Chapter 49: The King’s Gifts

The Finriver Royal Family’s Bracelet.

Just hearing the name alone was enough to make one’s mouth water.

Revan, struggling to contain the uncontrollable twitch of his cheeks, opened his inventory.

There, in one corner of the inventory, he spotted a bracelet with a golden border, shining brilliantly.

As soon as he saw the bracelet’s golden border, Revan immediately closed the inventory.

He then pressed both palms to his forehead.

‘Thank you, King-God-General-Admiral-Majesty Rubix.’

Not just any color, but gold.

In Warlord, gold signified a Legendary item.

Finishing his prayer, full of selfishness, Revan took a deep breath, opened his inventory again, and checked the bracelet’s information.

  
[Finriver Royal Family’s Bracelet]

-Grade: Legendary, Royal.

-Restriction: None.

-Durability: 2,000/2,000

-Options

Magic Defense +500.

#Absolute protection from minor illnesses.

#Royal Family’s Blessing usable.

  
[#Royal Family’s Blessing]

-Effect: Once a day, the wearer of the bracelet receives Finriver’s blessing, is freed from all status ailments, and fully recovers health and mana.

-Cooldown: 24 hours.

  
“Wha?”

Revan’s slightly open mouth split wide open with a snap.

The item grade was Legendary, as expected. But there was an additional grade: ‘Royal.’

‘Insane. I expected it, but it’s really Royal grade….’

The Royal grade was, literally, a grade only attached to items owned by the royal family, with a fundamentally different, immense value compared to other items.

To give a simple example, even if an item is only Normal grade, if it has the Royal tag, it’s no longer just a Normal item.

‘And look at these insane options.’

With Legendary and Royal combined, it had a whopping 500 magic defense, despite being a simple accessory.

With this amount, most low-grade skill attacks would be neutralized.

On top of that, it provided protection from minor illnesses, so Revan no longer had to worry about trivial, bothersome ailments.

‘Even if I go somewhere cold, I don’t need to worry about frostbite or colds, and if I go somewhere hot, no worries about eczema or heatstroke. At first glance, it might seem like a lame option, but any player who’s ever been out in the wild would know how amazing this is.’

Warlord featured a variety of terrains, each with their own related diseases.

In other words, things like the common cold existed in this world too.

Of course, if there’s a cold, there are also more trivial illnesses like stomachaches and hiccups, which go without saying.

But the true highlight among the bracelet’s options was, of course—

‘It’s the Royal Family’s Blessing.’

Revan’s eyes sparkled.

Royal Family’s Blessing had a cooldown of 24 hours. In other words, it could only be used once a day.

But by waiting that long, you could enjoy the benefits of “Absolute Recovery”: full restoration from all status ailments, health, and mana.

‘As expected of a king. They’re built different.’

The options were so good that a respect he never had before naturally sprouted.

So, a man’s honor really does come from a thick wallet.

Seeing the bracelet’s options, Revan truly thought, “A king is a king.”

With a big smile, Revan put the bracelet on his wrist.

‘Even if I had a Rolex, I wouldn’t be this happy.’

He had never worn or even seen a real Rolex, but he was sure that this moment was even better than wearing one.

It made sense: if he listed the Royal Family’s Bracelet at the auction house, it would not only top the official site’s hot-picks, but fetch an astronomical sum if sold.

But Revan decided not to sell it.

Because while he could gain immense wealth by selling it right away, in the long term, an item like this was far more valuable to keep as a main piece of gear.

‘The world’s come to a point where items are more valuable than money. There are plenty of rich people in this game anyway. So I’ll never sell this; I’ll use it myself.’

A grand blueprint drawn from a single bracelet.

Revan made up his mind to become a ranker and earn far more than he could ever get by selling the bracelet.

‘Now, time to check out the Horn of the Red Lion.’

Although it was overshadowed by the golden glow, the border of the Horn of the Red Lion was also red.

Meaning, the horn was Unique grade.

Revan checked the horn’s information.

  
[Horn of the Red Lion]

-Grade: Unique, Royal.

-Restriction: None.

-Durability: 3/3

-Options

When used, #summon the entire Red Lion Knights for up to 1 hour, up to 3 times.

  
“Hm?”

Horn of the Red Lion.

Just hearing the name, it was hard to guess what it did.

But the Horn of the Red Lion was none other than a summoning item.

And not just any summoning item—one that summoned the entire Red Lion Knights.

‘Does that mean Leon can be summoned too?’

A summoning item that included the legendary knight, Leon Kalager.

There was a limit to the number of uses, like the Mirror Ring, but just considering the options, this was an amazing item.

‘Since it’s a royal knight order, it’s Royal grade. It’ll be useful in emergencies.’

He remembered seeing it in a hot-pick on the official site before.

The truly wealthy didn’t bother with mediocre bodyguards; they just used these kinds of summoning items as if they were nothing.

Also, streamers who didn’t want help from others and had the funds mostly used summoning items like this.

So, as someone being chased by the Black Guild, the horn that could summon the Red Lion Knights was quite the useful item for Revan.

Next, Revan rubbed his hands together and checked the rewards for completing the growth quest.

‘Ah, is it finally time for the Skill Cube?’

The reward for the growth quest, which could only be completed by earning the king’s recognition, was none other than ‘Rubix’s Skill Cube.’

Of course, among the rewards, there was also the first ever Empty 44-Cube Frame.

But the frame was empty, while the Skill Cube was full of skills.

The priorities were obvious.

Revan first picked up the intact Rubix’s Skill Cube.

  
[Rubix’s Skill Cube]

-Grade: Rare, Unique, Bound.

-Option: Upon completing the cube, acquire 1 #Skill contained within the cube.

  
The Skill Cube acquired this time was also Rare grade, just like before.

Having just seen Legendary and Royal grades, it would be understandable if this felt underwhelming, but Revan didn’t feel even a hint of disappointment.

Because, by his standards, the War Mage’s Skill Cube was even harder to obtain than Legendary items.

‘Come to think of it, it’s frustrating. What kind of wizard only knows Hold and Energy Bolt by level 53?’

Just going by information, Revan was, literally, an untrained wizard.

Of course, besides those two spells, he had other skills, so he could hunt just fine.

But Revan’s roots were as a mage, not a warrior.

He believed that, as a mage, he should have more fundamental spells than a warrior has skills.

Revan checked the description tags attached to the Skill Cube.

  
[#Skill]

#Flame

#Freezing

#Lightning

#Shield

#Greece

  
‘Oh? The lineup’s a bit different.’

He was worried it’d be the same as before, but luckily, the skills had changed.

Still, even with a new lineup, there was one thing Revan hoped for.

‘This time, please, let it be an elemental spell.’

He hoped to win an elemental spell, not a support spell like Shield or Greece.

With earnest hope, Revan prayed to the gods, then began solving the cube.

Clack-clack—

  
[You have successfully completed Rubix’s Skill Cube.]

[You have acquired Freezing.]

[You have acquired 1 Rubix’s Skill Cube Shard.]

  
“Oh?”

At the news that he’d acquired Freezing, Revan doubted his eyes for a moment.

But he had really acquired Freezing, one of the elemental spells.

“Yessssssssssss!!”

The moment he realized this was reality, he couldn’t help but cheer out loud.

  
[Rubix shakes his head at your actions.]

  
……Rubix seemed disappointed, but oh well.

Revan immediately checked Freezing’s options.

  
[Freezing]

-Grade: Rare.

-Rank: F(0.0%)

-Effect: Inflicts a frozen state on a touched target. The range of freezing varies depending on the target’s magic defense. Deals initial damage 200% higher than basic attack, then applies 50% basic attack as continuous damage for 3 seconds.

-Cooldown: 60 seconds.

-Mastery Options

*When used with a 22-Cube, cooldown 60 seconds.

*With a 33-Cube, cooldown reduced to 40 seconds, frozen state duration +2 seconds.

*With a 44-Cube, ignores magic defense. (Using a 44-Cube grants all benefits from lower-grade cubes as well.)

  
“Uh…?”

Right after checking Freezing’s options.

Revan was surprised once by the fact that Freezing was a status ailment spell, and again at the new mastery option.

‘Is it because it’s Rare that it has a 44-Cube option?’

If so, Unique skills might have a 55-Cube mastery option as well.

Plus, using a 44-Cube gave all the benefits of a 33-Cube too, so he felt he must absolutely use a 44-Cube.

‘But I haven’t solved a 44-Cube in a while…’

But that’s no problem.

With better benefits on the line, a little practice would get his 44-Cube skills back to form in no time.

Smiling from acquiring Freezing, Revan then checked the information on the Empty 44-Cube Frame.

  
[Empty Cube Frame (44)]

-Grade: Unique, Quest, Bound.

-Restriction: War Mage only, Strength 100+, requires 4 Empty Cube Frames (33).

-Options

If you combine 4 Empty Cube Frames (33) and 64 Rubix’s Cube Shards in an Empty Cube Frame (44), you can obtain a Unique grade Rubix’s Cube.

  
“Uh…?”

Checking the information on the 44-Cube Frame, Revan was startled.

Because the frame wasn’t Rare, but Unique grade.

‘No way?’

33-Cube is Rare, 44-Cube is Unique. So is 55-Cube, maybe…?

No confirmation yet, but it was an easy and happy assumption to make.

‘If that’s true, that would be great.’

If the 55-Cube really is Legendary grade, then Revan could aim not just for Legendary skills, but Legendary items as well.

Thinking that, he couldn’t help but grin from ear to ear.

‘Just in time, I have 4 33-Cube Frames and over 100 Strength. So all I need is more Skill Cube Shards…’

Revan suddenly remembered the marshmallow story he read as a kid.

He’d only read it because his teacher made him write a book report.

And back then, he wrote in his book report:

‘I will be the kind of person who waits and gets two marshmallows.’

Why was he remembering that now?

After pondering for a while, Revan finally made up his mind.

‘Yeah, after all, dust gathered is still just dust. Go all-in, double or nothing.’

Patience always wins.

Especially when the future reward is certain, there’s no reason to hesitate.

So Revan decided to wait.

‘That’s it for rewards. I guess Mongoose isn’t done yet.’

It wasn’t the Epic Cube he opened right after Mongoose asked for the honey badger collab, but as expected, Mongoose’s request had become a quest.

So the ongoing Epic Quest would naturally be completed as soon as Mongoose met the honey badger.

‘Maybe I’ll go have a solo feast.’

With that, there was no more business at the Pass or the royal palace.

To commemorate completing his big task, Revan decided to rest and enjoy some delicious food at a plaza restaurant.

Revan’s steps toward the famous eatery were light as a feather.