Chapter 107 – Spoils of War

Punk chose to examine the spoils in this cave that had been scorched into a coal kiln, because if he returned to the White Tower, any items with wide radiation ranges among the loot would inevitably affect the troublesome ordinary people in Nielan Town.

Moreover…

Intuition told Punk that the items left behind by the High Priest were all highly unusual! At the very least, they warranted proper confidentiality measures.

First was the already analyzed Master-level Robe:

Item Name: Unknown Robe

Item Tier: Master-Level

Item Material: Unknown

Item Type: Traditional hooded mage robe.

Item Creation Era: Unknown (estimated to be quite ancient)

Innate Spells:

1. Formal-Level Enchantment Magic – Flexible Material: Grants the robe high flexibility.

2. Formal-Level Conjuration Magic – Summoning Acceleration: Increases the construction speed of summoning spell models by 10% (maximum acceleration cap: 70%).

3. Formal-Level Conjuration Magic – Summoning Efficiency: Reduces mana consumption of summoning spells by 5% (maximum efficiency cap: 50%).

4. Formal-Level Conjuration Magic – Accelerated Mana Recovery: Slightly increases mana regeneration rate (usable only by Formal-Level Mages).

5. Formal-Level Advent Magic – Chaos Cloak: Summons a cloak carrying abundant chaotic “concepts” for defense, particularly effective against order-aligned attacks. Lasts five minutes. Can be used three times at full energy! (Usable only by chaos-aligned beings)

6. Master-Level Conjuration Magic – Anywhere Door: Instantly opens two interconnected portals within any Mind Lock-targeted location in a 600 cubic meter area. Can be used three times at full energy! Portals remain open for three seconds!

Note: After the portals disappear, any objects remaining within will be banished to spatial turbulence!

7: Unknown spell, insufficient knowledge for analysis! (Suspected to be Conjuration Magic)

Evaluation: A powerful robe with low-level size-adjustment magic for minor alterations.

Punk casually summoned an ordinary gray wolf to test the robe’s innate “Summoning Acceleration” and “Summoning Efficiency” spells, finally understanding how the High Priest had been able to continuously summon self-destructing spiders like swarming hornets. These two enhancement spells provided remarkably significant boosts to summoning!

Beyond these, the notable feature was the excellent defensive spell – Chaos Cloak.

Punk experimentally activated “Chaos Cloak.” Instantly, a semi-energy cloak saturated with filthy-colored energy enveloped his body. Sensing the cloak’s formidable defensive capabilities, he murmured in surprise:

“Is the primary defense effect targeted against energy attacks? Its physical defense is only equivalent to advanced mage armor, but… that description about exceptional effectiveness against order-aligned attacks seems quite promising.”

However, Punk didn’t feel particularly delighted by this realization. It suddenly occurred to him that using such chaos-aligned Advent Magic would almost instantly reveal his chaotic alignment!

Looks like this can’t be used as a regular defensive measure. The Faerûn Plane holds far too much prejudice against chaos-aligned beings. Even if used, proper witness elimination would be necessary!”Doused with cold water, Punk soberly recognized the limitations of this spell. He shook his head imperceptibly, yet this mage robe could still be considered immensely powerful, completely incomparable to his original set of Apprentice-Level mage robes.

“I’ll just toss the outdated robe to Bilan—perfect for feigning the illusion of a mentor who cherishes their apprentice.” Though the likelihood of success probably isn’t very high…

After donning the new robe and carelessly discarding the old one into a corner of his storage ring, Punk carefully picked up the second piece of loot—the dagger that had nearly killed him!

The dagger’s pitch-black blade reflected no light, yet a chilling aura faintly emanated from the blood groove on its spine. Made of a material neither metallic nor ferrous, it possessed a solid texture and an almost weightless feel.

The analysis of this Formal-Level item concluded swiftly.

Item Name: Sith’s Calm (the name is engraved on the hilt…)

Item Type: Double-edged Dagger

Material: Mig Fusion Steel—this alloy offers resistance to high temperatures and strong acids but loses some toughness in cold conditions.

Inscribed Magic: Formal-Level Enchantment Magic—Spellbreak: Creates breaches in magical defenses!

Envenomed: Scorchfire Poison—inflicts excruciating pain as if swallowing a red-hot iron, lasting at least 40 hours. Highly effective for interrupting skills and interrogation!

Evaluation: A dagger is a mage’s final dignity!

“Not bad for a dagger!”

What more could be said? Punk swung it casually a couple of times before securing the blade that had almost pierced his heart close to his person, just like the High Priest had. This was his ultimate recourse as a mage!

With the boss’s “dropped” equipment stored away, it was time to unveil the secrets of the enigmatic “Tisha Xia’er Church.”

Punk gently lifted the final space ring using Mage Hand:

“A triple-layered composite runic lock?”

Frowning, he scrutinized the intricate patterns adorning the ring, centered around a large fiery-red gemstone. The most prominent crimson rune made him curse inwardly, “Damn!”

“Truly a madman obsessed with explosions. What secrets did this guy need to hide so desperately that he’d engrave a powerful stored-energy self-destruct rune on a space ring? Wasn’t he afraid of blowing his hand off along with whatever he was trying to conceal?”

Frustration aside, Punk cautiously extended a wisp of mental energy into the rune’s core. Quickly, he discovered that the ring had been intentionally saturated with a massive amount of fire elements, most of them compressed and confined within the gem. Any slight error in the mental frequency attempting to unlock the ring would instantly detonate the densely packed fire elements, with enough force to obliterate the folded space inside the ring and everything within a one-meter radius, scattering all “loot” into the spatial void.

With no shortcuts available, Punk had no choice but to patiently dismantle the runic seals layer by layer. For someone with only mediocre expertise in magic arrays like him, even with the System’s assistance, numerous moments in this process felt perilously close to catastrophe!By the time the three matching rune locks were deciphered, Punk was drenched in sweat—a sensation he hadn’t experienced in a long while. The mental exertion of this task even surpassed brewing an “Activation” potion. At the very least, Punk had to admit that one or two critical “nodes” were completed relying on sheer luck.

“Regardless, the wealth within this Ring is finally open to me. I hope it won’t disappoint…”

With a mood reminiscent of unboxing loot in an online game, Punk nervously extended his mental awareness into the now-unsealed Space Ring.

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(Introducing Punk’s newly acquired equipment is absolutely not filler—these items will all serve purposes later. Many embedded spells are foreshadowing, including the previously mentioned Emerald Staff, which will become a key plot-driving tool in the later stages. Lastly… I do have an outline!)

(End of Chapter)