Chapter 197: Phylactery

【Phylactery of the Undead Wizard (Blue)】

【Spell Strength +5 / Casting Speed +10%】

【Active Skill: Summon Undead Wizard】

【Summons a monster with a maximum level of lv50 (scales with player level) — Undead Wizard, to join the battle.】

【In a Dungeon, this skill cannot be used when the party is at its full capacity of four members.】

【Passive Skill: Phylactery】

【The Phylactery of the Undead Wizard can store souls; after a teammate dies, the Undead Wizard can use Necromancy to resurrect the teammate in the form of Undead.】

【Recruited Leader monsters can be restored to their original state by spending Gold Coins, while players and their companions will permanently remain in an Undead state after resurrection, and once the Phylactery is shattered, the resurrected players and their companions will die regardless.】

【Note: Resurrected characters cannot move more than 50 meters away from the Phylactery.】

【The Phylactery of a Master-level Lich, forced to be buried within a mountain due to an accident caused by a teleportation spell. After hundreds of years of loneliness and Darkness, the energy within it has drained severely, and the original consciousness of the Lich has also extinguished after falling into madness.

Until a group of Goblins dug it out and tossed it casually into an unknown corner.】

"Is this the strength a blue-quality item should have?"

Yun Mu picked up the Phylactery that had fallen to the ground, saying with an expression of surprise.

The Spell Strength +5 effect is standard, and the 10% increase in casting speed is probably useless in a Dungeon.

But in the real world, casting speed is life! Just like a duel between two gunmen, the one who strikes first is often the one who wins.

Casting speed follows much the same logic.

However, compared to the attributes this piece of equipment adds itself, its two skills are clearly even more monstrous.

There is no need to say much about the active skill of summoning an Undead Wizard; one must know that she had just personally experienced how troublesome this guy was.

If it weren't for the fact that Yun Mu's party damage was high enough, they might have been dragged to death by the infinitely resurrecting skeleton mobs! After all, according to the normal process, to kill the Undead Wizard, one must first defeat the Skeleton Guard, and the Skeleton Guard has a defense of up to 72 points after releasing Guard.

In a situation where a character can only release one skill per turn, it is clearly unrealistic to want to kill the opponent quickly and then attack the Undead Wizard during the gap when the Guard effect disappears.

Even if one manages to kill the Skeleton Guard with great difficulty, the Undead Wizard will immediately use the skill Dead Resurrection to bring it back to life.

And when you finally manage to kill the Skeleton Guard and even deal some damage to the Undead Wizard... the Skeleton Priest will restore the Undead Wizard's health. Wow, just thinking about it feels disgusting to the extreme.

Facing such an enemy, fighting head-on is clearly very stupid.

If one's attributes are not enough to solve the opponent with brute force.

Yun Mu would likely choose to use a Stun skill to stun the Skeleton Guard, thereby removing the Guard state, and try to have the remaining characters deal more damage to the Undead Wizard per turn than the Skeleton Priest's recovery amount.

Of course, one could also use Imprisonment to imprison the Skeleton Priest, so that it should be unable to release its Heal skill.

Hmm... next is the passive skill, the effect of the Phylactery.

Being able to store the souls of dead creatures, just looking at the skill description makes it seem very powerful, not to mention the resurrection effect that follows.

She herself naturally does not want to become Undead, but if one day, she were truly killed by some guys.

In order to survive, even if it meant becoming Undead... ah, forget it, it feels so ugly after becoming Undead; she really cannot accept that version of herself.

Let's treat this skill as a last-resort insurance policy for now.

Anyway, regarding resurrection skills, the equipment 【Mask of the Apostle of Joy】 already has one.

Using that as insurance is perfectly sufficient.

"It's time to leave this hidden area."

Yun Mu put away the Phylactery of the Undead Wizard and turned to look at the Gate that had appeared in the corner of the room after defeating the Undead Wizard, which led out of this area.

That's right, it was a Gate.

A light blue Gate, floating in mid-air like a vortex, with the words 【Exit】 written on it.

Has the system finally stopped acting?

Actually, she quite liked the presentation of the branching paths.

Not that she knows if it's only like this when leaving a hidden area.

Stretching out her palm to gently touch the light blue Gate, Yun Mu felt a blur before her eyes, and she was back in the area of the Elite Challenge.

"Inhale, exhale."

The unpleasant stench of rot in her nasal cavity dissipated. Yun Mu subconsciously took two deep breaths of the air, which was relatively fresh compared to the cellar, and turned to look at Lucy, saying: "Let's head toward the next area!"

At this moment, everyone's status was still quite good, so Lucy naturally wouldn't raise any objections; she nodded and said: "Okay."

"I can sense that we are already very close to the Amber, meow~" Eve said at this time.

"In other words, are we about to arrive at the Leader BOSS's room?" Yun Mu asked her immediately after hearing what she said.

"You could understand it that way, meow~"

Eve scratched her nose with her claw and said: "Keep it up, there's only the last step left, meow~"

"The last step, huh..."

Yun Mu thought of something for no reason, and a smile appeared on her face.

She nodded and said:

"Yeah, this is the last step!"

【Suiji Shijian】

【Reward Area】

The familiar branching path appeared before her; on the left was a completely unknown Suiji Shijian, while on the right was a Reward Area where one could obtain gains with 100% certainty.

There was no need to think at all; Yun Mu chose to go right without hesitation! Ignoring the health recovery prompt for the trait 【High-Speed Regeneration】 in her mind, Yun Mu walked to the center of the Reward Area, where a huge wooden chest reinforced with iron bars and rivets was placed.

Unsurprisingly, just like last time, even though it was a Reward Area, the wooden chest was locked; she had no key and could only think of a way to perform Lockpicking herself.

And this lock this time... "Feels a bit tricky," Yun Mu said with her brows tightly locked.

She took out the Lockpicking tools used by her predecessor from the lining of her coat and carefully inserted them into the lock cylinder.

"... It should be like this?"

"No, perhaps it should be like this."

Yun Mu's hand movements shifted constantly; before long, she was already covered in sweat.

The difficulty of this lock was far beyond any lock she had picked before! Fortunately, with her Lockpicking level 2, she could barely manage it, so there was no need to consider smashing the Treasure Chest open.

Uh, although smashing it open might have been much more convenient than picking the lock here.

However, most games probably have this kind of design, right? When using a key or picking a lock to open a chest, the quantity of loot obtained is significantly higher than if it were smashed open.

Although this design is not very reasonable from a realistic perspective, it is quite appropriate from the standpoint of game mechanics.

"Ah, it's open!"

A soft "Click!" sound came from the lock cylinder. Yun Mu excitedly lifted the lid of the wooden chest, looking to see exactly what items were placed inside such a large chest.

【You obtained 【Gold Coin】 *2675!】 (Pickpocketing +7%) 【You obtained the item 【Alchemy Recipe: Frost Breath (White)】】 【Alchemy Recipe: Frost Breath (White)】

【After reading, you will learn the production method for the alchemy item Frost Breath.】

【A potion with an icy blue surface that feels like a slushy when consumed; it is said that drinking too much can increase the body's affinity for the Ice Element?】

【Alchemy Item: Frost Breath (Blue)】

【Skill: Frost Breath】

【Ranged / 3-unit damage / 100 fixed damage】

【Range 1】

【Base Accuracy 220 / Freeze 60%】

【Freeze: Unable to act for one turn, and has a probability of triggering the 【Frostbite】 effect.】

【Frostbite: Speed -10%, Frost Resistance -15%】

【Passive Skill: Ice Lung】

【After drinking, there is a probability of increasing the body's Frost Resistance and Ice Element damage.】

【An icy cold potion that has the texture of a slushy when consumed. After drinking it, one can exhale a terrifying Frost Breath from the mouth, dealing Frost Element damage to enemies.

It is worth noting that you must exhale the Frost Breath within thirty seconds of drinking the potion, otherwise you will freeze your own lungs!】

"Huh?"

"It's actually an alchemy recipe."

I don't know if it was her imagination, but Yun Mu inexplicably felt that it was very easy to find alchemy recipes in treasure chests.

"Using slush made from Soft water frozen solid, plus Frost Mist Flower activated by Spirituality, as well as the roots of Ice Crystal Grass, plus one unit each of Neutral neutralizer and Frost neutralizer..." "Alright, I don't understand this at all." Yun Mu shook her head, put down the recipe in her hand, and said.

"What recipe?" Lucy, who was to the side, saw this and said with some curiosity: "Can you let me take a look?"

"Of course, no problem." Yun Mu handed the recipe in her hand to Lucy and said: "Here, for you."

After handing the recipe to Lucy, she paused and asked her: "Lucy, can you use the trait of Equivalent Exchange to make this thing?"

"I'm not sure."

Hearing her question, Lucy shook her head and replied: "I'll know once I finish reading the recipe."

"Alright." Yun Mu chose to Wait patiently.

"Hmm... compressing the power of frost into a small bottle of solid slush; after drinking it, the energy will stay in the lungs and, mimicking the action of a dragon's breath, spray it out from the mouth..."

After reading the contents of the diagram, the expression on Lucy's face suddenly became very strange, and she said: "What kind of idiot would use this alchemy item?"

"Humans aren't dragons and don't have high magic resistance. If this alchemy item isn't used properly, you'll end up killing yourself!"

"However..."

"However?"

"Ahem." Lucy coughed lightly and said: "It's not entirely without merit. If I improve it slightly, it can still be used."

As she spoke, she raised her right hand and snapped her fingers lightly.

The next second, a bottle of the improved version of Frost Breath, radiating waves of cold air, appeared in her hand.

"Try it out!" Lucy handed the potion bottle in her hand to Yun Mu and said.

"Oh, oh, okay!"

Seeing this, Yun Mu came back to her senses. Without hesitation, out of trust in Lucy, she pulled out the stopper of the glass bottle, tilted her head back, and swallowed the slush inside.

"Gulp, gulp..."

An icy, cool sensation moved down her throat, but it did not cause any unbearable stinging pain.

She could feel a gentle force silently protecting her throat and lungs.

"Inhale..."

She took a sharp, deep breath, and then... "Hoo!!"

A frigid frost sprayed from Yun Mu's mouth; the target she aimed at was precisely the Treasure Chest from which she had previously obtained the alchemy recipe.

Almost in an instant, the Treasure Chest was covered in a thin layer of ice.

When Yun Mu's breath ended, she used the blade of her Scarlet Cross Sword to tap lightly on the frozen Treasure Chest.

Unexpectedly, along with the iron bars and rivets on the chest, the entire box shattered into pieces just like a block of ice! "Not bad, not bad, very good!"

Yun Mu used her fingers to gently pinch her throat, which felt slightly cold after the spray ended, and said with a very satisfied expression.

Watching her action of pinching her throat, Lucy explained to her at this moment:

"I added a portion of Fire Ant shell powder to the potion. The power of this ant is very gentle and difficult to extinguish; it is precisely what provides the protective effect for your throat and lungs within the potion."

"However, even so, this alchemy item cannot be used multiple times in a short period, unless you want to experience the feeling of having your lungs frozen." Lucy warned her.

"I won't use it too much." Yun Mu said.

Even if she wanted to use it more, she couldn't; after all, only Lucy could use the trait of Equivalent Exchange to create this potion out of thin air.

And she not only lacked the trait of Equivalent Exchange, but she also knew absolutely nothing about Alchemy.

Back when she first obtained the Chestnut Bomb recipe, she had indeed had the thought of wanting to learn Alchemy from Lucy.

But as time went on, the things she had to do became more and more numerous, and she was busy every single day.

Furthermore, there was no place where she could practice Alchemy, so the matter just ended up being left unsettled.

Thinking about it now, since she had a teammate like Lucy, learning Alchemy was indeed not a necessary thing.

After all, she could not change her class to Lucy's class of Alchemist, nor could she obtain the trait of 【Equivalent Exchange】.

Learning Alchemy was truly unnecessary.

However, if she had time in the future, she could take a detailed look into it.

At the very least, she shouldn't be completely stumped, looking blank and unable to understand anything the moment she saw various terms in an alchemy recipe! "Whew."

"Regarding this recipe..."

Yun Mu let out a soft sigh, then looked at the alchemy recipe in her hands.

After thinking about it, although this thing seemed to be of no use right now,

she figured it might come in handy later, so Yun Mu carefully rolled it up and put it away, then looked at Lucy and said, "There shouldn't be anything else here; let's head to the next area."

"Okay," Lucy replied quietly.

PS: Watching episode 20 of Frieren: Beyond Journey's End is killing me! Hmph, ahhhhhh.

(End of this chapter)