Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
Outside the Sea Temple.
Soran’s figure came out of the darkness with his palm holding an additional emblem. It was the one which that Naga Siren had given him before he left. It was an extraordinary item with a special usage, and it was also an item that could order the pirates under the control of the temple to assist the user. It was a hidden special emblem that had no unique features relating to the Sea Temple. It was just carved with a rune that looked like a jellyfish. Before he left, Naga leaned over and kissed Soran on the forehead, and whispered something in an oceanic language at the same time.
This was a blessing ceremony.
It was not the same type of blessing as the one by the Maid of Misfortune, but a weaker version of blessings that were done offhand.
It was said that those who received a kiss on the forehead by the Priests of the Sea Goddess would not get attacked by fierce and powerful sea monsters even if they met one.
Such blessings had no attribute bonuses unless they were officially blessed by the Queen of the Depths.
Only that kind of God’s blessing was considered true protection. One would not encounter storms and huge waves when they traveled on the seas. Even if they did, it wasn’t a problem. The sea would pick up their boats and would protect them and their servants. Sea monsters would stay away and would ignore them. They would never take the initiative to attack them. Even to a certain extent, after some conditions have been met, they could use the name of the Queen of the Depths to command the sea monsters. Currently, one of the three pirate kings in the Soros Islands can command sea monsters.
If the Naga Siren did not kiss Soran and he jumped into the pond outside, he would be immediately attacked by the giant octopus in it. But now, if he jumped in, the giant octopus inside would only ignore him. Even if he encountered sharks, or sea monsters or anything in the future, these sea creatures would most likely ignore him.
This was the blessing given by the Priests of the Sea Goddess. Usually, these blessings could only be obtained after the sacrificial ceremony or they have donated large sums of money.
It was only a temporary blessing that would only last for about a week!
The emblem that Soran obtained was special. It was an extraordinary item embedded with permanent spells. It belonged to the kind of item that hardly added any combat power, but very useful at other times.
“Item Type: the Drowned Emblem [Incomplete Item]
Item Grade: [Rare (Grade 2)]
Description: This is a special emblem ornament where the Priest of the Sea Goddess permanently embedded the [Underwater Breathing] spell. Wearing this device, no creature will die of drowning. It also has a special ability to help the wearer enter deeper waters while reducing the effects of deep-sea areas on the wearer. It seems that the emblem is only a part of an item, which clearly shows that it was once embedded in a piece of equipment.
Requirements: None.
Effects: Permanent [Underwater Breathing] spell. The wearer can breathe under any water environment.
Special Effects: Deep Sea Area Fortitude + 2, Diving Capacity increased, Counter Special Sea Environment + 2.”
In the shadow of the night.
Soran frowned and played with the Drowned Emblem. Unknowingly, he felt that the pattern was a little familiar as if he had seen it somewhere before. It was not easy to make a clear impression on him, especially things that were near the sea. In his memory, there were instances where high-grade Legendary Items appeared near the Soros Islands. He just didn’t know if the emblem in his hands had anything to do with that thing. It was obviously part of something, but Soran could not deduce anything without the other parts.
If it was really part of that thing, it would be worth taking the risk for Soran.
Because the power of that thing could almost perfectly rival a Godly Artifact. In critical moments, it could also summon a legendary-level deep-sea monster.
That thing would be heaven-defying at sea!
One person could have killed a pirate king’s naval fleet entirely by themselves.
In his perfect state, Soran was so energetic that he didn’t even think of sleeping at all. Instead of rushing back to the hotel, he tested his abilities a little. He had a Gold Derahl clipped between his fingers. It was rolling around his fingertips at an astonishing speed, which in the end, it almost left after-images. When he clasped his hand, the Gold Derahl disappeared and then emerged from his other hand.
It was beyond the retina’s ability to capture images!
Even Soran himself could not see his small and swift movements, and his hands were now rivaling and almost as dexterous as the top magicians of his previous life.
It was only part of the legendary skill, Omnipotent Hands.
The test was certainly more than just that.
Soran still could not test the ability of the Omnipotent Hands to use any equipment yet. So, he could only try the buffs on his Rogue abilities after using his recovery ability. In theory, after attaining the Omnipotent Hands—even if the level of his Rogue abilities were not very high—it could still reach the level of a legendary Rogue. Because the dexterity of both hands would so high that the dexterity bonus provided would be more astonishing than the skill points.
“It seems that the dagger skills used previously have been restored.”
The dagger in Soran’s palm crossed around with a few after-images and disappeared into the black silk gloves. His weapon that he was best at was still the curved sword, but it was a combat weapon. Soran’s second weapon of choice was a dagger, not only for combat but also for many other purposes. For example, in the scene before him, two patrolling guards passed by in front of Soran. A cold glint appeared in his hand, and his fingers became a shadow in an instant. Then they passed each other as if nothing had happened.
They were fifty meters apart.
A pouch appeared in the palm of Soran’s hand. He weighed it slightly and kept it.
The patrolling guards were still going forward. He didn’t even know when the lining under his clothes had been cut and when his pouch that hung on his waist had been taken. His leather armor was still intact, except that the inner lining was cut off near the pouch. If it hadn’t suddenly occurred to him or had he been reminded by others, he would not have known he had been robbed until he had completed his patrol.
“Sure enough, Omnipotent Hands make it easier to steal from Professions.”
That bit of money wasn’t of concern for Soran, nor was the ability bonuses on stealing provided by the Omnipotent Hands. Patrol guards were all professions close to the second grade. Just now, he was able to quietly cut a hole in their clothes without leaving a trace. So, if Soran wanted to, he could have pierced their kidneys with a dagger in silence, then in a short period of time, they would die as they lost their life force.
He did not even need to sneak!
He could have directly injured or even killed the target before the other party responded.
It was an added bonus for a first strike.
Although there were no specific data, it seemed that there was another 5 points bonus for the first strike because of the Omnipotent Hands. Soran’s speed was way faster than other people. Among all melee professions, the Rogues were the fastest—even Monks were not able to contest. What Monks were better at was the short-term continuous bursts of skills.
Soran returned to the hotel.
It wasn’t early now, but there were still many people in the hotel lobby.
When Soran opened the door, the Amazonian women, who were drinking in the lobby and seemed to have drunk a lot, looked up. One of them was a robust woman who seemed to have been fighting in a pub during the day. She seemed to be laughing at how she had beaten the men today and how she continued to beat them all to till they couldn’t even squeak anymore. They all spoke in the Amazonian dialect, which Soran could hardly understand. He could only vaguely guess the meanings based on the words.
One of the women was the executioner who played tricks on Soran earlier today, and she was now dressed in a different suit.
The other party was wearing clothes that seemed like it represented a battle group, but without the outer armor. The inside was a leather shirt, where you could see half their well-endowed breasts. Amazonian women were stronger and belonged to those types of women who were wild and unruly. Their breasts were not as soft as other women, but definitely firm and bouncy. For this group of women, that was the only place where it wasn’t full of well-developed muscles. Almost all the women had more obvious and defined muscular outlines, which were not exaggerated as bodybuilders, but they were certainly stronger than ordinary men’s arms.
The average strength of an Amazonian woman could reach around 14-16 points.
That went on to say that the muscles of these women were not an exaggeration. Furthermore, the majority of these women had good bloodlines, and their strength seemed to be higher than Soran by more than just a tad bit.
She playfully grinned as she saw Soran. Then she spoke to the other women in Amazonian dialect. Obviously, Soran didn’t know what she said, but the other women immediately laughed for a while. They looked at Soran with eyes full of sadistic and strange vigor, and so on, as they assessed him from top to bottom. Amongst them, many other women eyed his lower body and whispered amongst their companions’ ear as they hung mischievous grins on their faces. Then came another round of inexplicable snickers.
Soran could not help frowning.
He was slightly dissatisfied with their attitude. Even the drow females knew that they had to respect the powerful males. The Amazonian women in front of him were too unruly.
One had to show a little bit of their strength, or others would think that one was weak and easily bullied!
With a grim smile on his lips, Soran slowly approached the female executioner, then looked at her slightly drunk self and said slowly, “Are you interested in performing magic with me?”
The woman with long dark red hair stood up with great interest as if she had no fear of Soran. “Yes! Are you still a bard? He he! Can you sing? Would you like to give me a song?”
Soran did not speak.
When the woman in front of him stood up, he suddenly narrowed his eyes, and then his fingertips slipped through a cold light, followed by a shadow. When Soran retracted his fingers and turned to leave, a group of startled Amazonian women soldiers and a naked woman with a blank expression were left standing there. She seemed to have just sobered up and had goosebumps all over her body. There wasn’t a single piece of cloth on her body, but rather, parts of her dress on the ground beneath her feet.
They didn’t even see clearly, and their companion was stripped clean.
Soran walked calmly to the stairway, and then turned around as if he remembered something and said, “Oh! Right. This magic trick is called stripping magic.”
After that, he calmly left.
Only a group of female Amazonian Fighters who had yet to return to their senses remained.
