NOVEL NEXT Chapter 46 : Open Sesame
Nash came only and as usual, the first person he wanted to link up with was LadyFlame. However, that was because he and LadyFlame had an ongoing business.
He wanted to know how many wolf liver she had gotten hold of.
Meeting up with LadyFlame where she was, Nash noticed that his teammate was feeling down and sad, making him worry.
"What's wrong, Lady?" Nash asked, approaching in slower steps this time.
LadyFlame raised her head and looked at him, with her face cupped in her hands.
"We have a problem," she said. "Just today, I noticed that some potions similar to ours have entered the market and it appears that whoever was doing this also sold at a cheaper rate than ours."
"What?!"
LadyFlame nodded her head. "I don't know how they were able to get their hands on such quality potions but the fact that they did and are also selling is a threat to us."
'It's possible that someone has also somehow found a way to refine normal low level potions and make them give almost the same result as mine and at a lesser rate. Darn it!'
Nash was clearly disturbed.
To experience a blow of this magnitude to his business just when he was about moving into a new place in the real world was not what he bargained for at all.
"Even the demand for wolf liver has gone up as well. More and more players are farming wolf kills at the Lycan Hills, even as we speak."
Nash clenched his fist tightly in frustration.
His source of income was heavily damaged now.
Thinking about it briefly, there was no other way to handle this other than to look for alternate sources of income in the game.
He stood up from where he sat beside LadyFlame and looked down at her.
"Forget about the potion, we made our gain even if it was just once. Let's look ahead and find alternatives."
LadyFlame looked right back at him with a concerned expression.
How could he easily brush off such a hit?
"Gather your fire mage friends, we will have to get back into the Fiery Marsh dungeon," Nash said. "Which way it is, we can't remain stagnant."
"Okay," LadyFlame concurred with a slight nod.
Nash looked ahead of him and thought, 'I might as well level up now.'
After a couple of hours, Nash and a few of the fire mages that ended up accompanying him, including LadyFlame, levelled up to 4 after clearing the dungeon.
…
Name : Neon
Race : Human
Class : Assassin
Level : 4
HP : 90/90
MP : 70/70
Strength : 22
Agility : 18
Spirit : 5
Intelligence : 7
Attack Power : 28
Defense Power : 23
Magic Casting : 7
Magic Defense : 6
Fire resistance : 8
Skills : [Strength of Mind] [Thrust] [Stab] [Plunder] [Open Sesame] [Stealth] [Dash]
…
Reaching level 4, Nash did not want to enter the dungeon at this difficulty again.
The other fire mages also had the same thoughts as him but Nash was not ready to scale it up yet.
LadyFlame and the others wanted him to increase the difficulty since the harder the dungeon, the more the rewards… but they also forgot that it also meant a higher chance of dying in the dungeon.
"I think we just raise the difficulty of the dungeon and try again."
"Yes," another supported his counterpart, nodding his head. "I think we should."
"Before that, I suggest we get some healers to join us. Two or three would be enough, I guess."
After much deliberation and sharing of opinions, Nash finally gave in and agreed to do as they wanted but since they were raising the difficulty and he was not a fire mage like them, Nash needed to increase his fire resistance.
At this time, it was still 8 and what he needed to contend with the next difficulty level was 10 fire resistance points.
However, that was not a problem.
Nash simply utilised his Enhancement Wheel for fire resistance, effectively raising it to 11 points after gaining 3 additional points.
Nash easily met the standards.
"Find the healers and get ready," Nash said. "I will be with you all shortly."
After saying that, Nash ran out, sprinting fast to meet up with his daily gift box quest.
******
Nash arrived at the same old location where he usually met the gift boxes, and nothing changed except for the fact that this particular gift box he was looking at was locked.
He was surprised at first but soon remembered that he had gotten a skill that was perfect for this situation and he was instantly relieved.
[Open Sesame]
Nash took a deep breath while weaving his hands in the air like an old witch casting a spell as he said the skill, "Open sesame."
[Targeting gift box]
[Success rate : 30%]
[Completion rate : 0%... 35%... 78%...]
[Failed!]
"Huh?"
Nash felt a large sorrowful blow to his chest in that instant.
How?
The [Open Sesame] skill was specifically built to unlock gift boxes, so what was the problem right now?
"Breathe. Breathe," Nash repeated himself to calm down as he was prepared to try again.
If the skill was not going to work, then there was no point having it.
Nash was conceived that the skill would open the gift box and even if it did not, he would at least gain some understanding on what the skill restrictions were.
"Open sesame!"
[Failed!]
"Open sesame!"
[Failed!]
"Open sesame!"
[Failed!]
…
Nash continued endlessly until he got the eighth try and he laid down to recover from his misery.
"What the actual fuck is going on here?!"
Some minutes later, he went at it again.
"Open sesame!"
The response message was delayed for a few more seconds than it usually would and then…
[Failed!]
…
Nash was going to lose it.
It was on his tenth try that he finally got a ding sound that brought good news.
After his tenth use of the skill, the gift boxes automatically opened, sending a swift, cold breeze that brushed against his face.
"Geez!" he exclaimed, feeling a little numb on his face.
The inside of the box glowed with bluish white light that left Nash's mouth gaping at the sight of what he saw.