The two girls stared at me when we entered the cave. I could see several emotions reflected on their faces. Just finding a treasure chest felt anticlimactic; they were probably expecting traps or something similar.

  Finding a single chest was “disappointing.” I was slightly surprised Ogine hadn’t sensed anything inside the cave, then I remembered her ability works differently and she usually doesn’t keep it running at full capacity all the time—mental fatigue wouldn’t allow it.

  Her ability only reacts to very abrupt movements or when something moves at dangerous speeds; the rest of the time it remains in a half-dormant state.

  “What are you waiting for? Open it.” The two of them stared at me for half a second longer before turning toward the chest with wide smiles.

  The light from outside is a bit dim; it feels as if the cave itself is guiding the light toward the chest. The strange thing is that from outside you couldn’t see anything if you looked inward. Probably some complicated enchantment or special runes.

  They sit down on the ground, place one finger over the other, and press the button in the middle of the chest.

  A golden light flashes, surprising all of us. The glow lasts about three seconds before disappearing. In my previous chest nothing like that happened—the light was always just a faint flicker and lasted no more than half a second.

  “What was that?” I ask from behind them.

  “No idea. The chest we opened before didn’t do anything like that.” They haven’t experienced something like this either; maybe it was closer to mine.

  “Stop building suspense and tell me what’s inside.” I tried to look into the chest with my ability, but I couldn’t. There’s some kind of external force or something strange blocking my senses, as if a wall could prevent any sort of intrusion.

  “There’s a Medal of Honor for me.” Brendu holds one in her hand while smiling at me from ear to ear.

  I didn’t even have time to process my feelings—I was about to feel bad for Ogine when Brendu showed me her Medal of Honor.

  “There’s another one for me.” Both of them hold their medals like gym badges from an anime I used to watch a lot as a kid.

  “Now we all have three medals. We can head to the designated center whenever we want.” I’m genuinely happy for them. I wouldn’t mind throwing myself into another complicated situation, but I’m just relieved to know we can move to the meeting point whenever we wish.

  “Yes… as a last option we would’ve had to camp outside and try to steal from another player. Now we can avoid that situation.” Ogine looks quite relieved.

  She’s right. A lot of people must already be waiting to ambush other players—especially ranged attackers, stealth users, or those confident in duels against other people.

  “Is that all? Just two Medals of Honor?” For a moment I’d forgotten about the chest. There has to be more inside; the omnipresent voice can’t be that stingy.

  “Obviously not.” A teasing smile appears on Brendu’s face. “There are three more items, probably meant one for each of us. I have the feeling we were analyzed during the fight—that’s why we received two Medals of Honor and the other rewards.”

  Brendu’s reasoning makes sense; she’s most likely right. Then why can’t I see directly into the chest if I’m also part of the ‘formed team’? Maybe it only blocks the senses of those who didn’t press the button to open it. If we find another chest, I’ll test my theory.

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  “I’ll go first.” Ogine pulls out a beautiful staff. It’s made of gleaming white wood, covered in exquisite carvings—every detail worthy of a craftsman with blessed hands. At the head of the staff are two perfectly aligned gems.

  I’m sure this staff can be compared to my twin swords or at least comes close to their quality. It’s a very generous reward from the omnipresent voice.

  “It’s beautiful. Congratulations.” My words are completely sincere; the design is truly impressive.

  “It’s not just pretty—it has some very interesting functions. They’re all related to my life and sound mana. Even if it’s nowhere near the best staff I’ve seen, it’s the only one I know capable of harmonizing both my affinities.” Ogine looks extremely happy as she examines her staff.

  “It also helps solve my mana problem. I don’t have as large a mana pool as you or the princess, but these gems let me store mana to use when needed. They absorb mana naturally, or I can fill them with my own. It’s perfect.” With each word, Brendu sounds happier.

  “Congratulations, Ogine.” Brendu gives the healer a tight hug.

  “What did you get? Show us. Don’t make us wait.” Ogine is just as eager as I am to see the princess’s reward. It must be just as good.

  Brendu turns toward us with a wide smile. For the moment, we don’t see anything new. We keep staring at her until the princess finally decides to reveal her reward.

  Brendu opens her left hand, and on one of her fingers I see a ring I hadn’t noticed before. Is that her reward? The ring is purple and brown, crafted with top-tier detail and a black gem in the center. The artisan must have been a genius as well.

  “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Brendu moves her hand from side to side, showing off the ring’s beauty. “Its functions are simpler. It helps enhance my spatial affinity, and I feel a slight change in my poison mana.” She looks thoughtful before continuing.

  “The omnipresent voice implied something like being able to efficiently use my spatial mana in my constructions. Maybe I could teleport one of the monstrous trees wherever I want—or that’s what I understood.” She looks slightly confused; I understand that feeling.

  The omnipresent voice is quite limited when describing items. If we want a better explanation, we’ll have to wait until we leave this place. She’ll likely confirm it as soon as we’re out; most likely her conclusion is correct.

  Brendu has a lot of knowledge about various artifacts. She’s basically a walking library. Being part of royalty has its pros and cons—she knows a bit of everything, but she spent countless hours studying during her childhood. At least she doesn’t have any issues because of it.

  If the functions are as she believes, it’ll be a huge boost to both her offensive and defensive power. Teleporting a monstrous tree will surely consume a lot of mana without the ability, but it’s a tremendous advantage. It can save her from dangerous situations or allow her to take enemies by surprise.

  “Where’s mine?” I ask, a bit impatient, trying to keep my voice steady so I don’t reveal my feelings.

  “I have it already. It doesn’t look impressive, but let me tell you—it’s something highly desired by anyone.” She keeps her hands together, hiding the object. When she took it out of the chest earlier, I was able to see it thanks to my Personal World.

  “I haven’t seen its description yet, but I’ve seen similar ones in my family.” Brendu opens her hands, and I see a small sphere with three colors. Black, white, and gray are combined without blending. The sphere is only two centimeters in diameter—very small.

  I take the sphere from her hands and focus to obtain some kind of description. The omnipresent voice takes a few seconds before responding.

  “Concentrated Elemental Sphere. Increases compatibility with the affinities it was created from. Life, Death, and Space.”

  The description is short and lacking detail, but it’s enough to excite me. By increasing compatibility, I’ll be able to use my mana more efficiently, and even reduce consumption when constructing my abilities.

  It’s an enormous benefit, even if the increase is minimal. I’m completely happy to have received this reward. I explain the omnipresent voice’s words to both of them, and they congratulate me.

  “Wait until we finish this stage before consuming it. It’s better to ask for a more detailed description first,” Brendu tells me. She must have seen my expression—I was definitely thinking about consuming it right now.

  “I’ve seen several family members consume this type of item. Let me tell you how difficult they are to create. First, you need to gather many orbs from monsters with the desired affinity—at least Grade 4—but the base must be a Grade 5 or 6 core. Then there’s a refinement process to remove impurities from the cores, and many craftsmen from different branches must be involved in its creation.” Her explanation makes me even happier.

  “It’s a tedious process, and it can take many years just to obtain a single elemental sphere. But one with three superior affinities is even more complicated—it can take decades to create just one. It’s a very valuable item.” I store the sphere in my dimensional bracelet, afraid of losing it. Now we’ll head to the safe zone. They have no worries since their items are bound—I do.