The second circle, which lied at the centerpiece of the shield, had the face of a very beautiful woman with hundreds of angry snakes as her hair.

Unlike the smaller version on the band of the ring, this depiction was massive and highly defined.

The woman’s facial features were carved with flawless precision, capturing an expression of cold, unyielding rage that seemed to radiate outward into the dark space of the cavern.

The more Leon stared at the strange woman, the more the snakes on her hair seemed to be moving even though they were just still.

It was a bizarre, mesmerizing visual illusion that played tricks on his senses.

Her eyes were bright green, pulsing with a deep, ancient magical power that slightly illuminated the center of the shield.

The intense glare from those green eyes gave the impression that the woman was actively glaring down anyone who dared to stand in her path.

Standing right on the rim of this inner circle was an angry eagle, whose eyes were also green to match the woman’s gaze.

The majestic bird was depicted with its wings partially spread and its sharp talons dug firmly into the rim.

Its expression was fiercely predatory, capturing a sense of divine authority and martial pride that perfectly complemented the warlike theme of the artifact.

Leon stared at the shield in pure awe, surprised by the strange, yet intricate decorations on the shield.

Most shields were simple slabs of reinforced metal or basic energy barriers, making this legendary artifact look like a priceless masterpiece from a lost civilization.

He could tell they had some kind of meaning, probably related to Athena, the goddess who originally owned this shield according to the system’s description.

The deliberate placement of the charging warriors, the fierce eagle, and the snake-haired woman suggested a deeper lore that tied all these elements together under a single divine banner.

’Perhaps... I should try learning more about these ’gods’.’ he thought.

If he wanted to increase his affinity with the ring and unlock its full potential, then the first step was certainly learning more about its true origins.

He was incredibly curious about it, especially what the woman with snake hair at the center meant.

The striking image had left a deep impression on his mind, and he wanted to understand why a divine shield of wisdom and war would prominently feature such a monstrous, reptilian motif.

The green color didn’t seem to be the original color of the shield at all. The one he had right now was more like a holographic projection of the original Aegis through the ring.

’I guess that explains why the description said it grants the user the ability to summon the shield.’ he thought.

He wasn’t physically carrying the heavy metal artifact on his arm; rather, the ring acted as a key or a medium to channel a replica of the legendary shield whenever he needed it.

He could also tell that he could make the shield even bigger if the situation called for a wider range of defense.

The current five-foot diameter was just the base baseline setting of the projection. If he wanted to do that, he only needed to pour more mana into the ring.

With a simple thought, he deactivated the ring, and the large, glowing green circle collapsed inward, turning into a tiny point of light before disappearing completely into the face of the beautiful woman carved on the ring.

The cavern returned to its natural darkness, lit only by the faint light reflecting off the stone walls.

Leon turned his attention back to the corpse of the dungeon boss, stepping carefully around the pools of blood that covered the floor.

He then noticed something floating just above the blood, hovering silently in the air.

It was an orange scroll, and it had been hidden beneath the shadow of one of the sliced body parts of the giant sabertooth tiger.

Because the massive mountain of muscle had been cleanly split into four separate parts, the part of its severed shoulder had cast a shadow that blocked the item from his view until he looked closely.

Besides, he had been too occupied with the Ring of Aegis to even notice it.

Leon’s eyes shone as he recognized the scroll, and he thought to himself in excitement, ’A skill scroll!’

His heart rate picked up slightly as he looked at the floating orange object.

Skill Scrolls were rare, even more so than monster drops or equipment items.

They were simply scrolls where a player could learn skills from, allowing an individual to instantly imprint a new ability into their status window without years of tedious training.

The skills contained within these rare parchment rolls ranged from F-rank all the way up to SSS-rank.

A skill scroll above S-rank had never been seen throughout history though, and they were considered mere myths by the general public.

The vast majority of high-ranking hunters had to settle for A-rank or standard S-rank abilities, as anything higher simply did not exist in the recorded databases of the world’s academies.

SSS-rank skills had never been seen in action by players, but there was a persistent myth flying around the community that White—the legendary SSS-rank player who stood at the absolute pinnacle of the world—had a powerful SSS-rank skill in his possession.

No one could definitively prove the rumor about White’s skill, though. There was no official data or public record that could confirm the exact nature of his power.

Because of this lack of concrete proof, people simply believed the skill was either SS-rank or a SSS-rank ability.

Moving slowly, Leon bent his knees and lowered his body toward the ground. He made an effort to adjust his stance, not wanting to get stained with the Sabertooh’s blood.

Maintaining his balance, he carefully reached out and picked up the scroll.

Unlike standard monster drops, skill scrolls did not show up as notifications on the system interface. Instead, they simply appeared right beside the monster’s corpse, floating silently in the air as physical objects until someone decided to grab them.