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Salt and Blood - Chapter 57
🕑 Added 2024-10-27 16:33:32 +0000 UTC<< Chapter 56 | Table of Contents | Chapter 58 >>
1.57 - Trouble Magnet
Some people have a storm of fate around them. Perhaps fate is the wrong word, it does an injustice to those characters to ascribe it all to the world and not their own ridiculous actions. Many fall under the weight of their own ambition, but those who emerge, emerge as legends.
-Excerpt from ‘Making Myths’ by Caspar Gaudilly
Nasar waved his arm and all of the snake fillets vanished, save for three. Rose gawked. What on earth had he done? As far as she knew, mundane items like monster corpses couldn’t be stored in one’s inventory.
Seeing her slack jawed stare, he smiled and lifted his hand, showing off a silver bracelet with a small blue gemstone embedded above his wrist. A tidestone, albeit a tiny one.
“Storage bracelet. Nifty tool,” he said, refusing to elaborate.
He didn’t need to, she got the gist. However, Rose would’ve loved to know the secret behind it and how such a tiny bracelet was able to fit almost the entire corpse of the sea serpent inside despite it being larger than their ship.
With dinner for the next decade sorted—not quite, but she certainly wouldn’t bother fishing for the tiny rainbow tuna anymore—her attention turned to the remaining chunks of snake left on the island. From two, she felt the distinct pull of a treasure.
The third and final piece had a different aura, rich in arcane energy. It was as if she was confronting that glade of wolves and magic on the blue island once more.
She wasn’t sure how to approach looting. She’d done plenty of work reeling in the monster, but ultimately it had been Nasar who dealt the finishing blow. It stung a little, knowing he likely could’ve carved it to pieces instead of watching her struggle, but perhaps it was a test?
Well, she’d rather enjoyed the foray into extreme fishing and couldn’t complain about the plethora of levels hooking the serpent had provided. She started to walk towards the nearest chunk, following the tug of the treasure.
What kind of miraculous item would a beast of this calibre provide? She was excited to find out. Along with the salamander parts her and Felix had been harvested, her haul from this convergence was brilliant.
You are attempting to harvest a treasure!
WARNING!
Your associated skill levels are too low to guarantee a successful harvest of [Emeraldine Serpent’s Reverse Scale 86]
A failed harvest may cause damage to the treasure, proceed anyway?
[YES][NO]
Typically, Rose ignored these warnings and charged ahead. There was no guarantee of a successful harvest, but she assumed that even with a fail or two the treasure she received would be sufficiently powerful or valuable to someone of her level.
This time though, she hesitated. Nasar was present and judging from the miraculous skill he’d demonstrated meant he had a greater chance of harvesting the reverse scale than her.
“I think you should harvest them,” she offered. “I don’t want to damage them with my meagre skill.”
Perhaps she’d let her disappointment slip into her smile as she spoke, because Nasar frowned and placed a hand on her shoulder while shaking his head.
“Nonsense, Rose. All I did was step in at the very last moment to wrap things up. These spoils of war belong to you and you alone.”
Interesting. Another stereotype was shattered in that moment. Weren’t pirates supposed to be greedy ruffians who would jump at any opportunity to enrich themselves?
Everything she’d seen of Trent and Nasar thus far was disproving that notion. In fact, looking back to that first raid where Trent had led a crew of lowlifes to board Unrequited Love, Rose felt it was extremely out of character. Just what had he been doing?
She was still hesitant to begin the harvest, fearful of damaging the treasure. Slapping her cheeks, she roused herself from the negative spiral. The only way to improve was to try. And she had worked on her butchery quite a bit while in that cave with the salamanders.
You are attempting to harvest a treasure!
WARNING!
Your associated skill levels are too low to guarantee a successful harvest of [Emeraldine Serpent’s Reverse Scale 86]
A failed harvest may cause damage to the treasure, proceed anyway?
[YES][NO]
86… It was far beyond anything she’d seen before, even out-matching Sunsplitter. Though with Zut Rubysoul’s master craftsmanship, the antlers had been elevated far beyond their original form.
She began the harvest, kicking Focus and Tunnel Vision into action to see if directing all her attention to the process would improve the outcome. Try, try, and try again.
Attempting to harvest [Emeraldine Serpent’s Reverse Scale 86]...
As the process began, Rose held her breath and directed every scrap of will in her body towards it. I could try praying too, though I’m not sure Sylack’s influence stretches to butchery.
Harvest failed!
[Emeraldine Serpent’s Reverse Scale 86] has been damaged.
Rose was disappointed, but not deterred. While a success on the first attempt would’ve been marvellous, it was far beyond her expectations. So, she stayed focused as the next attempt began.
Attempting to harvest [Emeraldine Serpent’s Reverse Scale 80]...
She did notice that the damage to the treasure was much less than her first failure with the crystal antlers. That perhaps was due to her skill improvements.
Harvest failed!
[Emeraldine Serpent’s Reverse Scale 80] has been damaged.
Attempting to harvest [Emeraldine Serpent’s Reverse Scale 74]...
Harvest failed!
Two further failures. Sweat trickled down her brow, but all she had in her sight was the hunk of snake flesh and the treasure it contained. She considered giving up and passing the task to Nasar, but the prospect of giving up was far more terrifying to her than failure.
Attempting to harvest [Emeraldine Serpent’s Reverse Scale 67]...
Harvest success!
[Emeraldine Serpent’s Reverse Scale 67] obtained!
Rose pumped the air with her fist and let out the breath she’d been holding. Failing a fourth time would’ve likely reduced the treasure to a shadow of its former self.
You have earned a new title!
Ambitious Harvester: Harvesting a treasure at least 50 levels greater than your highest harvest related skill in 5 or less attempts is a magnificent feat. While this title is active, your primary harvesting skill is treated as though it were 10 levels higher.
Another incredible title. With how few she’d accumulated thus far Rose had believed them to be a sparse rarity, but just as her rate of acquiring skills and traits had steadily accelerated it seemed the same was happening with titles.
Even with the damage it had sustained, the reverse scale was still the highest level treasure she’d harvested. The only question was whether she would sell it, or use it to craft more gear—which then begged the question of what she should turn it into.
They had a long journey ahead of them to Zoria, so she would have plenty of time to figure it out. The hunk of flesh was already dissipating into shimmering blue motes of light. Opening her status to see if it had gone into her inventory, she realised Murderer was still active.
Why hadn’t she felt any impulses towards Nasar? Usually she left these idle musings unspoken, but this time she needed to know. If there was a way to utilise the benefits of the title without the drawbacks, it would be essential for future adventures.
“Nasar, why am I not affected by the violent impulses of the murderer title around you?”
“Good question. Ask them more often. I have a skill that dampens aggression towards me from all sources,” he explained with a smirk. “It works wonders in battle, but I actually picked it up in the kitchen when I was still an apprentice. You’d be surprised how often us poor trainees found ourselves on the receiving end of a fierce outburst from the head chefs—or even the end of their knife.”
She was once again shocked by the complexity of the skills the older men had at their disposal. It made her look at her collection of simple skills and apprentice occupation with dismay.
“Don’t look like a kicked puppy,” he chuckled. “You’re practically a baby. You have plenty of time to accrue better skills. All in good time as the tide ebbs and flows.”
He was right. There was no use rushing ahead when she had a long life ahead of her. Turning to the next chunk of serpent, Rose pulled up her status to equip her new title.
You have already activated a title today and must wait for sunrise to change it.
As with everything in this world, the tide demanded balance. Rose had discovered the drawback to titles—which had seemed to be an untapped resource of unlimited potential until now.
Of course, the effects were still magnificent. Especially Quintessential Skill, which offered a benefit even while inactive. She would try to gather as many of them as possible.
Even without the extra help, she was still going to harvest the second treasure. The pull from this one was far more intense; heady and overwhelming like a strong perfume.
You are attempting to harvest a treasure!
WARNING!
Your associated skill levels are too low to guarantee a successful harvest of [Serpent’s Kiss ★3]
A failed harvest may cause damage to the treasure, proceed anyway?
[YES][NO]
Rose felt bad for the treasure, knowing that she didn’t have much of a chance to harvest it in pristine condition. The name was far more mysterious than usual. Intrigued, she began the process.
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Comments
Ethan Middleton
Ah sorry. I read it wrong. I though it was an additional two more failures, not just her saying she failed her 2nd and 3rd attempts
Ariana Q
See above x
Ariana Q
I’m not sure what you mean? She was successful on her fourth attempt. Which part of the title is wrong?
Ethan Middleton
The title acquisition is wrong. Rose got the reverse scale on her sixth harvest attempt (86-80-74 two more then 67)
