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Chapter 142: [Gate of Hell], Organizing the Spoils
Chapter 142: [Gate of Hell], Organizing the Spoils
The azure starfire burned, containing an immensely terrifying power.
The NPC mentor looked at Sterl's improved Ignition Flame with tears in his eyes.
He had only wanted to modify the flame magic to produce a blue-quality skill. But in the hands of this warrior from another world, the flame school's skills had been transformed to purple, and some were even approaching gold quality!
Without hesitation, the NPC handed something to Sterl. "Originally, I intended to take this with me to the grave, but perhaps you are the one truly deserving of it."
The original task reward was directly canceled, and Sterl heard a notification in his ear.
[Congratulations on exceeding the task expectations. You have received the skill book [Gate of Hell (Incomplete)]]
Sterl felt a brief surge of excitement at the notification, but quickly realized that even with the task overachieved, the reward was rather underwhelming.
[Gate of Hell (Incomplete)]—despite the intimidating name, its effect was merely to summon a gate etched with terrifying runes to block attacks.
The quality was only blue.
In a word: disappointing!
Sterl thought about it. Given that this was the final reward for the first quest he ever took on, he decided to learn the skill out of sentimentality. However, he had no intention of actually training it.
As expected, there was a plus sign next to [Gate of Hell (Incomplete)], but Sterl noted that he had no extra points to allocate...
"Hmm?"
Sterl paused, sensing something—an instinctual feeling brought about by the Moon Divine Power.
He had an inexplicable hunch that investing points in this new skill would yield significant future benefits.
"Who would've thought, I picked up a hidden gem?"
His eyes gradually brightened.
...
After submitting the task, Sterl returned home. The earlier divine battle had seemed terrifying but had only lasted a few seconds. Therefore, his ability to allocate points hadn't even cooled down yet.
He returned to the bedroom, giving gentle kisses to the still-sleeping Linna and Rayna.
Then Sterl went to his room and began organizing the spoils from his journey to the Netherworld.
First, the task rewards.
He scrolled through the panel, finding a bunch of notifications from the [Transcendence] system.
[You have completed the task: Explore the Netherworld.]
[Task Evaluation: Average.]
The evaluation system for this task required players to contribute as many resources as possible to the Dark Moon Alliance. Since Sterl had only gained evaluation points by killing monsters, his final rating was naturally not high.
[You have received the following rewards:
Dark Moon Alliance Contribution: 5000 points.
Two levels of experience.]
This task indeed had little payoff.
After confirming the information, Sterl checked his total contributions, including miscellaneous points he had gained. His total contribution to the Dark Moon Alliance was 31,500 points, which included hourly ranking rewards and the final first-place ranking reward.
Additionally, his experience bar showed he had accumulated experience worth 12 levels.
From level 59, he could directly level up to 71.
Not bad!
The contribution points to the Dark Moon Alliance could definitely be exchanged for many valuable items, and his levels had also skyrocketed.
However, Sterl felt a bit awkward since he had previously obtained three items that could instantly level him up once below level 60. Now, they were useless...
"Those three items should be given to Linna and Rayna." Sterl quickly decided. The leveling speed for the two young women was definitely slower than his, and jumping up three levels would save them a lot of time. The only problem was how to divide the items.
"But that's not my problem to worry about. Let Linna and Rayna figure it out themselves." Sterl thought happily, already imagining the two girls bickering and glaring at each other, which made him chuckle.
Instead of rushing to level up, Sterl first focused on spending his contribution points.
He decided to hold off on using the remaining contribution points from the Divine Mountain Empire for now. Since he hadn't obtained the A-grade arcane skill and thus hadn't upgraded his reputation, he planned to clear out the Empire's contribution points in one go after completing the hidden and main quests later.
As for the Dark Moon Alliance, despite having over 30,000 contribution points, Sterl's reputation was only at "Friendly" because he hadn't contributed resources to the alliance. Consequently, many valuable items were still locked out of his reach. Nevertheless, he rummaged through the available items and found some that piqued his interest.
First, he focused on collecting amulets, an endeavor he had been committed to for some time. The Dark Moon Alliance's resources were evidently much richer, as even at the Friendly reputation level, he could purchase over ten different types of amulets.
Sterl considered buying them all, but amulet-type items were generally expensive, and many had attributes he didn't need. After some careful selection, he bought just one.
[Heart of Flame]
[Type: Amulet]
[Description: A legendary item said to be crafted from the heart of a fire demon using special techniques.]
[Effect: Increases the power of fire attribute skills by 50%]
[Exchange Price: 15,000 Contribution Points]
The price wasn't low, and the effect was straightforward, but the amulet's simplicity was its strength—it directly increased the power of fire-type skills by half!
Moreover, it didn't occupy any equipment slots.
"Holy crap! This is amazing!" Sterl could hardly believe he'd found such a valuable item.
It was worth noting that none of his current gear or skills provided attribute bonuses. Acquiring this amulet meant an independent power multiplier for his three strongest skills: Divine Flame Drive, Celestial Stars (which had flame damage on impact), and Ignition Flame!
And the bonus was substantial, directly increasing the power by 50%!
So, despite the high cost of 15,000 contribution points, Sterl didn't hesitate to redeem the Heart of Flame.
To his further delight, the amulet had a plus sign next to it, indicating it could be enhanced even further!
"No wonder it's the Dark Moon Alliance!"
"So many great items!"
Sterl couldn't contain his excitement and began to daydream. If a single goddess of the Dark Moon could support such a powerful alliance, what kind of insane, over-the-top items would the Hall of Valor, built by countless deities, have?
Wouldn't joining them mean he'd be set to soar to new heights?
Sterl felt an irresistible urge to join the Hall of Valor as soon as possible.
Calming himself, he continued to browse the contribution shop.
Next, instead of exchanging for equipment or skills, he looked for a consumable item—
[Essence of the Moon]
[Description: A special potion secretly crafted by the Dark Moon Alliance. When consumed, it instantly replenishes energy and increases the energy cap by 30%.]
[Price: 300 Contribution Points.]
"This is it!"
Sterl's eyes were immediately drawn to this liquid, which was contained in small test tubes and emitted a silver-white glow reminiscent of moonlight.
His biggest issue right now was a lack of mana.
Even with an energy storage pool, it wasn't enough. If Sterl wanted to unleash a barrage of firepower in a short period, it was practically impossible.
Just using the Law Power at its peak could drain him completely, requiring him to chug potions in advance. For several seconds afterward, he couldn't even stand, let alone cast other spells!
During the earlier instance in the Netherworld, Sterl didn't seem to suffer from this problem.
But that was because the enemies were merely legendary souls, weakened versions of legendary beings. They had no enhanced attributes, couldn't use their innate abilities, and had limited skills—just one legendary ability and some minor attributes.
These enemies were immobilized by the Moon Law, unable to resist!
Sterl could afford to wait for his energy to replenish.
But what if he encounters stronger foes next time?
The Moon Law might not hold them long enough. By the time his energy regenerates, the opponent could be free, and then it's game over.
With the Essence of the Moon, Sterl would have an additional 30% energy cap, allowing him to follow up the Moon Law with another skill more quickly.
The strategic value was immense!
Without hesitation, Sterl purchased ten vials of the potion, spending a total of 3,000 contribution points. To his delight, the Essence of the Moon could also be enhanced.
"Everything needs points to be enhanced. There just aren't enough points to go around!"
Sterl shook his head in resignation.
He now had 13,500 contribution points left.
Sterl continued to browse the shop's offerings and soon came across some gear that intrigued him greatly.
For example—
[Royal Armguard]
[Description: Once worshipped by the royal family of a nation that ruled for generations. After offending the Dark Moon Alliance, the only remnant of that nation is this armguard.]
[Category: Weapon]
[Effect: All attributes +50, Strength and Agility +40. Comes with the skill [Crush: When your strength exceeds your opponent's, each skill will deal damage based on the opponent's maximum health.]]
[No level requirement.]
[Price: 6,000 Contribution Points.]
...
[Bird's Crown]
[Effect: All attributes +80. Comes with the skill [Ascend: After 30 seconds of continuous combat, all your attributes will increase by an additional 20%.]]
[No level requirement.]
[Price: 8,500 Contribution Points.]
...
[Demon Garb]
[Category: Top]
[Effect: Strength and Constitution +120. Comes with the skill [Enlarge: You can increase your size, and as your size grows, your health and strength/constitution will also increase. The larger your size, the more energy and stamina you will consume per second.]]
[No level requirement.]
[Price: 9,900 Contribution Points.]
...
Sterl was thrilled by these items.
Indeed, the Dark Moon Alliance offered several unrestricted items that could be used as long as you had the contribution points, albeit at a higher price compared to similarly tiered equipment.
At his current Friendly reputation level, the unrestricted gear available to him was roughly equivalent to third-class platinum-quality items.
However, he didn't rush to buy them. Instead, he closed the shop interface and sent a private message to Teresa: "I'll be over shortly."