[Item: Never-Ending Fresh Water Gourd x1]
[Rank: Very Rare (A)]
[Description: A never ending, 1 liter gourd of fresh and cool water. Nifty find!]
'...Alright. Might be useful.' I placed it back into my inventory.
As I watched Lord Azhar's body dissipate, I thought that this was wasteful.
‘I gained no intel about the outside world—just confirmation that I should dump stats into Resistance, and a crash course in how his Mind Control works. That spell of his, to say the least... is not something I'd want to run into a second time.’
But as I looked at my stats... I had a second thought.
STAT PROFILE
Stat Points Available: 290
STR: 810
INT: 430
DEX: 810
VIGOR: 430
RES: 430
'He was level 701. I'm 210.'
'There's a solid chance that even if I pour everything I have into Resistance, it still wouldn't be enough to resist his level of mind control... Haah. It's that mutt situation all over again, but with Resistance. Unless I find a skill that scales off RES, dumping 290 points just to maybe resist one spell type feels wasteful. I should hold on to these stat points for now.'
And...
There were only two real rewards this time.
Mana Stone (EX), it was called.
And Cooldown Stone (EX).
'Inspect.'
[Item: Mana Stone x1]
[Rank: One-of-a-kind (EX)]
[Description: Upon breaking, removes mana usage requirement for one of your existing skills. The selected skill no longer drains mana.]
'So basically... this is only useful for my Hard Swing as of now, since Hard Swing is the only skill that actually drains my mana. I should hold on to it for a while. Who knows what more skills I'll find or gain.' I thought, placing it back into my inventory.
This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
Next up was the Cooldown Stone.
[Item: Cooldown Stone x1]
[Rank: One-of-a-kind (EX)]
[Description: Upon breaking, removes cooldown from one of your existing skills. The selected skill no longer has a cooldown time.]
'....'
'Hard Swing again,' I sighed. 'Seriously?'
Even if I did use both of these on my Hard Swing, there are so many factors to consider. What if I find a way to upgrade my Hard Swing to a higher rank, like with my Overgear? Will the Cooldown Stone's effects vanish?
Add that to how currently, if I were to apply both of them on my Hard Swing, I'd only be able to hit twice as strong nonstop. Which is nice in itself, but potentially a complete waste if I find a way to raise my stats in some other way... or a better skill that happens to drain mana.
‘That…’ I looked at my arms.
‘And every time I use Hard Swing, it hurts like hell. I’ll just needlessly tear my arms off if I use it recklessly. FUCK. I should’ve put more points into Vigor. I guess that affects my body’s constitution to keep up with my strength.’
In short,
'Not great, not terrible.' I placed it back into my inventory.
But something else bothered me.
'He's a human. So, he's like me. With every level, he'd automatically gain stat points to EVERY stat…. Right?'
'That means, at level 701, even his base strength would've been enough to wreck me twice over.'
I opened my stats window again.
STAT PROFILE
Level: 210
Stat Points Available: 290
STR: 810
INT: 430
DEX: 810
VIGOR: 430
RES: 430
'At level 701, he'd have... Much, much more strength than I have even if he didn't invest in it at all... Roughly 1400+ in EACH stat.'
'So how did I snap his neck that easily?'
'....'
'There could be so many explanations. Was he ill? Debuffed? Was I buffed in a way that he wasn't? Is it maybe due to him being a dungeon boss?'
I then remembered that he did mention the gods sealed him here. That also could've been why.
But he didn’t say anything about it, so it’d be a guess at best…
‘I did get his diary, maybe he specified there… But… Even if he did…’
[Item: Diary of Azhar]
[Rank: F (common)]
[Description: A diary of the seventh Abyss Dungeon boss, Lord Azhar. Roughly 1,121 pages long. Better clear a day or two!]
‘I don’t have the time to read through it. I need to get out of here before I get… older.’
I sighed, lying on the floor, my limbs sprawled and stretched as I looked up via my visor.
'I've been here for over a decade... And I know nothing about—'
'Oh.'
'Right.'
'... It was just his death spell that made me feel like I... Spent a... decade....'
I felt nauseous then, and the world started to spin.
I hurriedly removed my helmet... And puked my guts out on the floor.
'Odd... I... Didn't realize... there was something... to puke out... since I've been living on potions the whole time.. ha... ha... fuck...'
Everything hurt.
I couldn't move.
Everything kept spinning.
I felt my brain melting in a different way than what he showed me.
Then,
Darkness.
I died.
