Demon King
Chapter 31: Shadow of Blood (1)

Shadow of Blood (1)

“You are here, Fate.”

Rain greeted me by wiping the glass with a dry cloth. It was a difficult greeting to get used to, but I sat down and replied,

“I’ve been gone for two days. It is a pity that I missed Today’s Luck.”

“Ah.”

I missed my chance to visit the dedicated store because I stayed in 2F too long, only to get a useless spider web skill.

It was truly regrettable, but I shake off my thoughts and said,

“Show me the strongest weapon I can buy with the money I currently have.”

“A weapon? Yeah, it’s probably a good time to change weapons.”

Colossal Blood Sword continues to grow. What’s more, it is a very good weapon that recovers durability when soaked in blood.

However, its growth is too slow. It can’t catch up with my growth at all. How long should an adult animal fight its prey with baby teeth?

I may get fooled by my weapon’s effectiveness and die. Before that happened, the wise choice is to get a better one.

“But, Fate, the money you have can’t buy you a better weapon than the Blood Sword.”

The moment I heard that my heart dropped.

I wanted a new sword that could cut through a monster with a single swing. Given the amount of money I’ve collected so far, it was shocking that I could not purchase a better weapon than the one I’ve been using since I was a Hop Goblin.

“But if you’re interested, there is another way.”

“Dammit, Rain.”

This man could drop a person to the floor using just his words and timing. He was a man with a hobby I didn’t like.

“Perhaps, I have something that might interest you.”

“It’s not a weapon, is it?”

“Of course not.”

“I should have known from the way you mentioned it.”

“Hah, it’s even better.”

I let out a sigh while watching the Rain smirk, and, and felt a little relief that I was not going back to fighting monsters with my old blade.

“Go on then. Tell me this ‘something’ that you have.”

“Easy there, Tiger. I’ll do you one better. I’ll show it to you myself.”

He smiled small and opened a translucent window in front of me. There was only one item in it.

[Weapon Synthesis Scroll (1/1). Rare. Requires a main weapon, a sacrifice weapon, and materials to create a more potent new weapon. If enough materials are gathered, it can be activated immediately. 30 gold.]

I smiled as if I understood what it was. Rain asked,

“Do you like it?”

“I like it very much. Shit.”

I pouted my lips as I replied. Rain once again laughed and added,

“Cheaper Magic-grade synthesis scrolls can be found or even bought, but of course, the quality of the finished weapon will be lower in that case.”

“If there are such things, you should have let me known a little earlier.”

“Oh, I always reveal the right things at the right time to you, Fate.”

It was annoying, but Rain was right. Rare-grade weapon synthesis scrolls cost 30 gold.

And I can afford it. If I chose a lower grade Magic synthesis scrolls, there would have been regrets —a lot of regrets.

Now, I had some ideas about what the synthetic scroll needed for the sacrifice weapons and materials.

“What do you want to do? Would you like to buy?”

I nodded. Rain laughed and took 30 gold from me, and the scroll entered my inventory and immediately began to glow. It is now possible to synthesize weapons.

I immediately picked up the scroll, and a reminder popped up.

[Choose your main weapon, sacrifice weapon, and materials. Up to three items can be selected for the material.]

[List of Synthesizable Weapons]

[Erma’s Carnelian Staff]

[Colossal Blood Sword]

[Tough Steel Sword]

[Sharp Iron sword]

[List of Synthesizable Materials Available]

[Pelcadia’s Gem (Red)]

[10 Battle Spider Carapace]

[10 Werewolf Mane Hair]

[100 pieces of tattered cloth]

I let out a small sigh.

A tattered piece of cloth. This is a rare item obtained after killing a Goblin. Have you ever looked at an item and thought you could equip it, but you couldn’t?

The cloth stacks in one inventory space. After all the Goblins I defeated through 1F, I only had 100 pieces of tattered cloth from them.

It was the same thing with the Battle Spiders and Werewolves in 2F. Carapace and Mane Hair. Although they were several of them, they only occupied one slot each in my inventory.

Rain offered me 1 bronze per piece for these items, but when he did, I realized that I would be better not selling them off.

These items looked useless, but Rain has never bought an item from me before.

I had knives, armors – he never offered to buy them.

Obviously, Rain’s intention to purchase these seemingly useless items meant that they were of importance.

Now, I learned what their purpose is. They are ingredients to synthesize weapons.

It was also surprising that the Pelcadia’s Gem obtained from the Goblin King is on the list of synthesizable ingredients.

The gem is obviously a very special item. I didn’t need an emotion scroll to know that. Clearly, higher-grade ingredients could produce a higher-quality weapon.

However, it is not advisable to use an unidentified gem.

However, one surprising thing is that the Pelcadia’s Gem obtained by killing the Goblin King is on the list of ingredients.

You don’t even need to appraise it. This gem is a very special item. Not surprisingly, the higher the quality of the material, the higher the quality of the weapon.

However, it is not advisable to use unidentified gems. Anyway, I still have 6 gold and 70 silver left, so I had no problems appraising the gem, and decide whether to use it as an ingredient.

“I want to buy an emotion scroll, Rain.”

“What grade of emotion scroll would you like to buy?”

At this point, I caught my breath. After grasping what his words meant, I grinned and asked him.

“Do emotion scrolls also have ratings?”

Rain laughed.

“Of course. The emotion scroll can only read the emotions of items with the same rarity. Rare-grade emotion scrolls can be purchased for 55 silver, while unique-grade emotion scrolls cost 55 gold. Grades beyond that, including Epic, Legends, Ancients, etc., cost 100 gold more than the previous grade.”

Damn!

Moreover, it seems like what Rain is saying is that the scroll I need may not be even in the rare or unique grade… I couldn’t afford even a unique-grade scroll.

“If I go back to the first floor and fight the Goblin King once again, can I still get another Pelcadia’s Gem?”

Rain answered with his eyes. It wouldn’t happen.

There is no way I could get another item whose value exceeds the gem if I do the same quest.

So, is it wise to use the gem as a synthesis ingredient now?

Or will I end up with a poorly crafted weapon, with no more gems for future use?

“You’re troubled, Fate.”

“You made me worry, Rain.”

“The topic is such, but can I just say one thing? It’s something I heard from an acquaintance.”

“I’ll listen.”

Rain took a short breath and said,

“For a more delicious meal, patience is also necessary.”

After hearing that, I quickly decided. What Rain said made it black and white.

My main weapon is going to be the Colossal Blood Sword, and the sacrifice weapon will be the Erma’s Carnelian Staff.

Ingredients will be 10 Battle Spider Carapace, 10 Werewolf Mane Hair, and 100 tattered cloth pieces.

With his words, Rain made it clear that it would be a waste to use Pelcadia’s Gem now. If so, I’ll save it.

I’ve also considered not changing anything, but synthesizing will definitely produce a stronger weapon than the Colossal Blood Sword, and it would help me survive much longer.

I tore the scroll while laughing a little.

It was not because I was throwing away a precious object that cost me 30 gold.

It was because the way to trigger scrolls is to tear them.

The scroll activated instantly. A small, black hole-like vortex appeared in the air, devouring all the weapons and materials I’ve selected.

It didn’t take long. Soon, a slightly thicker and longer sword handle emerged. I grabbed it without hesitation and pulled it out.

A sword made of red metal, with a long blade of about 1 meter, came out. I smelled a thick bloody scent from it.

The overall shape was similar to the Colossal Blood Sword, but it became thicker, longer, and heavier.

When I became a Hop Goblin Assaulter, I also grew incredibly larger and stronger, so it won’t be difficult to swing a weapon like this.

I turned to Rain, and his reaction was unexpected. He’s a man who seemed to know everything, but when he saw the red sword, he had a pretty surprised expression.

“Oh, I was a little surprised. It seems that the sacrifice weapon was a good one. Synthesized weapons do not need emotion scrolls, so you should check it out right away.”

I immediately stared at the sword, and soon an alert appeared in front of my eyes.

[Blood Shadow (480/480)

[Attack Power 280.]

[Rarity – Unique.]

[A weapon that grows as it absorbs blood. Increased chance of critical bleed damage. Can be used with Blood skill.]

[You acquired the Beginner Blood Skill Lv.5]

[Beginner Blood Lv5]

[Blood absorbed by the Blood Shadow can be transformed into flame shooting off the blade. If you have Flame Magic skill, it is possible to create a stronger flame. Consumes mana.]

[Blood flame inflicts fatal wounds internally rather than externally. The skill grows with the sword. Using the Blood skill slows the growth of the sword, as the blood absorbed is being used to attack.]

I choked up with emotion.

Oh, my God.

I choked up with emotion. I never expected this. My assumption was that the attack stat would increase up to 200, but this!

The attack power was raised to 280! It also retained the traits that made Colossal Blood Sword strong, as well as having new traits!

I was thrilled. It was truly a Unique-grade weapon. This gives me almost double attacking power.

Rain took out a new glass and started to clean it, calmly speaking as he did so.

“I wasn’t expecting that a Unique-grade weapon could be created by a Rare-grade synthesis scroll.”

“Am I lucky?”

“Of course, you are. But it could mean that the weapon you sacrificed was a Unique weapon, hence this result.”

When I heard him, I suddenly felt dejected.

If the 1F boss room gave me a sword instead of a staff, I wouldn’t have spent 30 gold to buy a synthetic scroll.

However, there’s nothing I can do about it now.

Anyway, I have succeeded in getting a Unique-grade weapon, and if I still couldn’t overcome the mass appearance using this, I deserve to be dead.

Rain gave me Today’s Luck. I stared thoughtfully at the alcohol, before drinking it up.

It gave me 30% additional experience for 5 hours.

“I better get going then, Rain.”

“You still have 6 gold and 70 silver. Before the important battle, why don’t you eat what you normally want to?”

I immediately understood what ‘food’ Rain meant.

Surely, that was what I always wanted to eat. I could also afford it.

However, I simply laughed at his suggestion and replied without hesitation.

“For a more delicious meal, patience is necessary.”

“Oh, you’re a quick learner.”

I laughed once more as I approached the door of the dedicated store.

Only

However, Rain said something that stopped me.

“Well, since you saved your money, fortunately, you have enough to purchase today’s special offer.”

“Damn you, Rain! I was almost outside!”

“Hoo hoo. Didn’t I tell you? I introduce the right things at the right time.”

I hurried back, impressed.

Rain confirmed that he had a 6 gold 60 silver special offer.

I bought it without hesitation, and he immediately prepared it.

Then, I jumped straight into the battlefield.