Chapter 38 - Hammer of the Worthwhile

First things first, Rynold took out some of the rather useless weapons that they had at this stage. As much as he wanted to hoard a bunch of random items for later use, he couldn't unless he wanted to be encumbered for the rest of his life.

Regardless, Rynold took out some low-level loot that got dropped from relatively low-level ghouls. Weapons like the Dull Shortsword and a couple or smaller knives were seen. There were even some that looked like sticks which, upon further inspections, turned out to be wands. Very low-tier wands at that.

Would-be casters or mages could benefit from the early game wands but, unfortunately, none of them had any hopes of being one. Skye was the only one that seemed to follow that path but she had no need of such garbage as she had the Wind Acolyte's Grimoire.

Moving forward to the better loot, Rynold had better hopes for them.

"Hmm...," Rynold didn't know where to start. There was a lot more than he had expected although most of the loot turned out to be spell books once more. With that, he started with equipment that is much fewer in quantity.

[Thief's Boots]

Footwear Equipment

Durability: 65/65

Agility +5, Defense +3

A common piece of equipment that is suitable for those making a living by running and hiding.

'Garbage, next piece.'

[Gauntlets of the Water Vanguard]

Gauntlet Equipment, Water Vanguard Set

Durability: 120/120

Defense +5, Water Affinity +5, Fire Resistance +3

A piece of the equipment that was standard for the soldiers of the Water God.

'Better, but it won't work.'

[Water's Promise]

Accessory Equipment

Intelligence +10, Water Affinity +15

An amulet containing the promise of a creature of the water, still unfulfilled over the centuries that passed.

Additional Passive Skill: Water's Safeguard

- Increases all sources of regeneration by 5%.

'Huh. Actually decent this time. Anyway, the next one up is...'

[Hammer of the Worthwhile]

Smithing Equipment

Durability: Infinite

Equipment Requirements: Strength 20, Intelligence 20, Mana Bond

An old hammer that used to belong to a master blacksmith. Throughout the master's early days, this hammer and his skills were all that he had. The experiences and hardships that this hammer went through infused it with strong mana.

Additional Passive Skill: Worthwhile Hammering

- Increases production speed by 10% and success rate when producing items by 5% to a certain degree of rank.

"Holy!" This time, Rynold wasn't able to control his excitement.

It was another Mana Bond equipment, only difference was that it wasn't an item that could be used in a fight. However, that doesn't diminish the excitement that Rynold felt. It was the first time that something sparked Rynold's passion, his strive for making something.

Rynold let out a small cough to compose himself from suddenly yelling that made Oliver and the others look his way. They thought that Rynold was sorting the loot that he got so they didn't bother him. But, seeing how excited Rynold was that made him yell something out, meant that there was an item that was actually good.

Trying not to bear any more gazes, Rynold waved his hands and said, "I'll tell you guys later." He wasn't technically done with checking all the loot as of yet.

Checking the other sort of loot, there wasn't anything that seemed to stand out. Most of the equipment after the Hammer of the Worthwhile turned out to be on the same level as the Thief's Boots.

Rynold continued to throw out the things that he didn't need for the others to choose later on. He was so into what he was doing that he even separated the equipment based on his recommendations on who these items should go to.

Meanwhile, the rest of the group was relaxing. Jack was on the railing once more and shooting to support Shyft that was fighting through his wave of ghouls.

Oliver, on the other hand, went back into the building to raid the pantries like a modern hobo. Skye was playing with Eileen and Strider while practicing to use the Wind Acolyte's Grimoire newfound magic.

It was times like these that they wished they treasured more in the long run.

'That should be it,' Rynold dusted off his hands as he finally managed to sort out through his loot.

In the end, he kept a few things that made sense for him to have. The Hammer of the Worthwhile, the drill attachment, another gear that one of the ghouls managed to drop along the way, and a few simple books that contained skills that would slightly boost his battle strength.

It doesn't seem like much in terms of quantity as each of the piles that he separated had more items in them, but it was enough for Rynold. So much so, that the books that he grabbed were more utility skills than offensive skills.

The skills were: [Basic Lockpicking], [Basic Linguistics], [Basic Cartography] and [Basic Meteorology]. Half of which Rynold didn't even know what they did but he knew no one in the group would want them.

A few moments later, Oliver finally came back up from inside the building and was drinking a juice box. It was the only sort of liquid that he could find that had flavor. Both Rynold and Oliver locked gazes for a split second but their expressions were different.

Rynold was looking at him with a confused gaze while Oliver looked back with an expression like he wanted to share what he found. Rynold shook his head and spoke, "now that everyone's here, time to distribute the loot."

"I took the initiative to distribute them to your tastes," he continued, "nothing's set in stone, though, you can always pick out what you guys want."

Jack was the first to take a look at his pile which was actually only books and a small knife. The books, though, were so suited around him that it made sense.

There were skills along the line of supporting his shots such as [Piercing Round] which fired a single shot that pierces enemies. There were also skills that were long-ranged-based utility skills like quickdraw and accuracy bonuses.

Jack was happily learning all the new skills that were before him and really enjoyed his time.

Skye, meanwhile, was faced with a mountain of spellbooks. It was obvious that since she was the only mage, it would make sense if these items were to go to her. Unfortunately, though, most of the books were actually repetitive ones.

Both [Restore] and [Wind Blade] showed up in the spellbooks pile while some of the spells didn't even fit with her Wind Affinity either. Spells like [Aqua Bubble] and [Torrent] were there, too.

Taking only the spells that revolved around her strengths while giving Rynold back the rest, Skye was satisfied. The duplicate spellbooks actually managed to level up the skills she had beforehand, too, so all turned out to be great.

Lastly, it was Oliver's turn to get the items. Most of the equipment that Rynold didn't take was given to him instead. He swiftly equipped [Theif's Boots] and didn't even bother with the rest, saying, "I don't need these," while throwing them back at Rynold.

Now that everybody got what they wanted, Rynold checked the things that were leftover. 'This is weird,' he thought.

It might be a coincidence that the group didn't want Water Attributed items or skills but to have so many leftovers that share the same attribute was uncanny. Rynold guessed that maybe it was because they were so near the water that the loot drops leaned to Water Attributed items instead.

"Well, that's that, I guess," Rynold said while putting the unwanted loot back into his inventory. "How's Shyft?" he asked.

"Should be here pretty soon," Jack said while moving back to the railing, "he didn't have any trouble beating the daylight out of those ghouls."

"We should probably head down to meet with him," Rynold mentioned to Oliver.

He replied with a simple nod while munching on some snacks he found and motioned Strider to come with him.

"I want to come with!"

Unexpectedly, Skye yelled out. Maybe because she got bored of staying here and doing nothing or she got annoyed at how Jack was, but she was determined to come with them.

"Well, that's not up for me to decide, now is it?" Rynold sarcastically responded while patting Oliver on the back. "Meet you guys downstairs, then. Eileen, can you stay here with Jack?"

The young girl was munching on some snacks that Oliver brought up and managed to say the words "okay" with a mouth full of crackers.

"Alrighty then. Jack, take care of the little one or else," Rynold let out a smile that could only come across to Jack as threatening.

An audible gulp could be heard as Jack nodded with enthusiasm.

Satisfied with Jack's response, Rynold went down the stairs of the radio tower building once more. It was a quiet walk down as he went on his lonesome to greet his uncle.

Once he reached the entrance, he closed his eyes and appreciated the silence that surrounded the area. It was creepily quiet but Rynold knew he had to appreciate the quiet times because the path ahead of them was nothing but bloodshed.