Arcane Card

Soren's figure gently descended from the balcony.

He quickly cast an Invisibility on himself and headed out of the noble district. His haul from that last operation was considerable; he'd found over a hundred Gold Daler in the hidden compartment alone. Adding the jewelry and rings, the miscellaneous items would likely fetch around three hundred Gold Daler. This, of course, didn't include the value of the Energy Ring; otherwise, that ring alone would probably be worth around two thousand Gold Daler. As for the contents of the safe, he'd have to wait until he got back and opened it to find out.

As for those two unlucky fellows, Soren didn't care much at all, because he was leaving White Horse City the next day.

Judging by the timeline, it should be about time. The spread of the Skinning Incident should also reach White Horse City. This incident affects the entire southern region, meaning that most cities have experienced Skinning Incident. The main purpose is to spread fear, allowing the aura of fear to permeate and strengthen the power of a certain Abyssal Demon Lord. As for the specifics, Soren is not very clear, as he had not yet been able to access such high-level missions at that time.

The Invisibility is very effective.

Soren swaggered out of the noble district, but as he passed through an alley, he suddenly spotted a furtive, indistinct figure. Soren abruptly stopped, hiding behind a wooden crate to observe. The figure was extremely blurry; without night vision, it was impossible to make out clearly. He cautiously surveyed his surroundings, then opened the cover of the White Horse City sewer and quickly slipped inside. Soren didn't follow; that would be too dangerous. He had survived to the Legendary Domain precisely because he wasn't overly curious and didn't want to investigate everything.

He retreated from the alleyway and then hurried towards his home.

Numerous Strife arose before the arrival of this Time of Troubles, with the most active groups being the Godsbane, the Shadow Mask, the Druid Order, and a mysterious ' God Eater ' organization. Many of these individuals are Legendary. If one were to encounter them by chance, a mere flick of the finger would be enough to kill them, and Soren certainly didn't want to see them now.

Back at his lodgings, Soren took out the safe and then used his tools to Lockpicking.

After much effort, he still couldn't succeed. He could only resort to a more forceful method, smashing the lock through the crack. Fortunately, it wasn't a Magic lock; even the most intricate ordinary locks can be broken by brute force. Upon opening the box, Soren couldn't help but show a hint of disappointment, because inside was Property Deed. Such documents could be replaced through the City Hall and were worthless. However, when he flipped through the deed file, what he saw made him hold his breath. It wasn't the Deck of Many Things that Soren had previously acquired, but a higher-level Arcane Card.

"This!?"

Soren's expression suddenly turned to one of utter disappointment. When he flipped the card over, he discovered an image had appeared on its front, indicating that it had been used before. Its magic had vanished. The image on the card depicted a mechanical arm, somewhat resembling the arm of Steel Golem, with hexagram Rune on all four sides and a mysterious black vortex behind it. The card appeared to have been in use for a long time, as there were some minor scratches on it, marks that didn't seem recent.

"Golem's arm?"

Soren picked up the Arcane Card and examined it closely. He muttered, "Is it one of the cards in a deck? That woman has no fighting ability whatsoever, how could she possibly have something like this?"

Arcane Card very mysterious.

Soren knew more about the Deck of Many Things, but his knowledge of Arcane Card was quite limited.

It's simply known that Arcane Card can be combined to allow the user to summon powerful creatures or temporarily possess some kind of extremely powerful force.

For example, three different Air Elemental cards can summon a Legendary Tier Air Elemental Elder!

This was the only Arcane Card they had collected at the time, and it shone brightly for a period of time. Even Soren was very interested in it and wanted to assassinate that guy.

A row of documents suddenly appeared in front of him:

"Acquired Magical Energy Armor *!... Would you like to repair it?!..."

Magical Energy Armor!?

Soren paused in surprise for a moment, then tried to say, "Perform repairs."

A row of documents reappeared:

"Repairing the Magical Energy Armor * arm requires 8 points of Soul Energy!... Insufficient Slaughter Experience! Unable to repair!..."

80,000 Slaughter Experience?

Are you kidding me? That much Slaughter Experience is enough to raise my class level to tier three or higher!

Soren stared speechlessly at the Arcane Card in his hand, carefully examining the scratches on it. They looked like sword marks. The card was incredibly hard; leaving a mark on it required considerable effort. He'd heard of the Magical Energy Armor, a product of the Arcane Empire era. It was standard equipment in Floating City, a top-tier product of the Golem realm. Golem were quite common in this world, standard equipment in Wizard Tower; if you went to the Wizard City, you could even see Golem Patrol Guard.

Golem, from Clay Golem, Stone Golem, Iron Golem all the way to Steel Golem, are all quite powerful, but they also have their limits. Even the current top-tier Adamantite Golem is only around the fourth tier in terms of combat strength. The only Golem structure researched during the Arcane Empire era that reached the Legendary Domain is the Magical Energy Armor before us, or more accurately, the Magical Energy Powered Exoskeleton. Some of these can be found in underwater ruins, and they nearly wiped out the Legendary team that Soren had joined.

What's the use of having only one arm?

Soren put down the card with considerable disappointment and continued rummaging through the safe. Inside were some jewels, which offered some consolation. He tossed the Arcane Card into his Bag of Holding; it was useless to him in the short term. Soren couldn't possibly expend so much Slaughter Experience to repair it, and besides, what use was repairing an arm?

Are you expecting an arm to come out and fight for him?

A complete Arcane Card should at least include a head, limbs, and a power unit; even the strongest Magical Energy Armor wouldn't be worth wasting his precious Slaughter Experience on.

The sky was already beginning to lighten.

Soren was in good spirits, fiddling with the Energy Ring on his hand and observing its attributes. This was one of the most common extraordinary items, and it came with a matching Protection Ring. The Energy Ring could emit a ray, while the Protection Ring could create a protective force field with a strength of 1 point. It was considered the best life-saving equipment that could be obtained in the early stages of the game.

Item type: Energy Ring +1.

Item level:

Item Description: A ring crafted using Alchemy Craft enchantment. When activated, it emits a beam of energy with 36 Spell power. It can be recharged using Alchemy after use.

Equipment requirements: None.

Equipment effect: Energy Ray.

Charging this ring is very simple: set up an Alchemy Magic Circle and use equivalent Alchemy to consume a gem and convert it into energy. Soren previously wore a +3 Energy Ring and a +3 Protection Ring, which were his second-highest Legendary Tier. The Protection Ring, in particular, saved his life several times.

After daybreak.

Soren walked nonchalantly toward the caravan's encampment. He hadn't left any trace of his heist last night. The two men had barely even seen his face, so he wasn't worried about being discovered. However, the Guard in White Horse City seemed much tighter than yesterday. He wondered if they had notified the Guard Force. Being robbed during a midnight rendezvous probably wasn't exactly a respectable thing.

When Soren arrived at the caravan's encampment, he was surprised to find that it was also heavily guarded.

Before he could even Soren, the caravan's mistress said sternly as he entered the room, "Someone was skinned alive last night!"

What!?

Soren's expression changed slightly, and he said almost without hesitation, "Where is Vivian? I need to take her away from here!"

The caravan's mistress gazed intently at him and slowly said, "So you really do know something? No wonder you left White Horse City with me that day! Did you already know what disaster would befall White Horse City?"

The Skinning Incident.

The most impactful chain event in the southern region.

Soren paused for a moment, then slowly said, "I don't know much either, only that this is Sacrificial Ritual of some Evil God. It may affect many places; those Fallen will bring much Slaughter and Death, and fear will spread everywhere."

"As expected!" The caravan's mistress revealed a hint of understanding, and said in a deep voice, "So that's why you're taking Vivian away? To the Elf territory? That's the domain of the Forest Goddess. It's difficult for Fallen to infiltrate there?"

Soren didn't know how to answer, so he could only nod slightly.

He couldn't speak of the coming Time of Troubles, so using the Skinning Incident as an answer was acceptable. After all, this was just the beginning.

The caravan's mistress hesitated for a moment, then produced a Dossier out of thin air and handed it to Soren, saying earnestly, "How much do you really know? This is a message from the Witches' Council. A mass suicide occurred in the Chanting City! After watching a Bard's performance, hundreds of people committed suicide that very night, including even high-ranking clergy."

"Is this related to the Skinning Incident?"

Hell Poet!?

Soren took the Dossier with a serious expression, glanced at it, and said slowly, "It shouldn't be related. That Bard might be one of the legendary figures. I wonder if you've heard of him?"

The caravan's mistress shuddered, muttering, "The Hell Poet!?... Didn't he perish hundreds of years ago?...?"

Soren glanced at her. Finally, he decided to reveal what he knew, saying in a deep voice, "Only his flesh died. At the moment of his death, he made a deal with the Devil of Hell."

The Hell Poet.

One of only three Legendary Tier Bard in the world!

...)