A Gunslinger's System in a World of Magic-Chapter 258: Boons From A Ritualistic Prop

While Henry, Andor, and the rest dealt with the rest of the spirits and put an end to the cases of possession on the field, Marla had other ideas.

After taking advantage of Eloise's distraction, she approached the chest and budded her time until she was sure there would be no interruptions.

Thanks to the actions of Henry and the others, there were soon no Spirits around it and she was free to stretch her hand toward it. Her fingers touched the chest all over and there were strange symbols etched on it. But besides that, there was no seam to represent where the 'chest' would open.

"What the—" she let out and then paused. This was not the place to scrutinize her gains so she pressed the storage bracelet on her wrist against the 'Chest' but right before it was absorbed into it, the barrel of a gun came under her arm and lifted her hands off the 'chest'.

Marla had more than enough strength to overcome the one who interrupted her but she could tell that he wasn't alone.

She glanced back and there stood every single Knight and they all formed a somewhat tight semi-circle to keep her boxed in.

Her eyes were on Eloise the most,

"Hey, this is MY loot," she said.

"You lost that grace to stake a sole claim after the mess you caused that we had to fix," Eloise said.

Marla frowned and looked for her Mercenaries but most of them couldn't fight. They had been injured in some way or form during their battles against the Orcs and their bodies had been forced still to fight by the spirits that possessed them. Plus, to be freed from those spirits, they had to endure powerful jolts of electricity to the chest.

All in all, they were hardly in any shape to help Marla.

Her frown got deeper and she didn't resist Henry using the barrel of his magical repeater to stop her. She just let out a sigh as she stood to her feet,

"You're Knights, aren't you?" She asked with a slightly arrogant scoff even though her voice came out far softer after that,

"We still get half of whatever's in there. You can't deny us that."

Boyle nodded his head,

"And we won't."

"Hold on," Eloise said then with a deep frown, "I don't think that thing is a chest of loot at all."

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She bent low and paid attention to the earth surrounding the chest on the ground. There were grooves etched into it and upon further inspection, she noticed the grooves took the shapes of strange symbols. The type that made up the Orc Casters and Orc Priest's spell circles. The ones that were etched all over the 'chest'.

She cast her sensory spell and waved it all over the 'chest' and the more she studied, the more curious she looked until she stopped and announced,

"That's not a chest," she said, "It's an Altar."

"What?" Many in the field said in unison but the loudest voice of them all was Marla's who quickly realized she was about to go from getting half to getting nothing.

"You mean it's a chest that doubles as an Altar?" She asked, trying to fight against Eloise's observation.

Eloise shook her head, oblivious to Marla's slight desperation,

"No, it's not a chest at all. It's part of some strange ritual that's borrowing the Dimensional energy of this Dungeon to strengthen something.

"The Dungeon Boss," Boyle says immediately.

"The only one that would make sense," Eloise agreed with a nod, "The red spirits were the last defense in case people, like us, got past the Orcs that were supposed to be guarding it."

"We have to destroy it," Boyle said.

"Immediately," Eloise agreed and she pulled out her already-sheathed sword and held it at the ready.

"Wait," Marla said in some desperate bid to get some loot.

"This is much more important than your desire for wealth, Lady," Boyle said and his eyes flashed with his impatience. Marla was struck by it and took a step back right before Eloise and Boyle began to strike the Altar.

To enhance its ability to manipulate Mana or be used to manipulate Mana, the altar was made with Y'Nth metal but so was every other weapon used by the Orcs.

Eloise and Boyle struck it with their sword twice before they had the sense to change weapons for one of the Axes dropped by the fallen Orcs.

Neither liked wielding the Axes as much as they liked to wield their swords but thanks to their training at the citadel with all types of weapons, they knew how to se it, even though the motion required here had very little bases in battle tactics and was more about cutting down or breaking open.

Anyway, the Axes conducted their Mana better than their swords, and on the fifth strike from each of them, the Altar split open and let loose a powerful energy expelling every bit of strength it had been created to absorb and hadn't yet transferred to the epicenter of the ritual.

*Whum!* Henry heard as he was one of those standing close enough to the Altar, when it was destroyed, to be struck by expelled energy.

[You have been struck by Dimensional Energy]

[You have received 24 bonus Stat Points]

[You now have 42 Stat Points]

Henry just froze with how eyes wide. Twenty-four Stat Points was like 4 Level ups and when he looked around, he realized he was not the only one blessed and everyone else noticed their boon as quickly as he did. And how could they not when their physical stats had all made incredible advancements all at once?

And that was besides the improvement it had made for their part in the battle against the Orcs and the battle against the Red Spirits after.

Take Andor for example. The Red spirits he dispelled counted toward his improvement as much as the Orcs he killed so he had leveled up twice from that. But with the bonuses, the Stats that were allocated all across his Stat screen was 36;

——————

[Name: Andor]

[Race: Human]

[Class: Fighter]

[Health: 350 ———> 380]

[Mana: 230 ———> 250]

[Strength: 90 ———> 102]

[Agility: 40 ———> 50]

[Stamina: 50 ———> 64]

*[Remarks: A Fighter who makes up for his limited Martial training with enthusiasm and Impressive strength. Has Impressive Potential but is killable should you want to.]

——————

From Andor, Henry moved his eyes to Eloise;

——————

[Name: Eloise de Vurgen]

[Race: Human]

[Class: Mage-Knight]

[Job: Squad Captain]

[Health: 550 ———> 570]

[Mana: 710 ———> 740]

[Faith: 211 ———> 214]*

[Strength: 122 ———> 136]

[Agility: 70 ———> 75]

[Stamina: 75 ———> 80]

[Intelligence: 100 ———> 112]

*[Remarks: Hmm… A lady with a curious set of Stats. They tell the story of trials and a long journey of improvement. Aptitude in Spell-Casting and Martial abilities make her seem like a jack of two trades trying to master all.

She is technically Killable but should you try, my bet is on her to win.]

—————

And finally, Boyle who had only leveled up once in the recent battle which put his total added Stat Points —including the bonus Stat points—, at 30;

——————

[Name: Boyle]

[Race: Human]

[Class: Knight]

[Job: Citadel Captain]

[Health: 770 ———> 790]

[Mana: 700 ———> 710]

[Strength: 206 ———> 216]

[Agility: 112 ———> 120]

[Stamina: 136 ———> 148]

*[Remarks: A Knight capably trained to carry out the righteous convictions of his oath to fuel his Physical Might which is already quite impressive. Possesses grand ambitions for status within the Citadel.

Much too great an opponent for you. At the moment, as far as you are concerned, he is unkillable.]

——————

Already Boyle was the strongest of the bunch but this put him even further ahead. Everyone went from being surprised to being absolutely elated. This included Marla the Mercenary who, when Henry's still-subtly glowing eyes fell on her excited face, was analyzed as well;

——————

[Name: Marla]

[Race: Human]

[Class: Fighter]

[Job: Mercenary]

[Health: 650 ———> 670]

[Mana: 520 ———> 530]

[Strength: 172 ———> 184]

[Agility: 95 ——— 101]

[Stamina: 120 ———> 132]

*[Remarks: A Fighter skilled at Martial techniques and has had years of training and experience to hone those skills. A formidable opponent if you choose to fight him.]

——————

"This is incredible," Marla said out loud and became the first person on the scene to vocalize their excitement at their boons. And then she raised her head at everyone still looking mystified and quickly pointed at the broken Altar,

"But I get that halved-up thing too."

"It was a ritualistic prop," Eloise pointed out.

"So?" Marla retorted.

"So why would you want it?" Eloise asked incredulously.

"You've destroyed and released what was in it, haven't you?" Marla asked.

"We have," Eloise admitted.

"Then I'll sell the chunk. It's still worth something outside the Dungeon." Marla said and she wasn't at all wrong.

Eloise even understood that besides it being made of Y'Nth metal, the Altar's inscribed symbols that were so unlike the Arcane symbols used by those outside the Dungeon would also inspire curiosity. She just couldn't shake off the feeling she had gotten from the chill that was unleashed when Marla first struck the Semi-sphere. She wanted nothing to do with the chunks of Y'Nth metal and wanted to convince others to do the same.

She gave up on Marla though. The Mercenary didn't seem to care.

And so, Marla bent low and absorbed the halves of the Altar into her storage bracelet. Finally getting the loot she so wanted from the start.