"An A-potential Treasure aardvark," Daniel said with quiet satisfaction, gently patting the creature’s thick, armored head.
"Welco to the team." The quest for the Luminark Stone had just gotten a whole lot easier.
He decided to na his new, incredibly useful familiar, Kendi. It seed fitting.
Kendi, the newly nad Treasure Aardvark, let out a low, happy rumble, clearly pleased with the new arrangent.
The imnse, terrifying pressure from Nyx, who had since reverted to her small and cuddly pup form, had been replaced by the calm, reassuring strength of its new master.
It had chosen wisely.
Daniel’s eyes then scanned the cavern, his gaze falling upon the dark, wet stain on the floor where Kendi had coughed up blood after his initial, powerful punch.
He rembered his new Tier 2 [Soul Assimilation] ability: Genetic Essence Extraction.
He no longer needed a full corpse. A simple biological sample, a fragnt of a creature’s power, was enough.
"Let’s see what makes you tick, Kendi," Daniel said softly, walking over to the bloodstain.
He had plenty of Assimilation charge and his curiosity was a powerful motivator.
He knelt, not needing to touch the blood directly, and focused his will, his SSS-Rank talent reaching out like a silent, invisible tendril.
Yes.
A surge of dense, earthy energy, laced with a magnetic sense of worth, flowed into him.
It felt distinct from the raw power of beasts or the complex traces of human souls. This was the essence of treasure itself, hidden riches waiting to be uncovered.
His Nexus Interface chid, the notification glowing with a bright, golden light.
[Genetic Essence Extraction successful on Treasure Aardvark Blood (A-Grade Potential Sample)!]
[Unique Trait Essence Acquired: ’Geomancer’s Greed’ (Passive)]
[New Skill Acquired: TREASURE HUNTING (A-Grade)!]
An A-Grade skill! From a single drop of blood!
Daniel had to suppress a laugh of pure, exhilarated joy. He eagerly checked the details, his heart pounding with excitent.
[Skill: Treasure Hunting (A-Grade):] Passive Skill. User develops a profound, innate sense for valuable items and rare materials.
Automatically detects and identifies treasures, ores, and artifacts within a 200-ter radius.
Provides a detailed ntal map of their location and an approximate assessnt of their value and energy signature.
The higher the user’s Spirit, the greater the clarity and range.
This was a ga-changer. It was like having a permanent, high-level radar for loot.
He wouldn’t have to stumble around blindly anymore. He could pinpoint every valuable resource, every hidden chest, every secret vein of ore.
The thought of all the treasures he must have walked right past in his journey through the Verge made him wince slightly.
"Well," he thought, a predatory grin spreading across his face, "no more missed opportunities."
He imdiately activated his new skill. The world around him, which he already perceived with incredible clarity thanks to his high attributes, suddenly shifted.
Faint, golden lights began to bloom in his mind’s eye, each one representing a valuable object.
It was like a video ga map coming to life.
He looked towards the massive, neatly arranged pile of refined minerals that Kendi had been hoarding.
A cascade of golden lights, ranging from soft glows to brilliant flares, lit up his ntal map.
His [Treasure Hunting] skill began feeding him a stream of information.
[Luminark Crystal (C-Grade) detected.]
[Adamantite Ore (B-Grade) detected.]
[Sunstone Fragnt (B-Grade) detected.]
[Starfall Iron (A-Grade) detected.]
The list went on and on. There were dozens of different rare ores and crystals, many of which he knew were incredibly valuable, sought after by the Weapons and Armants School for crafting high-tier equipnt.
Kendi’s nest was a treasure trove that would make Vice-Principal Robb Naharis weep with joy.
Daniel ntally scanned the entire pile. It was a massive haul, easily worth billions of Federation credits on the open market, and even more valuable in terms of pure crafting potential.
But as his mind scanned the glittering pile, a familiar wave of disappointnt settled in his stomach.
The Luminark Stone, the specific, priceless ingredient he needed for the second stage of his cultivation, wasn’t there.
"It’s not here," he murmured, his voice laced with frustration.
He had co all this way, faced down a rock-eating monster, and the main prize was still out of reach.
He pushed his [Treasure Hunting] skill to its limit, extending his senses deeper, past the cavern, through the solid rock of the mountain itself.
The range of the skill, amplified by his imnse Spirit attribute, easily surpassed the initial 200 ters.
His ntal map expanded, a three-dinsional image of the mountain’s veins and hidden pockets forming in his mind.
And then he felt it.
About a hundred ters deeper into the mountain, in a small, isolated pocket of rock, a single point of light blazed with an intensity that dwarfed everything in Kendi’s hoard.
It was a brilliant, pure, and almost blindingly white light, humming with an energy so potent it made his teeth ache.
It was a treasure of such imnse value that his [Treasure Hunting] skill was practically screaming at him.
"There you are," Daniel breathed, a slow, triumphant smile returning to his face. "The Luminark Stone."
He turned to his new familiar, who was now contentedly trying to chew on a particularly shiny piece of Adamantite.
"Alright, Kendi. I need you to lead there. To that big, shiny thing deep in the mountain."
Kendi let out a soft whine, its massive head turning to look back at its precious, glittering hoard.
A wave of profound sadness and reluctance washed over Daniel through their familiar bond.
The aardvark was clearly distressed at the thought of leaving its hard-won treasure behind, unprotected.
It was the only ho it had known since the miners had destroyed its original den.
Daniel looked at the sad, oversized aardvark, then at the mountain of priceless ore, and a wonderfully devious, and mutually beneficial, idea sparked in his mind.
He knelt beside Kendi, patting its thick, armored hide reassuringly.
"Don’t you worry about your treasure, my friend," he said, his voice smooth and comforting. "I have a solution. I possess a very special, very secure ability.
I can... safeguard... all of this for you. I will place your entire collection in a safe, private space where no one can ever find it.
It will be waiting for you, completely protected, when we return. How does that sound?"
Kendi looked at him, its small, intelligent eyes filled with a mixture of confusion and hope. It sensed the honesty in Daniel’s tone, if not the full, self-serving scope of his offer.
With a final, trusting grunt, it nudged Daniel’s hand in agreent.
"Excellent choice," Daniel said, trying to keep his expression one of solemn responsibility.
He activated his S-Grade [Elentary Storage Ring].
With a series of smooth, chanical hums, the entire mountain of rare ore vanished, transferred neatly into his personal inventory.
With a series of smooth, chanical hums, the entire mountain of rare ore vanished, transferred neatly into his personal inventory.
The cavern, once a radiant trove of treasure, now stood empty, its riches gone, leaving only a few drifting motes of dust behind.
Kendi looked around at its empty nest, then at Daniel, a look of profound, almost childlike trust on its face.
It let out a happy squeak, apparently relieved that its treasure was now safely secured.
Daniel just grinned. "Alright, my friend," he said, patting the blissfully ignorant aardvark. "Let’s go get that Luminark Stone."
With his storage ring now filled to the brim with a king’s ransom in rare materials, and the location of his true prize pinpointed, Daniel followed the Treasure Aardvark deeper into the dark, silent heart of the mountain, ready for the next stage of his quest.
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