Chapter 355: Youngest Prodigy
The space twisted once again, and Alex suddenly found himself standing inside the familiar chamber of the Sunken Vault Dungeon. Frank was sleeping in a corner, while Yulia remained on guard nearby.
The golden portal leading to the Trial was still floating in front of him, making it seem as though he had never left the chamber. However, before Alex could say anything, several notifications appeared before his eyes.
[Congratulations on completing the Trial of Gold (Hell Difficulty).]
[Trial Rating: Excellent.]
[Rewards: Gerindas Wand, Key Fragment of Core Vault of Eldorado, Flow Master Talent Orb.]
Alex blinked when he saw the three rewards appear before him. He had expected to receive something valuable after completing the Trial, but as he read their names, his heart began beating faster.
All three rewards sounded interesting, especially the last one, but he decided to examine them in order rather than getting ahead of himself. He focused on the first reward, causing another notification to appear.
[Gerindas Wand (SSS Rank)]
[A wand that once was gifted to the youngest prodigy of Eldorado City. Ugh, I hate these types of items that make it so I can’t skip their description.]
[Effect: Allows user to use fire, life, kinetic, and lightning mana. Increases attunement of fire, life, kinetic, lightning mana by 500%.]
Alex raised an eyebrow upon seeing the rank and effects of the wand. He immediately willed the reward to appear, and a short white wand materialized in his hand.
The wand was approximately twenty centimeters long, with a smooth, ivory-white surface and four thin lines running along its length. Each line had a different color, corresponding to one of the four elements, while the tip contained a small, transparent crystal that reflected light beautifully.
Despite its simple appearance, the wand looked rather elegant, and Alex could tell that considerable effort had gone into crafting it. He carefully sent some mana into the wand, intending to examine its internal structure.
However, the moment his mana entered it, he sensed several powerful runes responding to his energy, causing his eyes to widen slightly.
‘The wand has high-rank runes of all four elements. They all seem to be at least S Rank, and it also increases my attunement to these elements by 500%.’
That was an impressive effect, especially considering that Alex already possessed considerable knowledge of those elements. More importantly, he could study the runes within the wand and potentially use what he learned to improve his own elemental runes.
As for the increased elemental attunement, Alex suspected it was either caused by certain runes embedded within the wand or by the material used to create it.
‘I’ll have to examine everything properly when I have time. If the effect comes from the runes, perhaps I can eventually reproduce it without needing the wand.’
He continued observing the wand for another moment before smiling.
‘The elements this wand possesses fit me quite perfectly. Then again, I suppose that makes sense, since the rewards were probably selected specifically for me.’
However, something else in the wand’s description soon caught his attention.
‘Eldorado City. Why does that name sound familiar?’
Alex frowned, trying to remember whether he had encountered the name before, but nothing particular came to mind.
‘Perhaps I’m mistaken. Most likely, Eldorado City was the city that once existed on this island.’
Considering that he had entered a Vault and completed a Trial within it, Alex suspected that the rewards were items originally stored inside the “main” Vault. If that assumption was correct, the wand had probably belonged to someone from the civilization whose ruins they had encountered around the forest.
‘I wonder what caused Eldorado City’s destruction. If they were powerful enough to give SSS Rank wands to young prodigies, their civilization must have been incredibly strong.’
Unfortunately, he didn’t have enough information to answer that question, so he stored the wand away and examined his second reward.
[Key Fragment of Core Vault of Eldorado]
[Hehehe, now this is a good reward. I am praying you can collect all fragments quickly.]
[Effect: When all fragments are combined, you can use the fused key to open the Core Vault. (1/3)]
Alex stared at the description for a few moments before beginning to organize his thoughts.
‘First of all, if my assumption about the wand coming from the Vault is correct, then the Core Vault probably contains even more items of similar quality.’
That possibility alone made obtaining the remaining fragments worthwhile. After all, the rewards he had received from a single Trial were already impressive, so he couldn’t help wondering what treasures might be stored within the Core Vault itself.
‘Secondly, the System’s words make it sound like there’s something dangerous inside the Vault. Although, considering how much bullshit it usually spouts, I don’t know whether I should take that seriously.’
Nevertheless, Alex decided that being cautious wouldn’t hurt, especially when dealing with something connected to a civilization powerful enough to possess equipment like Gerindas Wand.
‘Third, there are two more fragments somewhere. Perhaps I can obtain them by completing other Trials, assuming there are more Trials around this place.’
He also considered the possibility that his teammates might receive the remaining fragments after completing their own Trials. However, since only three fragments were required, Alex doubted that collecting them would be quite so convenient.
‘It’s possible that the fragment was awarded because I was the first person to complete this Trial. If that’s the case, the others probably won’t receive the same reward.’
For now, he had no way of confirming his assumptions, so Alex left the Key Fragment inside his Status inventory and turned his attention toward the final reward. This was the one he had been looking forward to the most.
[Flow Master Talent Orb (SSS Rank)]
[Just know that I’m praying for your downfall. I hope that your luck in encountering powerful monsters becomes as bad as your luck is good in getting rewards.]
[Effects: Improves your ability to sense Flow of magic spells by 500%.]
..
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