laid back down and looked at the clear blue sky. Then he remembered one thing. “Where am I?”
“The description told me to think about the place where I wanted to teleport and then shout Activate. But I am not where I wanted to appear. I thought of Tonshen Village…
“I don’t want to return to Amaterasu, as that is definitely the first place where Zahhak will come to try to find me. I have to live a careful life from now on.”
He stood up and looked at the treasure chest with a pounding heart. He hoped that it was worth it. If the rewards weren’t as good as World Quest’s, he would be very disappointed.
“Please, don’t disappoint me!” Ambrose walked over to the treasure chest and turned it slightly until its backside was leaning against the tree. He then rubbed his hands and took a deep breath.
This single treasure chest would decide whether making enemies out of Zahhak was for naught or an excellent choice.
Ambrose grabbed the treasure chest and opened its lid. A bright golden light landed on his face, and then notifications appeared in his vision.
***
[10,000 XP Acquired!]
[LEVEL UP!]
[Level 23 -> 24]
[LEVEL UP!]
[Level 24 -> 25]
[LEVEL UP!]
[Level 25 -> 26]
[LEVEL UP!]
[Level 26 -> 27]
[LEVEL UP!]
[Level 27 -> 28]
[LEVEL UP!]
[Level 28 -> 29]
[LEVEL UP!]
[Level 29 -> 30]
[5x Skill Scrolls Acquired!]
[Golden Key Acquired!]
[10,000 Silvers Acquired!]
[Upgrade Class Token Acquired!]
[3x Black Swords Acquired!]
[3x Red Swords Acquired!]
[10x Crimson Metal Acquired!]
[Merchant Whistle Acquired!]
***
“Whoah, whoah!” Ambrose felt overwhelmed and felt a stinging sensation on his brain, as if he were about to get a headache. There were simply too many notifications in his vision, and he couldn’t comprehend all of them simultaneously.
He took a deep breath and started checking them out one after another.
“10,000 experience points, absolute madness.” Ambrose chuckled. “Sent me straight to level thirty, excellent!”
After seeing the second reward on the list, he gasped for air and laughed joyfully. “Five skill scrolls, hahaha!”
He then excitedly checked the following ones.
“Golden Key? What is that for…
“10,000 Silvers, amazing…
“Upgrade Class Token? Wait what.” Ambrose stopped reading the names of the items he received and focused on them. He pressed on it, wanting to get its description.
[Upgrade Class Token: Your class will be upgraded to a higher level]
“You can upgrade your levels? How come no one mentioned this!” Ambrose shot to his feet and paced about with a racing heartbeat. This was amazing news. “To a higher level, amazing. It must mean it would make me stronger than other swordsmen!”
He then shook his head to get rid of such an arrogant thought.
“No, it doesn’t mean that. It would mean my class would be slightly different, but it might give some unexpected benefits!”
He already wanted to use it, but he calmed himself down and checked other items.
“Three Black Swords?” Ambrose frowned and pulled one of the black swords out into the open air. It looked beautiful with a black handle with diamond markings and a black blade. It looked dangerous and cool.
“Yeah, I will use these.” Ambrose grinned and put it back in his inventory. He then checked another item, and again, his eyes widened in shock. 𝒪𝗏𝓛xt.𝗇t
“Three Red Swords?” Again, he took one of them out. This time, it was a sword with a red blade and a red handle with black diamond markings.
“What is their difference?” He took out the black sword and checked the descriptions in both of them.
[Black Sword: Made with Dark Metal—The blade is unbreakable and can slash through anything—even diamonds]
[Red Sword: Made with Red Metal—The blade has the ability to change weight from 1kg all the way to 100kg]
“Whoah.” Ambrose chuckled and scratched his head. He was quite overwhelmed. “Both swords are incredibly good. I could use both of them. Wait, I am a dual wielder, so one of the swords can be Black Sword and another Red Sword!”
He looked down at his scabbards and removed the shortswords from them. He put them gently back inside his inventory, feeling fond of them even though he hadn’t used them for long. They were still precious to them, and had already abandoned all thoughts about selling them away.
He then sheathed his Black and Red Swords. He looked at them, wrapped them in the scabbards, and felt strangely strong. Those swords were special.
Ambrose smiled and glanced at the rest of the items. “10 Crimson Metal? Oh, sword material, if I need it. However, how different is it from Red Metal? Hmm, maybe it’s even stronger metal.”
He then checked the last remaining item and had a profound frown on his brows.
“Merchant Whistle?” He took it out. It was a wooden whistle with a small hole in the middle of it. There was also an insignia of a person tipping his hat.
He immediately checked the description.
[Merchant Whistle: You can summon a traveling merchant to your location]
Ambrose looked at it and decided not to use it yet. He put it in his inventory and checked if there was anything left inside the treasure chest. It was empty.
After making sure it was empty, he closed the lid and sat down on the treasure chest. There were many interesting items he hadn’t used yet!
“Now, what is this Golden Key?” Ambrose took it out. Just like the name suggested, it was a key made of gold. He opened its description.
[Golden Key: Can be used to open items with a golden lock in them]
“Can be used to open items with a golden lock?” Ambrose frowned. “Why golden locks? I don’t have any of thos—wait a second!”
His eyes widened in shock, and he opened his inventory. He took out a small box, which he acquired from Crow Cave. It also had a golden lock!
With a shaky hand, he inserted the golden key inside the lock and twisted it counterclockwise. He joyfully exclaimed as the lock opened!
He quickly tossed the lock away and tossed the golden key back into his inventory. He slowly opened the small box with an ever-growing smile.
Inside the box, there was another worn-out scroll, as if it had been taken from ancient times.
Ambrose thought at first it was another skill scroll, but then he checked the description.
[Style Scroll: Create your own style—Enter all your skills into the scroll and share it with your students!]
“What!” Ambrose exclaimed. “Wait, no one was using this. I heard that dojo leaders were complaining about the difficulty of teaching their skills to their friends because they weren’t experienced in teaching.
“But this changes everything. I could just give this to someone, and they could learn my style. Also, I can finally create my own style and immortalize it within this scroll…”