Something ignited in his mind after the familiar sensation arose all of a sudden. After a momentary delay, his thoughts became slightly disoriented the first time this sensation lasted more than a heartbeat.
The ring on his hand began to flutter subtly and probed deep into his very soul, as if it were clutching something and he clearly did not understand what had happened.
A split second later, information gathered in his mind, and some floating screens began appearing in front of his eyes. At the same time, the ring started merging with his flesh and vanished from sight. He suddenly jumped in fright and fell from his bed.
"Ack..!!"
Still deep in thought, Oliver's mind went dazed at the sight of this sudden occurrence. His mind couldn't comprehend what was actually happened. He felt somehow aghast.
"Ugh… what is actually happening here…" His expression twisted with panic and confusion.
Yeah, something bizarre—like a mundane ring suddenly disappearing into his own flesh. What else could he do but feel flustered and confused?
He tried to compose himself and analyze the situation. As far as he remembered, that ring was just a normal ring, right? His sister had brought it for a cheap price from the market or something. There was nothing unusual about the ring, it's just a plain, cheap-looking black ring.
He didn't know how to feel about this matter. The only thing that could do something like this was a mechanism of a bound item, but that was a feature found only in high-ranked items. No way this ring was…
"Wait… there's no way… if it's really a bound item?" He suddenly felt a strange premonition.
He then tried to concentrate on the ring, mentally envisioning its exact feature and contour.
Suddenly, the ring itself reappeared on one of his fingers.
"What?!" He jumped in fright.
And as if sensing his desire learn more about the ring, the floating information materialized again from thin air, just like before. But now he was able to perceive the information clearly.
[Ring of Brilliance]
Type: Accessories
Status: Bound Item (bound to its wielder)
Rank: Unidentified
Effects 1: […]
Effects 2: […]
Effects 3: […]
"This is… a bound artifact!" His eyes widened.
That was the ring his sister had given him as a birthday present. And now, it had become a strange high-ranking artifact. How was this even possible? He didn't know why it had changed like this.
It was just a normal ring before. But now, it had changed and become an artifact. The shape and color were still the same, but it now radiated a potent aura. Even at a glance, an ordinary person could notice its peculiarity.
It looked the same, yet it now appeared mesmerizing. He didn't know why, but it felt that way. How was this even possible? Was it because of the dream…
"No, that makes no sense. That was just a dream!"
He remembered his dream. It was a strange feeling, one he felt reluctant to recall. In fat, he would rather not. Perhaps, because of his lingering fear, he had dreamed that thing again.
But now that Oliver thought about it, since the day of the village monster attack, many strange things had happened to him. Memories from his past life suddenly resurfaced after fifteen years. The same anxiety he had felt in his past life—as well as from his childhood—suddenly vanished. And there was the strange foreboding he experienced the first time he saw that old man.
That sensation was exactly the same as what he had just felt with the ring moments ago. It was as if he could perceive something he had never been able to.
"Maybe I can read someone's mind or something?" He began to entertain more ideas.
Perhaps his so-called "trash mutation" in his past life was not as useless as he had thought. Maybe it simply couldn't activate because there was no mana in his old world.
One thing he was almost certain of was that he had some hidden ability to recognize a high-ranking item simply through physical touch.
"That's possible because this is the first time I've touched the ring since my memories returned," he mused.
For all that, that was only what he assumed.
"I'll have to check it again later…" He needed to make sure if the sensation he felt earlier actually meant something more. Perhaps his recovery from anxiety wasn't accidental after all.
That aside, he had other thing to focus right now.
Could it be that the ring was actually a legendary item, one that lost in some accident or of other cause? But it seemed unlikely. A legendary artifact was not some random cabbages, after all.
"Let's see what this artifact could do…" A spark of excitement coursed through him as he settled back comfortably in his bed.
So, what next? Yes, it was time to examine this peculiar thing further. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and tried to shift his focus on it. It turned out he could also summon information about the ring effortlessly to his mind, as if he had known it for a very long time.
[Ring of Brilliance]
That was the name. It was really a beautiful name, and he seemed to like it very much. It sounded fitting for him.
He then began to examine it carefully; there was the status of the artifact.
[Status: Bound Item (bound to its wielder)]
So it was bound to him, and no one else could use it. This was a feature fairly common in high-ranking items, although such items could not be found in ordinary places. If he died, of course the bond would automatically break, right?
Thinking about death made him shudder slightly. He didn't want to recall his earlier dream again, and he would much rather stay alive.
Next was the tier of the artifact. Basically, there are many tiers for artifacts in this world, ranging from Novice to Legendary. There were also the rumored Mythical artifacts. But this artifact was showing nothing; that was strange.
[Rank: Unidentified]
The description also stated that the item was an unknown artifact. That doesn't really explain anything, he thought.
"Let's see what else there is in the description…" he muttered slowly.
[Description: An artifact of unknown origin. It can hide its presence at will and passively increases the wielder's stamina, mana, and mental recovery rate slightly. This artifact is also very durable and indestructible.]
From the description, he understood that the increased recovery rate would be beneficial for him. And there was more...
"There are more effects too…" His eyes brightened.
It had more effects, not just one, and he was overjoyed because of that. He definitely had a very useful artifact now in his arsenal. How lucky.
[Effects 1: Can absorb energy from nature or from a monster's core of the same rank and purify them.]
[Effect 2: Have a space-bag trait that can generate mana stones periodically.]
As he examined further, he saw that there were additional effects. For example, it could absorb powers from nature; this first effect would undoubtedly increase his training speed.
And yes, the next effect… of course, the next effect was equally impressive. The ring had a space bag, which could also generate mana stones. That thing was useful for increasing one's affinity in magic, and with them, he could train even faster.
"And.. there are also skills."
Next came the best part. What could it do besides the skills? He started to entertain the idea that this was a Legendary artifact. Yes, there was a chance it truly was. He had heard that only high-tier artifacts could have innate skills, and this ring would certainly fetch a fortune on the market—definitely.
[Effects 3: Comes with basic skills: [Inspect] [Devour] [Blazing Fire Ball] [Lightning Bolt] [Wind Strike] [Earth Shatter] [Water Wall] [Shockwave] [Rage] [Imitate] [Escape]]
And it came with many skills too. What a luxurious item! It had everything he needed, it seemed. Oliver began to read the details of each skill carefully, taking his time to familiarize himself with them.
Starting with the first skill: Inspect. Yes, of course, it was Inspect. No wonder he could see the description of this item from the start—the item itself had provided the skill for him, and that was the reason. It all made sense.
The next skill was [Devour]. He began to read its description. This skill was a strange one—yes, you could definitely say that. It could devour a creature and absorb its life essence, with a slight chance of gaining its power.
That was cool and this would definitely be useful for a long time. He wondered what the actual chance of success was and intended to give it to try later.
The next skill was [Blazing Fire Ball]. This skill could generate a scorching huge fireball depending on the mana he consumed—up to ten percent of his total mana could be used. He wondered how powerful the effect would be.
There were many other offensive skills as well, and they seemed to be as powerful as [Blazing Fire Ball]. There was also a defensive skill: [Shockwave].
"This… I don't have to trouble myself looking for a defensive skill to protect myself!" His mood brightened.
This was exactly what he needed: a defensive skill that could keep him safe from monsters. Having this ability as a person with a fragile body like his was a boon. [Shockwave] could generate a sudden burst of kinetic energy to knock back enemies nearby, helping to repel any monsters that approached.
"Right… let's check the bag."
Next, he wanted to see how big the space bag was.
When he inspected it, he found the contents were... a glittering fortune.