CHAPTER 315: LORD OR THIEF?

Damon’s eyes instantly widened as he read the description. A crack? Diminished effects?

The tier of the amulet was currently labeled as Epic, but if this so-called sanctity crack was removed and if the corruption could be purified or the original rituals restored, then what would its true form be?

A slow grin curled across his lips.

"If the tier’s been downgraded due to damage," he murmured, fingers tightening around the golden artifact, "then restoring it... would push it back to its original grade. No, higher."

This wasn’t just an Epic-tier accessory. This was a Legendary item that had fallen from grace. A radiant shield that absorbed a million damage, healing amplification, and cooldown reduction, it was already powerful in its ruined state. Just how much more powerful could it become in its complete state?

"What exactly cracked it?" he asked aloud, half to himself. Thankfully, someone had the good sense to store it. Damn! Does this mean he had somehow gotten his hands on a third legendary item, well, sort of?

Damon bitterly smiled. One could say he now had three legendary items, but all of them were either damaged, broken, sealed, or incomplete. It looked like repairing them and restoring them to their former glory was up to him.

He grinned to himself. "Not a bad little side project. Alright, I will take this." He grabbed the amulet and prepared to head back to the potion section to stock up on some consumables. Why miss the opportunity when he could take some for free?

However, just as he turned, all of a sudden, Blood Reign’s faint voice sounded in his mind. "Take the gem."

Damon froze. If Blood Reign took the effort to communicate with him despite her weakened state, he needed to get that shit, no matter what it was. Wait, what gem was she talking about?

He looked around and started searching the shelves with raw gems to see if there was something valuable hidden in plain sight. He spent several minutes doing so, but nothing was working. Blood Reign remained silent, and he couldn’t find anything special either.

Damon let out a sigh. He had no idea what to do now when he suddenly thought of something. Blood Reign had spoken up when he was near the equipment shelves. Was there perhaps something in those shelves?

He went back and looked at the items. Most of the equipment looked the same, weathered blades, bloodstained armor fragments, trinkets with blood runes, but then, in the farthest corner of the third shelf, Damon noticed it.

A gem, nestled in the eye socket of a scorched blade. The whole thing looked broken and good for nothing. Even the gem did not look extraordinary. But Damon could immediately tell this was the one.

"The gem." Blood Reign’s voice once again sounded.

Damon reached for it without hesitation. However, before he could touch it, Varnyx’s stern voice sounded. "You have already made your selection, my lord."

Huh? Damon stopped. "You can’t be serious. This thing is shit. Look, it’s clearly broken. There are no stats, no effects, nothing."

Varnyx shrugged. "Rules, my lord. Even I am not above them."

Damon looked at his maybe legendary grade amulet, and his heart hurt. He could only take one of them? He let out a sigh and stared at the two items. He couldn’t bring himself to put down the amulet. Only a fool would put back a legendary item sitting in the palm of his hand.

But at the same time, Blood Reign needed this gem. There was no putting that back either.

Unexpectedly, Kaelthorn spoke up. "My Lord, perhaps you could use your contribution points from the purification raid."

Huh? Damon looked surprised at the suggestion. There was such a thing?

Now that he thought about it, he did get a bunch of titles, experience points, reputation, fame, and his status as the Blood Hall Lord from the purification raid, but he did not exactly get any item reward, which was pretty weird.

Varnyx’s expression twisted slightly. "That... is technically true. The system should have awarded contribution points. I assumed you had already redeemed them."

Damon’s eyes gleamed. "You assumed wrong. So can I or can I not use it?"

Varnyx remained silent for a moment before he nodded. "That would be half your contribution points."

"What half for this broken thing?" Damon looked shocked. "That seems very unfair."

Varnyx shook his head. "The blade is useless, but the gem is a very rare gem that is still not clearly understood. There is a chance it could be valuable. We could always have it appraised, and I could revise your contribution point cost?" The shrewd vampire suggested with a smile.

Damon quickly backed up. "Not needed. Ha ha. Why go through so much unnecessary trouble? Contribution points are dime a dozen. I could always earn more in the upcoming battle." He laughed awkwardly, shoved both the amulet and the blade with the gem into his spatial ring.

He still had to grab potions, maybe a few talismans, but at this point... Damon already felt like he’d robbed the Blood Hall treasury blind. Of course, he still went ahead and took out several potion bottles until finally Varnyx stopped him.

"You’ve exceeded your limit, my Lord," Varnyx said with a pained smile. He suddenly felt as if the guy in front of him had come here to loot the treasury rather than as a lord of the blood hall.

Damon reluctantly let go of the bottle he had just picked up, a vibrant crimson vial that practically radiated vitality, and gave a shrug. "Alright, alright. You’ve been unusually generous today, Varnyx. I’ll stop here... for now."

The old vampire narrowed his eyes, already sensing Damon’s next raid on the treasury was only a matter of time. Just when he thought the worst was over and they were finally done here...

Kaelthorn, standing a respectful distance behind, once again stepped forward. "My lord, you can also pick out some consumables on behalf of your followers."

Damon blinked.

Kaelthorn, looking both helpful and oddly too prepared, nodded quickly. "As the Blood Hall Lord, you may redeem a basic allowance of consumables for your direct followers. It’s not much, but it should cover some potions and talismans. Maybe even one or two combat scrolls, depending on rarity."

Damon tilted his head, slowly turning toward Varnyx with a wolfish smile. "Is this true?"

***

Please thank Syphatrol for the mass release