Mornn
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Chapter 677 - Intruder detected
🕑 Added 2025-05-16 14:59:25 +0000 UTCSurprisingly enough, it seemed that despite the casino’s games all being heavily stacked against the players, the owner’s promises were not empty words. Though still pretending to be only a manager, he personally took Sofia to the private VIP exchange desk, while sending other skeletons to fetch Kuli and Mornn.
Sofia followed Pestle’s movements from a distance while she idly chatted with the ghost behind the desk.
“Is the casino even going to survive such a big payout?” she asked, curious about how much could even realistically be won in the event.
“That it will, you needn’t worry about our finances,” the ghost answered, “Though it certainly is a big sum to be withdrawn all at once, and our boss will surely spend the next month cursing your name, the casino will survive nonetheless.”
“Honestly I half-assumed that you would default on the payment and just kick me out.”
“That won’t do. Our treatment of lesser customers may be a bit rough… But for big players it can be said that we are walking on eggshells, we have a reputation to maintain.”
“I suppose that’s reassuring… Can I know what happens to the… Less fortunate of the ‘lesser customers’?”
“You are talking to one of them…” the ghost answered with a sigh.
“That’s about what I expected…”
“Well, no one in the staff here can complain, really, we all knew what we were getting into when we entered a casino run by someone so notorious… Ah, it looks like your money is about ready, give me a second,” the ghose said before turning around and flying through a wall.
Sofia turned around, Kuli and Mornn were just sharing what they did in the little time they’d gotten to actually play while Sofia was making some big bets. It seemed they did not do too bad, Kuli making a good amount playing a regular card game, and Mornn gambling her life away on Roulette. They did not mind stopping now as they all felt that Sofia’s cash-out should be more than enough for a first place with maximum tournament points.
The ghost quickly came back, one small and one large lockboxes appearing on the desk between him and Sofia.
“There. Since your winnings were just above three hundred million tokens, we included an item valued at thirty billion gold, and made up the difference with mithril and gold ingots, in that large box.”
“An item worth thirty billion? In that tiny box? How do I know I am not getting scammed?”
“Check for yourself,” the ghost said with a shrug, “I am certain you will understand the value of the items when you see them, there are two in the box but you may only take one.”
Sofia tried to feel the contents of the box with her mana senses but enchantments inside completely obscured her view. This better not be some kind of mimic waiting to eat my face.
Slowly opening the box, Sofia looked inside. It contained a set of two small mithrium earrings, one with a blue hanging gem and one with a red one, on a bed of white silk.
Oooh, mithrium? It’s not a lot but that should be quite expensive, thirty billion gold for a single one of those, though?
A quick Identify of the red gem earring convinced Sofia that this was probably more than worth the price.
★★★★★★★★★U [Tournament Master’s Gambler’s Fallacy Earring]:
Carefully crafted from the rarest materials by a genius craftsman, this master Earring allows damage you deal to sometimes critically hit, dealing double damage.
Base critical hit chance: 7%.
Whenever you deal non-critical damage, you gain an additional 7% critical hit chance until your next critical hit.
Cannot be destroyed.
Must be primed before use.
Is only available for purchase if won as a prize during the ‘Gambler’s end’ event and safely retrieved.
Price: 777 777 777 TP
Woah. More hidden Master items. I’m not sure of the math here, but the effective double damage chance with this on… Feels like it’s probably around twenty percent? I’m not too sure how I would calculate that. If I could time that well with a big bolt… It’s probably a better item for people like Ezerid who have attack with many projectiles thought. That with the master hydra bow would be incredible, I bet. Not too sure it’s the best for either me or Pareth though, but it does come with a discount compared to the other Master items, which is nice.
Maybe the other one will be better suited for us?
★★★★★★★★★U [Tournament Master’s ALL-IN Earring]:
Carefully crafted from the rarest materials by a genius craftsman, that master Earring give a multiplicative buff of +77% to any one main stat of your choosing and its three related sub-stats.
(Applied after all other modifiers)
Must be primed before use.
Chosen stat cannot be altered after priming.
Becomes a permanent part of your body.
Consumes two skill slots.
Your two other main stats’ base growth per level is set to zero.
(They will now only grow from overcoming the filters)
Is only available for purchase if won as a prize during the ‘Gambler’s end’ event and safely retrieved.
Price: 777 777 777 TP
Sofia audibly gulped, reading the description several times.
Lord.
I need this. We need this.
Doesn’t even matter who buys it, doesn’t even matter that it consumes two skill slots.
I could get 77% increased mana?
Pareth could get 77% increased health?
Even for Alith, she could get 77% increased stamina?
That…
Well. We can only buy three uniques each. That’s our first spot taken. And if I get the ten gold star pins, it will only be 700 Million TP with the 10% discount. That’s a whole 200 Million cheaper than the regular Master items!
“So? You do understand these items’ value, right?” the ghost asked, as Sofia was silent.
“I- I do. It is certainly not a scam, I have no complaints.”
“Assuredly. Then, which one will you take?”
“The one with the blue gem,” Sofia answered, “Out of curiosity, do you know where these earrings come from? Did Ak’Virad himself make them, perhaps?”
“I do not believe we have any information on who the craftsman is, but if you must know where we procured those, as one of the oldest ‘employees’ here, I can tell you. Someone used them as a wager in a game of cards in the early days of the casino, of course, they lost. And these have been waiting in our coffers ever since.”
“Really? The early days of the casino you say? What did they look like?”
The ghost frown sightly as he tried to remember the details, “It was quite some centuries ago… From what I recall, it was a young woman. I would be hard-pressed to give even the most basic description, I fear, my memory is not what is once was, and I believe they only visited once… But I do remember they were quite cheerful despite the monumental loss, which struck me as quite odd, back then.”
“Hmm, I see…”
The ghost looked at Sofia’s face and his expression shifted, as he seemed to remember something. “Right! She had strange hair, much like you do!”
“Is my hair so weird? It’s just a bit shiny.”
“That… That is quite unusual, yes,” the ghost deadpanned, “But, back to the point I do remember now, that her hair was a rather unusual dark shade of blue. Certainly not something one sees every day.”
“Interesting, thank you for the information, I doubt I’ll ever get to meet that person, if that was centuries ago, but good to know these aren’t, like, stolen property.”
“That is slightly insulting, but admittedly not totally undeserved… The blue gem earring, then, are you sure?”
“Absolutely.”
The ghost carefully took the earring out of the box, after disarming some of the enchantments inside, and also opened the other coffer revealing the ingots of precious metal inside. Sofia recolted the team’s winnings and after that, the ghost led them all to the casino’s actual entrance and exit for valued customers. It was a rather long tunnel with a red carpet, its walls covered in enchantements, going up in a light slope toward the surface.
The group had a lighthearted chat as they walked though, discussing Sofia’s dice game, until Kuli stopped and asked Sofia.
“Wait, Sofia, did you not have some of your skeletons in the Casino? Did you leave the crow behind?”
Sofia turned around with a creepy smile.
“Of course not, I unsummoned them all a long time ago, a necromancer worth their bones would never let their skeletons behind,” she said, lying through her teeth.
In truth, Pestle had gone very deep inside of the Casino’s underground floors while Sofia had kept the Lich’s attention. Ever since then, she had stopped moving.
Since Pestle hadn’t unsummoned herself, she likely had not been captured or anything like that; in Sofia’s mind, this could only mean one thing. Pestle was waiting. Waiting for what exactly was uncertain, but she would have to move before Sofia left the casino and the event ended for her, so she would know soon.
Pestle. I can see the exit. Whatever you’re trying to do, now’s your last chance.
Sofia felt Pestle start to move.
With her action came the deafening sound of an alarm, as the entire casino shook, drowned in bright red lights.
There we go.
Comments
Mornn
yeah sadly I don't think I have that kind of free time x.x
Matt Grayson
And while I'm prattling on about a wish list - what I would MOST like to see is the story of Ihuarah and Everelle. Perhaps it is better left to the imagination, but ... @Mornn, do you take commissions? (No, I do not want to interfere with SSS. I'm just being greedy.) Perhaps Discord is a better venue.
Amythyst
Stebron's already been warned by Erredis not to attack her, at Phillip's prompting. (Seen back when Sofia and Cinthia were on their way to see Taxes about an essence.) He's also been noted to gamble for essences, and I'm guessing something like that is why he voted in favor of letting her ascend during that dragon council a few chapters back. The biggest problem with either of them taking from the other is essence can only be removed on a) the creation of a new god (Looming's essence), b) the forging of a mana heart (and that just the wagered essence), or c) death.
Matt Grayson
Speaking of heists, the obvious place for Sof to get more essences is from Stebby. He's probably too high level for her to solo, but he's got to be hated by the Gods and Recessed, at least two Dragons are big Sof supporters (Erredis and Nex), and she's made good impressions on Phillip and Beligenus. THAT is an arc I'd love to see. Grand Theft Dragon! Alternatively, Stebby could attack her for HER stash, she (with great ingenuity and luck) kills him, gets his essences AND gets Uncle Ed's approval (kill Ascended before level 500). Throw in a "he kills some gods first and so she primes Gluttony" and it's a beautiful event! A fellow can dream...
phantom
Pretty sure no as it is a piece of equipment. not part of the filter. Sofia could just buy the thing then give it to someone else if she wanted.
Amythyst
Saria's group got 150 million tokens, which was historical 3rd for them. The cut away to their PoV a couple days ago established that.
E
"Why not both?" Can't have unbalanced ears after all. Taking bets on Pestle coming back with the phylactery. I'm picturing how the other groups performed. Ezerid doesn't seem like he'd perform well in this event and I can't imagine Saria doing all that well either. I'm picturing Cinthia doing whatever Greed says between Hatred's ranting on cheaters.
Amythyst
Given that this is a obtained during a filter upgrade like the mana heart was... Is the 77% buff doubled by the crown's Diamond Prism?
Quentin Cozzi
Thanks for the chapter!
Matt Grayson
I keep expecting Sof’s hair to start turning blue…
Whyer
The symphony skill being mana reservation based clued me in! It's not a common mechanic but PoE auras are all like that.
Kirvin
Someone's been playing Last Epoch. I swear there have been PoE references too wasn't something named Oriath?
Wensber
Thanks for the chapter!
Mornn
It's written there you still need to buy it, that's just how it is, you don't get to keep anything from the casino normally
Vettu
+77% Mana for Sofia is insane considering how much she has compared to others at her level. +77% Health for Pareth is an option as well, but anything else seems like a waste. A max % increase like this is hard to come by and should really only be used on someone like Sofia, who is an absolute outlier in her mana capacity
Cyclone001
So, how does this work? The items have a TP value, and a gold 9 gold star requirement. Does winning this prize mean she gets to keep it or does she still need to buy it for the 777M TP? If the former why the 9 star requirement? If the later, how is that a win when the contestants are gambling away their own actual stuff and their only win is unlocking the potential to buy stuff? Also, if it's only a buy unlock, did Anna bring it to the Casino only for display purposes?
phantom
Actually her soul being half full is an arguement for the earrings. It was mentioned Sofia's skills were taking up a bunch of space and it is unknown how much space these take up. Also just saying 77% mana doesn't feel like a lot at this point when her filters raised her mana so much... Not that it isn't a lot but the feeling. Might be better on Pareth then. he doesn't even care about the skillslots thing he gets so few.
Lazy Monster
I think the book Sofia found the substats in stated that health didn’t have any sub stats. Also as far as charisma goes she already addressed that worry when she first got DODGE-ME since it gave +100% charisma and it just makes her body look like how she imagines herself.
Ceasar Salas
Thanks for the chapter!
OmniGlitcher
Neat, so I guess Anna donated the earrings, if she's not the "genius craftsman" herself. Is Anna herself the tournament master? Would Sofia actually be able to use them? I thought skill slots were currently an issue. I am curious about Health sub-stats, they have been hinted at before. Pestle, very robbery! Will it be some prime cut of meat? Let's find out.
Lazy Monster
TFTC. The earring and the pauldrons are both absurdly amazing. The two skill slots is an issue though. I remember Belligenus saying her soul was only about half full spell wise when she was teaching so it’s possible that she could get more slots after this filter. It depends on if it is still partially the system limiting her. Also Kuli why would you say that out loud?! Now it’s time to run with all the loot!
Dan N
Waaaay back in chapter 331 we got the list of substats but I don't think we ever found out what the health substats are. A 77% increase in Aura would be amazing with Sofia's new specialization, it'd bring her 4km radius to 7km, but a 77% increase in charisma makes me worry for her poor back! "Stamina sub stats (worth 1/3 Stamina each) Strength : Muscular power and endurance, extremely light effect on actual appearance, best stat-to-available-power conversion, especially at low levels. Agility : Nerves speed and coordination, grants greater and more precise control over your body in general. Speed : Temporary explosive power of the muscles, better tendons, upgraded flexibility, allows the body to better resist violent shocks and strains. Seems to reduce environmental friction in some capacity. — Mana sub stats (no bonus stat) Charisma : Ability of the body to reroute mana pathways and alter its genetic material to perform better in most natural functions (slightly) and look more alike to the person’s idealized vision of themselves. This seems to be the main cause of aging slowdown as one levels up. Universally causes fertility degeneration. Processing : Additional mana-powered brain tissue and capacity, helps with thinking speed, multitasking, mana control, pattern recognition, and memory, also seems to affect personal scribes. Hardest stat to raise naturally, high-priority. Aura : Capacity to subconsciously gather and make use of surrounding external mana. Needs to reach an extremely high breaking-point to become even slightly useful. Best left to Dragons. — Luck : Little data. Seems to mostly influence system-given data and rewards. The existence of an unspoken ‘Perception’ sub stat has been theorized, unproven as of yet.’"
Clara
Grab the leg and leg it!
Matt Grayson
Pestle! The leg! Get the leg!
Clara
In fact, I think she needs at least one or two more skills that just contribute directly to her fighting power without any jank. She's loaded up on jank skills but I feel like she's falling behind on regular staying power, at least for her expected level of bullshit. We just saw how the bone manipulation becomes less relevant against foes with stronger options, who can just ignore their own bones; sure that's because Tartarus is a monster, but I feel like her jank strategies will become less useful as she levels
JHD
"There we go" indeed.
Endicar
Why is it Friday
Clara
The earring.... Obviously the stat part is strong on Sofia, her non mana stat growth is complete garbage anyways. But I don't think she can afford the skill slot loss... Pareth meanwhile, I forget what his base stat growth is like, but losing the strength and durability aspects of stamina growth would be kinda bad. On the other hand, he does have that issue with not being able to get new skills, right? So his slots are basically free
Tom Asciola
Oho~ so our girl Anna "donated" the earrings, huh?
CurufinIII
Woo early chapter!!!
Clara
Must be Ana the admin, right? Blue hair?
Mornn
Ah... I missclicked. Oh well, enjoy the early chapter I guess :'D
