The Healing Solaris Cleric

Chapter 88: Gambling Is The Shortcut To (2)

The most suitable place to gamble varied depending on a person's character. Even for Kai, he would typically have hid in an alley in some village corner to open skill books.

However, when it came to a large sum of money, people were quick to be influenced!

So, this place is the best spot, huh?

Kai was at the town square of Aquaria, facing the Blue Forest's Rest inn, sitting on a bench with a broken armrest. He even timed it to midday, when the bright sunlight shone down.

The conditions are the same.

It was exactly the same place and time as when the ranker sparked the riddle skill book craze by pulling a Unique skill book!

Imitating this, Kai equipped all sorts of lucky items and even took a Luck Potion.

Then, he closed his eyes and prayed.

Oh, gods of heaven and earth... please grant me a Unique... no, at least ten Rare skill books.

Kai, dressed in a pure white cleric robe, slowly opened his eyes with a reverent and holy expression, much like a pilgrim on a sacred journey.

“Here we go.”

Kai took a riddle skill book from his inventory and opened it.

[The Riddle Skill Book explodes into an ashen splendor, revealing its true form.]

[Congratulations! You acquired Skill Book - Golden Punch (Normal).]

“Golden Punch?”

It was a skill he had never heard of! Although it was of Normal grade, the name was intriguing.

It's not bronze or silver, but gold! Even if it's not a jackpot, this is a decent win, isn’t it?

Gambling often started with a beginner's luck!

Filled with anticipation, the skill description appeared before Kai's eyes.

[Skill Book - Golden Punch]

Grade: Normal

Attack your foes with a fist of pure golden light. There is a 1% chance the enemy will drop 1 gold.

(Cooldown: 1 hour)

It was a trash skill book, the worst of the worst, that almost made Kai say he was doomed.

However, instead of getting angry, Kai took a deep breath and calmed himself.

Beginner's luck is all nonsense. How does that even exist in gambling? It's all about the odds.

He showed a textbook example of self-rationalization!

Calming his mind, Kai immediately opened the second skill book.

[The Riddle Skill Book explodes into an ashen splendor, revealing its true form.]

[Congratulations! You acquired Skill Book - Golden Punch (Normal).]

“Oh my, seriously?!”

As Kai shouted, the players passing through the plaza were startled and looked at him.

Feeling embarrassed, Kai bit his lower lip and suppressed his anger.

This is just too much, isn’t it? Come on, seriously.

It was unclear whom he was addressing, but it was a warning filled with the anger he was currently feeling!

And perhaps because the warning worked or not, the third skill book he opened with trembling hands was definitely different from the previous two.

[The Riddle Skill Book explodes into a purple splendor, revealing its true form.]

[Congratulations! You acquired Skill Book - Holy Chains (Rare).]

“Yes!” Kai, grinning from ear to ear, let out a shout!

He looked at the skill book with a loving gaze, much like Gollum staring at the One Ring.

Holy Chains, this is something you can’t buy even if you have the money!

It was a skill highly sought after, mainly by the Paladin class players, and a versatile skill that used Holy Power to create chains for combat!

While it was possible to learn the skill from the church, it required completing very tedious and difficult quests and building high contributions and affinity with the church, so most players just waited for the skill book to be listed for sale.

We’re off to a good start. Forget about Golden Punch now.

Opening three books and getting one good item was definitely a jackpot!

Having obtained a skill book worth at least 300 gold, Kai hummed a tune and opened the fourth skill book.

[The Riddle Skill Book explodes into an ashen splendor, revealing its true form.]

[Congratulations! You acquired Skill Book - Golden Punch (Normal).]

“Ugh, come on!”

***

If someone had observed Kai for the past thirty minutes, they would be certain of one thing right now. The best way to lose weight was by failing at gambling.

In fact, Kai looked half his normal size after the last thirty minutes, and the passing players shook their heads as they saw Kai.

Jeez, he’s opening skill books. That trend passed so long ago.

Is he a rich kid or something like that?

How many skill books has he bought? He’s been opening them for thirty minutes straight.

Kai let out a deep sigh.

The saying that beginner’s luck was just that, luck for beginners, seemed a bit believable now. Out of the forty-three skill books he opened after getting Holy Chains, all of them were failures.

Of course, not all of them were completely useless, as some were decent enough to sell at the auction house.

But the problem was that he still didn’t get the pet summon/unsummon skill he wanted, and there was no other skill he could use after Holy Chains.

[Surprise Party (Passive)]

Grade: Normal

There is a saying, “Don’t hit a woman even with a flower.”

When attacking female monsters, your weapon turns into a flower.

When attacking male monsters, weapon attack power increases by 30%.

However, when attacking male monsters, there is a 1% chance that the weapon will disappear.

“What the hell, another garbage skill!”

Kai wanted to grab the developers by the collar and demand an explanation for creating such a crazy item!

“Whew...”

Kai stared at the three remaining riddle skill books in his inventory.

I opened forty-seven and got one good hit... What difference will these three make?

It was true that negative thoughts were creeping in, but he had already bought the skill books!

Giving up, Kai opened one of the remaining skill books.

Simultaneously, a purple radiance burst out!

[The Riddle Skill Book explodes into a purple splendor, revealing its true form.]

[Congratulations. You acquired Skill Book - Enhanced Summoning (Rare).]

“Huh?”

People were more thrilled when they received something good when they weren’t expecting it at all, rather than when they were filled with high expectations.

Kai blinked, unable to grasp the situation immediately.

Wait a minute, Enhanced Summoning means...?

Kai quickly checked the skill book’s information.

[Skill Book - Enhanced Summoning]

Grade: Rare

This allows you to register up to five pets and summons. All may be summoned and recalled at will. When summoned, a random buff will be applied, including on the summoner.

(Cooldown: 10 minutes)

“Th-this is amazing.”

Kai’s face lit up with joy. He felt like dancing with excitement, but he restrained himself due to the people around him.

This is exactly what I wanted... no, it’s even better than what I wanted.

Not only could he summon pets, but it also gave random buffs to both the user and the pet each time. This meant he could receive a random buff every ten minutes!

Depending on the buffs, the two of us could dominate the battlefield.

Of course, there was a precondition for this to work.

Blizzard. It depends on whether he can perform well.

Kai could already handle most enemies on his own, but he was still just one person. He could fend off two or three, but not dozens.

If the Black Bee guys discovered his identity and came after him, he would have to play the game while hiding.

So it would be better not to reveal Blizzard in any videos for now.

Kai tapped his knee as he quickly thought things through.

Yeah, that makes sense. I’ll keep him as my trump card.

Sometimes, an unnoticed, simple attack from behind was scarier than a visible fierce attack. Therefore, keeping Blizzard a secret until it grew stronger seemed the best approach.

Moreover, Kai planned to pass on the Armor of the Undead set to Blizzard once he reached level 100.

That will increase his attack power too. I also need to get it a pair of Rare-grade weapons... and restore the nerfed skill proficiency, and raise its level. Busy times ahead.

Despite the many thoughts, Kai enjoyed this moment because it wasn’t just a time where he had to think too much but a time to think about how to get stronger.

“Alright, let’s quickly open the remaining two skill books.”

Without thinking, he opened another book, and both Kai and the surrounding players were shocked.

“W-wait a minute. I-is that...?”

“A red radiance means...”

“It’s Unique!”

“What the hell! This game is rigged!”

Envy, jealousy, and curses! Kai, the target of all these emotions, stood there with his mouth open, staring at the message windows.

[The Riddle Skill Book explodes into a red splendor, revealing its true form.]

[Congratulations! You acquired Skill Book - Ethereal Body (Unique).]

“Wh-what is this?”

Someone had said giving up would be better, and Kai felt an impulse to hug, kiss, and even buy dinner for whoever had said that.

And it’s Ethereal Body. It’s a skill I’ve never seen on the community or at the auction house.

That was the nature of Unique-grade skill books. Even the ranker who hit the jackpot with a riddle skill book had only shared a screenshot of the grade, keeping the effect a secret.

Of course, Kai didn’t think badly of it.

It’s only natural. If it’s good, you should keep it to yourself. Why reveal your power?

His mouth watered so much that swallowing made his throat sting!

Kai slowly examined the contents of the Ethereal Body skill.

[Skill Book - Ethereal Body]

Grade: Unique

Turns your body into a ghostly form for 10 minutes. You will be immune to all physical damage, but magical damage will hurt you twice as much. Furthermore, your attack power is reduced by 50% while active.

(Cooldown: 1 hour)

Good. It’s definitely good, but...

It wasn’t a skill that boosted combat power. It was indeed an upgrade in terms of specs, but he couldn’t quite grasp its full potential yet.

Being immune to all physical damage is certainly good. But taking double damage from magic and having all attack power reduced by 50% is...

He wondered if he would really use it.

Well, my magic resistance is high, so even double damage shouldn’t be too bad.

Thanks to various title effects and his Unique passive skill, Beginner’s Skin of Magical Resistance, Kai had very high magic resistance. Therefore, the only drawback of Ethereal Body, taking double damage from magic, didn’t pose a significant disadvantage, which was a relief.

Well, even if it’s not immediately useful, it still feels good.

As Kai smiled broadly, other players hesitantly approached him.

“Um... could you share what skill it is?”

“Are you willing to sell it? I have a lot of money. I’ll buy it.”

“I don’t see a guild mark. If you don’t have a guild, our Brave guild...”

“I...” Kai stood up and smiled at them. “...Have an urgent appointment, so I need to leave now. Oh! But before that...”

Sitting back down, Kai opened the last remaining skill book.

[The Riddle Skill Book explodes into an ashen splendor, revealing its true form.]

[Congratulations! You acquired Skill Book - Golden Punch (Normal).]

Right. I wondered why you weren’t showing up, you jerk.

Kai let out a brief burst of anger and quickly left the plaza, reflecting on the lesson that gambling was indeed a shortcut to rapid growth.