Awakening: I Ascend As A Legendary Ranked Necromancer-Chapter 61: Loot

What I did first was send the goblins to bring any treasures they might have in the tribe. Too bad the goblins can’t talk, then I might be able to know what happened to them.

I was still surprised that it was a Necromancer, someone with the same powers as me but in a different way.

"So do you get any new abilities from this?" Temur said, crouching like the others to extract monster cores from the dead goblins. Whoever did this wasn’t interested in monster cores.

I looked through my spellbook to the place where the goblins were written. I frowned. "No. They are not unique monsters."

Litha snorted. "Your Grimoire is weird, so what monsters are unique?"

I shrugged. I found it baffling, too, but it is what it is, and I was sure the Grimoire would notify me when a unique monster came around.

"They are here!" Cele said.

The goblins came down, each of them carrying a wooden chest. The team stood up and surrounded me as they dropped them at my feet. "Open it."

The first chest was filled with golden coins of all sizes and different objects of gold. Temur grinned. "This is what I’m talking about! We can live off all this for several floors!"

Litha let out a whistle, her eyes already calculating as she watched Temur put it inside his ring.

The others watched hungrily, but unfortunately for them, only I and my companions could take the loot. They should meet Thayer for their own.

The second and third chests also opened, containing junks they had picked up through the years. We dismissed those and waited for the fourth to open, and it contained a map.

"I think this is the map of where they came from before the twisting space brings them," Dile said as he studied it. "Can I keep this?"

No one needed it, so he kept it.

We all held our breath as the war chief opened his own, but we were disappointed because it contained only a lump of black metal.

Tim scowled. "I thought we would finally see an artifact."

Temur grunted; he thought so as well. "The gold is enough anyway. We should go before whoever did all this comes back."

I picked up the lump of metal and studied it; hard and yet soft, it glinted with dark light. An idea struck me, and I extended it to the war chief. "Use it."

The goblin accepted it and sent Mama into the metal; immediately, it shuddered and ripped, then flowed like liquid. It covered him and turned into armor that enveloped his whole bulk.

"Wow, do more!"

The metal flowed to his hand and turned into a sword, then a war hammer, and then a shield.

"So it’s an artifact!" I grinned. I collected it from the goblin and gave it to Temur. "This suits you."

"Are you sure?" Temur asked, even as he already injected his aura into it. He changed it into a sword, then swung it, cutting the air without any sound. "The weight and balance! Perfect! I can even make it longer or shorter! This is going to come in handy during a fight!"

He turned it into a metal band on his left hand. "Now, let’s go!"

I turned to my goblins and extended my hand. The ground beneath them ripped with darkness and they sank into it. Immediately, I felt them in my mind. "Interesting."

We left the goblin fortress behind and began our journey to the center of the zone. It was difficult; we fought strong monsters, and that slowed us. Fortunately, we were closer already, and a full day’s walk took us to it.

"This looks exactly like the black castle from outside," I noted, staring up at the castle and marveling at its size. "The general must be really important."

"He’s one of King Solomon’s generals, according to the spirit. Come on, let’s see what a general like that has in store for us." Temur began to walk towards the Iron gate, and it opened soundlessly to admit us.

Maybe other Awakeners have entered or not, we didn’t know because we were the only ones there. The courtyard was silent, and even our steps on the crumbled floor were muted.

The air smelled of old stone, and when the gate closed with a loud clang, we flinched. I shook off my uneasiness. This is just an old castle. What’s there to be worried about?

Cele raised her right hand, where a small compass-like artifact glinted. "The place with the thickest mana here is over there." She pointed to a tower that stood beside the main castle. "It’s coming from the very top."

I frowned at the black tower; it reminded me of the Dungeon Tower, but this one is short and can’t compare at all. "Let’s go."

An Iron bond door met us, and when Temur tried it, the door shuddered, and a face appeared in it, making us jerk back and ready our attacks.

"What’s this now?" I began.

I got my answer because the face began to talk. "Welcome to the great game of King Solomon! You have seven stages to clear, and the winners will be given rewards by the king!"

We exchanged glances. This is the problem with zones that appear in ruins. They are always personalized! What is this about playing King Solomon’s game again?

"All teams and competitors will appear on the seventh stage to compete for the rewards!"

"So how does this game work exactly? Do we enter and start to climb it or.....?"

The face continued to speak without acknowledging us. "If you die in the game, then you are dead!"

"Welcome to the great game of King Solomon! You have seven stages to clear, and the winners will be given rewards by the king!"

Litha scowled. "I think it’s on auto, and it’s not like we have a choice anyway. We’ll try our best not to die. Now, open!"

The door swung open.