Equipment

When Aster woke again, it was already evening.

He returned to Angelo's residence, took a bath, changed clothes, and left with his luggage.

The reason he had occupied Angelo's home instead of staying at an inn was simply because he worried Lanevus might be monitoring the inns. As an outsider, staying there could easily alert the enemy. Of course, saving money had also been a factor.

Now that Lanevus was dead and his objective had been achieved, the only reason Aster remained in Kuman City was to recover the dagger Rawlins had dropped after his death.

This time, Aster unusually made no disguise at all. He carried a large suitcase through the streets, releasing a small number of spirits to scout the surrounding area as he walked.

After communicating with several wild spirits near the Red Moon Bar, Aster had already located his target.

Pulling his top hat down onto his head, Aster calmly knocked on the door of the townhouse.

"Knock, knock."

After the first knock, he could hear footsteps inside, but no one came to open the door. He knocked a second time, and still no one answered.

With a wave of his hand, he had several spirits surround the house's other exits. Then Aster raised his leg and kicked the front door hard.

With a loud bang, the door and its chain were kicked open. Aster entered expressionlessly, stared at the sweating woman not far away, and held out his hand. "Where's the dagger? Hand it over."

"If I hand it over, will you let me go?" The woman had long light-red hair and a high nose bridge. Her back pressed against the wall, as though she wanted to escape through the window, but she seemed to sense the cold presence nearby and did not dare act rashly.

"Where did you put it?" Aster's expression remained unpleasant. He had never liked the woman who had taken his spoils, and the only reason he had not killed her outright was that he did not want to make a scene. "Tell me where it is. I'll leave as soon as I get it."

"...Upstairs. In the desk drawer in the first room on the left." After several seconds of silence, the woman seemed to realize she had no room to bargain and readily revealed the dagger's location.

Without lifting the Lockdown around the house or taking more aggressive action, Aster sent a spirit upstairs to investigate. Only after confirming that there was indeed a dagger carrying an aura of defilement did he shift slightly aside. "You can go."

"..." The woman fell silent. She cast Aster a wary glance, but rather than leave through the door, she cautiously pushed open the window beside her. Once she sensed the cold presence outside had vanished, she nimbly climbed out and disappeared into the alley.

Aster did not pursue the woman. He slowly climbed the stairs and found the dagger sealed in an iron box inside the room.

He could not even be bothered to ask the red-haired woman why she had taken the dagger and hidden here, because the spirits near the Red Moon Bar had already told him most of what had happened.

More than ten minutes after Rachel left the Red Moon Bar yesterday, Steam Heart raided the place and detained most of those who had attended the Beyonder gathering, including several of Rawlins's subordinates.

The red-haired woman had also been one of Rawlins's subordinates, but she had vaguely sensed his intentions. Thus, she had not followed his orders to join the ambush against the silver-eyed man in the basement. Instead, she hid in advance. Once the gathering began, she sneaked into Rawlins's room, stole the suitcase there and the obviously valuable dagger on the desk, then concealed herself in her safehouse, hoping to evade the official Beyonders' investigation for a while.

"Not very smart..." The exceptionally clever Aster stroked his chin and gave his assessment.

He lit a candle and used the Wall of Spirituality to seal the black dagger before quickly leaving.

About two hours later, police officers hurried over after receiving reports from local residents. After a brief search, they determined that no crime had occurred and leisurely withdrew.

Early the next morning, Aster boarded a steam train back to Tingen. This time, he used the identity of "Claude Chapman."

Looking at the scenery outside the train, Aster reached into his pocket with his left hand and touched his newly acquired dagger. The buttons at his cuffs were as clear as mirrors, glimmering faintly with silver light.

Last night, Aster had stayed up very late to test the skills and negative effects attached to these two pieces of equipment.

The equipment Lanevus dropped was far worse than what he had dropped in the game, though that made sense. In the game, Lanevus had been a divine descent vessel completely corrupted by the True Creator, already at the Demigod level. Whether the equipment was useful or not, its tier had at least been high. The Lanevus Aster had killed, meanwhile, had barely suffered any corruption from the True Creator.

After all, that corruption was inside his own body now... At the thought of working for the True Creator for nothing, Aster gritted his teeth in hatred.

This button was so terrible that Aster could not even be bothered to name it.

[Name]: Beyonder Characteristic - Swindler (Unnamed)

[Level]: 20

[Skills]:

Falsehood: For every three truths you speak, the credibility of the next lie you tell increases by 50%.

Kind Face: When negotiating with NPCs, favorability gain efficiency +50%.

Nimble Hands: Finger dexterity increases by 100%. The wearer is treated as possessing [Thievery Mastery - Lv. 2].

Ignorance: While worn, you cannot identify lies told by others.

Whisper: When a lie you tell is exposed, you will suffer thirty seconds of ravings from the True Creator.

[Remarks]: You can't see through other people's lies with your intelligence anyway, so you might as well keep it.

Ignoring the mockery in the remarks, Aster decided that once he returned to Tingen City, he would find a Beyonder of the Artisan Pathway to smelt this equipment down and remake it.

Equipment with such powerful negative effects was called junk gear or white gear by players. Generally, no one would use it. Its only purpose was to be recycled by Artisans.

Aster had pursued Lanevus not only to get this lunatic into the ground sooner, but also because he wanted the equipment Lanevus would drop. But now, the equipment's core component—the True Creator's corruption—had entered his body. After all that effort, he had only gotten a piece of junk gear. Aster had suffered a massive loss.

Fortunately, there was still the dagger Rawlins had dropped. Otherwise, he really would have lost everything... For a moment, Aster actually felt somewhat fortunate.

[Name]: Soul Stealer

[Level]: 30

[Skills]:

Frenzied Feast: Each time you kill a humanoid creature, the dagger's sharpness permanently increases by 1%.

Broken Wing: Each time damage is dealt, inflicts a 20% slow on the target for 5s. Can stack.

Defilement: While carried, there is a chance of attracting the attention of high-ranking Devils.

Frenzy: While in use, you will descend into madness, which deepens over time. If use stops within 10 minutes, the madness will gradually fade.

[Remarks]: A murder book—no, a murder dagger.

It was a fairly standard weapon, but not very suitable for my fighting style... Compared with Assassins and Spirit Mediums, it was actually more suitable for classes with fast attack speeds but somewhat lacking strength, such as Marauders, Clowns, and Melee Scholars... At the thought of Marauders, Aster became somewhat irritated.

Lanevus had not even carried a single charm, much less any related Beyonder items... Other than his Beyonder Characteristic, Aster's only additional gain had been the small amount of gold pounds he found in the carriage.

Hmph, poor bastard... But Lanevus should still have a substantial bank deposit... Unfortunately, I don't even know his bank account, and I can't channel his spirit to obtain the relevant information. Sigh, what a loss... Aster irritably shook his head and began considering advancement.

Aster had not yet reached the level cap of level thirty, but he believed it was necessary to prepare early. From now on, he needed to start gathering the materials required for the Spirit Guide Potion.

He did not want to reach max level only to be bottlenecked by materials.

Moreover, only by reaching level forty would he have some confidence in attempting the task the True Creator had given him.

At the thought of 1-27, Aster immediately perked up.

It was a special piece of equipment made obtainable in version 4.0. It did not occupy an equipment slot and bound to its owner once picked up.

In Aster's memory, 1-27 was also the only Sealed Artifact he could control and use to its full potential without being a Demigod.

As a Demigod-level Sealed Artifact, it undoubtedly possessed immense power and extremely demanding usage requirements. But harsh conditions were not much of a problem for players skilled at exploiting loopholes.

Back in the game, 1-27 had been one of Aster's main pieces of equipment and accompanied him for a long time. It was not phased out for failing to keep up with the broader environment until version 6.0.

Even without this task from the True Creator, Aster would eventually have tried to get his hands on 1-27. This unexpected development had merely moved his plans forward a little...

After consoling himself, Aster's mood finally improved somewhat.

The steam train was not slow, and Aster soon arrived in Tingen. Looking at the dense crowd in the station, he quickly walked out, his expression showing a rare hint of worry.

I wonder whether the Mandated Punishers dealt with Megose... Hopefully their battle didn't affect those important NPCs...

After getting into a hired carriage, Aster kept looking around. Only after confirming that Tingen City's main churches were all still standing did he finally relax.

The first person Aster wanted to find upon arriving in Tingen was still Swain. The information that Megose carried the offspring of an evil god had been passed by him to Swain, who had then handed it over to the Mandated Punishers.

Now that he was back in Tingen, although Aster felt Megose most likely had not caused any major trouble, he still needed to ask in person before he could rest easy.