Wear and Tear
[Gained 10 experience points.]
[Gained 10 experience points.]
[Gained 10 experience points.]
After the third notification ringed in his mind, the tension finally left his body.
[Leveled up.]
[Gained 10 attribute points.]
[Gained 2 skill points.]
New announcements followed shortly after.
"Perfect."
A smile blossomed on the boy's tired face. The two skeletons by his side resembled two terribly malnourished, skinny bodyguards, standing tall like an undead honor guard. Summon's state left much to be desired, they definitely seen a fair amount of trouble. The necromancer, standing weakly in the middle, did not look good either. Bloodshot eyes with deep shadows underneath and pale complexion were the clear testimony to his exhaustion.
Shin sat down. He could feel the coldness of the stone floor. The last fight almost killed him. Three hideous goblins that emerged suddenly from the dark maze turned out to be a real challenge even with the support of his two bony minions. It was even more troubling than the previous encounter with goblin archer. This time, they caught him off-guard. The essence meter, which showcased one of his primary resources, did not even reach 80 percent of the maximum value. Therefore, Shin had to fight relying on the short sword he claimed from one of his green experience springs.
Sword fighting is not a simple task. It requires coordination, strength, and practice to master. Even the small-sized blade can weigh a pound and in an inexperienced hand, a sword may even injure the one who wields it. Goblins' simple weapons did not qualify for the title of the wonder of metallurgy and craftsmanship, so the difficulty soared even more. However, there is hope even in direst of circumstances. Like, positioning the pointy end towards opponent may sound foolish, but actually is quite a sound advice.
Shin had won the fight. He also managed not to decapitate himself, which was a great, personal victory. Yet, the grandeur of his achievement was prone to be left unrecognized.
Level 2:
Experience: 0
Life Points: 110 | Essence: 110 | Mana: 110
Str: 10 | Agi: 10 | Int: 10
The status window updated handsomely. Life, essence and mana values replenished and grew by 10 points. Experience bar returned to its initial state. In addition, according to the earlier notification, Shin could now personally choose where to invest 10 attribute points.
"I'm warlock and necromancer. My skills are primarily magic-based. Strength and agility should be useful for those focused on physical combat."
Shin decided to spend additional ability points for intelligence. As he thought, it was a necessary stat for those involved in arcane knowledge. It was. Every allocated point additionally boosted his magic pools.
Experience: 0
Life Points: 110 | Essence: 120 | Mana: 120
Str: 10 | Agi: 10 | Int: 20
"Sweet. What about skills?"
While the boy focused on his skills, his summons looked around the corridor vigilantly. The contents of the status window have changed, now displaying detailed information about the available spells.
Drain [1]
Channels essence through your foe, stealing one point of life per second.
Cost: 1 essence point per second.
Animate [1]
Rises an undead minion. The number of summoned creatures is based on maximum mana pool.
Cost: 50 mana points. Requires corpse.
"I'm unable to summon another skeleton for now. So strengthening [Animate] is not really imperative. Saving points up is utter nonsense. I do not know exactly how long will it take to get out or what else to expect. I'm back to [Drain]."
Shin's eyebrows furrowed as he pondered silently. He scratched his head, realizing his hair could use a good shower. Not that he owned particularly good one. Next second, he turned serious, scolding himself internally. Luxuries could wait. Shin earnestly reflected on his possibilities. Then he smirked, spending all of his points without hesitation. Ability name lit up twice.
Drain [3]
Channels essence through your foe, stealing nine points of life per second.
Cost: 3 essence points per second.
"Good, splendid! It's efficiency tripled. And its mechanics seem to base upon the quite uncomplicated formula."
Some people enjoy small things. Shin was content with how his advancement turned out. He stood up, stretching. Something glowed from where the mangled corpses were, catching his eye.
Indeed, it was something which filled hearts of people around the world with terror. It divided and evoked most extreme of emotions. Individuals around the world loved it and hated equally. The glowing thing was easily able to mentally torn less resistant ones, drowing them in a violent, destructive torrent of emotional anguish. Shin rejoiced.
Shining through a piece of dirty fabric, the loot box emerged. Its appearance was something expected. Information about equipment was included in the data that got burned into his brain couple of hours earlier. As he managed to slay monsters earlier, he was somewhat disappointed that the swords they dropped were not classified as weapons or recognized as a valid loot. Of course, he could use them in a fight but their damage was greatly reduced.
"Loot! I finally get my hands on something useful!"
With this sentence, the youth was completely disregarding the usefulness of his undead minions. Their loyal, undead hearts would probably bleed, stricken with grief and woe if they had any organs, to begin with.
Loot box was shaped like a smooth, regular octahedron, about the size of a average gaming dice. It glowed slightly, resembling floating experience points. As Shin's bent down to pick it up, the metallic voice once again resounded in his mind.
[Acquired loot box. Open?]
Once the boy confirmed, the trinket left his grasp and floated few inches above his open hand. It started to rotate and lines light appeared on its edges and vertices, growing brighter and brighter until it imploded in a flash of light. The dark fabric fell on the inside of Shin's hand. It was a crudely sewn, hooded cloak. Moreover, it was showing clear signs of wear and tear.
[Black Hooded Cloak] | Improves defense.
"I'm not impressed. What is it? Am I supposed to put on a costume?"
He sneered, disappointed. He stared intensely at other remains but failed to detect anything special.
Garments may be used for a variety of purposes. They cover the body. The most common use of costume is to provide means to temporarily forget about the dullness of life. Actors and people of art wear them professionally but even a regular person can use a costume to become someone else. In the case of Shin, the black hooded cloak slowly made him into the person he was supposed to become. It also added two points to his physical defense and looked absolutely intimidating.
The youth looked helplessly at his first, actual spoil. His internal conflict resolved with a long sigh. Although he still felt slightly intimidated by the unusual look of the cloak he understood that it might boost his survival ability and there was no room for skepticism. The boy did not care so much about its look. He worried about the attention he would receive, clad in an unusual clothing.
Shin adored the cloak and moved on, following behind his undead protectors. The clattering bones echoed in the distance.
At the same time, the outside world was already disordered. Cloaked figure departing slowly into the long corridor was no longer the only person to plunge into the unknown. The difference between tens of thousands of other newcomers and him was that, unlike most others, the first entrant had already started building the solid foundation for himself. He now had the strength to rely on.