Chapter 111: Loot

"See? I told you I was fine!" Zach chastised his sister, familiar, and servant with his mouth full of grilled rat meat.

Enhanced Recovery was a simple but straightforward and effective spell. It enhanced the target's natural recovery while minimizing the deterioration of injuries. Naturally, since it only strengthened the target's own recovery, it also needed the target to supplement the energy needed to heal the injuries themselves.

"Shut up. If it hadn't been for me, you could have died!" Lexi shouted at Zach while stuffing another glistening piece of meat into his mouth to shut him up.

"I'mf ucky o ave yu," Zach spoke through the food in his mouth anyway and did his best to give Lexi a bright smile. It didn't work very well.

It was a good spell for minor injuries and superficial wounds that would heal in a few days anyway. S~eaʀᴄh the NôvelFire.nёt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

But when Enhanced Recovery was used to heal major bodily harm, such as severe internal bleeding, it could drain the body of so much energy and nutrients that people without a secondary energy source, such as Zach, could die.

That was why he looked like a skeleton with his arms like noodles, his cheeks sunken and hollow, and his skin was stretched taut.

Fortunately, the spell would also boost his metabolism. As long as he ate enough, he would bounce back to his usual state now that he had survived.

Unfortunately, that meant he had to eat without a delay. And the only thing that was edible nearby was the rat king and some remaining emergency rations that Zach had already devoured.

Zach would have been unsure about eating such a humanoid and clearly intelligent monster if he hadn't been too hungry to feel anything but his hunger.

And when Zach was no longer hungry, there was no more rat king to eat, so it all worked out in the end.

The others waited for Zach to finish burping and recovering the color and springiness of his skin before they helped him to his feet. The rat king was defeated, and there weren't any other enemies approaching or threatening them.

But there was still something they had to do, something much more important.

It was time to loot!

Yanael had already set aside the rat king's spear and pants while Lexi and Nora tended to Zach and cooked the rat king. But that wasn't everything the rat king had left behind.

Lexi had been cheeky enough to take a look around the room while Zach ate and found a wooden chest with gold decor and lining. It was big enough to fit a hand and some of the wrist.

It was a small chest.

But Zach and the others weren't disappointed. If anything, the chest's size made them more excited. Since it was small, it had to be something valuable rather than a lot of gold or jewels.

Even with the size of the chest, however, there was no telling what it was. The Labyrinth was just too mysterious and filled with too wide a variety of treasures.

Lexi handed the chest to Zach. He and Yanael had done all the work. Him with his barriers to keep all the ratlings away, Yanael culling the ratlings, and then him again when he killed the rat king.

He deserved all the treasures.

There wasn't a keyhole or anything. Zach just needed to flip the lid open. The entire group was full of anticipation as he put his hand on top of the chest and grabbed the lid. Slowly, he cracked open the chest.

He glanced at the others.

Then, he slowly…

"Just open it already!" Lexi couldn't wait any longer and urged him to hurry up.

Zach shrugged with a smile and opened the lid fully. He looked at the contents with a puzzled expression.

"What? What? What is it?" Lexi couldn't see due to the lid, and she was about to go around when Zach turned the chest to show them all what was inside.

The other three also frowned. Yanael kept a mostly straight face, but the contents of the chest weren't exactly worth all the trouble they had gone through.

"A key? Is it to open a treasure room maybe?" Zach asked hopefully, but Lexi slowly shook her head.

"What about that stone fragment?" Lexi slowly shook her head again while looking at the dull gold key. She glanced at the piece of stone that looked like the fragment of a larger piece, maybe something like the edge of a vase. But her focus centered on the key.

The other three patiently looked at Lexi. Compared to them, she knew the most about the Labyrinth. If anyone could tell them about the key and stone fragment, it would be her.

Zach could tell Lexi was thinking about what the key might be, so he didn't urge her.

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Eventually, Lexi opened her mouth.

"...I have no idea about the piece of stone. But if I'm right, this key is a Wishing Key."

"A Wishing Key?"

Lexi nodded.

"It's the only thing that makes sense. There are no other doors here that would require a key, and although it's very unlikely to find a Wishing Key anywhere above the tenth floor, no one even knew there was a floor boss on the first floor, so this place hasn't been visited by humans in several centuries, possibly even since before the Empire's founding."

"...That's great and all, but what's a Wishing Key?" Zach asked. He could tell it was something great by the way Lexi spoke about it, but what did it do?

"It's a key that opens the door to whatever you wish."

"What?" Zach frowned. That had to be metaphorical.

"From what I've heard, you just need to insert this key into any wall in the dungeon, and you will enter a room with whatever it is you wish for."

"What? Seriously?"

Lexi shrugged.

"I've only heard about it before, but we could return and ask Father or Mother about it. If the Leos don't know, they do. But if you ask me, there's only one way to find out if this 'ere is a Wishing Key or not."

Lexi pushed the chest back to Zach and urged him to pick up the key.

Zach was skeptical but he picked up the key. It was cool and warm at the same time. It was also heavy and light. It sat in his palm like it was made of lead, but when he moved his hand, it was like the key moved with it.

Zach walked over to the nearest wall while looking and feeling the Wishing Key. He glanced back at Lexi and the others.

"Only one way to find out, right?"

"Only one way to find out." Lexi nodded encouragingly.

Zach turned to the wall and extended his arm.