The Devil's Cage

Lines of notifications came up on Kieran’s vision.

[Consumed Golden Roaster, has a small chance in triggering attribute: Excitement]

[Consumed Jaded Apple Juice, has a small chance in triggering attribute: Valiant]

…

[Excitement: Your words can stimulate the will of the people around you (natives only), effect last till the end of the dungeon]

[Valiant: Your actions have a unique charm, people (natives only) will be willing to comply, effect last till the end of the dungeon]

…

Kieran knew he could acquire some effects by eating specially cooked dishes since the tasting in Harvest Inn but he didn’t know it would grant him attributes.

“The food just now?” Kieran looked at Starbeck unconsciously.

“It triggered your attributes? I really wanted to help you with all I have so I used the best ingredients that I could gather. Still, it has a very small chance of triggering… never thought it would’ve worked!”

Starbeck was stunned, he rejoiced with excitement and it caught Kieran off guard.

Kieran didn’t understand the excitement though, he didn’t know where originated from.

Starbeck didn’t say it was the first time someone had attributes triggered after eating the special meal he cooked either because the first time was always special.

“The chances are small?”

Kieran unconsciously looked at [Vanessa’s Favour] and obviously, it was the effect of this temporary attribute.

“This is much useful than I thought,” Kieran commented.

Kieran didn’t explain the existence of [Vanessa’s Favour], not just for the sake of keeping it a secret but Kieran thought it was unnecessary to explain it to a non-combatant like Starbeck.

Therefore, a beautiful coincidence occurred.

Different things would have different effects on different people.

For Kieran, the coincidence was pre-planned, it was something that he had to take cautious of.

For Starbeck, coincidence had a different meaning and uncontrollably, an unusual feeling rose in his heart.

Starbeck’s gaze at Kieran changed again on a deeper level.

Kieran didn’t care about the gaze; he was used to Starbeck’s occasionally weird behavior.

What else was more surprising than Starbeck’s cowardice?

So, Kieran didn’t care. He took out equipment after equipment from his backpack.

1 Rare and 11 Magic ranked equipment were neatly arranged on the table.

All of these were the spoils of war from the past few days.

“Pick the Rare one or 3 to 5 Magic ones. Consider it as payment for the meal just now. Don’t say no.”

“Having 2 extra attributes like this out of nowhere is enough for me to know how expensive the meal I’ve just had was and I don’t like putting things on a tab. Likewise, I don’t need you to contribute unconditionally and this is the rule of partying with me.”

The moment Kieran voiced his stance, Starbeck wanted to reject but after listening to his irrefutable words, the declines somehow couldn’t escape his mouth.

When time spent with Kieran got longer, Starbeck knew how decisive Kieran was with his words and he knew it would be better for him to accept it; it was also best not to just brush him off.

Therefore, Starbeck started to take a careful look at the equipment on the table.

He might be worse than a newbie in battle but picking equipment was his forte and soon he placed his attention on the Rare piece and one of the Magic equipment but he didn’t forget Kieran asked him to pick 1 Rare or 3 to 5 Magic only.

So, after some thought, Starbeck decided to go with the Rare equipment.

“Nice choice.”

Kieran then transferred the Rare equipment that looked like a gold coin to him.

[Name: Wealth Protection]

[Type: Accessory]

[Rarity: Rare]

[Attribute: Wealth Defense]

[Prerequisite: None]

[Able to bring out of dungeon: Yes]

[Remark: This is a defensive item that Lady Wealth created for anyone who is willing to pay enough.]

….

[Wealth Defense: Consume 1000 gold coins (2000 Points) to form a single defensive barrier of Powerful rank, lasts 2 seconds (or until destroyed), 2 times per day]

…

“And this! I don’t think you will use it but if you need, I can sell it to you.”

Kieran then passed on the Magic equipment that Starbeck was looking at a while ago.

It was a piece of equipment in the shape of a silver coin.

[Name: Wealth Counterattack]

[Type: Accessory]

[Type: Magic]

[Attribute: Wealth Strike]

[Prerequisite: None]

[Able to bring out of dungeon: Yes]

[Remark: This is a defensive item that Lady Wealth created for anyone who is willing to pay enough.]

…

[Wealth Counterattack: Consume 500 gold coins (1000 Points) to fire a beam of burning rays with Strong attack, attacking a single enemy (no further than 50 meters away), 2 times per day]

…

“Thanks!”

Starbeck took [Wealth Counterattack] and transferred 10,000 Points to Kieran.

A somewhat reasonable price.

Although it had a Strong attack and ranged attacking capabilities, the downside of consuming 1000 Points per use would scare most players away.

Except for Starbeck who had no problem with Points, there might not be another player interested in this equipment.

After Starbeck picked what he wanted, Kieran put away all the equipment again.

Starbeck also put away the tableware while Kieran was at it.

So, when Atrina came into the room, the table had two cups of tea ready.

One was red tea which Kieran was quite fond off after Starbeck added a couple drops of honey into it; the other was a plain tea, it was also a request from the temple deacon.

“Do you know Bocard is the Sin Temple archpriest’s stepson?”

Atrina held the cup and looked at Kieran with a complicated gaze.

She knew Kieran was bold enough but she didn’t think he would be that bold to strike directly at the Sin Temple archpriest’s stepson.

Although Sin Temple was one of the great four beneath Lightning Temple, because of that God’s divine position, the abilities granted to the Sin Temple priests were the strongest other than Lightning Temple.

Therefore, a lot of people acknowledged that Sin Temple was the second only to Lightning Temple.

After Kieran had struck down Bocard, the folks at Thorn Temple were shocked, including the archpriest and officiant who supported him.

Killing the priests that aided Wealth Temple and killing Bocard was two completely different concepts.

The former was a counterattack from self-defense; the latter was an initiative strike.

It might incite another war with Sin Temple directly!

When the thought struck her, Atrina could no longer sit quietly.

She rushed here and wanted to deliver the severity of the situation to Kieran.

If it was possible, she wanted Kieran to leave instead.

Although before Atrina saw Kieran, she was still hesitating over whether she should voice it to Kieran but when she saw him and heard what he said, her made her decision.

“Leave this place at once! Escape to the north! There you will be safe!” Atrina spoke swiftly.

Compared to the anxiety of the temple deacon, Kieran took a sip off his tea in a casual manner. He allowed the thick sweetness of the tea to completely spread out on his taste buds before standing up.

“Starbeck, cover the tea for me will ya, it won’t taste as good when it’s cold.”

Kieran didn’t speak with Atrina but he ordered Starbeck instead.

“Okay.” Starbeck nodded.

After listening to both their conversations, Atrina was even more anxious, she wanted to say something else but before she spoke, she saw Kieran smile at her.

Atrina instantly skipped a breath, she felt like she saw a light in his smile.

“Wait for me here.”

“O-Okay.”

Atrina couldn’t help but nod against Kieran’s words.

She only came back to her senses after Kieran had left for a while.

“What happened? Why would I?”

Confusion baffled her but when he realized what was going on, her face changed.

“Was I followed?!”

A bad feeling came up and a tremble on the ground followed.

Atrina wanted to dash outside the hideout instinctively but when she took a step out, she stopped.

Night breeze entered the secret hideout through the door, it carried the windy sensation and also a heavy smell of blood.

As the door opened up, Kieran came back in the same manner as when he left, he laid down his backpack and sat back in his seat.

Atrina looked at Kieran who returned with a blank stare, she didn’t know what was going on and as she turned around unconsciously, she glanced over the opened window and saw what was outside.

Bodies over bodies and a broken flag entered her sight right away.

When she took a good look at the broken flag, she couldn’t hold back her awe anymore and despite her covering her mouth, the cry of shock still came out.

“S-Sin Knights?!”

Her cry echoed around the room.

Kieran took his cup of tea and lifted the cover, the steam rose up right away, bringing the aroma of the tea to his nose as it was overflowing around him.