CHAPTER 1001: A BIG PROBLEM (3).

The rumbling finally settled down as Pudding dove deeper into the earth.

Resting on a crevice on the creature’s spine, Cain finally got to witness first hand the magic.

The {Amethyst Silkworm} made use of complex earth magic. One he didn’t think could be replicated easily, and its unique biology.

It used the earth magic and its unique maw to crush and consume the earth before it. As it crushed the rock, its body stored and absorbed the elemental energy within the rocks. That same energy was then expelled from its behind. Any quality materials or ores its body detected were either stored or consumed.

It was a very... strange experience to say the least.

’It’s still a bit far.’

The deposit of mana stone he was after was still further down, even further down that this tunnel. That meant he had a bit of downtime until Pudding reached it.

Other than knowing of its existence, he didn’t know anything else. And that meant the possible dangers that could exist there as well.

He sucked in a deep breath and began preparing himself.

Ignoring the turbulence from the... ride, he opened up his status window.

There, all his stats, skills, spells, abilities, and even the items in his inventory were laid bare.

This simple screen held all the information on everything he was. Everything he had become.

All his progress compiled into carefully calibrated values.

In a way, looking at it was a bit nostalgic.

It had also been like this the day it had all begun.

And it would probably look the same when it all came to an end.

Probably...

He sighed and quietly glanced over his stats.

All his stats were on the high end, especially his magic stat.

Just as he had expected, his... entanglement with Susan seemed to have done something strange to his mana pool.

Whether that was entirely a good or bad thing was yet to be seen.

Either way, an increase in mana capacity was always welcomed.

With stats this high, he was even confident in facing another Tier 3 entity. Or maybe it was just blind arrogance speaking...

Either way, he was satisfied with what he saw. There was no need to use any free attribute points just yet.

His spells, skills and abilities were still the same, no issues there.

Then his eyes drifted over to his inventory.

With a little mental effort, he could easily view the contents of this supernatural subspace.

There were a lot of things inside his inventory.

With every Tier-up, the subspace seemed to grow exponentially.

There were all sorts of things ranging from regular weaponry he has crafted, all the way to unique materials that had once piqued his interest, but had not become anything more than that.

Cain’s eyes narrowed, ’Could it be that I am a pack rat?’

He shook his head. Surely not.

Right?

He shook his head.

His main weapons and armor were kept in the armament armory where they could be equipped very easily. He closed out his inventory and opened up the armament inventory.

The armament inventory came from a rune he had attached to his own body. So in a way, it was not territory managed by the system.

Rather, the subspace was one that belonged solely to him. It was his to govern and manage as he saw fit, but its main environment was one particularly made for the optimal storage of gear; weapons, magic equipment and items, and of course, armor.

The momenhe opened the {Armament Armory}, he was greeted with the strange mask he had acquired from the {Blackfist Ape}.

The mask was black and white, with golden accents around the edges. It had a strangely divine presence to it too, but not in a good way.

And of course, the face of the mask was like that of the grinning Ape Demon, or something. Certainly fitting for something that was likened to the face of a Monkey God.

***

{Headhunter’s Mockery}: (Legendary, Tier 2)

Description: The {Blackfist Ape} has the blood of the Monkey God, Celestial Ruler of the Black Mountains, and the God of Mischief, running through its veins. In a play of Divine foolery, the beast has been cursed, such that its features are forever twisted to reflect the visage of the Monkey God.

***

{Headhunter’s Mockery}: (Legendary, Tier 2)

Spirit: 2000.

Magic Power: 2000.

Agility: 3000.

Durability: N/A.

Skills: Blacksmile, Blackfist Totem, The Grinning Fool.

***

Cain gently ran his fingers over it. Looking at it now, the mask truly did look intimidating.

Hesitating for a moment. Only a moment...

He lifted his hand and gently placed the mask over his face,

’Do I look scary now, I wonder...’

The moment he placed the mask on his face, it seemed to stick to him like glue— like it was a second face. He could barely feel its weight neither did it make breathing difficult.

His sight was not affected as well.

’Interesting...’

Indeed, it was rather interesting.

He didn’t feel much different after putting it on; just a bit light-hearted, like he had had perhaps just a little too much to drink. An effect he didn’t think was possible.

Perhaps the feeling was created by {The Grinning Fool} attached skill.

’That is most definitely the case.’ He thought to himself.

He let out a sigh and relaxed on Pudding’s back.

The body of the moving worm was soft and surprisingly comfortable. So comfortable, he was tempted to take a nap.

Luckily for him, the constant sound of rocks being grounded and digested, as well as the discomfort that came from burrowing through thousands of square inches of solid earth would not let that happen.

So that was a relief.

Very soon, Cain realized they were nearing the area Pudding had found the deposit of mana stones.

His body began to shimmer with a harsh white radiance. The armor he had on was mostly duskkin leather. This meant just his own outbursts of energy were enough to tear it into ribbons. Certainly, it wouldn’t be very useful if he was forced to battle.

The leather armor disappeared, and in its place was armor he hadn’t used in a long time.

The {Heart of Scourge}.