Chapter 80: An Unexpected Surprise
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After explaining everything to Sigrid, the two girls stepped out of Sylvanus. The living tree spirit floated silently inside a hollow tree, with Freyja hovering quietly by his side.
“I wonder where Brunhild is. She is taking so long…” Freyja sighed softly. “I should go inside, but I do not want to leave my child all alone here… Sylvanus?”
“Goohh!” Sylvanus let out an adorable little sound. He opened his mouth, and from within his spatial dimension, two figures emerged and fell gently into the soft snow.
“Ugh…! We are back…” Brunhild groaned as she landed.
“Ouch…” Sigrid muttered, pushing herself up. “Wow! We were really inside that little one?!”
“Yep!” Brunhild nodded with a bright smile. “Like I explained earlier, that is exactly what happened…”
“Amazing,” Sigrid said, her eyes wide with wonder. “But I think it would be better to keep the treehouse outside, right?”
“Yeah…” Brunhild agreed. “Sylvanus, please return to your original form.”
Sylvanus nodded obediently and settled his roots into the ground, transforming back into his massive, majestic giant tree form.
“Woooow! This is so amazing!” Sigrid exclaimed, her voice full of excitement. “See?! With you around, there is never a boring day, Brun! Hahah!” She was always looking forward to whatever wild and unexpected thing Brunhild would do next.
“Woof!”
“Huh?!”
While the two girls chatted happily and walked back home with Freyja floating beside them, a loud bark suddenly echoed from the distance.
Brunhild and Sigrid turned their heads at the same time. Fenrir was running toward them from far away. It seemed he had sneaked off while Brunhild was busy dealing with the tree house and Sigrid.
“Fenrir? What is wrong, boy? What are you bringing over there?” Brunhild called out curiously.
“Looks like something huge… made of metal?” Sigrid raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. “Weird. What is it? Hey, boy!” She ran forward to meet Fenrir.
“Wait, Sigrid! He is my boy!” Brunhild protested with a hint of playful jealousy as she chased after her.
As Fenrir reached them, he panted heavily with his tongue hanging out and what looked almost like a happy smile on his face. He had clearly run a long distance. He dropped the object he was carrying into the snow, where it landed with a heavy thud, already half-covered in drool.
“What is this? Ah!”
Brunhild’s eyes widened the moment she realized what Fenrir had brought. Sigrid looked equally surprised, though she hesitated to touch it after noticing how much drool covered the surface.
“A Treasure Chest?!” Brunhild cried out.
She nearly jumped with joy. She had never expected to find another treasure chest so soon, especially after another person had entered this area, killing monsters and looting the place.
Upon closer inspection, the treasure chest was striking. It featured a beautiful combination of red, black, and gold colors, decorated with bat-like wings, obsidian bat-head ornaments, and gleaming red jewels.
Its name appeared clearly before her eyes.
[Pure Blooded Vampire Alistair Treasure Chest (A+ Grade)]
“?!”
To Brunhild’s complete surprise, the defeated Vampire had somehow dropped a treasure chest. She had no idea how this was possible or whether such a thing had ever happened before.
“So this treasure chest came from that monster we fought?” Sigrid asked.
“Yeah, but… wait a second. How is this even possible?” Brunhild wondered aloud. “Did the dungeon recognize Alistair as a monster… or a boss? Wait, that was his name, right?”
Both girls stood there equally confused. Brunhild had already explained how dungeons worked to her family and friends some time ago, so Sigrid understood the basics. This event, however, did not follow the normal rules.
“Freyja, do you know why this happened?” Brunhild asked, turning to the spirit.
“Hmm, I think it might have been because of my intervention,” Freyja explained. “Dungeons are managed by the System of this world. It is mostly invisible, but it exists hidden behind everything. It follows certain rules, and my presence seems able to modify them to some degree… Maybe another glitch occurred? Let me check… Ah, yes. I had scripted something about a Reward System, but I had not finished implementing it yet because nearly sixty percent of its core circuits were still missing. It looks like those functions activated when you defeated something truly powerful… almost to the point of breaking. The dungeon’s governing logic must have been affected somehow.” Even Freyja sounded uncertain about the exact process.
“Wow, you are really clueless about this…” Brunhild sighed.
“I-I am sorry! My body is still a mess, you know?!” Freyja replied angrily. “I blame Father for being so irresponsible! B-But why question it so much? Is this not nice? Be happy it happened! Am I not amazing?”
“I guess so,” Brunhild said with a small smile. “Alright, Sigrid. Do you want to open it?”
“Sure, but let me…” Sigrid conjured a stream of clean, cold water and thoroughly washed the treasure chest until it sparkled. “Okay, this is much more acceptable now… Let us open it.”
“I had no idea you were so obsessed with hygiene,” Brunhild giggled. “Anyway, let us do this.”
FLASH!
Brunhild used her Evolution ability on the chest and opened it right away. A brilliant light burst forth, revealing a generous hoard of gold and silver coins along with many glowing colorful crystals. There were mana crystals, spiritual crystals, and high-grade elemental crystals such as Sunstone, Woodstone, Earthstone, Firestone, and Windstone.
In addition, several Blood Elixirs of deep red lay inside, along with three pieces of equipment. This was perfect timing, since most of Brunhild’s gear had been destroyed during the previous fierce battle. Only her reborn Atlas weapon remained, which she had created by fusing her broken weapons together with Sigrid’s, along with her Divine War Spirit of Hunting.
The three new equipment pieces were all black and red in color. The first was a large black and red knife decorated with eye-shaped red jewels on its obsidian blade. The second was an elegant red dress adorned with red roses and frills. The last was a full-head helmet shaped like a hissing bat with sharp fangs and glowing red jewel eyes.
Aside from those items, three mysterious scrolls waited inside. Brunhild quickly identified them as a Trait Awakening Scroll, a Vampire Skill Awakening Scroll, and a Vampire Profession Selection Scroll.
“Huh?! These items look incredible…!” Brunhild exclaimed with clear excitement. “Sigrid, what do you think? Do you want anything?”
“The dress looks so fancy, haha!” Sigrid laughed as she held it up. “But I do not think it would suit me. I do not like wearing big, frilly stuff like this… Maybe this dagger would be good. Can I keep it?”
“Of course, it is yours,” Brunhild replied warmly, patting her friend’s head affectionately.
“Thank you!” Sigrid said happily. She jumped up from the snow with joy and began swinging the mysterious dagger through the air with eager energy.
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