MMORPG: Birth of the World's Luckiest Player-Chapter 176: Claiming the Spoils

"Heh..."

Marcus could not help but chuckle as he watched the Blood-Fiend Flower Demon’s expression contort in agony. So much for being called a "Demonic Prodigy." Stripped of the two Sea Demon Souls it had relied on, the creature was little more than dead weight. Taking it down was turning out to be far easier than he had anticipated.

Pebble, however, showed no trace of satisfaction. The Temple Guardian remained stone-faced, already stepping forward as his blade cut through the air, preparing another Dragon-Roar Critical Strike without the slightest hesitation.

The Flower Demon had been driven into a dead end. Even if it attempted to use Blood-Fiend Wreath again to repel Pebble, Marcus was standing by, ready to surge in and capitalize on the opening. There was no path left to survival.

"Earth-Shift!"

’Damn it, I forgot about that’, Marcus thought as the demon vanished in an instant. Pebble’s blade passed through empty space, and Goldie’s diving strike slammed into nothing but air. A heartbeat later, the demon reappeared several meters behind them.

Marcus spun around immediately, but the Flower Demon was already in motion. It kicked off the ground and leapt skyward, its vivid red silk robes billowing and spreading as if they were wings, lifting its body higher and higher.

’You’ve got to be kidding me. This thing can fly too?’ Marcus cursed inwardly. His earlier Insight had shown no innate flight ability, which meant this had to be something else. His eyes narrowed as he focused on the flowing crimson robe.

’So it’s the gear. A magic item, huh?’

Better be worth it.

The battered demon clearly had no idea who it was dealing with. It probably believed that taking to the sky was its escape route, its final chance to survive. Unfortunately for it, Marcus had the Violet Thunderwing Steed. The air was just as much his territory as the ground, and this so-called escape was nothing more than a desperate, futile struggle.

Seeing that Desperate Strike had come off cooldown, Marcus did not even bother mounting up. He planted his feet, drew back his arm, and hurled his Mythic-tier Bat Dragon Cloud Sword with full force. The blade carved a deadly arc through the air, streaking straight toward the ascending demon.

-7,500!

THUD!

The sword punched cleanly through the Flower Demon’s chest, wiping out its remaining health in a single blow. With one last shrill, bloodcurdling scream, the demon fell from the sky, crashing to the ground with the Bat Dragon Cloud Sword still buried in its body.

Ding!

"Congratulations, Stonehaven! You have slain the Blood-Fiend Flower Demon. Rewards: 100 Reputation, 5,000 gold coins."

"Congratulations, Stonehaven! Your One-Handed Mastery has leveled up to Level 2. Effects enhanced."

"Congratulations, Stonehaven! Your Shield Mastery has leveled up to Level 2. Effects enhanced."

"Congratulations, Stonehaven! Your Swift Blade skill has leveled up to Level 2. Effects enhanced."

As expected of a Gold-tier Boss, even one capped at Level 30. The experience payout was enormous, instantly pushing his progress bar forward by nearly thirty percent, while several of his core combat skills advanced at the same time.

Marcus resisted the urge to check the details immediately. Instead, he sprinted over to the corpse and activated Gathering without delay.

Ding!

"Congratulations, Stonehaven! You have gathered a Blood-Fiend Flower. Gathering proficiency increased."

"Congratulations, Stonehaven! You have gathered a Blood-Fiend Fruit. Gathering proficiency increased."

Blood-Fiend Flower: An intermediate-tier material commonly used in potion making.

Blood-Fiend Fruit: A rare fruit produced only by exceptionally gifted Blood-Fiend Flower Demons. A high-tier potion ingredient rumored to possess miraculous age-defying properties, driving its market value to extreme heights.

"That’s it?" Marcus muttered, clicking his tongue. "A Level 30 Gold Boss, and the body barely gives me anything worth bragging about."

As the corpse dissolved into light, his gaze dropped to the items scattered on the ground beneath it. The moment he saw the spread of loot, all traces of disappointment vanished, replaced by an unrestrained, greedy grin.

His final attack had triggered a critical kill, resulting in a full "Great Burst" drop. Equipment of varying colors lay strewn across the stone floor: a grey necklace, a black cloak, a yellow staff, a yellow robe, two Blue-tier items, a skill book, and six glittering Dreamland Gems.

Marcus felt a rush of exhilaration. This was exactly why he hunted high-tier, low-level bosses whenever possible. As the saying went, a horse does not grow fat without wild grass, and a man does not get rich without a windfall. For him, Gold-tier Bosses were that windfall.

He crouched down and began collecting his spoils one by one.

Sea Soul Demonic Jade Necklace: Grey-tier Demonic Artifact. Effects unknown. Cannot be equipped.

"Haha!" Marcus laughed aloud.

’This is ridiculous.’ He had actually gotten the Sea Soul Demonic Jade Necklace. Remembering how absurdly powerful the Sea Demon Souls had been, he realized Pebble would no longer need to shoulder everything alone. Once he could summon those golems himself, their combined clearing speed would be downright terrifying.

His laughter echoed through the sealed halls of the Mist Veil Palace as he continued sorting through the loot.

Blood-Fiend Cloak: Black-tier Mythic Artifact. Effects unknown. Cannot be equipped.

He frowned slightly. It was odd that the system used black to denote Mythic-tier items instead of labeling them as Demonic Artifacts, especially when some Mythic gear was said to rival Divine equipment. Either way, it was far beyond his current Identification skill. He would have to take it back to the citadel and seek out the Old Man for help.

It was a shame he could not use the necklace right away. With two Sea Demon Souls at his side, the remainder of this palace would have been trivial.

Demon-Branch Staff: Gold-tier equipment. Effects unknown. Cannot be equipped.

Blood-Fiend Robe: Gold-tier equipment. Effects unknown. Cannot be equipped.

"Nice," he muttered. "All premium stuff."

Unfortunately, his daily identification attempts were already used up. These would have to wait until tomorrow.

Skill Book: Dancing Sparks: An intermediate Fire-element skill. Releases a flurry of sparks to attack nearby enemies. Active Area-of-Effect skill. Requirement: Level 40 Sorcerer.

Lastly, Marcus picked up the six radiant Dreamland Gems. His excitement spiked. These were notoriously rare, and a single gem could easily sell for over a million gold coins on the market, assuming anyone was even willing to part with one.

He glanced from the gems to his equipment. His Bat Dragon Cloud Sword and Fluffy Rabbit’s Mask were both sitting at +4. Pushing them to +6 or +7 only had a forty percent success rate.

’Should I risk it?’

After a brief pause, he grinned. To hell with it.

His Luck stat was high, and he trusted his instincts. Even if the enhancement failed, the equipment would merely reset to +0 instead of being destroyed. On top of that, Ascendant’s Domain granted a ten percent boost to auxiliary skill success rates.

Once the decision was made, Marcus did not hesitate. He retrieved his sword, activated Ascendant’s Domain, and was immediately wrapped in a warm golden glow. He raised his hammer and began forging.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Ding!

"Forging successful! Bat Dragon Cloud Sword level +1. Forging proficiency increased."

Ding!

"Forging successful! Fluffy Rabbit’s Mask level +1. Forging proficiency increased."

He alternated between the two items, feeding Dreamland Gems into each in turn. While his defenses were already solid, he wanted more attack power and Agility, which was why he chose to enhance his sword and mask instead of the Adamant Shield.

His luck bordered on the absurd. Every single enhancement succeeded. Six gems later, both items stood proudly at +7.

As he admired the results, a thought struck him. This was a business opportunity. With his success rate, he could charge other players hundreds of gold coins per enhancement, safely boosting their gear to +6 or +7. With thousands of potential customers, the profits would be staggering.