Debuff Master

Chapter 423

“Just how?! Oh my god! Where did you get these?!” Quandt screamed in disbelief.

Enhancing an existing artifact was an extremely difficult process that even the most seasoned veteran blacksmith would not be able to guarantee the outcome.

It was not strange at all, as creating something from scratch was sometimes easier than altering something already existing in most cases. Thus, the workshops stopped offering manual enhancement services and switched to fully automated enhancement services using the Enhancement Machines.

Moreover, manual enhancement was far more expensive than automated enhancement, which was why the workshops on the continent stopped issuing enhancement coupons and gear protection coupons more than a hundred years ago.

They had made quite a lot of money when they started selling enhancement coupons, but those coupons later came back to bite them hard, as guaranteeing enhancement success was simply too expensive for them to handle.

Of course, all of that happened before the Adventurers descended onto the continent.

Anyway, Quandt could not help but be shocked to see that Siegfried possessed both an enhancement coupon and a gear protection coupon. Not to mention, he felt extremely pressured after seeing those two coupons.

Why?

It was all because the workshop would have to spend a fortune to make sure that the artifact wouldn't be destroyed and that it would be enhanced.

“H-How did you—“

“Why? Am I not allowed to have this?”

“No, but…”

“Are you scared how much you’re going to lose from this?”

“But that was not our workshop’s fault… That was purely your—“

However, he suddenly stopped and stared at the two coupons as if pondering something important.

“I have a question.”

“What is it…?”

“If this weapon gets upgraded to a Universal weapon, what’s going to happen to the enhancement? Will it remain?”

“I don't think so. Upgrading it will involve disassembling it and adding new materials to it

“Please wait a second… I need some time to think…” Siegfried said and inspected his coupon.

[Bavarian Workshop Enhancement Coupon]

[An enhancement coupon officially issued by the Bavarian Workshop.]

[The Bavarian Workshop will enhance a +10 or above artifact requested by the coupon holder one time with a 100% success rate. (No level limit)]

[Type: Coupon (Consumable)]

[Rating: Legendary]

[Remarks: Using this on a piece of equipment with the highest enhancement rank will yield the most reward.]

What was going to happen after Horse Fly was enhanced to +10 Vanquisher’s Grasp? He could use the coupon to turn it into a +11 Vanquisher’s Grasp, and it was going to become +11 without a doubt, thanks to the coupon.

However, the problem was that his greed had no limits.

Siegfried read the protection coupon once again.

[Bavarian Workshop Equipment Protection Coupon]

[Prevents the equipment from being destroyed upon enhancement failure.]

[Type: Coupon (Consumable)]

[Rating: Legendary]

The Equipment Protection Coupon was basically insurance.

“Will the protection coupon maintain the artifact’s enhancement level too?” Siegfried asked.

“Of course not! Read the backside of the coupon!”

There were small words written on the backside of the coupon.

[The equipment will not be destroyed, but all enhancement levels will be reset.]

It turned out that the protection coupon would only protect the equipment from getting destroyed. The equipment's enhancement level would still be reset upon enhancement failure.

“What the hell?! This is a scam! How can you call yourself a reputable business when you’re running scams like this?!” Siegfried screamed in anger.

“What?! Scam?! How can it be a scam when it’s written clearly right there?!” Quandt retorted.

“Kiss my ass! This is a scam!”

He found himself in another dilemma. He could enhance Horse Fly into +11 without any problems with the enhancement coupon, but the protection coupon was going to become useless.

Why?

It was all because if he enhanced Horse Fly from +11 to +12, and it failed, the protection coupon was going to save his weapon, but it was going to reset its enhancement level.

In other words, the maximum enhancement level he could reach was +10, which was no different from what he could achieve without the coupons.

In other words…

“I should use the protection coupon first.”

What if he succeeded in enhancing Horse Fly to +11 with the help of the protection coupon? He could then use the enhancement coupon to enhance it to +12.

However, what if he mustered the courage to take it a step further and enhanced it once again with the protection coupon and managed to succeed in enhancing it to +12? Then he could use the enhancement coupon to enhance it to +13!

He could end up with a +13 Horse Fly if he played his cards right.

To sum it all up, using the protection coupon first was definitely the right choice.

“Please enhance that first. I’ll use these later,” Siegfried said after making up his mind and handing the +10 Enhancement Coupon he had received as a gift from King Allen.

Quandt shed a tear and replied, "A-All right…"

Quandt was nervous. Siegfried’s luck was rotten, but if he somehow managed to succeed in enhancing the artifact to +12 then the materials used to guarantee the +13 enhancement were definitely going to deal a huge blow to the workshop’s finances.

***

Siegfried logged out and rested before descending onto the Nürberg Continent a few hours later.

“Welcome back,” Quandt greeted him.

“The enhancement is done. Here, take it,” Quandt said as he passed Horse Fly to Siegfried.

A message popped up in front of Siegfried’s eyes.

[Alert: You have obtained +10 Vanquisher’s Grasp!]

Siegfried flashed his Rune of Insight on the +10 Horse Fly.

“Let’s see…” he muttered as he inspected its details.

[Additional Attack Power: 1,900]

The +10 Horse Fly received a whopping +1,900 bonus Attack Power!

“What?” Siegfried could not believe his eyes. It was understandable why he was so surprised, as the +15 Gaia’s Fist had +2,432 bonus attack power.

However, a mere +10 Vanquisher's Grasp already had +1,900 Attack Power? This was a massive bonus if taking into consideration that a weapon only received a massive boost in Attack Power from +11 onward.

“What the hell?! This weapon is going to be stronger than a +15 weapon if I get it to +11?!” Siegfried screamed. Horse Fly was going to have the same, if not more, bonus Attack Power than the +15 Gaia’s Fist.

What if he somehow managed to enhance it to +12? The bonus Attack Power would make the +15 Gaia’s Fist look like a toy hammer. However, there was one thing to take into consideration, and it was the fact that Horse Fly’s base Attack Power was already higher than Gaia’s Fist’s base Attack Power.

In other words, +10 Horse Fly was bound to be stronger than +15 Gaia’s Fist!

“Yes, I am!” Siegfried exclaimed in response while nodding, and then he exclaimed in awe once more, “This is the stats of a +10 weapon?!”

“It’s not a Universal artifact’s component for nothing! But trying to enhance it to +11 right now will come with some risks, so I don’t really recommend doing—“

“Nope, I’m not falling for that.”

“…”

“N-Not at all!”

“No, your face!”

***

“I can’t wait to use this,” Siegfried itched for battle, curious about the destructive power of his freshly enhanced +10 Horse Fly.

This was the beauty of games, was it not? Testing out your newly upgraded weapon and wreaking havoc was a thrill all gamers enjoyed.

“I should go to the Bayaba Territory first…”

Siegfried started walking away upon deciding on his destination, but the crowd in front of the workshop's enhancement machines attracted his attention.

It was normal for a crowd to gather in front of each workshop’s enhancement machines, but they seemed unusually noisy today.

“One more time?”

“Wow… Going for it is insane…”

“Is self-control not a thing these days?”

“Really? One more time?”

All eyes were focused on a single Adventurer.

The Adventurer in question collected his breathing before putting his shiny trident into the enhancement machine.

Siegfried could tell that the trident was at least +13, judging from the bright glow it was giving off, and there was a high chance that it was above +13.

The enhancement machine vibrated vigorously and started the enhancement process.

The enhancement machine unleashed steam and cried out.

[Alert: The enhancement requested by MassacreFlag has succeeded!]

[Alert: MassacreFlag-nim has successfully enhanced the +15 Poison Trident to +16 Poison Trident!]

The result was a jackpot.

The Adventurer with the ID MassacreFlag managed to upgrade his trident into plus sixteen!

“Whoa!”ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ ɴoᴠel ꜰɪre.nᴇt

“Crazy!”

“Sixteen?”

“SIXTEEEEEN?!”

The crowd raged the moment the result came out.

Sixteen!

It was an enhancement level that only a select few from the three hundred million players could enjoy! In addition, it was extremely rare for a high-tier weapon to have such a high enhancement level!

That Adventurer could live comfortably for the rest of his life without having to worry about money until his last dying breath if he sold his +16 Poison Trident.

“Sixteen…” Siegfried muttered while dazedly looking at the Adventurer. He was a gamer, too, and it was impossible for him as a gamer not to feel challenged after seeing someone succeed right in front of his eyes.

Siegfried could feel something pulsating deep inside him as if it was trying to climb all the way to his head.

He repeatedly told himself not to do it, but a magic spell was cast on him.

Siegfried walked toward an enhancement machine as if he had been bewitched by a magic spell.