Brand examined the very-normal-shield that had just turned into an A-rank shield, Vibrant Shield.
There was no change in the appearance, except that the name engraving was now his name, Brand Smith.
This implied a change of ownership, and this was probably why Brand could check the details of the shield when he couldn't previously.
"Come to think of it, you mentioned before that Nano-Machine was an elusive artifact." Brand talked to Seraphine.
"Yeap, the Nano-Machine was a sentient artifact," Seraphine replied. "It was an artifact crafted by God."
"How about this shield?" Brand started to wave the shield back and forth. "It seemed to have consciousness as well?"
The shield seemed to be able to play a trick with GHOST's scan ability.
"A very-normal-shield." Brand looked at the shield closely.
Suddenly, the shield emitted light, causing Brand to close his eyes quickly. He felt as if he had been hit by a flashbang.
"Urgh…" Brand threw the shield away. It flew off, hit the ground and walls, before bouncing back at the Brand, hitting his face.
"Stop it!" Brand held the shield down, with his eyes still closed.
"You asked for it." Seraphine giggled.
"The bouncing reminded me of a captain's shield." Brand rubbed his head. The spot he was hit.
Brand wanted to say that the shield was very narrow-minded, but he stopped. Fear that the shield would jeopardise him in the future.
Especially when he would be using it in battles.
"Well… This was a nice shield with a nice effect." Brand was praising the shield aloud.
"Perfect aesthetic sense as well, this was like a shield used by a Holy Paladin in various games!" Brand pointed at the golden trim.
The shield's golden trim shone, pulsing faintly, as if it were nodding.
He needed to please even a shield now… He didn't complain and was just rethinking his life.
'What did I do wrong to get to this point?'
Then he went to check back on the shield. He had some queries.
"Mermaid's tear." Brand addresses the one thing he was most curious about.
"There were mermaids in this world?" He asked. So far, after he came to this world, he has only ventured around sand dunes after sand dunes.
"Where was the ocean? Got a bigger map?" Brand checked with Seraphine.
His current Map feature only showed a limited range. The furthest he could see was the place he first came into the world. The region with rock formations was the habitat of the baby Sand Dragon.
If he measured by days of travel, it was only up to a travel distance of three days.
Seraphine thought for a while and said.
"As you now know, this world was a post-apocalyptic world of advanced civilization."
"The metal scraps were the broken parts of artifacts used by humans in the past. The humans who had lived in that era."
"The desert tribe was a human settlement that was separated from the rest of the world."
"They were considerably more traditional than the rest of the world."
"You would see later, when you entered other regions."
That was impressive. Maybe he could see some advanced human settlement with flying cars?
Brand thought, he couldn't help but ask.
"What caused the destruction of the civilization?"
"The apocalyptic event was a natural occurrence?"
As Brand asked this, he saw Seraphine's eyes widen, and grinned.
"You asked a great question there." She said.
"The apocalypse happened because the humans flew too close to the sun." She said grimly.
After that, Seraphine said that she had talked too much, and she wouldn't say anything on this topic anymore.
Brand was disappointed, but he accepted it.
Seraphine probably had some rules that she had followed as well.
Probably.
She wouldn't even tell him what the people referred to as the apocalyptic event. He only wanted to know the name.
"Petty angel."
—SMACK
Seraphine, once again, was exempted from the constraint of ethereal form and hit him. She was more powerful than he thought, not in combat, but in authority-wise.
Even the tutorial space she manifested was god-like.
Brand left out a sigh and addressed the final question he had in mind.
"What was the identity of Brand Essen?" Brand mentioned his thought to Seraphine, to check on her reaction.
"Hmm, a missing tribe warrior?" Seraphine replied playfully.
'Again, no answers.'
Brand played around with the shield and walked around the hut once again to check if there was anything more to loot.
However, it seemed that was it, only rubbles were left.
"We would have to go back to the hut soon," Brand said. They had been out for so long, and he was hungry as well.
'What was Lena doing now?'
The beetle scout stationed in the oasis didn't detect any anomaly either.
If she was the one he saw in his beetle's vision—the person in black hood back in the oasis, she was being too quiet now. There was still no action yet. The goat skull was still buried, without any hint of spell activation.
He would continue to monitor, but for now, he would return to the inn for rest.
'But before that, let's check on my status before heading back. '
"Status."
==============
Status:
Name: Brand
Job: GHOST (Agent of Seraphim)
Level: 5
STR: 20
AGI: 25
INT: 20
==============
Additional Points: 24
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GHOST Core: Lv. 1
- 40/50 Karma to Lv 2
==============
Skills:
1. Debuff Cube - Decrease the target's all stats by 5% for 3 minutes.
2. Might - Increase STR by 25% for 3 minutes.
3. Haste - Increase AGI by 25% for 3 minutes.
4. Clear Mind - Increase INT by 25% for 3 minutes.
5. Reverse Strike - Return 100% damage received with a wide crescent arc of energy wave.
6. Scarab Shell
- Tremorsense
- Increase DEF by 25% for 3 minutes.
7. Beetle Scout - Transform a finger into a beetle to scout.
8. Phantom Slash - Unleash a storm of slashes.
9. Reflect - Vibrant Shield (equipment)
==============
Achievement:
1. Survived Scarab Swarm
==============
Equipment:
1. Vibrant Shield (A) - Reflect
- Negate damage and return with double damage.
(Condition: Perfect parry. | Limit: Once per week.)
==============