Chapter 39: Loot and Upgrades!

'I suppose I should look at that skill book... whatever a skill book is,' Lucas thought to himself as he reached out towards the screen and pulled out a leather tome that was wrapped in, what seemed to be, the Ogre's red skin.

As soon as Lucas touched it a notification came up and alerted him towards what it was.

<D Grade Skill Book>:

<Note: Skill books can be used by anyone.>

<Ogre's Strength>: Tier 0 / LV: 1 / Rarity: Uncommon>

<Description>: The mantra of the ogre is to eat and eat and never look back! By spending a large amount of stamina the user can temporarily increase their strength by 10 points.

Lucas stared at the skill book before deciding that it would be better suited to being used by someone at the base.

He put the book into his pack before continuing on to the next objective on the list.

'That title...'

---

<Monster Slayer>

You have slain many a foe and have taken down beasts that most would whimper in fear at. Because of this, you have learned how to fight these monstrous creatures with startling accuracy and deadliness.

Immediate Benefits:

-User gains 50 strength

Passive Benefits:

-Damage you deal to <Monster> Type creatures is increased by 50%

---

As soon as he viewed the title he felt a wave of strength envelope him as all of his gear became just that much lighter than before.

'Equip,'

<User has too many equipped titles. The user currently only has 2 slots for equipped titles, one per tier that the user is.>

'Ugh... fine,'

'Next... two skills are ready to evolve and I also have 1 skill point to spend,'

'Evolve <Sprint>!'

---

<Please choose from one of the following three options>:

<Whirlwind Sprint / Uncommon>

Your movement is imbued with the power of the winds! Your movement is increased dramatically at the steady cost of mana and stamina per second of use.

<Power Walking / Common>

This ability no longer requires stamina.

<Unseen Movement / Common>

Your stealth capabilities are not affected by your movement speed.

---

'Hmm... I think I will go with Power Walking. Unseen Movement seems like it could turn into some form of 'shadow step' in the future and that could be interesting but just not having to waste any more stamina than I already use would be amazing.'

<Power Walking has been gained>

---

<Power Walking: Tier 1 / LV: 0 / Rarity: Common>

You can't run away from all of your problems! Actually, you are pretty fast so maybe you can run away from some of them. And the lack of effort you put into running away is startling… Are you even trying at this point? Run speed bonus is 100%.

---

'Hmm... Next,' Lucas thought impatiently as he just wanted to get this process over before heading home and taking a shower or a bath or whatever the hell he could get.

'Evolve <Sensory Overload>'

---

<Choose one of the following three options>:

<Eagle Vision / Common>

Your eyes are as sharp as an eagle. You can see in the dark and your view distance is massively increased.

<Third Eye / Very Rare> <Evolution Path Blocked>

You can see things that often others often disregard. You have a massive bonus in detecting hidden individuals and invisible creatures don't deal bonus damage to you.

<Four eyes / Common>

Your vision cannot be impeded by normal means, such as being blinded or standard darkness and the sort.

---

'Eagle Vision would be a good skill if I was going for long-range shots but currently, my melee damage is better than anything my long-range attacks could pull off,'

'Third Eye seems rather unique... It will help me from getting duped in the future and seems like it could allude to much better skills,'

'Four Eyes seems like a decent skill but not better than <Third Eye>'

'<Third Eye> I choose you!'

<<Third Eye> Has been chosen.>

---

<Third Eye>: Tier 1 / LV: 0 / Rarity: Rare>

You have a 1000% bonus towards detecting hidden individuals and objects. You are also not able to be sneak attacked.

---

'Dang that is a huge bonus!'

Lucas stared at his screen for quite a while, silently debating which skill he should evolve with his skill point.

'I would go with my psychic club style but it is almost about to evolve anyways...'

'I need something that will affect my combat prowess, so how about <Fighting Stances: Predator Style>. It really hasn't shown its strength since I have only been fighting stronger individuals as of late,'

---

<Please choose one of the three following options>:

<Fighting Stances: Reverse Style / Rare>

By using this fighting style you will be able to outlast your opponents as they watch their stamina and mana be sucked away from them with every strike you land.

<Fighting Stances: Dragon Style / Racial>

Your body is as sturdy as a dragons... so why not be as strong as one?

<Fighting Stances: Critical Style / Uncommon>

You have observed your enemy's movements and know where to hit 'em where it hurts!

---

'These seem to be quite the step up from the previous skill,' Lucas thought to himself as he thought of what it would mean to evolve these skills.

'I don't really understand why predator style evolved into these though. I get Dragon Style and maybe Critical Style but Reverse Style seems less of a total overpowering technique and more of a tactical technique,'

'Better to outlast your opponent and whittle down their strength then actually be stronger than them,'

'I don't want to rely on that Dragon Racial skill too much as I got it out of pure luck and there's the fact that it isn't even my real race,'

'So I guess Reverse style it is... It seems like it would be the coolest skill to evolve. Maybe it could develop some sort of life steal ability in the future? Who knows to be honest,'

<User has learned <Fighting Stances: Reverse Style>>

---

<Fighting Stances: Reverse Style: Tier: 2 / LV:1 / Rarity: Rare>:

Only Ancient Arts depict the ability to steal your opponent's resources from them with every blow dealt to them. When this skill is activated you gain +5% stamina steal / mana steal whenever you land a blow on a target at the cost of some movement speed and damage output.

---

'5% of the damage I deal or 5% of the total amount that they have?'

The system remained silent and after a while of trying to coax it into speaking up, Lucas simply gave up and started to approach the body of the Ogre once more.

'What materials do I think I can get out of this guy...'

Lucas scanned the body of the Ogre and realized the only thing that might be of use to him would be the skin and the bones. They were both as tough as steel and could be used to make decent armor.

Lucas pulled out his bat and manually released the blades so that he could saw off a few portions of the skin and also yanked a large bone out of its socket, pocketing both into his backpack.

He nodded in satisfaction at the gains he had gotten in this trip but realized that Monsters were truly terrifying.

'The elemental from before almost one-shot me... and this thing was almost impossible to take down without risking my life,'

'This world of ours just keeps getting more and more dangerous...'

'I wonder what the system meant by this saying that this was a system-generated encounter?'

'I should probably ask Lina about it when I get back to home base,'

And after resting a little while longer, Lucas headed back home without a problem.

---

After reaching home Lucas immediately crashed in one of the cotts before waking up a few hours after and taking a bath.

After refilling his stamina he finally decided that it was time to talk to Lina about what had occurred and maybe give a briefing to the new exploration team.

He searched through the base a little bit and eventually found Lina in the garden watering plants using her water magic.

She hummed a tune lightly and raised her wand into the air, causing little clouds to form and rain down gently upon the plants.

Lucas watched her perform her tasks for quite a while, patiently waiting for her to finish before talking to her.

It seemed like it was taking forever, but after 10 minutes she finally finished.

"Phew! Finally done watering the plants... Now on to the next task!" Lina let out in a happy tone.

She turned around to find Lucas standing nonchalantly at the door.

A slightly surprised expression overtook her young face before she smiled brightly and walked towards him.

"How was the trip, Lukey?"

'It seems like she is finally growing up a little. She did say that growing her wings means she had matured into an adult so perhaps that has something to do with it.'

"I got in a fight with a gigantic Ogre. It wasn't fun, to say the least. Not like my other fights,"

Lucas pulled out his trophy to show her but Lina stopped him once she saw the boiled covered skin that he started to pull out.

"I... Don't think I want to see that,"

He nodded in acknowledgment meant and began thinking of a way to word his questions.

"So, Lina, Do you know anything about System Generated Encounters? It said that the den I fought in was one of those,"

A look of fear appeared on Lina's face before she hesitantly nodded.

"Typically they don't happen this early, from what I have been told, but they are effectively challenges the system places in the world to help enforce growth."

"They are really dangerous... Typically you can tell if something is system made if it doesn't seem natural,"

Lucas slowly nodded before thinking back towards the skill book he received.

'I wonder who should receive it...'