"Wow, there are so many bodies here. How many people died? And Jared, it's freezing! The wind is so cold. Ah, brrr."
As they stepped out from Deluc's hideout into the snowy mountains, Isabella shivered against the biting wind. The weather was colder than midwinter, and she wasn't wearing any pants, so it was no surprise. At least she managed to take some shoes off Deluc's dead body, which was a small relief. Even though I had given her my coat, I was still cold, but I was more worried about her condition.
"Let's use some expensive heating magic! Isabella, get as close to the flames as you can. We need to keep the cold out."
"Okay, got it."
I cast a Fire Wall spell. It's probably the most expensive heating spell in the world. But thanks to the strong flames, the chill disappeared quickly. The fire was so intense that it felt almost too hot.
We stood in front of a trap. If we had come up from the entrance, this would have been the last trap. I pointed out the trap's location to Isabella and continued talking.
"This is a falling trap. It looks like just a square of bricks, but half of them are actually traps."
"You mean they'll fall?"
"Yeah, as soon as you step on them. If you step on a trap brick, the mechanism inside pulls a lever and drops the brick."
I touched part of the wall. Isabella watched me with a puzzled look. It seemed like just a slightly protruding wall, but I was examining it closely.
"Do you know where all the trap bricks are?"
"No, not really. We don't need to know where the traps are. Going backward is actually pretty easy."
I pushed mana into the wall and cast a Fireball, igniting the mana instantly. Inside the wall, something twisted and burned.
Creak. Crack. Creak.
Then all the bricks lifted about 10cm and locked into place.
"What happened?"
"The trap's been disabled. There's a mechanism hidden inside. The mana flows and controls the system, but I made it lose control."
Step. Step. Step.
As soon as I finished speaking, I walked confidently over the bricks. The trap was now useless, so I had no hesitation.
"Jared, that's dangerous!"
"It's fine. Just watch me go all the way, and if it looks safe, follow me. Trust me."
Ignoring Isabella's shout, I quickly reached the end of the trap. The trap didn't activate, and everything was quiet.
Isabella asked me with disbelief, "Jared, how do you know all this? You said it was your first time here. How do you know it like you've been here before?"
"Well, let's say I've done some research on Lich Deluc."
I made up an excuse. The truth was, the traps were exactly the same as those I experienced in <Paradiso>, so I was confident. Deluc's traps had a critical flaw: they all had an automatic control system. The control system was farthest when coming up from the entrance, but closest when going down from the hideout. So we could control the system without even entering the trap area. All the control systems ran on mana circulation using magic stones, so breaking them disabled the traps.
As we went down, we just repeated this process. We broke the control systems and walked over the now-useless traps. In this way, Isabella and I descended from Deluc's hideout to the snowy mountain entrance without any trouble. The only issue was that I had to carry Isabella part of the way because she complained about the extreme cold. Unlike when she was a plump ghost, her body was now very slim, so carrying her was no problem.
Once we reached the entrance, I looked at the magic stones I held in both hands with satisfaction.
"They weren't left here for me, but thanks to them, I've got some valuable magic stones."
I had taken some pretty valuable magic stones from Deluc's traps and room. They were high-grade magic stones, worth about 100 gold, which was roughly 100 million won in my past life. I had secured thirty of these high-grade magic stones. Magic stones were widely used in magic training devices, so they could be used for various purposes.
"This is an artifact from a wizard who sadly lost his life."
I held up a ring. Isabella, standing next to me, looked at it with a hint of greed, but I had to prioritize myself until I raised my stats enough.
[Saint Gracia's Ring]
[Category: 4-star]
[Option 1: Increases magic power by 100]
[Option 2: Grants immunity to all mental debuff spells. With Gracia's blessing, your soul will never be tainted by anyone.]
The artifact had only two options, but the second option more than made up for it. That's why it was rated as a 4-star artifact. Being immune to all mental debuffs is an overwhelming advantage. If it had more stat options, it could have been at least a 7-star artifact.
Saint Gracia's Ring. It was one of the relics left by Gracia, who dedicated her life to religion in <Paradiso>. The ring, glasses, necklace, belt, and white robe were called the "Gracia Set," and in reality, they were worth over 1 billion won. They were that valuable, and it was no exception in this world.
'Even just the ring is amazing, but if I get the rest of the artifacts, I'll have incredible power.'
I didn't know where the other four were. The players who found them never revealed their sources. Even when offered a high interview fee for posting, they never shared. I never expected to find the ring here, but it was a lucky coincidence.
'Thank you for this gift.'
I respectfully thanked the original owner of the artifact, who had become nothing but bones over time. With this, my magic power reached 716. Before hunting for artifacts, my magic power barely exceeded 300, but it had more than doubled. This was enough to be considered the stats of a 4th-class wizard.
'This is just the beginning. With these stats, I can start aiming for dungeon raids. I have enough magic power now.'
I was already itching to start. In <Paradiso>, I was a player who loved dungeon raids as much as managing my territory. Dungeons were home to many monsters and a treasure trove of rare artifacts. If I could raid them safely, there was no reason to give up the chance to grow and obtain high-value artifacts.
"I can't believe it. Over 100 people died in those traps, and you just disabled them like it was nothing. It's like watching a god, knowing everything."
"A god, huh? That's a nice comparison. Maybe it's because I know a lot."
"Suspicious, very suspicious..."
Isabella gave me a suspicious look. She had seen many of my tricks since I gained the Insight, so she had plenty of reasons to doubt. But it was all circumstantial. Unless she traveled back to my past life, she'd never uncover the secrets of my current life.
"Isabella, wait here for a moment. I'm going to go back up for a bit."
"Why suddenly? We're done, aren't we? What if the traps activate again?"
"Don't worry. The traps here will never activate again. I'll be right back!"
"Jared!"
"Just wait a little!"
Before I even finished speaking, I used the Haste spell to quickly climb the mountain again. There was a reason for this. I wanted to earn a title.
[Trap Master]
[A title given to those who overcome a group of five or more traps without a single mistake. Grants a bonus of 5 to all stats.]
This title was important to me. Titles that permanently boost all stats are rare. If I could get it, I had to. The way to earn this title was simple. Complete the traps without falling into them. If you tackled them head-on, you'd probably make a mistake or two, but I had no reason to.
Thud! Thud!
I quickly walked over the traps, and soon I passed the last one with ease. The title was awarded immediately, and all my stats increased by 5. I distributed the remaining 10 stat points into magic power, then checked my status window. Continuing to invest in magic power was a way to prepare for more powerful and demanding magic use in the future. I planned to replace the Wisdom stat with artifacts I could obtain through my unique knowledge. It was a notoriously inefficient stat with a 5-to-1 investment ratio.
[Jared – Lv. 7]
[Strength: 10]
[Stamina: 10]
[Magic Power: 731]
[Wisdom: 120]
[Agility: 10]
[Charm: 130]
[Physical Defense: 10]
[Magic Defense: 20]
[Remaining Stats: 0]
'With this, I can face Akron, the chief wizard of the Mallorca territory, head-on.'
I thought of Akron, the wizard from the neighboring and rival Mallorca territory. He was a corrupt wizard. At the same time, he was a 4th-class wizard like me. Akron was notorious for his obsession with money and women, and for kidnapping wandering children and the elderly for experiments. Even though the lord of Mallorca, Horgus, had publicly criticized me, I hadn't retaliated because of Akron. I wasn't confident I could 'definitely' beat him if we went to war with Mallorca.
But now I felt confident. No, I thought I could definitely overwhelm him.
'Let's run the territory more aggressively. Now that I'm confident.'
I felt it was time to show my hidden claws a little. Just knowing I could face the core force of a neighboring territory made me feel more secure.
'But I need more money. Wars are won not by passion or fighting spirit, but by wealth. Especially in wars between small territories.'
I thought again as I descended the snowy mountain. While the people of the territory might enjoy peaceful days, as the lord, I had to be busy. Having significantly improved my own specs, it was now time to work on the territory's specs.
'Red Goblin Lord, Ivaniva.'
I thought of the Red Goblin tribe near the territory, which might not be well-known. Ivaniva was their king. To me, who had decided to use any means necessary for the territory's development, Ivaniva was the perfect 'pushover' to trade with. Of course, Ivaniva would never know he was being treated that way when he met me.
'I'm coming to see you, the ever-giving Goblin Lord, Ivaniva.'
A subtle yet very sly smile appeared on my lips. Everything was going as planned! It was an expression of deep satisfaction with the smoothly progressing situation.