Relics

Following the strategy he had previously decided on, Zelier allocated all four attribute points into Intelligence as usual. Strength: 65 Agility: 61 Constitution: 68 Spirit: 71 Intelligence: 78 -> 82 Perception: 30 Charm: 48 -> 49 Luck: 41 Talent Skill: Formula Deduction. Intelligence had successfully broken past the 80 threshold. He just didn't know whether this increase would help him break through the bottleneck and reach the threshold for advancing to low-rank mage. In addition, Zelier had acquired a new spell—Vile Tongue. Vile Tongue, analysis progress: 2%. Like the other, it already had initial progress upon being acquired, so its spell tier probably wasn't too high. Even so, Zelier was quite looking forward to Vile Tongue; he had never touched mental-type magic before. Besides, judging by its earlier performance, Vile Tongue's crowd-control capability was by no means weak—it had slowed the movements of Marcus, Gray, and Gak for several seconds. If used properly, it would be a very fine skill. A heavy stench of blood hung in the air. Mutilated limbs and goblin corpses lay strewn across the ground, blood seeping into the soil in sluggish rivulets that turned the stomach. "It's over..." Marcus plunged his combat saber into the dirt. Leaning against the hilt, he panted heavily, sweat dripping from his chin. "Haha... Hahahaha!" Gak's excitement had yet to fade. He let out a hearty laugh. "That was one hell of a thrill!" With the White-Haired Goblin dead, Gak had finally been able to cut loose and slaughter to his heart's content. He had hacked those runts in half one by one like kindling, venting all the frustration from being suppressed earlier. Leaning against the cave entrance, Shir wiped the crimson fluid from her daggers with a white cloth. Her movements were elegant, but her eyes held a detachment at odds with her previous demeanor. Not a single drop of goblin blood stained her clothes. Zelier happened to glance her way and felt an inexplicable chill. An assassin's gaze was truly frightening. Normally, the next step would be clearing the battlefield and gathering loot. Goblins, however, were an exception. Though categorized under the same Easy threat rating, slimes at least yielded magic cores, whereas goblins produced nothing at all. Their meat wasn't even edible—tainted by corruption, eating it caused poisoning. One could say that to humanity, these creatures were utterly worthless. Precisely because of this, goblin bounties in commission quests were far higher than those of other Easy-tier monsters: three silver coins per slime, but ten silver per goblin. Without a high payout, no one would bother taking the job. Marcus and the others rummaged through the battlefield, slicing off goblin left ears for proof while nudging severed limbs with their boots to see if any weapons were worth salvaging. The results, however, were deeply disappointing. Goblin equipment was atrocious. Lacking proper maintenance, most of it was thoroughly rusted or ruined, without a shred of value. Bundling it up and hauling it to a blacksmith might fetch a few silver coins if they were lucky, but they would have to lug all that dead weight the entire way back. In the end, they decided to leave it behind. In any case, the quest bounty was generous enough. While the others were occupied, Zelier jogged over to the White-Haired Goblin's corpse. He had seen clearly earlier: when the White-Haired Goblin cast Vile Tongue, it had waved the cane in its hand. If that turned out to be a magic staff, he would make a fortune! Even if of inferior quality, it ought to be worth dozens of gold coins, right? The White-Haired Goblin's corpse lay quietly on the ground, fingers still clutching the bone cane. Zelier picked it up and examined it closely, even attempting to channel mana into it. Before long, however, he realized the thing was just an ordinary leg bone—likely human—marked with several rows of fine tooth indentations. "Damn it... What bad luck." Zelier tossed it aside in disgust. "Alright, it's all scrap metal here. Let's not waste any more time." Once the count was finished, Marcus cleared his throat and began his report. "In this mission, we killed a total of three Orc Goblins, one White-Haired Goblin, and twenty-five ordinary goblins. "Orc Goblins are seven gold coins each, the White-Haired Goblin is ten gold, and ordinary goblins are ten silver each. "Based on the commission's bounty, that comes to thirty-three gold and fifty silver. Add the extra twenty gold coins provided by the Guild, and our final reward is fifty-three gold and fifty silver. "Everyone poured a lot of effort into this battle, but our roles were different. As for the division, I'll strive to be fair and equitable. If anyone has objections, speak up now. "Zelier gets twelve gold. Vallis and Shir get ten gold each. From the remaining twenty-one gold and fifty silver, after deducting the five silver for renting the carriage, Gray, Gak, and I will split it equally—seven gold and fifteen silver each." Having finished, Marcus looked around at the group. "Any objections?" Gray and Gak shrugged, indicating they were fine with it. A payout of seven gold and fifteen silver was something they could only get by striking it lucky with a quest like this; otherwise, who knew how long they would have had to grind out ordinary commissions to earn that much. Besides, they weren't the core contributors in the fight. To walk away with this much money was plenty good. The others accepted the division plan as well. Zelier's contributions in this battle were plain for all to see. His Arcane Missile had landed the decisive blow to swiftly execute the White-Haired Goblin, and he had taken down an Orc Goblin afterward. Vallis's Thunder Arrow had also played a major role, helping clear out minions and creating an opening for Zelier. As for Shir, she had stepped forward when the decoy trio was incapacitated by crowd control, drawing the horde's attention away; otherwise, Marcus and the others would likely have suffered casualties. Moreover, one was a mage and the other two held intermediate-rank classes. By unspoken convention, it was only right that they received a larger share. "Alright then." Marcus clapped his hands. "Let's head into the cave and search for the relics of Rhode's party." "You go ahead. I'll keep watch outside," Shir signaled. "Why?" Gak scratched his head. "Because it stinks," Shir answered bluntly. Zelier cast Light, sending an orb of radiance floating above the group, then made a gesture as well. "You go first." "Why?" Gak asked again. "Because I don't like being sandwiched in the middle," Zelier answered just as bluntly. It gave him a sense of insecurity. The light illuminated the interior of the cave. The scene matched Zelier's expectations. Because Orc Goblins lived here, the cave passages were wide enough not to hinder their movement, but the rock walls were damp and slick, coated in unknown slime. Animal bones lay scattered across the ground underfoot, occasionally mixed with goblin feces, creating an appalling stench. Along both sides of the cave, the goblins had hollowed out crude honeycomb-like alcoves lined with dry grass, which looked to be where the ordinary goblins huddled together to sleep.