Treasure Cave

There were not many haunted places in Amber City. Soren only had to ask around a little to pinpoint the approximate location of the hidden treasure cave. About a kilometer north of the Agate River lay a Potter's Field, where people had repeatedly spotted signs of ghostly activity. This was one of the more obvious signs of a treasure cave; Liches always liked to place such caves closer to death.

"Ghosts?"

"Then we might need some Holy Water."

To ensure Vivian's safety, Soren was confident he could explore the treasure cave, but he did not know how long it would take. So, he planned to send her to the Temple of Morninglord and have Priestess Anyali look after her. She was the young female cleric who had helped Soren before, though she always treated him coldly. Vivian should be fine in her care. Of course, the Temple of Morninglord would not take in a little girl for no reason, so Soren had already prepared a donation for the temple.

Temple of Morninglord.

Soren bowed slightly to Priest Fayle, who presided over the temple. When the priest took the money pouch Soren offered and heard the crisp, pleasant clinking of Silver Dalers inside, his face immediately broke into a warm smile. "No problem!"

"The Lord of Morning protects all believers who have faith in him. This little girl may stay in the temple for a while." "Let her follow Acolyte Anyali."

This was a world that could not function without money.

Even clerics with great power were no exception. They needed to expand the faith of the Gods they served and recruit believers among the lower-class poor. All of that required money. Maintaining a temple required money, giving alms to believers required money, and holding sacred rituals required even more money. By now, even most temple clerics openly sold Divine Magic to heal illnesses, cure diseases, and restore injuries in exchange for enough wealth to maintain their temples and spread their faith. Taking in a little girl for a few days and selling a few gallons of Holy Water was hardly a problem.

The Temple of Morninglord was not particularly powerful. In Amber City, it ranked below the second tier.

That was why the nobility always had better options when making offerings, making Soren's donation quite valuable.

There were sixty Silver Dalers in total.

That was equivalent to the offerings the Temple of Morninglord had received over the past half month. It was enough for Priest Fayle to replace one or two of the tools used in sacred rituals with silverware.

After all, these were silver coins minted by followers of the Goddess of Wealth. Twenty of them weighed a full pound!

"Thank you, Priest Fayle."

Soren thanked him politely, then smiled at Priestess Anyali beside him. "Vivian will be in your care for the next few days." "Hmph."

The young female cleric gave a soft snort but did not refuse. Though she still disliked Soren, she had taken an immediate liking to the little girl beside him. Anyali naturally knew that Soren's money had not come from clean sources. It had either been stolen or gained through conflicts with gangs in the Slums. But Priest Fayle had been preparing for the sacred ritual to promote her to a formal cleric for a long time. Now that Soren was willing to donate such a sum, of course they would use it to prepare the sacred ritual that would grant her Divine Magic.

With two formal clerics, the Temple of Morninglord should soon rise into the upper ranks of Amber City's second-rate temples!

"Vivian, stay with Sister Anyali for now."

Soren reached out and gently stroked the little girl's head, comforting her. "I'll come pick you up in a couple of days!"

He had already explained it to her before coming here.

Vivian had no objection to Soren's arrangement. She merely nodded obediently. "Mm."

"Don't worry about me."

"Vivian will be good. I definitely won't run around."

Soren bent down and kissed her forehead lightly, then took the Holy Water and headed outside the Temple of Morninglord.

Since the Skinning Incident had already happened, he needed to pick up the pace.

Before the Gods were forced to walk the world as Avatars, temples should have been among the safest places in Amber City. They were shrouded in Divine Power gathered by faith and guarded by temple defenders. Few Evil forces dared enter them lightly. Even a second-rate temple like the Temple of Morninglord had six powerful Temple Guards besides one formal cleric.

Their strength was basically Tier 2 or above!

One of the Temple Guards even possessed Tier 3 strength. Conservatively speaking, he had a class template of Level 10 Knight Squire/Level 10 Knight/Level 5 Temple Guardian, or Level 10 Knight Squire/Level 10 Warrior/Level 5 Temple Guardian.

The first class level represented one's basic profession before changing classes.

For example, most native Wizards had ten levels in Scholar. That was because they needed to learn to read and possess a certain foundation of knowledge before studying Spells. Similarly, many Advanced Warriors had ten levels of Militia as a prefix, representing the militia training they had received before becoming formal Warriors.

As for Soren's Level 10 Commoner, it represented the lowest-tier prerequisite profession.

It did not grant the weapon proficiency of Militia, nor the knowledge bonuses of Scholar. Its only advantage was that it provided twenty-five Skill Points and allowed one to advance into any profession.

Provided one's natural attributes were sufficient!

Prerequisite basic professions generally did not add many attribute points, though there were still differences depending on their focus. For instance, the best prerequisite for melee classes was Level 10 Knight Squire, which granted an additional Skill Point for a weapon Feat. But that applied to the class templates possessed by Players. When such a template was applied to natives, it meant Soren had been born a Commoner and received a Commoner's education from childhood. The growth of his attributes during his early years depended entirely on fate. Whether he became a genius or a mediocrity was hard to predict, at least until he advanced into a Rogue.

That Tier 3 Temple Knight, on the other hand, had received Knight Squire training and education from childhood. He had combat training at a young age and proficiency with most weapons, so some of his attributes were naturally much higher than a Commoner's—Strength, Constitution, and so on. This continued until he became a Warrior or Knight and began improving his strength as a professional.

Therefore, in the past, Players judged a native's basic attributes by looking at their prerequisite profession.

Commoner professions were average overall. Militia professions were somewhat stronger. Knight Squires had higher overall attributes, while Scholars possessed an innate advantage in knowledge.

To sum it up.

A Temple Guard of the same Tier 2 was much harder to deal with than some self-taught Warrior.

A self-taught Warrior might have lower attributes and only know Basic Swordsmanship, while a Temple Guard would possess somewhat higher attributes and master more than three advanced abilities.

Soren still remembered the power of mastered Cross Swordsmanship vividly!

Potter's Field.

By the time Soren arrived, it was already afternoon. It took him half a day to find the entrance to the cave.

It was a simple concealment mechanism, more like a trap.

When a rock near the Potter's Field was shifted ten centimeters, a pitch-black opening appeared on a nearby slope. Once Soren entered, the rock immediately returned to its original position, and the entrance vanished without a trace. As expected of a Lich's handiwork. Even to Soren, once a Legendary Rogue, some of the arrangements were remarkably ingenious.

Darkness.

Broken torches lined both sides of the cave. An ordinary person would probably be unable to walk inside without lighting a torch, but Soren, as a Half-Elf with one-eighth Elf blood, possessed a degree of night vision. Thus, he could roughly see everything inside the cave without lighting a torch. That was the key to why he dared explore the treasure cave alone.

Stealth + night vision = silent movement.

Not needing a source of light meant he would not alert the monsters inside the cave.

His safety increased by a great deal!

Soren's figure gradually blended into the darkness. Since awakening the Class Feat of Shadow Mastery, he could sense the existence of shadow power. It was different from anything he had felt before. In the darkness, his figure grew increasingly hazy, as though he had vanished into the shadows. Only when he moved could one faintly detect subtle changes within them.

His breathing, heartbeat, and scent were all concealed by the shadows!

"Creak."

Footsteps sounded ahead. Soren quietly drew his Dagger and hid in a corner of the cave, waiting.

The treasure cave covered a considerable area.

After all, a Lich could not simply dig a hole underground and call it a day. There were many Underground Tunnels here, along with quite a few guarding monsters and traps that the Lich had set up long ago.

A Skeleton appeared before Soren.

There was no Soul Fire burning in its eyes, indicating that it was merely the lowest-grade reanimated Skeleton. Perhaps because of the dense death energy here, it unconsciously guarded this place. Such Skeletons were relatively easy to deal with; ordinary professionals could handle one or two. But casually taking down a large group was impossible, because their strength was roughly equal to that of properly trained Militia, and they had no obvious fatal weaknesses. After all, Skeletons were also a type of Supernatural creature.

Even if it was the lowest-grade Undead creature.

Soren's figure quietly approached. The unconsciously wandering Skeleton noticed nothing. It held a rusty iron sword, seemingly left behind by an Adventurer who had died while exploring this place. There were no fewer native Adventurers in the storyline than Players. Some even cooperated with Players, while many Evil Alignment natives ambushed and killed Players from behind. Anyone who underestimated the world of War of Gods would pay the price.

A flash of cold light burst through the darkness!

Soren emerged from the shadows and instantly drove his Dagger toward the Skeleton's spine.

"Shadow Hide successful!"

"Backstab activated!"

"Backstab *2 activated successfully, dealing 18 damage to the target!"

"Target severely injured!"

This was the first time Soren had successfully landed a Backstab without instantly killing his enemy.

But he was not surprised. The Dagger in his hand was ordinary, neither enchanted nor possessing Supernatural traits. It was difficult to kill Undead creatures in a single strike, since Undead also gained the extra bonuses of Supernatural creatures. Though the Skeleton's challenge rating was only Level 1, it had over 30 Hit Points. Without flesh, it was actually tougher than an ordinary person.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The Skeleton's Combat Instinct remained. Its first response after being attacked was to slash down with its sword, producing a sharp whistle through the air. Soren used his Dagger to block the attack, and his body sank slightly under the force.

"Its Strength is above 16."

Soren dodged the second attack, flexed his slightly numb arm, and thought, It must have been an Advanced Warrior before death. Otherwise, it couldn't still have such high Strength after becoming Undead.

Ten Strength was the standard for an ordinary person.

Twelve Strength was equivalent to the laborers in the Dock District who worked every day.

Fourteen Strength was considered quite strong among ordinary people.

Sixteen Strength was roughly equal to a weightlifter from Soren's past life.

Eighteen Strength was rather exaggerated. People like that could wield a weapon weighing over a hundred pounds with one hand, hacking at others without even getting winded.

Those who could reach sixteen Strength or higher were generally melee professionals who had undergone specialized training.

Attribute points were the hardest things to improve. Two class levels were needed to gain one Free Attribute Point. Even after reaching Level 20 and entering the Legendary Domain, one would only have ten Free Attribute Points. This was where Soren's weakness lay. His Strength was only twelve. Because of his childhood experiences, he had never deliberately trained his strength, nor did he possess some bloodline blessed with divine might. His strength was therefore only about equal to that of a Dock District laborer carrying crates.

As for twenty points of Supernatural Strength, there was a simple example.

Hill Giant.

A huge creature around five meters tall, weighing nearly half a ton, that normally used a Morningstar as thick as an adult's waist as a weapon!

That was right.

That creature was the standard for twenty points of Supernatural Strength!

Unless they were born with divine strength, many Warriors might advance all the way to Tier 2 without necessarily possessing more than twenty points of Supernatural Strength.

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