Reward (1)

[Congratulations! You have defeated Corrupted Famine, Rat Chief (copper)]

[You have gained 2000 Avalon credits.]

"That did it," Ulysses mumbled, withdrawing his sword back from the fat rodent. He didn't forget to loot the corpse, touching it slightly on the way to withdrawing his sword.

Steams of mist rose out of the huge corpse as slowly it dissolved into colourful gems, relieving him of its disgusting stench.

[You have gained: +3 Copper Physique Enhancing Gems, +15 Common Physique Enhancing Gems, +1 Copper Agility Enhancing Gems, +18 Common Agility Enhancing Gems, +6 Common Spirit Enhancing Gems, +8 Common Recovery Enhancing Gems.]

"Whoa, the rewards are better than I hoped," he muttered, as dozens of glittering gems dropped where the corpse of the Rat boss was supposed to be.

Moreover, it wasn't the end of the notification.

[You have gained Stain of Sin (Famine)]

"Another one?" Unconsciously, Ulysses turned his head towards the cannibalising rats. They were still at it, leaving them completely free.

The newer Stain wasn't completely dark. It seemed to have veins of red glow around the small obsidian gem. Thankfully, the rats were cannibalising each other to notice this one.

Ulysses was about to pick up the rewards when another notification came, catching him off guard.

[You have about 91% contribution in defeating a corrupted monster higher in rank than yours. You are obligated to get a bonus reward.]

[Congratulations Walker! You have gained an Awakening Gem (Grade: Iron)]

As the mist cleared, Rin found a newer addition to the collection of gems. It was slightly bigger than the others, gleaming in a faint golden light.

He picked it up first as the other two members of his group joined him. They were sick to their stomach after they watched the cannibalising. Weirdly, he found the teen girl with duct tape in her mouth again.

Her eyes were gleaming slightly like the rats, as she sweated profusely. She seemed like someone who couldn't wait to get out of here.

Where Luke diverted his attention to the rewards. "What did you get?"

Rin gestured towards the small collection of gems on the ground as he inspected the Awakening Gem.

[Awakening Gem:

Grade: Iron

Effect: Absorbing the gem will awaken one origin mark ability. Note that an iron rank awakening gem can only awaken an Origin Mark ability when the user has less than 3 awakened abilities on that Origin Mark.]

[Would you like to absorb the Awakening Gem?]

[Accept | Decline]

"What is that?" Luke asked, his eyes darting to the unfamiliar gem in Rin's palm.

"A gem that will awaken an ability," Rin said, tossing the gem up in the air to catch it back.

Luke's eyes gleamed.

"Do you want it?" he asked, still playing with the gem.

Luke the Kingmaker swallowed his breath. "No?"

Although he said that he wasn't convincing anyone.

"Sadly my friend, you need to have an Origin Mark to gain anything from this." Rin broke Luke's hope ruthlessly as his former captain cursed under his breath.

"So why are you waiting, then?" Luke asked, at last. "Absorb it. Let me glimpse what kind of sorcery they have planned for this game."

Rin was about to do exactly that, but stopped finding Elise had something to say.

"Um," the only girl in the group asked hesitantly, "can you do that after we get out of this dungeon? The game won't let me log out now."

Both Rin and Luke shot her a look.

"I guess we could do that," Rin said, turning his head towards the cannibalising rats. "But something tells me leaving them like that would be a bad idea. What do you say, Luke?"

"I have the same thing in my mind," Luke intoned in a quieter voice. "The obsidian gem you threw at them was enough to make them cannibalise each other. I don't want to see what will become of the last remaining rat."

"So?" Elise asked, distressed.

"So we wait," Rin said.

"Don't worry, it won't be that long at the rate they were going," Luke reminded her, not that it did any good to make her feel better. "Anyway, back to the Awakening Gem. How do you use this?"

"Just like any other gem," Rin said.

"What's stopping you, then?"

"I have a feeling I'll regret if I absorb it now," Ulysses said slowly, narrowing his eyes at the golden gem. "On second thought, life is all about regret. . ."

As his voice trailed off, he confirmed the prompt and absorbed the Awakening Gem under the dumbfounded gazes of the other two.

A stabbing pain struck Rin's mind immediately as he laid on the ground, groaning. Rin was mostly accommodated to physical pain, but this kind of pain was a new experience altogether. He clasped his head with both palms as the pain pricked his mind constantly, warming his head and body.

Thankfully, it didn't last long, nor was it as uncomfortable, like marking his spirit with the Seed of Protection had been. Within a minute, Rin was well and with a new ability.

[Congratulations Walker! You have awakened a new ability of [Seed of Protection], Hand of the Guardian]

[Hand of the Guardian:

Rank: Copper (0%)

Cooldown: None. Mana Cost: Moderate to High.

Effect: Conjures semi-substantial mana and spiritual arms, which can do anything under the user's control.

"Well, this seemed a bit underwhelming compared to Mana Cloak," Ulysses muttered, feeling a new option open for him in the mark in the centre of his chest.

He unbuckled the straps of his clothing to find the mark had grown with a second green circle around the complete emerald circle.

Luke and Elise were watching him with eager eyes as well, wanting to know what he got out of the gem. His Mana Cloak ability wasn't much of a secret to them, as they knew how competent just one ability made him be.

"So," Luke asked, "what is it?"

"Let me show you," Ulysses said, and forced mana into the outer circle in the mark.

Unwittingly, he hoped for the change to happen, or for the ability to shoot out of him. But after about a couple of seconds, he found no change.

It was only a little later he discovered mana coalescing into his fists, making a thicker emerald halo around his hands.

"How do I trigger this?" he mumbled, jerking his hand outwards.

Apparently, that did it. Two semi-materialized fist-shaped lights sprang into motion and shot where he jerked his arms at.

Every one of them was eyeing the gleaming green arm eagerly. Sadly, it disappointed all of them, dissolving into nothing after it moved ten paces away.

"Maybe it doesn't have that much range?" Luke hypothesised.

"Nah, I barely have any mana left after the battle," Rin said. "If anything, this ability seems just as useful. I wonder if it will let me conjure anything other than arms. It will surely solve the issue of arrows for me."

___________

The term Outworlder has been changed to WorldWalker in the edit.

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