Chapter 136: The Mysterious Black Mask

In the World of Diablo, equipment could be divided into eight grades.

The first grade was [Inferior Item Equipment], with ordinary colors, specifically divided into four types: Inferior, Broken, Damaged, and Crude. These types of equipment were barely usable, common street goods that even beginners rarely valued. They could be dropped easily by killing minor monsters.

The second grade was [Normal Item Equipment], shown as white in appearance. They had a certain chance of having natural sockets, allowing gems and runes to be embedded, or could be socketed later. These were the most ordinary and common type of equipment, forming the basis of the game’s items. The drop rate was very high—you could get nine out of ten from killing minor monsters, with average attributes.

The third grade was [Superior Item Equipment], also shown as white in appearance. In the World of Diablo, only weapons and armor could have a superior form, providing some extra enhancements to attack power, durability, and defense. However, the effects were not very noticeable, only slightly better than [Normal Item Equipment].

The fourth grade was [Magical Equipment], shown as blue in appearance. They had stronger attributes and power, far surpassing the previous three types in defense, attack, or special attributes. Magical equipment names often had one or two prefixes, and the number of prefixes indicated the level of additional attributes. These items could be good or bad but were powerful. The armor and belt equipment that Sun Fei’s Barbarian Character currently used were both blue Magical Equipment.

The fifth grade was [Crafted Item Equipment]. This type of equipment could only be created through synthesis formulas. Sun Fei had not yet crafted any of this equipment.

The sixth grade was [Rare Item Equipment], also known as ‘Excellent Equipment’ or ‘Rare Equipment’. It had more powerful effects and attributes than the fourth-grade [Magical Equipment]. Their names generally had two to six prefixes. Sun Fei had obtained several such items before, such as the [Wretched Feather Short Bow] he had given to Ileena earlier, which belonged to Rare Item Equipment. This type of equipment could be considered slightly high-end mainstream items.

The seventh grade was [Set Items], shown as green in appearance. Legend had it that these Set Items once belonged to the great legendary heroes in the history of the Diablo World. When a full set of items was collected and equipped, in addition to the attributes of each individual piece, additional powerful magical powers would emerge. Set Items were rare because a set often contained many scattered components. Even with good luck, it took a long time to collect a full set. Sun Fei had obtained one piece, [Arctic Fur], from the [Arctic Gear] set in Barbarian Mode, but until now, he had not obtained the other three pieces to complete the full [Arctic Gear] set.

The eighth grade was [Unique Equipment]. This sacred-level equipment had the lowest chance of appearing. Each piece had unique magical abilities, with its own distinct shape, attributes, name, and color. They could be divided into three sub-levels: Normal, Exceptional, and Elite.

Understanding the equipment grading system of the Diablo World, one could see why Sun Fei was so excited.

Because before his eyes now was a complete set of seventh-grade [Set Items]. A full set appearing at once had never occurred in Sun Fei’s memories of the computer game from his previous life—of course, the strange phenomena of the demon queen Andariel earlier had also never appeared in the computer game of his previous life.

Sun Fei gently reached out and touched the Set Items before him.

The cool sensation at his fingertips told Sun Fei it was real, not a dream or an illusion.

This was a four-piece green set: a plain-looking conical blue skull cap helmet, an elegant light blue light armor with shoulder guards, a waist cincher, and thigh guards, a light blue staff about 1.7 meters long with a cylindrical translucent magic gem at the top and three unknown mysterious cloth strips wrapped below, and a palm-sized deep red amulet engraved with a pentagram Magic Array.

These four set pieces were tightly combined into a standing humanoid form, lifelike and faintly shimmering with a captivating brilliance of life. An overwhelming magical fluctuation, like a tide, uncontrollably emanated from the set.

The set was still in an unidentified state.

However, Sun Fei was too excited to wait until he returned to the Rogue Encampment to have the old white-haired man Kane identify this green set for free. He directly used four Scrolls of Identify to fully identify the four pieces of the set—

The staff was named ‘Arcana’s Death Wand’.

It had special attributes: Two-Hand Damage 12-18; Staff Class Normal Attack Speed; Durability 50/50; Required Level 15; +1 to Sorceress Skill Levels; 25% Chance of Deadly Strike, +50% Damage to Undead, Replenish Life +5, +50 to Mana.

The skull cap helmet was named ‘Arcana’s Head’.

It had special attributes: Defense 237; Durability 18/18; Required Strength and Level 15; Replenish Life +4; Attacker Takes Damage of 2, Lightning Resist +25%, +228 Defense (Based on Character Level).

The light armor was named ‘Arcana’s Flesh’.

It had special attributes: Defense 195; Durability 60/60; Required Level 15; Damage Reduced by 3; +2 to Light Radius; +10 to Energy; +100 Defense.

The amulet was named ‘Arcana’s Sign’.

It had special attributes: Required Level 15; +15 to Mana; 20% Faster Mana Regeneration; Fire Resist +20%, 50% Better Chance of Getting Magical Items.

These were the attributes of each of the four parts of the set.

[Arcana’s Tricks]!!

Sun Fei instantly knew the name of this green set.

In Sun Fei’s memories from his previous life, there was indeed such a set suitable for the Mage Character. Although it had some gaps compared to the top-tier Tal Rasha’s set for the Sorceress, it was considered perfect equipment for early-stage Mage Characters. Moreover, the required level was only 15, and with Sun Fei’s current level of 19, he could fully support this set.

Without any hesitation, Sun Fei quickly stripped off his clothes and equipped [Arcana’s Tricks].

A light blue glow instantly enveloped Sun Fei. An unprecedented feeling of strength spread through every cell in his body. Sun Fei could feel that his defense and attack power had increased by at least one or two times in that instant. With this complete green set, the level 19 Mage Character could perform at the level of a level 25 Sorceress.

After equipping the full [Arcana’s Tricks] set, the additional composite attributes of the set appeared—

+20% Faster Cast Rate, 5% Mana Stolen per Hit, +50 to Life, +50 to Mana.

Sun Fei closed his eyes, carefully savoring the pleasure of the sudden increase in strength.

Then, his gaze fell on the simple dark iron mask floating in the air not far away.

The appearance of this mask was far inferior to the earlier [Arcana’s Tricks] set. If not examined carefully, it would look like a piece of old bark with two round holes cut out, dry and lifeless. Yet it floated lightly in the air as if it had lost its gravity. A strange power flickered faintly on the mask, carrying a sorrowful and ancient mysterious aura.

“Could this mask be the legendary [Andariel’s Visage]?”

Sun Fei was startled. [Andariel’s Visage] was the mask that Andariel, according to legend, had begged a blacksmith to make to cover her disfigured, ugly face. It was considered a decent piece of equipment, but it rarely dropped in the Monastery. So why would it appear here now?

The mask felt light and weightless in his hand, as if he were holding a ball of air.

Before identification, Sun Fei could not know the name and attributes of the mask. He used a [Scroll of Identify], and a golden flash of light passed over it.

Sun Fei was stunned.

Because he found that the mask in his hand showed no reaction at all and still did not display its attributes.

“What’s going on? Could it be just an ordinary mask, not even equipment, which is why it doesn’t show attributes?” Sun Fei guessed. “But that doesn’t make sense. If it’s useless, why is it floating in the air?”

A strange thing had happened.

Such an event had never occurred in the memories of the computer game from his previous life.

Sun Fei recalled the words of Andariel’s phantom when the nun’s appearance was restored earlier—

“Accept my gift. Protect your woman. Every [Flower of the Rogues] will face unprecedented suffering. Protect her, so she won’t repeat my mistakes!”

A sixth sense from the depths of his soul vaguely told Sun Fei that this mysterious black mask seemed to have some connection with the ‘prophecy’ left by the phantom Andariel. However, the exact nature of that connection eluded him.

Sun Fei thought for a moment and tried to press the mysterious black mask onto his face.

A warm sensation spread, like a lover’s gentle touch.

The mask was not large, fitting perfectly over his entire face below the skull cap. His eyes looked out through the two black holes, comfortable and without obstructing his vision. There was a slight protrusion at the nose area, protecting the nose but leaving the nostrils exposed for easy breathing. Sun Fei had a strange feeling, as if the mask had life, subtly shifting and perfectly conforming to his face, as if it were made for him from the start.

Then, a peculiar sensation washed over him.

Sun Fei felt as though his five senses had suddenly enhanced several times over. He could hear things he hadn’t before, see things he couldn’t previously, and smell scents that were once undetectable…

Lifting his hand to remove the black mask, all the strange sensations vanished.

He repeated the test several times, confirming it was true.

This seemed to be the only function of this mysterious black mask for now.

“Even a [Scroll of Identify] can’t identify this item. This is truly mysterious… Even eighth-grade Unique Equipment can be identified with a Scroll of Identify. Could it be… that this black mask is beyond the eighth grade? That can’t be. I’ve never heard of a ninth-grade equipment in the Diablo World!”

Sun Fei shook his head. He couldn’t figure it out for now, but the mask exuded an indescribable eeriness. He put the mask away into his Belt Space.

Then, the scenery changed, and the endless void disappeared.

As if passing through endless time and space, Sun Fei instantly returned to the underground tomb where he had killed Andariel. Before him were still the raging flames and the blood-filled sky. The monsters were all dead, and the Mage Character had completed all the tasks for clearing the Rogue Encampment.

All seven professions had cleared the first act.

Sun Fei returned to the 3D holographic projection screen before entering the Diablo World.

Before his eyes, the change that both surprised and delighted Sun Fei had indeed occurred.