Chapter 7

Among the corpses there were few people with decent equipment, but still there was something to profit from. As a Monk, I ignored all sorts of swords and heavy armor types, first of all I paid attention to people with gloves. There were only a couple of them, so when I approached them, I applied the system rune on my hand to the glove of interest to me, while I did not care about removing the glove from the corpse first. I took a look at the result that was displayed just below the status.

Thieves' gloves.

Skill of picking locks +1.

It has been stated that the effect will only work when both gloves are worn. Realizing that this was rubbish, I rushed to another corpse and repeated the procedure.

Gloves.

No special effects.

I moved towards the last corpse.

Scarlet Troll Skin Gloves.

Enchancement +1

Regeneration +1

Bonus Fire Damage +1

Finally, something useful, I immediately took off those gloves from corpse and stuffed it in my bosom. Then I began to thoroughly search this corpse and identify the rest of his clothes. Under one of the gloves there was a ring, which I immediately decided to hide, almost tearing it off the corpse along with the finger. Then I checked the collar and noticed that there was amulet hidden on the neck so this amulat was immediately removed and hidden by me without even examining it. All this time I tried to cover my findings with my body. The stench of corpses, severed heads and blood around, overall it was not a very pleasant sight, but the desire to become a little stronger was more important to me than a little discomfort. I looked for a moment into the eyes of the corpse and silently praised all its ancestors. What a good person!

The villagers were simple and shameless people. Nearby, there was almost a group scuffle for the possession of especially prominent equipment such as swords and armor. Of course, no one would kill each other, even the idiot understood that after something like that, the whole village would torn them to pieces, but they could well beat me until I will lose consciousness. These late bandits were a motley crowd and some of them might have quite decent things. Fortunately there were no Monks among the corpse lovers around, or perhaps they were one of those who disdained to do such a thing. I continued my hard work.

Scarlet troll-skin tunic.

Basic defence rating 0.

The maximum agility modifier bonus added to the defense factor is unlimited.

Skill check penalty due to armor - 0

Arcane Spell Failure Chance due to Armor - 0

Special properties.

Defense rating +1 (armor)

Regeneration +1

Fire protection 3 (absorbs 3 points of fire damage)

Scarlet Troll Skin Boots.

Defense rating +1 (evasion)

Regeneration +1

Agility +1

I wanted to take the corpse in my arms and carry it home so we could have some privacy, but I immediately suppressed this thought, it would look too strange. Fortunately, there were only a couple of arrows in this corpse. I broke off the arrows and began to take off his clothes. Intrestingly enough, the pants were not identified by the system, so I ignored them, except that I checked pockets and took out a couple of silver and bronze coins. I wrapped my boots in a tunic and stuffed them in my bosom. Perhaps I should have looked for something useful for my subordinates, but I decided not to be greedy. If I will take too much, then someone may well have the desire to punch me in the face. I decided to quickly dump off with my earnings.

Since I coped quickly and there was still a mess around, I calmly moved to the gate. Fortunately, Raf had already dumped, apparently he was not interested in this. Nobody stopped me, they even congratulated me on the prey. After the village learned that I had become a Monk, they began to treat me a little better. Perhaps they might even let me get inside the inn. On the way home, I thought that if someday I will come across some village on the way, I would think ten times before taking advantage of their hospitality. A chill ran through my body imagining what could happen to me. Safer to spend the night somewhere in the forest.

At home, I said that I would like to wash my loot. I was hoping that Mary would offer to help with this and I was right. Not that I couldn't do it myself, but Mary was much better and more experienced at it than me.

- Mom, can I go with my brother next time too? - Anna asked when I finished my story.

- No way! It's too early for you to get involved in such matters. If you hear an alarm immediately run home do you understand young lady?

Anna whined a little more, but quickly realized that it was useless to argue with Mary and became quiet. I encouraged her and said that the harder she trained, the sooner she would be able to keep me company. She took my words very seriously and promised to try even harder.

Soon, I was finally able to check on the ring and amulet.

Amulet of protection.

Defense rating +2 (natural)

Lesser Ring of Agility

Agility +1

I didn't know yet how valuable these things were, but I didn't care. In any case, before that I had no equipment with additional effects at all. No matter how much I created bows or other things, none of them had any kind of bonus.

A few days later, I was finally able to try on my new clothes. The holes in the robe were darned. Although this set of clothing was sturdy, it was not strong enough to withstand arrows or swords. I ran tests and found out that the protection factor against things worked differently. By themselves, the amulet and robe naturally did not really increase protection, but thanks to their special system properties, the body seemed to become a little stronger, which obviously increased protection in general. Boots on the other hand made the body a little lighter, making it easier to dodge. I looked at the status.

Jack 14 years old

Level 1

Race - Human

Class - Monk

Personality - Lawful Neutral

Strength 14 Modifier 2

Dexterity 18 Modifier 4

Constitution 14 Modifier 2

Intellect 12 Modifier 1

Wisdom 14 Modifier 2

Charisma 8 Modifier -1

EXP 15, Next level 1000

Defence rating 20

HP 30

Weapon - Unarmed

Attack bonus = 5

Damage 2-7 +1 fire

Fortitude 3

Reactions 5

Will 3

Spell Resistance 0

Effects

Regeneration 3

Fire protection 3

I was pleased with the new things. Enchancement on gloves added +1 to both attack rating and base damage. Robe looked quite normal and covered entire body including legs, the color was pale red. But there was a cut in the front, so robe did not restrain my movements. I made a cold face, looked up at the sky and put my hands behind my back. But soon I got tired of grimacing and I went on to do my usual routine.

I didn't need the money around here, so I kept a couple of bronze ones for good luck, and gave the rest to Mary. I didn't work in the field anyway, only sometimes I helped to bring water on trifles. And the found silver should be enough so that Mary herself would hardly work on her part of the field for some time, she can pay taxes with silver or hire someone.

After a couple of days, I decided to visit a local inn. Even though I was still small in terms of age, an important factor was the fact that I was already level one and officially part of the system, so I was now taken a little more seriously. Not that the inn made a lot of sense in this village, but the innkeeper himself, his family and some other interesting personalities lived in the inn. Obviously this innkeeper was not particularly interested in profit. Rather, it was the place where the villagers were going to chat. Although there was still some profit, especially now after recent attack on the village.

The room was not very large, but there was enough space for a dozen small tables. Visitors sat behind some and chatted, making a little noise. When I entered, some people looked towards me and even made fun of me, but nothing serious. I went to the innkeeper, who apparently recognized me.

- Brat you're the new Monk Jack right?

- Right.

- Seems like you are not a timid dozen, pounced on the corpses like a hungry beast, good job there kid. Ha ha.

- It's a pity that in the end he only managed to drag off the dress. - said one of the visitors and many laughed.

- Okay kid, what do you want?

- And what do you have?

- Today the menu is rich. Wine, bread, wild boar meat, trout, potatoes.

I made myself a fishing rod and sometimes went to the river, after which I cooked the fish myself, or I gave it to Mary for cooking. In general, there was no point in paying for it. The presence of potatoes was good, but for now I wanted to try something else.

- Can I sample some wine? Also some bread and meat will do.

Even in the modern world, I was sometimes bothered about how is hygiene in the kitchen. Well, here there was no need to look into the kitchen, the inn was not very clean. Well, I was hoping I wouldn't die from the local diet. Soon they brought me wine, I even checked it through the system.

Low quality wild grape wine.

It looked also dubious, and I have never been particularly fond of wine. The taste turned out to be rather sour, it seems like sugar is pretty rare around.

- Is there someone strong in the village besides Raf? - I asked.

- There is a few. But not among the Monks.

I started asking the innkeeper about various things, both about the system and about the Rent and the surrounding area. To some he answered, but to some he did not, in any case, I did not come here for nothing.

While we were chatting, a fat woman burst into the inn. She looked impressive and clearly was not timid, she began to examine those present with her predatory gaze until she saw one of the visitors sticking out from under the table. She instantly rushed to the suspect and those around her cleared the way. A panicked cry was soon heard.

- Wife! Beloved! I just came to chat ...! - the visitor squealed, his disguise skills were clearly not very good. However, he did not have time to finish excuses, he received a powerful slap in the face and he fell to the floor, after which his wife kicked him a couple of times by her feet.

While he could hardly catch the air, his wife grabbed him by the collar and dragged him out of the inn like a piece of meat. The visitors laughed and started joking. But when the little wife stopped and looked around, everyone was quiet. Then she dragged her husband further and left the inn. Laughter resumed. I smiled as well.