Collecting Rewards

"haa..."

Ethan exhaled a sigh of relief as he sat down on the ground. Even though his spot was slightly muddy, he didn't mind because he was mentally exhausted.

His stamina was still good, but the repetitive action and chants he performs wear out his mind more than his body.

He had heard about this sensation before, but this was his first experience with it.

In this world, this weariness was known as 'Cantarenemis.'

A mage under the age of 15 will frequently experience mental fatigue if they chant repetitive spells without a rest.

It was because the usual INT attribute of young mages was so low that the brain would easily 'overheat' and become mentally exhausted.

One race, however, is an exception to this rule.

It is the Elven race.

Ethan, on the other hand, was a demon and only had 17 points of INT, which is considered good but insufficient to escape Cantarenemis.

'I never imagined being a mage would be this taxing.'

Ethan thought as he closed his eyes for a moment to calm his mind, though his expression was not distressed.

Because finally, after an hour of back and forth, the last strand of the Emperor Spider's HP was gone to zero.

Screech!

The boss let out a weak whine before bursting into light particles.

[Ding! You've killed a level 5 Boss Monster, «Emperor Spider», +3,000 exp!]

[You have level up!]

[Ding! You've killed one of the 20 Bosses of Asthami Dungeon.]

[You have received a permanent buff, "Emperor's Blessings".]

Ethan opens his eyes after hearing the series of notifications. A large exp was added to his previous level and was enough to reach level 8.

In just one day, he gained eight levels. If someone would know about this would certainly become speechless.

Moreover, Ethan also received a permanent buff.

—

Emperor's Blessing (Party Shared Buff)

• Grants invisible shield that can absorb 500 magical damage.

—

"It's a good buff."

Ethan said in a weak tone, still wearing on fatigue.

"Although it was only limited for magic damage, I was still fortunate to have this," he softly continued.

In his previous life, the whole team who slain the boss also received this kind of buff.

Every boss in this dungeon has different buff rewards and the most powerful of them was this blessing.

A buff that can readily block 500 magical damage was already useful in the early stage of the game.

After dismissing all the notifications, Ethan returns his attention to his surroundings. As if his strength was back to him in an instant, his face became elated.

Shiny, shimmering, and splendid items!

The place was full of items. This was absolutely a trove!

After a minute of rest, Ethan shot up from his spot and began to collect the drops.

The default inventory of every player in the game has 40 slots. After that, one would need to buy an item bag or anything with the same purpose to carry more items.

However, several items that loitered around the place were identical so they will only stack on each other. Hence he was unconcerned about his inventory being full and scooped the items without hesitation.

Ten minutes passed, Ethan was done collecting all the items and now he was checking them one by one.

With all the monsters including the elites, he collected 120 mana gems, 50 white silk, 20 pairs of spidey eyes, 20 different body parts of the spiders such as fangs and legs, and a total of 8 silver coins.

That was only for material items. The other drops were pieces of equipment and accessory that varied in rating!

The normal cave spider usually drops a common piece of equipment while the three elite sentry he killed luckily dropped one uncommon type of equipment each.

Two of them were part of a set and suitable for a mage type like him;

—

[Sentry Silk Gloves] (Uncommon Equipment)

Requirement(s): Level 5, END 3

Effect(s): DEX +5, MGC +5

Unique Effect(s): Reduced casting time of basic spell by 2%

Class Limitation: Mage Category

—

[Sentry Silk Armor] (Uncommon Equipment)

Requirement(s): Level 5, STR 3

Effect(s): VIT +5, CON +5

Unique Effect(s): Absorb 100 points of physical damage.

Class Limitation: none

—

Ethan felt satisfied when he saw the two pieces of equipment from the Sentry set.

He also didn't expect the last uncommon item which is a sword that has +30 physical power and a 5% chance to deal double damage.

With that effect, its value was much higher than the Sentry set!

He could sell it for 15 or 20 silvers in the auction house, and who knows if the price would increase due to bet competition.

'What a good piece of equipment! Along with the Jerken Sword, I've made a decent profit this time.'

Ethan silently rejoices as he equipped the two sentry items.

Next, he checks the drops from the Emperor Spider. This time, his excitement rose.

It's because Boss drops were the most special items whether in the field or inside a dungeon instance!

Six items had dropped aside for the default mana gem. These six are composed of three poison vials, one spellbook, one ring accessory, and a crystal shard.

Firstly, he was elated by this harvest since it includes a spellbook. It was a book from a level 5 Boss monster so one could expect the quality of it.

Ethan checks the spellbook property.

—————————

[Emperor's Scythe]

Rating: I (0/150%)

Type(s): Advance • Burst • Transmutation

Description:

• Allow one of the user's body parts (either legs or arms) to change into a scythe-like claw.

• The scythe can deal 300 (+200% Total PA) physical damage to the enemy.

Activation Cost: 200 Mana

Cooldown: 70 seconds

—————————

"Hell, it really drops the scythe!"

Ethan reflexively said just after he saw the name. He didn't bother to read further since he knows this spell.

The spell was famous for its name 'death scythe' because it can literally one hit a player.

And what's more, the enemy would certainly have a difficult time predicting where this scythe could appear since the user can freely manifest it in either legs or arms.

That's why it was a valuable spellbook but too bad...he was a mage.

His physical attack right now was only 15. It was a pitiful value compared to a strength-based profession such as swordsmen or berserkers.

"But oh well, I can still use it, though I couldn't use its full potential."

Ethan sighs but is slightly relieved thinking he might as well add STR points to his stats.

Rip!

He tears the spellbook and it immediately becomes red particles of light.

The particles then move quickly and sipped through at his head.

Ethan can feel slight throbbing pain but it is soon banished as if nothing happened.

[You have successfully learned the Advance Spell, level 1 Emperor's Scythe.]

After the notification, he refocuses his mind to the other drops.

There was an uncommon ring accessory, [Retrotem] that can automatically reduce the ongoing cooldown of basic spells by 30% if used.

"An op item but I can only use it for five times in a day tsk," Ethan clicked his tongue and dramatically shake his head as if disappointed.

"Even I can go up to ten times," he added but soon let out a chuckle realizing how bad his joke is.

Ethan wears the ring and it magically fits on his right index finger.

The ring has a socket in its center top. He can put a special gem at that spot if he wanted to upgrade it.

The last item he inspects was the crystal shard. It belongs to material items so there was a short description written in its panel.

The name was also in a question mark. It means he needs a person with appraisal talent—with an Appraisal Profession.

"I swear I had already seen this one previously but it was quite vague. Hmm let's store it for now," he muttered then tossed the bluish crystal into his inventory.

"Well then, time to finish this quest."

Ethan stands from his spot and walks forward into the previous location of the Boss monster.

The place was in an elevated position. He scanned the area and, even though it was the boss's den, he didn't see any remains, implying that the spiders eat even the bones of their prey.

"But they do not eat clothes, quite professional in etiquette, huh."

Ethan said as he kneel on the ground and picked a piece of garment.

He raised his head and continued to scan the vicinity until he found a gleaming light three-meter ahead of him.

"Found it," he smiled and immediately went to that spot.

What he found was a dirty locket but the silvery color of it was reflected by the light of the mana lines in the cavern.

Click.

As he opened the locket necklace, a small golden crystal was embedded inside was revealed. It was a treasure.

Ethan assumed it can be sold for gold but he wouldn't attempt to pluck this thing because it was part of the quest.

Sergio Finas would recognize this was from his son solely based on this golden crystal because he was the one who gave this expensive item to him.

That's why it must remain on the necklace.

After storing the locket, Ethan again scanned the surroundings expecting some random item drop from the dead but there is none.

"Alright. Time to head out. I already missed the outside place."

Left nothing to do, Ethan went to the cavern entrance as he decided to return.

Dim places can be suffocating sometimes so as he says.

He followed his previous path until he exited the cave.

The Asthima dungeon was full of treasure but Ethan decided to set aside the 'treasure hunting' and planned to take leisure.

He can still come back to this place if he wants to. He was different from his previous self who was eager to amass wealth and fame in a short time.

For him, that attitude would certainly spoil the fun.

Furthermore, he already gained a lot of money just by taking this quest. The drops and experience were also great since he soloed the raid.

These were already enough profits for him.

"Let's speed run the game in moderation, for that is the fun way of playing it."

Ethan cast a faint smile as he reminds himself.

He steps out of the dungeon and unhesitatingly went into the dense forest again.