Apocalypse Healer - Path of Death-Chapter 62B1 - Defective Treasure

David’s final pick was simple, yet he found it perfect. At least, he considered it perfect.

It was a storage device: a spatial necklace.

At first, David didn’t think a storage device was the best choice for his pick. Small spatial rings could be purchased from several merchants in Arc. However, spatial rings were expensive. Even the smallest of them cost more than a magical armament. That wasn’t what he wanted. It wasn’t worth the price, not for a spatial ring with a tiny independent space that could barely fit a longsword and a few cans of tuna.

But the spatial necklace? It was different. Better.

The spatial necklace David found with the receptionist’s help was large. It wasn’t massive, but it was big enough to store beings like the Behemoth Darkai and more. The storage device was also big enough to contain another enchantment. The precise blue lines engraved on it made that much clear.

A preservation enchantment had been etched onto the spatial necklace, transforming it into a treasure too valuable to be found in a Basic Vault. According to the receptionist, a properly functioning storage device of that size and with such an enchantment would cost more than buying Arc in its current state. David was sure that was an exaggeration, but it showed him how valuable the spatial necklace would have been if it worked as intended, which wasn’t the case.

The spatial necklace was defective.

Its dimension stone, the most important material used to create pocket dimensions for storage devices, had been labeled damaged. It had mutated, permanently altering the dimension stone. Instead of absorbing ambient Aether, it required the user to fill it with energy to maintain its most important aspect: its weight removal property.

Once the spatial necklace’s energy reservoir was empty, the weight of everything stored within the dimension stone would be transferred. It would crush down on David, breaking his neck depending on the goods stored inside.

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The thought sent a chill down David’s spine. Even now, he shuddered at the idea of forgetting to fill the spatial necklace’s energy reservoir. The vision of a sudden weight crashing down on him, a sharp cracking sound in his ears, and his neck snapping was far from pleasant.

Still, he picked the spatial necklace. It was large and had a preservation enchantment, though the enchantment was likely to increase the dimension stone’s energy drain. That was a mild nuisance, but it was worth the risk to David.

The receptionist didn’t seem as convinced. She repeatedly asked if he was certain, emphasizing that the Familia and Pantheon wouldn’t take responsibility for any mishaps.

“This is the best item we could find. There is no reward without risk,” David smiled at the receptionist. “Arc would be no more if I hadn’t taken any risks.”

The receptionist finally fell silent, nodding before leading him out of the Vault. Together, they walked through the hallway and returned to the golden portal they had come from.

David overclocked [Restore] as he cast it and followed the receptionist through the portal.

The world turned upside down as he stumbled through, but [Restore] worked quickly, preventing nausea from overwhelming him. He didn’t topple over and regained his composure within seconds.

Not too bad. A few more times, and [Restore] will no longer be necessary.

David mulled this over as they headed back to the Familia’s ground floor.

Once there, he spotted Melach and Torb checking out the mission board. Melach was chatting with a group of elves but left them the moment his eyes landed on David.

“That was fast,” Melach remarked, his eyes drifting from David’s boots to the top of his head before settling on his neck. “An accessory? That’s surprising. I thought you’d pick something to strengthen your foundation or a unique Skill Slate since your equipment is already pretty good.”

“Are you guys fine with a 2-Star team mission? That will earn us some good money, which we will need once we purchase our magical armaments,” Torb walked over, but he slowed as he looked at David. His eyes narrowed suddenly. “Hell nah! You found a spatial necklace in the Vault?!”

David raised an eyebrow. How did he know?

“Brat, I’m a dwarf. I know a dimension stone when I see one,” Torb grunted.

“Right...”

Was he really that easy to read?

“It has a preservation enchantment. We can store a bunch of body parts and valuable herbs,” David added, tapping the necklace with a smile.

Melach cursed softly and hurried to his side, covering the spatial necklace with his hand. His gaze flicked left and right, his tension palpable.

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“Don’t show it around! Do you know how much something like this is worth?”

David stared at the elf for a while, one eyebrow lifted.

“It’s not like this is my most valuable possession. I’m walking around with a Relic and a soulbound weapon. The spatial necklace would be the last treasure they’d go for.”

Melach’s lips parted, but no sound escaped. He pressed them tightly together, looking lost for a moment.

“That’s true. You are a walking treasure trove,” Torb smiled, but something about the dwarf’s expression was unsettling.

“Wipe that smug smile and stop thinking about killing me so we can focus on earning a fortune with the spatial necklace,” David chuckled, suppressing a shudder.

Torb joined in the laughter, but he sounded nervous, almost embarrassed as if his intrusive thoughts had been exposed. He quickly turned to the mission boards, muttering, “Undead aren’t valuable enough. We need monsters. Better even, magical creatures with several useful body parts. Zeroq Rats are quite valuable to Alchemists. The fresher their bodies, the better.”

David and Melach exchanged a glance. What was that? Torb wasn’t seriously considering that…right? There had to be a mistake.

“Sorry about that. He’s a little worried about money these days,” Melach said, his eyes drifting to Torb. “I don’t know the details, but I think his family got into another debt.”

“He’s in contact with his family? I didn’t think that was possible,” David noted. Melach’s expression twisted slightly.

“Did you message your family? They must be proud of you. We dealt with a Common Rift, cleared a Main Rift with Demons, and defeated a Demon Horde.”

“I cannot contact them…yet. The Earthen Union needs to awaken for the Familia to create proper communication channels between worlds. My family wouldn’t want to hear from me anytime soon anyway. They–” Melach trailed off, shaking his head.

The elf’s unfocused gaze betrayed his inner turmoil. After a moment, he grimaced and cleared his throat, continuing, “Torb only knows about his family because Lord Fortress told him. Torb mentioned that Lord Fortress warned him about his family’s actions after his First Advancement Ritual concluded.”

That was quite a lot to digest.

“It must have been a hefty loan if his Patron God told him about it. But how is their loan related to Torb? I don’t know how it works in other worlds, but in the Earthen Union, you don’t—didn’t—have to cover your family’s loans.”

Melach glanced at Torb and winced. “Our tiny friend is just too nice. He always talks about money, but you know better, don’t you?”

David nodded. Though he hadn’t known Melach and Torb for long, he already believed both were good people. The elf might call him crazy, a disaster even, but David knew better. Melach liked and respected him for being true to himself or for some other reason. Torb had proven himself, too, protecting David on more than one occasion. David had survived the Demon Horde and their battle with the Fangs, thanks to Torb’s vigilance in protecting his neck.

Even so, Torb’s earlier expression lingered in David’s mind. He couldn’t help it. Betrayal had marked him once, and he wanted to be prepared if it happened again. Still, hope wasn’t entirely lost. Maybe Torb’s reaction was just a whim—hopefully.

He liked them both and knew enough about the odd pair to stick with them. For now, at least. The future was uncertain, and their paths might separate one day, but that day hadn’t come yet.

“Kobolds sound like fine targets,” Torb said, holding a note in his hand. “Their scales, fangs, hearts, and lungs are quite valuable. I think their bones and tendons are also used for potions and other things.”

The dwarf looked at Melach. “You’re the expert. Are Kobolds worth it?”

“Kobolds? If we have enough space to store them whole—…”

David caught the hint and nodded. “The storage is quite large.”

“How large are we talking about?” Melach cocked an eyebrow.

“The Demon Rift Boss and more.”

Torb froze, his head snapping toward David, his eyes wide and practically screaming, What the hell are you talking about?

David raised his hand to cut them off before they could interrupt. “The spatial necklace is defective. I have to supply it with energy; otherwise, I’ll be crushed by the weight of everything stored within the pocket space. Well, not right now—it’s empty. But once the storage is filled, I’ll need to ensure it stays supplied.”

“That’s…” The greedy look in Torb’s eyes faded. “How much Aether are we talking about?”

David could only shrug. “I don’t know yet. It shouldn’t be too much at first. However, the receptionist told me that the Aether demand would increase the more I store. I guess it’ll be quite a hefty amount once the pocket space is filled to the brim.”

He had plenty of questions when he first picked up the spatial necklace, but the receptionist hadn’t been able to answer most of them. David recalled her admitting that the dimension stone’s defect had never been fully researched. Even her magical record lacked answers about who created the spatial necklace—or why anyone would use a dimension stone with such an adverse mutation.

“Kobolds should be fine, though,” David added. “They’re small, and their decent weapons can be sold to blacksmiths for pocket money. The blacksmiths can smelt the weapons into something valuable, and we earn a bit. That’s a win-win.”

“There’s a Nest of Kobolds nearby,” Torb said, licking his lips. “You won’t have an issue supplying your necklace with energy if we don’t waste any time roaming around, right? How about it? Shall we trash some Kobolds?”

David nodded. That should be fine. He’d already tested the necklace with Blood and was glad to discover that it worked just as well as Aether.

He couldn’t help but marvel at how much better Blood seemed compared to Aether. Essence was widely known to be purer, and Blood—straddling the line between Aether and Essence—appeared to confirm that belief. The dimension stone’s energy reservoir overflowed with just a mere trace of Blood.

That was exactly what David needed. After all, he didn’t have much Blood to spare—not with a Nest raid awaiting him.