Chests!
White chests were the lowest rank of Treasure Chests, followed by blue chests, and, as he had heard, violet chests, even though he had never seen one. While it was possible to get valuable items from White Chests, they mostly dropped items of the lowest rank.
Not all Treasure Chests contain random items; the first chest opened by a survivor always contains a weapon. Moreover, a Treasure Chest obtained from stronger monsters would have higher chances to drop rarer items. It may be said that it depends on how the system evaluates your efforts.
'I've killed four evolved zombies and close to a hundred ordinary zombies, so I should get something better from Treasure Chests.'
It was another reason why he had hunted a large number of zombies. Higher the system evaluates your efforts, or more your life is put at risk, the higher would be drop rates. Although unaware of other hunters' practices, he had learned from his past life when hunting monsters stronger than himself, as it yielded greater rewards.
System likes thrill!
System encourages brave ones!
And the system rewards the worthy!
Without hesitation, he began opening his Treasure Chests. As he opened his first chest, it disappeared in a soft and gentle white light.
[Spirit Water]
[Description: Permanently increases spirit stat by 2 points]
'Yeah... Got lucky on this one.'
Leo couldn't help but exclaim in satisfaction since he had gotten exactly what he wanted. It was pretty rare to get items that permanently increased stats; furthermore, he especially wanted to get such an item related to spirit stat. His goal was 5 points in spirit, yet he didn't want to waste his attribute points on the stat, which he can increase by meditation.
Spirit Water was stored in the same vial as other potions, and it was colorless and transparent as water. Leo didn't store it in his bag since it was better to immediately use it on himself, so he drank it directly.
[Your spirit has increased by 2 points.]
At the same time, he decided to view his status.
'Status'
[Leonard Wright]
[Level: 4]
[Class: None]
[Survival coins: 201]
[Mana: 8/8]
[Strength: 16]
[Agility: 10]
[Stamina: 11]
[Intelligence: 11]
[Spirit: 4]
[Attribute points: 0]
[Innate ability: Regression]
[Skills: Elementary Cooking (LVL 2), Gaming (LVL 8), Mathematics (LVL 7), Leadership (LVL 1), Meditation (LVL 3), Flash Step (LVL 1), Mana Application (LVL 3), Mana Threads (LVL 3), Mana Barrier (LVL 2), Mana Enhancement (LVL 2), Reinforced Breathing (LVL 2), Swordsmanship (LVL 5), Battle Focus (LVL 4)]
'Step by step, I'm growing closer to the status of my past life in terms of my skills.'
He felt content with the skills displayed on his status window, considering it unusual for a survivor to possess such diverse abilities at an early stage. Previously, he had always wondered how the status of former killers or assassins would have looked after the Holocaust, yet their status windows might not have half of his current skills.
Truthfully, his Regression ability was still a mystery to him since it didn't fit into a definition of the mutated cells. He can't imagine how mutated body cells may revert time and transfer skills from a past life. Of course, there were lots of magical innate abilities, yet his Regression was out of the box.
'Never mind. Overthinking it won't give me any answers but will make it harder to understand'
Getting high in spirits after obtaining Spirit Water, he already thought that his profits had outweighed the risks. Humming a melody, he moved to the next White Chest.
It vanished in the same gentle light, and a weapon resembling an awl stood in his hands. It was a short 7-inch weapon whose blade was so thin that he thought it would break immediately if he stabbed a zombie with it.
[Needle Rapier]
[Attack: 11-13]
[Durability: 5]
[Description: Short needle-like rapier that is good for piercing yet easily broken]
'Another trash weapon. But it may be good to kill stronger monsters with tough bodies. Better save it for the future'
Seeing its description, he already categorized it as an item that was limited in usage numbers. It had high piercing capabilities yet had low durability. It may even be broken by an ordinary zombie if he blocks its attack with a Needle Rapier.
His Rusty Sword had 10 points in durability, meaning that it can withstand attack from a hunter or an ordinary zombie, but he would never dare to block an attack with it from a giant, so he had always dodged them. Occasionally, a weapon may develop cracks, which can reduce its durability.
Even the attack stats of a weapon weren't absolute. Depending on the person, people may apply some parts of their agility and strength to increase attack power, just like how hunters developed sharp claws to use their speed for attacking.
As every gamer would do, he tried to grasp the meaning behind the stats and tried to turn everything into numbers, so he calculated that 3 points in strength equaled 1 point in attack power, added on the attack stat of the weapon. Well, he had experimented a lot to understand the principles behind the system.
Finally, he moved towards the last Treasure Chest. Without any further thoughts, he opened it immediately, as it seemed to shine brighter than other chests. After a moment, seemingly a piece of paper, rolled into a scroll, appeared in his hands.
[Basic Elemental Contract Scroll (Light)
Description: Allows to make a contract with a Basic Light Elemental. Only a person with high elemental affinity with light will be able to use it.]
'Elemental Contract Scroll! But am I fortunate or unfortunate?'
Sighing slightly, he didn't know if he was fortunate to get it or unfortunate that he couldn't use it. Indeed, Elemental Contract Scrolls were rarer than any other item that he could recall to get on early stages from White Chest. Unfortunately, he had a poor affinity with mana or with any elemental magic.
The biggest drawback of the Elemental Contract Scroll was the fact that it was extremely specific to the element, immediately lowering the chances to find someone with an aptitude for it. It might be even said that it was harder to find someone appropriate than an Awakener.
'Perhaps Willie would be able to use it.'
Lamenting his aptitude for magic, Leo threw the scroll inside his bag. Truthfully, he was pretty envious of people with elementals since it literally was a shortcut for using magic. Using elemental magic doesn't drain a significant amount of spirit energy; the only requirement is to supply mana to the elements.
An ideal form of magic for combat situations!
As far as he remembered, there were plenty of ways to use magic. Magic spells may be unleashed through magic circles or chanting spells in Spirit language. He also recalled Ability Holders with the same magical effects as magic spells and, finally, elemental contractors who, in his opinion, had the most effective way to cast magic.
'Hmm...should I continue hunting or return to the base? With the restoration of my mana and stamina, I may kill other evolved zombies, yet I'm pretty sure that Adam is already freaking out there.'
After the death of his parents, he had grown much closer to Adam, considering him as the brother he never had. It didn't matter who was an elder brother or little brother since they were basically of the same age, yet what truly mattered was a link between brothers. As a result, the death of his best friend had a profound impact on him in his past life.
'Gonna kill any evolved zombie I meet on the way back to the base.'
He decided to wrap up his hunt right here since it would be better not to risk a lot on his first time hunting solo. Moreover, he was already feeling how all his muscles became sore due to overexertion of his body after using Reinforced Breathing.
He felt as exhausted as if he had been working out in a gym for hours without any breaks.
Even though his stamina was recovering, he still suffered from the consequences of enhancing his body stats. Leo had a year to acclimate to the excruciating pain in his muscles, feeling as if they were being torn with every movement.
When shit happens in life, you get used to it!
Massaging his muscles, Leo took his bag and intended to move towards his base, yet, suddenly, he felt goosebumps all over his body as he used Flash Step to leap sideways, ignoring sharp pain in his legs. Every sense within him screamed, signaling the imminent danger.
Ambush! He was ambushed!
As he turned his head back, he saw a monster resembling a wolf in size and a dog in appearance, as it growled aggressively towards him. It had a dangerous glint in its eyes and was reaching his chest on his four legs, gnashing its teeth towards him.