NOVEL NEXT Chapter 45: Treasure Chest
"Do the opposite of what Bennett suggests, and every adventure will go smoothly beyond compare."
This saying didn't come from Nolan, but was summarized by Mr. Herman, the famous former adventurer and father of Miss Ellin.
Thinking about it carefully, what he said made a lot of sense. Nolan felt it was worth trying.
"Ahem, Bennett, as an experienced adventurer, where do you think has the highest probability of finding treasure?"
Nolan asked seemingly casually.
"Huh, me?" Bennett's eyes widened slightly. After stroking his chin and thinking hard, he said, "Hmm... in my experience, the more dangerous a place is, the higher the probability that treasure exists there!"
He looked at the left path leading slightly downward and said excitedly:
"That's right, this is it! My passion has already sensed the aura of a great treasure!"
"Oh, so you have such skills, my attendant?"
Fischl said, blinking her right eye not covered by the eyepatch.
The black short boots kicked away a small rock by her feet. The lace trim of her over-the-knee black stockings was connected to a leather garter strap extending into her skirt, revealing the snow-white skin of her legs below.
"It's not much of a skill, just an adventurer's intuition," Bennett replied, scratching the back of his head.
"I see." Nolan nodded thoughtfully, then said, "Since even an experienced adventurer like Bennett feels it's a dangerous path, I think it's too early for me as a novice adventurer. Why don't we try somewhere a little easier first?"
The night raven Oz also said after thinking for a bit:
"Yes, for the young miss and you two who just formed a team without much coordination, going somewhere dangerous is indeed reckless."
"I see, then how about we go straight ahead? This stone road looks big and doesn't seem dangerous."
Bennett also seemed to feel they were right, and pointed in another direction.
Very good. Now, based on his own senses, Bennett had pointed out the most dangerous and the safest directions.
So according to Bennett's "misfortune" physique, in all likelihood, those two directions would both be arduous with little reward. The remaining direction on the right was more likely to yield greater gains.
"Hmm, but with Bennett the veteran adventurer, and the princess here, we don't need to be so conservative."
Nolan suggested.
"Hmph, as expected of my attendant. What you say makes sense." Fischl closed her eyes, and nodded slightly, the golden strands of hair swaying as she commanded, "Oz, my servant! Go forth, blaze a trail of mystery for this princess!"
Fischl pointed at the wide road on the right with her fair fingers.
"As you wish, young miss." Oz took the order and flew away swiftly like a flash of night.
With Oz scouting ahead, Nolan and the others followed behind. The secret realm was complex and vast, otherwise, they could have just let Oz scout the whole thing.
If they did that now, by the time the scouting was done, all the good stuff would've been taken by other adventurers already.
Earlier, Fischl had done some preliminary scouting as an investigator for the Adventurers' Guild, but not in this area. The enemies she had scouted were only some Ruin Guards.
The three walked on silently.
As they went deeper along the path in the secret realm, the stone road surface gradually changed into a dirt road, with sharp jutting rocks and round sunken pits.
Walking on it kicked up some dust.
Soon, Fischl relayed a message from Oz, discovering an exquisite chest in a large pit ahead, but it was sealed by some curses, making it a bit tricky to open.
Hearing the news, the three hurried over. Bennett was so excited that he tripped over a protruding rock and fell down.
Of course, this was no big deal for Bennett's tough and resilient body. Falling down was too common an occurrence.
Arriving at the large pit, Nolan knew what the trouble with opening the chest was. The exquisite treasure chest was placed on a cursed platform, with dormant Ruin Guards in the four cardinal directions.
To get the exquisite treasure chest, they would have to defeat them and light up the curses on the platform.
Treasure Chests came in five tiers - Common, Exquisite, Precious, Luxurious, and Remarkable - as well as the special Trounce Domain chests. Like the Waypoints scattered across the continent, no one knew where these chests came from.
Sometimes you might even inexplicably find a chest on your balcony when you wake up.
But generally, they wouldn't appear again after being looted once.
From Nolan's perspective as a former player, chests were just a game mechanic. But in this real world, they had origins like the Waypoints, even if currently unknown.
It's just that no one knows about it now.
Some believed they were related to the ancient era, others thought some, Archon's powers created them. Various theories existed, but there was no real consensus.
It was because of the existence of chests that the adventuring profession thrived in Teyvat.
Unfortunately, Nolan only remembered the locations of some more notable chests from when he had explored the world, but they had all been looted already. After all, reality wasn't a game where chests would stay put if he didn't take them.
For example, Easy finds like on the Knights' roof, Cathedral tower top, or Anemo God Statue plaza had long been grabbed by others.
So his knowledge was useless now.
The current situation seemed to be that the seal curses on this exquisite chest were linked to the few Ruin Guards. Defeating them would dispel the seal.
Compared to some complicated puzzle-solving, this was much simpler.
"Awesome, it really is a chest!" Bennett shouted excitedly.
Fischl's gaze also brightened somewhat, though she maintained the dignity and poise befitting a princess, not acting too uncouth.
"Oh dear, but how do we deal with these ruin guards? It doesn't seem easy."
The night raven Oz flew back and said at this time.
Nolan also pondered a little. To be honest, going adventuring with Bennett meant being mentally prepared for anything to go wrong before getting the chest.
So while on the surface it was just four Ruin Guards, there was also Bennett's invisible "bad luck" at play.
This was easy to deal with, just keep him away from the battlefield so the chance of mishaps would decrease. And this was when his role as the team's archer came in.
"Bennett, can you use your Elemental Burst?" Nolan asked Bennett beside him.
Earlier after the first meeting, Nolan had asked Bennett to confirm whether his Elemental Burst had the same effects as in the game.
After all, the buff of "Fantastic Voyage" was too exaggerated.
(End of Chapter)
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