Chapter 99: The Second Golden Skill [Divine Flame Drive]

Aside from the gold coins, Sterl first sifted through the equipment.

As expected, there wasn't a single piece he could use.

All the gear required a minimum level of 100, including two diamond-grade items.

Sterl casually handed all the equipment to Teresa. "Handle these for me. Just exchange them for purple gold coins."

If converted to money, including the value of the diamond-grade equipment, the total would be worth at least a thousand purple gold coins.

Sterl would instantly become quite wealthy.

After returning from The Netherworld, he could directly purchase a full set of gear according to his current level and then replace it every few levels. With ample funds, he need not worry about losses.

Teresa, holding a pile of equipment, felt her eyes well up with tears. She never expected to be entrusted with such responsibility. "Yes, Master... Lord David, I will not let you down!"

A thousand purple gold coins—frankly speaking, even Teresa's family had only accumulated a few hundred purple gold coins in liquid assets over the years.

Beside her, Daphne looked at Teresa with a hint of envy, but she understood. Her close friend always considered David in everything she did, so gaining such trust was only natural...

"Isn't this a bit too much favor?" Daphne felt a twinge of jealousy. David was being so generous. She wished she had met him first.

"I could definitely outshine Teresa! In every sense of the word!"

Sterl, unfazed by these thoughts, continued sorting through the loot. The second wave consisted of various skill books and miscellaneous items—

All blue-quality skills were handed over to Teresa for sale, while there were four purple-quality skills—

[Volcano (Purple)]

[Effect: Creates a fiery terrain that continuously erupts with high-temperature flame damage.]

[Skyfall (Purple)]

[Effect: Can be activated while airborne, rapidly accelerating the fall and causing shockwave damage.]

[Overheal (Purple)]

[Effect: Passive ability. Excess healing done to others is fully converted into a shield.]

[Life Ignite (Purple)]

[Effect: Burns life force every second to unlock potential, granting a 20% boost to all attributes.]

After some hesitation, Sterl chose to learn Overheal and Life Ignite.

Life Ignite needed no further explanation. It would significantly enhance Sterl's attribute amplification. Overheal, on the other hand, was a reinforcement of Sterl's defensive capabilities.

Sterl had healing skills from wielding the Starlight Dragon, but they could only heal others after a battle, not provide preemptive protection. With Overheal, he could now use healing spells to create shields in advance.

Sterl was somewhat disappointed that these two skills did not have an upgrade option, indicating they couldn't be leveled up. He wasn't too surprised, though.

The transformative effects of golden skills were already immensely powerful. It wouldn't be reasonable for just any skill to be upgradable.

Looking at the remaining two skill books, Sterl said casually, "These two skills aren't suitable for you. Sell them and use the money to get yourself a purple-quality skill. You can spend a bit more to find one that suits you."

He patted Teresa on the shoulder.

Sterl no longer lacked resources and felt it was time to give his loyal subordinate a small perk.

"Really? I can..." Teresa, who had previously maintained a calm and elegant demeanor, couldn't contain her excitement. Her eyes sparkled with joy and a hint of apprehension.

At least, it would take Daphne over a month to get a quest scroll on her own.

She felt a bit dizzy. Ever since meeting David, her life as a player had been too smooth...

After sorting through the items, Sterl didn't linger but spoke gently, "I have another task at hand. There's an NPC from the Divine Mountain Empire waiting for me, so I'll be leaving now."

He then left the villa.

Leaving behind two beautiful girls still immersed in surprise and mixed emotions.

They stared at the several pieces of diamond equipment, the purple-quality skill books, and the plethora of materials in their hands...

"Am I dreaming? Pinch me to check." Daphne murmured.

"Ouch!!"

"You actually pinched me!"

...

Sterl walked along the road and took out a crystal.

It was the skill book for the golden-quality skill [Divine Flame Drive], thoughtfully gifted by General Constantine of the Atlantic Empire.

When Sterl found it among the loot, he had immediately slipped it into his backpack.

He didn't plan to reveal this skill to Daphne and Teresa. Sterl intended to keep [Divine Flame Drive] as a new trump card, so the fewer people who knew about it, the better.

While leaving the base, Sterl clapped his hands and learned the new golden-quality skill.

At this moment, he had 2 points of legendary status. Initially, Sterl planned to use them to unlock the third effect of Star Point Finger. But after completing the task, he figured there wouldn't be any immediate battles and decided to keep them in reserve.

Now, it was perfect timing to use these points to enhance [Divine Flame Drive]! Activating two golden skills would certainly be more cost-effective.

However, as soon as he opened the panel, Sterl's breath caught.

"Holy crap, this thing can be upgraded too!"

Sterl was astonished to see—

[Divine Flame Drive (Golden)] +

[Proficiency: Beginner (0/5000)]

[Current Status: Inactive]

[Description: The highest secret of the Atlantic Empire's royal lineage, only transferable to those with royal blood.]

[Effect: Creates a seven-colored divine flame to propel the body, greatly boosting agility, constitution, and strength, and adds divine flame augmentation to attacks. However, the acceleration caused by the divine flame makes changing direction difficult.]

[Legendary Status Enhancement:

One point of legendary status (Inactive)

Two points of legendary status (Inactive)

Four points of legendary status (Inactive)]

[Warning: Using this skill will immediately be sensed by the Atlantic royal family, triggering a pursuit.]

Sterl found that the panel for [Divine Flame Drive] had a plus sign!