Morgana: Everybody Loves Large Chests (Vol.4)

by Iliev, Neven

  The pure-white metal nail and pitch-black pearl both turned a deep crimson as they soaked up part of the liquid they floated in.

  “Aenean hendrerit dictum maximus.”

  Boxxy let go of the skewered jewel, which continued to make circular motions as if guided by an invisible hand, and then stood up from its kneeling position.

  “Suspendisse potenti Yoitis! Suspendisse potenti Laopra! Suspendisse potenti Tascuna!”

  It lifted its head and arms towards the sky while shouting, as if begging each of the moons for a favor in turn.

  “Cras eget mauris vulputate, bibendum sem sit amet, elementum felis!”

  The five gold coins started vibrating and glowing with a bright yellow light while the skewered pearl levitated a few centimeters into the air. It had absorbed all of the liquid from the goblet and glowed an intense bright red.

  “Unc metus ullamcorper libero! Quis bibendum tortor urna nec orci!”

  Boxxy felt the hair on its head stand on end along with an odd sense of dread. The monster yelled out the last two words of the chant before it could process the significance of this peculiar sensation.

  “Divitias eligo!”

  *KRAKAKOOOOOM*

  “Herpaglurgen!”

  A bolt of golden lightning struck the wooden goblet despite the total absence of clouds. The unexpected occurrence made blurt out a weird noise while reflexively backing away. The shapeshifter nearly fell of the branch in its panic and had to shift back into its spider-legged chesty form to cling onto it.

  “Boss, you okay down there?!” Kora shouted from somewhere above.

  “Nobody told me there would be lightning involved!” Boxxy yelled in frustration. “I’ll die for sure if I get hit by that! Seriously, what the crap?! Why do these stupid rituals always try to kill me?!”

  The monster let off a rather uncharacteristic string of complaints as it climbed up the side of the branch, back to where it was mere moments prior.

  “I think that’s sort of the point, boss,” Kora smirked mockingly.

  Her master graciously ignored her unflattering tone and directed its attention towards the place that mystical bolt of lightning had struck. The sturdy Ironbark-covered branch was charred black, a testament to that thunderbolt’s power. The wooden goblet, gold coins and thoroughly expensive mixture had fused together into a solid-gold cup that was shiny beyond belief.

  A row of glowing red runes was etched alongside its rim, while intricate golden carvings covered the rest of the vessel. The patterns swirled, swiveled and wrapped around its surface seemingly at random with no beginning or end. A total of twelve red, opal-shaped gems were evenly spaced out around its shining surface. The inside of the goblet was coated by an off-white metal with a slight green hue to it. It held a dark-red liquid oddly reminiscent of blood in its coloration and consistency.

  This item’s name, although unknown to Boxxy at the time, was Profanus Gloria.

  “…”

  The shapeshifter stared intently, feeling a rather ominous aura coming from the object.

  “Arms, does that shiny thing look cursed to you?”

  Kora took a few steps forward and crouched down to get a better look, her face slowly twisting in confusion.

  “No idea. Sorry, boss. This mystical stuff is more the cock-gobbler’s thing.”

  “I see.”

  Boxxy was more or less convinced there was a curse, as the magic oozing from it was foul and thoroughly un-tasty. It was very similar to how Fizzy’s gauntlet used to be prior to her fusing with it. Although the curse had weakened severely since then, the sensation it gave off at the time was almost identical to the one coming from the goblet. It was the ‘almost’ part that gave Boxxy pause. Looking closer, it appeared that the source of the curse was not the goblet itself, but the strange liquid it held. As the creature got closer, it found itself overcome with a very peculiar urge to drink the stuff in one go. That was clearly a bad idea, and yet part of it still wanted to do it. It craved it.

  “Uhm, boss?” Kora piped, then swallowed audibly. “Can I get a sip of that?”

  It would appear that the fiend was no less influenced by this thing. This was a good opportunity to test its effects, so the monster would allow her to-

  “No! It’s mine!” it shouted.

  The fiend’s face grew twisted with rage when she heard that. It was a good thing the contract was in place, otherwise Boxxy would definitely have been attacked right now. The worst part of this scenario, however, was that those words were not its own.

  “This delicious thing is all mine I tell you!”

  It was extremely strange. No matter how much it tried to speak its mind, the wrong words kept coming out. Almost as if someone or something else put those sentences into its mouth. It was probably some strange effect of the curse, which demanded it be consumed post-haste. Quite the powerful effect considering both Boxxy and Kora had formidable MNT Attributes. The shapeshifter had no intention of actually giving into those urges, of course. This was obviously a trap no matter how one looked at it. It wanted Kora to drink up first and serve as a test subject, but it had no idea how to tell her. Ah, perhaps the telepathic link might work?

  “Ignore what I said earlier and drink up.”

  This appeared to have been the right call.

  “Oh, yeaaaah!”

  The fiend let out a rather rude-sounding cheer as she eagerly picked up the small gilded cup with both hands. It was quite hot to the touch—unsurprising considering this object had been created in a flash of lightning less than a minute ago. She placed the rim of the goblet against her mouth and tilted it so that the blood-like liquid flowed into it.

  The strange substance sprang to life the instant it touched her lips, and every last drop of it forced itself down her throat in an instant. She coughed violently at the sudden oral invasion and instinctively grabbed her throat, letting the goblet fall to the ground with a metallic clatter in the process. Her entire consciousness was suddenly enveloped by a searing pain that flared up across her entire body all at once. It overtook her in a flash, snuffing her life out before she got a chance to scream.

  [Your familiar has been banished.]

  Boxxy stared curiously at the upright body of its familiar. The fact this cursed liquid was hazardous was hardly surprising considering the ‘Unholy’ part of the ritual, but it wondered how any of this could be considered ‘Wealth.’ That was when the demon’s flesh started crumbling away, falling off her body in small bits and disappearing into nothingness before it even hit the ground. Several seconds later, Boxxy witnessed the true effects of this curse.

  For when all of Kora’s skin and muscle had fallen off, all that was left of her was a glittering, golden skeleton. Boxxy stared reverently at the macabre sculpture, captivated by its esoteric beauty. But alas, as something born of mana, the transformed skeleton faded away into nothingness. Not even a second later, the only thing left of it was a fleeting memory.

  “NOOOOOO!”

  The monster let out a cry of frustration. It was really starting to get sick of all these disappearing shinies. First there was that wonderful treasure chest and now this strangely alluring golden skeleton. It understood why it had happened, but that didn’t make the event any less unpleasant. Deciding it wanted a permanent golden skeleton, the monster turned its attention to the shiny cup Arms dropped earlier. The curse-carrying object thankfully hadn’t rolled off the branch, either because it had either landed upright or because it had stood up on its own after it had been dropped. It had also already refilled itself with the same cursed liquid that killed Arms.

  Boxxy went up to the goblet and carefully picked it up. It felt an even stronger urge to chug the clearly deadly substance, but managed to resist long enough to safely tuck it away inside its Storage. It then checked its Demonology Skill, noting with some disappointment that it was currently 96% of the way to Level 8. The shapeshifter had clearly overestimated the amount of Skill Proficiency it would gain from the U
nholy Wealth ritual. It then thought back on how the ability progressed fastest not by simply performing rituals, but by putting them to practical use. The implication was that utilizing the cursed cup, which was a byproduct of the Demonology Skill, could give it the final push it needed to reach the next Level.

  Deciding that this endeavor was worth a try, Boxxy rapidly made its way down the titanic tree to Azurvale’s ground level. Once again disguised as a ginger-haired elf, it stalked the streets until it reached a part of the city known as Dirt Town. This was the run-down and disreputable part of the Republic’s capital, filled with slums, gambling dens, whorehouses, and positively overflowing with unsavory individuals. Once here, it made its way towards a certain abandoned warehouse tucked under the shadow of one of the dozens of oversized roots dominating the area.

  The building was one of the places groups of homeless bums typically liked to squat in. Even if the Republic was much better at taking care of its poor and downtrodden than, for instance, the Empire, it was inevitable that some people would fall through the cracks. Nobody of real consequence would notice if three or four of these unfortunate souls were to disappear. This made them excellent candidates for a midnight snack. Alternatively, they could also be used as unwitting test subjects for magical experiments with cursed items of demonic origin. Which, as luck would have it, was just the sort of thing that Boxxy was looking for.

  The monster quietly climbed atop the sloped roof and peeked inside through a hole. Sure enough, it saw a trio of sleeping elves huddled around a small indoor campfire. Boxxy moved in silently and relieved two of them of their worthless lives, then held the third one down under its deceptively heavy mass. The old man struggled and tried to scream, but his protests were expertly muffled by the experienced man-handler.

  The pauper ceased his struggling the instant Boxxy showed him the gilded goblet. His one good eye shone with a dangerous, almost lustful light as he beheld its glory. As expected, those with a low or non-existent MNT Attribute were supremely more susceptible to this thing’s influence than Boxxy or Kora. The homeless man was proof enough of that, as he was obviously more interested in drinking from the shiny cup than preserving his own life. The former was the whole reason Boxxy came down here, so not only did it let him drink, it practically force-fed him the contents of that cursed vessel.

  The man let out a gurgled scream, as his entire body tensed up, then stopped moving entirely. The molten gold tears that poured out of his unmoving eyes and the shining teeth in his mouth revealed that the Unholy Wealth had taken effect. Looking inside his body with its MLG, Boxxy confirmed that his bones had turned into the same metal it coveted.

  [Proficiency level increased. Demonology is now Level 8. WIS +2. MNT +2.]

  Finally! Not only did Boxxy obtain a way to get more shiny things, but it had also...

  [You have violated the taboo of Goroth and incurred the wrath of the gods!]

  [A special action has been performed. FTH -20.]

  [Proficiency level increased. Taboo is now Level 1.]

  [Feat of strength performed! You have unlocked a new Perk: Blasphemous Hero.]

  ...royally screwed itself.

  Part Five

  “Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap!”

  Boxxy let off a non-stop torrent of swearing as it ran around in a circle like a chicken with its head cut off. After about half a minute of this, it realized this behavior wasn’t particularly constructive and stopped to assess the situation. If there was ever a time to lose its cool and freak out, this was most definitely it. However, this was most definitely not the place for it. It was still inside an abandoned warehouse, next to three corpses, where a night patrol might come to investigate.

  It hurriedly tossed the one with the golden skeleton inside its storage, gobbled up the other two and thoroughly cleaned the crime scene. Afterwards, it stealthily left the building and slinked off into the night. It climbed up the side of the adjacent hylt tree until it reached a small, uninhabited branch far from prying eyes. It was as good a spot as any to stop and figure out what had just happened, so it did just that.

  First of all, the Taboo Skill. Boxxy had heard much about it and its ill effects, so it knew it would throw a major wrench in its plans to blend in with the local adventuring community. Enlightened beings could sense anyone with the Taboo Skill, and treated them with a general sense of distrust and disgust, if not outright hostility. Such individuals were among the Maleficium guild, usually Warlocks and Necromancers, who had tapped into some forbidden power or another. Such people were tolerated at best, but generally shunned and ostracized by the community. It was not a position Boxxy wanted to be in, but it was the reality its public persona faced.

  For the moment, since it had acquired the Taboo Skill anyway, it decided it might as well personally check out its effects.

  [Taboo]

  The mark of those who have committed grave sins or have willingly gone against the will of the Gods.

  Requirements: Negative FTH

  Type: Passive

  Range: Self

  [Effects]

  You will be shunned by the pious.

  Increases the effectiveness of all forbidden practices and Spells by 10% per Level of this Skill.

  Beware the wrath of the gods!

  Boxxy had more or less expected something like this. The fact it seemed to have a ‘benefit’ was a bit surprising though. It now made sense why certain individuals willingly went further into Taboo. The reason Nasty’s undead creatures and hexes were so potent might have been because she claimed her Taboo was at Level 7. In hindsight, it was probably a good thing she wasn’t around anymore, as a blasphemous existence of that magnitude was bound to be a trouble magnet.

  The real question was how would one get rid of this stigma. Boxxy already had an idea of how it could happen. Skills would be disabled and rendered unusable should their owner cease to meet their Requirements. Therefore, if it no longer had ‘Negative FTH,’ then this Skill should lose its effects. Come to think of it, the Skill itself did not inflict an Attribute change, but was a direct result of one. More specifically, the FTH penalty caused by whatever blasphemous act Boxxy had performed, which changed the spiritual Attribute from 18 to -2. In other words, it only needed to gain two, possibly three points of FTH in order to rid itself of the Taboo.

  Boxxy was suddenly immensely thankful it absorbed that Divine Attunement Skill earlier, otherwise this might have been a much more difficult thing to overcome. Snack could cover for its absence for a while, but it was still best if it could get this over with before dawn. It just needed to think of how to do that.

  Leveling up Doppelganger or any of the related Skills that boosted All Attributes was an obvious solution, but there was no way it could accomplish that before dawn. Perhaps seeking out a Priest or Paladin trainer would be good? That Job would definitely provide an increase in FTH and could easily be removed once the Doppelganger Job gained a few Levels. Boxxy honestly did not want another Job to worry about though, as it was already spending every waking moment training one aspect of its Status or another. Therefore, it would maliciously abuse its position as Hero and-

  Wait, wasn’t there something else it got alongside Taboo?

  [Blasphemous Hero]

  One who has betrayed the trust of their divine patron.

  Requirements: Hero, Taboo

  [Effects]

  Hero Skills are disabled and cannot be used.

  “RRAAAAAAGH!”

  Boxxy let out a roar of frustration. This was bad. Really, really bad. So bad it almost made the shapeshifter want to vomit up those homeless people. The main lynchpin of its infiltration operation, the sole thing that allowed it to integrate fully into civilized society, was gone. People trusted Appraisals to an almost outlandish degree. Why wouldn’t they? It was a reliable magic that revealed one’s true identity and abilities, so Boxxy’s ability to subvert that had been like a free pass to do whatever it pleased. Within reason of c
ourse. As expected of a Skill granted by the gods, having Essence Concealment truly felt like cheating.

  That said, the ability wasn’t foolproof. Faehorn seemed to catch on that Keira was more than she seemed, seeing as how he pulled that laughable ‘test’ of his. If his mock ambush truly came out of nowhere, then Boxxy might have reacted as expected. However, the ex-mimic’s magical perception had easily spotted the old elf’s approach and intent, so it had been ready. After all, it wasn’t like it would die, even if Keira’s head was separated from the rest of her. A doppelganger’s brain was inside their spinal column, so bisection was actually deadlier to Boxxy than decapitation.

  The shapeshifter realized it had gone off on a mental tangent, likely a subconscious effort to escape the reality in which it was royally screwed. Without being able to bypass Appraisal, it would be incredibly difficult to maintain its fake life as an aspiring adventurer. Worst case scenario, it would have to abandon civilization altogether, which would eliminate its main source of Doppelganger XP. This was where it started to envy that golem, as she had somehow gotten the locals to accept her and lived among them even with her monstrous features.

  Wait, that’s it! it exclaimed internally.

  [Boxxy: Ambrosia, is Fizzy back at the dungeon yet?]

  [Ambrosia: Indeed, milord. She hath just arrived.]

  [Boxxy: Great! Show her to the emergency exit I installed yesterday.]

  [Ambrosia: Right away, milord.]

  Surely the Paladin would have some sort of solution. The Taboo Skill would put a momentary strain on their relationship, but she had already pledged herself to Boxxy’s service, so it would probably be fine.

  Come to think of it, wasn’t that dryad some kind of a quasi-divine being? Wouldn’t she be the one most disgusted with the Taboo Skill? It seemed logical, but then how come she was acting as if nothing had happened? Was it the core’s influence at work? Or, did she simply not realize because the two hadn’t met box-to-face yet? Boxxy decided it would be wise to ask her, though in a slightly roundabout way.