[Congratulations! Pet Jewel (Mutated Thornback Queen Hatchling) has increased its level from 1 to 2]


    As the smoke slowly lifts, Alex stands in front of the door leading out of the Great Hall.


    He sees the dead player, apparently named Erica, lying in front of him. Her head was brutally mangled, her skull shattered by Jewel’s vicious surprise attack using her strongest ability, Thornback Bite lvl 1, her body still partly frozen from his own magic. A clear sign of his own culpability in her demise.


    Alex looks away from the corpse, not very satisfied.


    “Damn, that spider is giving me the creeps! Did you see that? While it may look like a beautiful gem, it’s a damn vicious killing machine! It can disappear, lay traps, and then has this absurd attack. She practically killed that traitor in a single hit,” one of the soldiers comments, still shocked by the events.


    As Jewel slowly walks toward the group, a few even begin to slowly walk backward just a little.


    Jewel reaches Alex, and he spots that she’s holding something large in her mouth.


    Jewel uses her own web to clean her mouth and shining red ruby teeth until she is completely spotless again. She then jumps back onto Alex’s head.


    Alex slowly lifts up one hand, carefully massaging Jewel’s smooth, cool body.


    Alex, not bothered by Jewel’s earlier cruel attack at all, already knowing her abilities, focuses on the small, mysterious-looking red chest while the other players are still shocked by the events.


    [Bloody Chest R2]


    Alex returns to the other players, who all nod at him.


    “What’s next?” Stefanie asks, looking a bit unsure.


    “Inform Dumbledore. Maybe we should send one of each of us to explain the situation, at least,” Alicia suggests.


    “Sounds good. As a token of gratitude, I have one more piece of information to share. They are from the Main part of the Realm. One of them was already on player lvl 6,” Alex explains, deciding to share this detail at least, without mentioning anything about ranks and the bloody chest that allows him to obtain three random items from the dead player.


    “How do you know?!” Stefanie questions him immediately.


    “...I just know. Feel free to ignore this piece of advice. I just thought it was fair to tell you since we can now be sure that we have a common goal. Confronting the traitorous team with just your own team is probably not a good idea,” Alex reasons, not wanting his allies to die needlessly.


    Time passes, and every team sends one person to Dumbledore. After just a few minutes, they return.


    Rishi, who went for Alex’s team, explains what happened in a few short sentences: “Dumbledore is aware of nearly everything happening within the castle. He already knew most of what happened. Don’t worry; the others will not be welcomed anywhere even close to the castle or Hogsmeade, as they are now seen as allies of the corruption, though this is not a fitting description in my honest opinion, of course.”


    After the discussion, the team splits up, and Alex, together with Tereza, Rishi, Menchi, and of course Jewel comfortably sitting on his head, heads back home.


    Once inside their apartment, Alex shares what he learned about the enemy team, showing them his [Bloody Chest R2].


    “I see, interesting. Looks like these Bloody Chests are worth quite a bit more than the ones we encountered during previous missions. We get three chances to obtain not only Items, FC, and Soul Crystals but also skills? This looks like the perfect item for you, Alex,” Rishi analyzes the new item.


    “You immediately think so logically about this… I think it’s kinda shocking we’re up against a team two levels above our own,” Alex responds.


    “Yeah… it’s a good thing we have at least a decent relationship with the other teams,” Tereza says but adds: “Although, judging by what we saw, they weren’t particularly strong. Even Jewel managed to take one of them down on her own, I could have easily won a 1 vs 1 against someone like that as well.”


    “Tereza… please stop antagonizing her. She is, in fact, still a baby despite her intelligence,” Alex says.


    “...You’re right. However, I don’t know why this spider is somehow pissing me off. Is it because I feel she is somewhat similar to me?” Tereza muses, questioning her own actions just a little.


    “Anyway, let’s find out what I got. I can open this one immediately and don’t have to wait to return to the Realm like the earlier chests!”


    Alex uses it and pulls out three items quickly, not willing to prolong this process any longer.


    “Hmmm, another [Blood Essence] along with 7,000 FC. It’s quite decent. Let’s take a look at the [Large Healing Potion].”


    [Large Healing potion]


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    “Interesting, five times the price for just 2.5 times the effect. Not a good deal, but this one has at least a use. 20 HP was just not enough anymore,” Alex says as he throws the bottle toward Menchi.


    “Thanks, I’ll experiment with it. Maybe Sev will be interested as well,” she says with a grin.