PATH OF THE STAR HUNTER

It couldn’t be helped; after all, a godly treasure had just turned into scattered ashes because of the piece of wood. To top it off, Desmond still didn’t know exactly what the hell the piece of wood was. The scan function didn’t even detect the presence of an object when Desmond tried to use it. However, he suspected that was Titania’s doing.

Whatever the case, the only thing Desmond knew about the piece of wood was that it was the nemesis of the electrical powers, devouring them as soon as it saw them. Titania didn’t say much about the piece of wood either, only mentioning that it couldn’t be considered a gift but rather a transfer of responsibility. Regardless, Desmond didn’t know what she meant.

Desmond even had to resort to using his internal flow of aquatic mana as a tranquilizer to swallow the frustration of recent events. It was hard to accept that a minute ago, the joy of finding a great treasure had filled his heart, only to be eradicated due to the stupid piece of wood.

“Thinking about it more will only make me want to cry; it’s better to pretend that none of this happened.”

Making masterful use of the ability known as “playing dumb,” Desmond put the unfortunate event in the past. Looking back at the piece of burnt wood on the ground, it hadn’t changed much. Perhaps the faint electric glow leaking from the cracks in the bark had become slightly brighter, but that was all.

Since there was no point in thinking about it further, Desmond walked over to the burnt piece of wood, intending to store it again. At the moment of contact, a tiny spark was generated; strangely, Desmond did not feel pain or anything like that. Instead, a feeling of closeness and affection invaded him.

The strange phenomenon reminded Desmond of a fact he had overlooked. He hadn’t taken the piece of wood out of storage; it had come out of his own accord. The possibility of this being just a freak accident resulting from the goddess of fortune’s revenge aside. The piece of wood shouldn’t have been able to come out of storage if it was just an inanimate object.

Spirituality was the first word that came to Desmond’s mind, a term that was not unknown to him. Besides religious or philosophical undertones, Desmond had seen the term spirituality on more than one occasion while discussing particular treasures.

.....

The word spirituality appeared in the description of the sword, , and the recently destroyed gem, . Even the bow that Desmond used less and less possessed a faint trace of spirituality.

Although the description given by the analysis in the hunter’s book was vague, Desmond had some understanding of this class of objects from having used them in the past. It was that understanding that led him to believe that the burnt piece of wood was some kind of treasure with spirituality.

There was only one problem with that hypothesis: even the sword, , a treasure infinitely close to the four-star class, barely showed any traces of personality, something more akin to an ever-present temper in the sword. For the burnt piece of wood to exhibit any sort of free will or emotions, Desmond didn’t know what kind of treasure was capable of such a thing.

On the other hand, the burnt piece of wood could also be something similar to Desmond’s bestial soul, an existence that was not quite an object but not quite a sentient being either. This could be a possibility, but there was another problem with that scenario, the piece of wood was most certainly a real physical object.

Some other ideas flashed through Desmond’s mind, but none seemed quite right. The main problem was that he knew very little about this vast universe; his knowledge base was simply insufficient to draw any kind of reliable conclusion. On the other hand, the universe was full of unique treasures that were outside of common sense, so, to a certain extent, knowing exactly what the piece of wood was, was not only impossible but also a bit useless.

“At least I don’t feel anything dangerous when I touch it, and it already saved my life once. From that point of view, losing that gem is a fair price. After all, I only have one life.”

Shifting his focus, Desmond stopped caring about the true nature of the strange piece of burned wood and instead seemed quite pleased to have it. Desmond hadn’t forgotten the feeling of closeness and care that he had when he took the piece of wood. It seemed to come from something inside the piece of wood. Desmond’s instincts told him that whatever it was, it wasn’t a threat, and that was enough for Desmond.

Putting the whole thing in the back of his head, Desmond used the storage function to put the piece of wood away, much to his surprise... Nothing out of the ordinary happened.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Desmond looked at the other three gems on the ground. Although the gem, , had been lost, there were still three gems left, and at least two of these looked quite valuable, this lifted Desmond’s mood.

Not wanting to leave time for other unforeseen events to occur, Desmond immediately used the hunter’s book to analyze the three gems. Desmond started with the gem that looked like a small bar of liquid silver.

<Gem: Deep Strengthening Platinum. Two-star class, medium level.

Elemental Affinity: Metal.

Description: A rare gem with strong assimilation and fusion properties and a special type of highly pure metallic mana. It can be used to strengthen a mundane metal into a magical metal, increasing its hardness, resistance, and mana conductivity. The resulting magical metals will passively absorb small amounts of metallic mana, keeping it in a constant state of energization.>

Desmond had mixed emotions reading the description provided. On the one hand, it seemed incredibly useful and powerful for reinforcing pieces of gear made from metallic materials. On the other hand, it had too heavy a restriction; it could only be used on non-magical metals. Such restrictions, combined with the level of the gem, were an obvious limit to what could be achieved with it.

“It seems more suitable as a way to create a magical metal with certain properties. With a sufficiently skilled blacksmith, it should be possible to use that metal to create a much more powerful treasure.”

Desmond was genuinely frustrated by his constant need for a blacksmith or craftsman. Whenever he got hold of a high-quality treasure or material, the first thing that came to bite him in the butt was his inability to turn such a thing into a true treasure. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the value of raw materials was only a fraction of the value of expertly crafted treasure.

From previous experience, Desmond knew the higher the value of a material, the greater the gap between its value and the value of a treasure created from the same material.

The reason was simple, more and more powerful and talented blacksmiths were needed to process high-level materials. Hiring blacksmiths was getting increasingly expensive, and Desmond’s earnings only paled in comparison, truly making him want to cry.

Hence Desmond had a severe equipment shortage in his person. To top it off, equipment looting wasn’t viable at all; the hunter’s book’s transportation restrictions made it nearly impossible.

After a second look at the silver gem and thinking of a certain item stored in his hunter’s book, an idea flashed through Desmond’s mind. “I’ll analyze the rest of the gems first, and then I’ll see if it works. If it really works, it will be a good way to circumvent the transport restrictions in the hunter’s book. Those bastards clearly just want to keep us poor so that we remain dependent on them.”

Pointing the hunter’s book at the red gem, shaped like thorny vines, Desmond used the analysis function again.

<Gem: Vine of Bloody Blessing. Two-star class, medium level.

Aura Type: Vitality/Blood.

Description: This rare gem is brimming with intense vitality yet endless bloodlust, possessing a strong parasitic fusion quality targeting plants. Using this gem to parasitize a plant will give it strong vitality and resistance, creating a mutant variant of it with certain vampirism-like qualities.>

The red gem was stranger than the silver or now-ash blue gem, and Desmond was having difficulty finding a use for it. “This thing looks more like a biohazard than a treasure.” Desmond couldn’t help but comment.

It was only because Desmond already had a course of action planned for the silver gem that he came up with a possible application for the red gem. It was a bit risky, and its outcome might not necessarily be satisfactory. Still, Desmond didn’t think it was a bad idea. . “Even if it doesn’t work, the only thing I lose is this strange, sinister-looking gem and a piece of gear I no longer use.”

Keeping that thought in his head, Desmond pointed to the last gem, the orange marble.

<Gem: Warm touch. One-star Class, maximum level.

Elemental Affinity: Earth/Fire.

Aura type: Fiery/Vitality.

Arcane Law: Creation.

Description: This gem contains a harmonic combination of all three types of energy and exudes a strange quality that evokes the desire of mineral lifeforms. After being absorbed by a mineral life form, it gains a body temperature and softer, more supple skin without affecting its innate defensive qualities.>

“I have to admit, I totally underestimated how weird, random, and unexpectedly specific the gem functions are in these mines.” Desmond exclaimed with a strange expression on his face.

No amount of mettle in the world could allow Desmond to remain impassive after the description of the last gem, which could very well be a product of beauty for Golems.