Alex leaned into his tree a bit more before opening his most recent loot list. The System knew exactly what he wanted to see and had been getting more and more precise. He hoped that the times where he’d had to have perfect precision with every request were gone and the System would understand his intentions going forward.
Jagged Tooth x 22
Chipped Jagged Tooth x 46
Pristine Deer Pelt x 3
Medium Mana Core x 3
Enhanced Antlers x 2
“Hmm… Not that I want any but why doesn’t the System loot meat?” Alex said while he looked over the short list of items.
“You have the most basic Loot ability that all standard Users have access to. There are specific skills that you can acquire to loot a larger variety of items. As you get stronger your loot quality will go up as well.” V.V. said as she also looked over the list.
Alex nodded his understanding and seeing as nothing really jumped out at him from the loot, he decided to check the rewards.
Pending System Rewards
Mana Crazed White-Tail Deer Level 19 Loot Reward – Open Y/N
Mana Crazed White-Tail Deer Level 17 Loot Reward – Open Y/N
Mana Crazed White-Tail Deer Level 17 Loot Reward – Open Y/N
“System rewards for all three of them?” Alex said to himself and thought Yes to all three options. Five boxes immediately materialized in front of him, and he barely reacted to the spectacle this time. One of the most magical things he’d seen since his world ended had been reward boxes materializing out of thin air, but he’d already become numb to the sight. He briefly pondered over how his sense of wonder was dying before letting that errant thought float away. Looking over the boxes, he noted that only one of them was large enough to contain any kind of body armor or weapons. Reaching down, he grabbed the latch to the first and smallest of the boxes.
Loyal Parasitization Ring
Slot: Ring
Durability: 78
Stat Boost: 4 Str, 4 Con
Effect: Leach 3, Pack Leader 1
Ability: Parasitic Pack Leader 1- Absorb a portion (up to 10 per member) of your packs attributes and make them your own. If a member of your pack is rendered unconscious or dies, you will receive backlash. If all members of your pack are rendered unconscious or die, you will receive enormous backlash. For every 2 stat points absorbed, adds 1 to the User. Lasts until cancelled or forcefully disabled. User will receive backlash even if manually cancelled.
“The stag collapsing right after you killed the second doe makes more sense now. I knew my poison didn’t make the thing practically keel over.” Alex said.
“Yes, it does seem that the rapid expulsion of its stats caused it exceptional amounts of discomfort.” V.V. said to Alex while twirling various teeth around herself, seemingly inspecting them. Alex assumed she’d collected some for herself and decided to open the System panels for Leach and Pack Leader.
Leach
Passively absorb lifeforce when the User physically wounds an opponent with lifeforce. Higher levels will absorb more lifeforce.
Pack Leader
Passively increases Users defense by 1 for every member of your pack, up to 10. Pack members will be less likely to be affected by mental debuffs in your presence. Higher levels will increase base defense and pack capacity. User pack size 6/10.
“I’m not sure that I want to even use this ring’s ability. If I used it on Opal and then it got crushed, I’d immediately get a backlash. If I had ten pack members then I could have a maximum of forty-five extra stat points. All of you would be out ninety in total though. Thoughts?” Alex said as he turned to watch V.V. crushing and crumbling a tooth into one of her vials.
“It depends on whether you think you can make better use of the stats than your pack. Also, your math is wrong. You would have fifty points and combined your pack would be down one hundred.” V.V. said while continuing to swirl a vial of green viscous liquid that was slowly turning brown.
“It says there are ten total members. You, Opal, Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald and me makes six. If I had four more that would be nine members to pull stats from, right?”
“The pack leader isn’t considered when referring to how many members are in the pack. It’s saying that you can have ten other pack members besides yourself.”
“Then why is it saying six?”
“What’s that hovering over your right shoulder?” V.V. said and Alex glanced to his right and knew he’d see his Sphere hovering there.
“You’re saying the Sphere is considered part of the pack? It’s a temporary summon though.”
“Is it? How long until it disappears?”
“Ah… So, since the System is glitching for some reason, it’s considered a permanent member for now?
“I know I referred to it as a glitch before but now that I’ve had time to think it over, it’s more likely to be something to do with you than the System itself. You’re affecting the ability in some way that the System isn’t familiar with. It should resolve itself in time but even if you unsummoned and resummoned the Sphere, my money would be on it showing the same results.”
“The Sphere’s considered a permanent summon because of me and the System doesn’t understand why?” Alex asked.
“Pretty much. The System doesn’t have enough data at the moment to give you a correct reading on your new buddy there. Give it a few days or figure it out yourself and the System should update with more accurate information.”
“It seems a lot less omnipotent than before…” Alex said, not sure if he was relieved or bothered by that revelation.
“It’s obviously not omnipotent, otherwise it would show you what those question marks or your Other race are. Did you think it was hiding that info from you on purpose? Zzzha!” V.V. said as she let out a bark of laughter.
“…” Alex didn’t know what to say to V.V.’s jab at him so he looked to the next box on the ground. It was burgundy in color and still quite small but larger than the first. Alex thought to the System that he wanted it to open and was immediately met with a bright red light that came from a small thumb sized vial. It was convenient to be able to open the boxes without touching them but there was also something nice about physically opening them as well. He reached in and plucked the small liquid filled bottle from the box.
Tiny Wild Heart Elixir
Doses: 1/1
Permanently increases Constitution by 5.
Diminishing returns after a certain amount has been consumed.
“Ooh!” V.V. said as she quickly floated down to Alex’s hand that clutched the vial.
If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.
“Is this good? I mean, obviously a permanent boost to Constitution is cool but I’m surprised you’d react so overtly to it.”
“Huh? No, I want the bottle after you’ve gotten rid of the goop inside of it.” V.V. said, completely seriously.
“Uh… ok.” Alex said, his mouth hanging slightly ajar. He uncorked the tiny elixir and downed it in one go. He’d anticipated that the taste would be bad, but it had a minty flavor to it that didn’t bother him at all. After a few moments, he felt a warm sensation rush throughout his body. Once the tingly feeling started to wear off, he could feel the vial being tugged out of his hand by V.V. He let it go and she floated it up to herself and started examining it.
“I thought you already had a bunch of bottles?” Alex asked with his eyebrow arched in confusion.
“I have quite a few basic bottles, but this is a vial obtained directly from the System Rewards. It’s more special than you think. Zzhezhezhe.” V.V. said, laughed and floated a bit higher into the air, pulling out more bottles and tinking the different types of glasses together. Alex shook his head and looked to the third box. This one was larger again than the first two but still only a little larger than his fist. It was an unassuming square brown box until he touched it. The moment his hand came into contact with it, glowing white lines ran through the box in interesting swirling patterns.
“Uh, V.V?”
“I see it. It looks like the Watchers have interfered again. Go ahead and open it. Discarding a gift from the Watchers isn’t exactly a smart idea after they’ve marked you.” V.V. said while still hanging several feet above Alex.
“Ugg…” Was all Alex could muster as he flipped the lid from the box. Shiny white disks with the same intricate patterns on the box were visible inside.
World Watchers’ Coin
White
System recognized currency for use in the Unified Worlds Reward Shop.
Grey, White, Blue, Purple, Pink, Red, Black, Chromatic, Translucent
“The what?” Alex held up one of the coins and turned it over a few times in his hand. When he stopped twirling it around, it sunk into his hand and disappeared. He sat stunned for a moment before a new System panel popped into view.
World Watchers’ Coins
Grey: 0
White: 1
Blue: 0
“Oh.” Alex looked at the screen for a moment and started picking up the rest of the coins. Twelve white and forty-six grey coins in total.
“The Unified Worlds Reward Shop is the exclusive shop of the World Watchers. Normally a regular User would have to go to an outpost with a World Watchers’ representative to access the shop. You on the other hand, have the ring.” V.V. said as she drizzled a bit of yellowish goo onto a chunk of deer meat. Alex wasn’t even sure when she’d taken the meat and honestly didn’t care to know.
Alex looked at his right hand that the Watchers’ System Ring had attached itself to. He still had two more boxes to open before he got lost in another store, but he was tempted to just take a short peak. Tapping into the shallow puddle that was his willpower, he managed to keep himself from trying to open the Watchers’ shop. He was still annoyed that Willpower didn’t make his personal willpower obviously more powerful. Looking to the next box, dull yellow in color, roughly the size of a tissue box, Alex had the System open it. A jagged glowing grey crystal sat nestled in the box, surrounded by fluffy satin-like cushions for protection.
Skill Gem (Challenging Cry)
Uses: 1/1
Produces a powerful sound that forces enemies to focus the User.
Only effective on foes with less Willpower than the User.
“An aggro ability? I guess that’s useful, but I don’t know that I want to force monsters to attack me. In fact, that’s the exact opposite of what I want…” Alex said, disappointed by the contents of the reward. Alex pulled some of the cushioning material from the box and squeezed it. It collapsed down somewhat but when he released it, it quickly expanded back to its original size. Testing its squishiness several more times, Alex deposited what would be his future pillow into his storage.
“Skill Gem’s from rewards gotten through defeating monsters will usually have abilities related to those monsters. It’s possible to get something unrelated but not very common. If you’d gotten a cooking skill from a deer monster, I’d be impressed.” V.V. commented.
“Is this how all skills are gained if you don’t buy them directly from the store?” Alex asked.
“Of course not. There are many other ways to gain skills, abilities and spells. There are books, stones, crystals, scrolls, transference, biological, familial, and many more.”
“What’s the difference between biological and familial?”
“One has to do with passing it down through family lines and the other has to do with literally transferring power through things like blood and flesh. It’s a little harder to clean up.” V.V. explained.
“Gross, gotcha. Hmm…” Alex said and then turned his attention to the last box on the ground. It was grey and large enough to hold a pair of boots or maybe a helmet. The only thing he felt that he was really missing now was headgear. Thinking to the System again that he wanted to open the last box, it did. No lightshow accompanied the final box and when he saw the item inside, he wasn’t entirely sure what he was looking at. It looked like a block of ice took up the entire interior of the box with a small disk in the center, no larger than a nickel.
(Fragment) Eye of the Lost Star
Slot: Eye (Unwearable)
Durability: N/A
Effect: Mind Guardian 1, True Sight 1, Far Sight 1, Darkless Night 1, Third Eye 1, Premonition 1
Ability: Star Veiled – Illuminates the chosen target. The user can see the target. Lasts until the User cancels the ability.
Star Gazer – Unleash the fury of the Lost Star. Charge: 0/-
Growth Item
Evolvable Item
Sigh…
“What the hell is it this time…” Alex said, looking at the ridiculous info panel.
“That’s… unexpected. You shouldn’t have access to this kind of reward at the moment.” V.V. said, confusion evident in her tinny voice.
“Is it something from the Watchers?”
“I don’t believe so. The Watchers cannot interact with the rewards themselves. They piggyback off of the System transferring rewards to you in order to sneak their personal rewards in. You specifically opened that box by utilizing the System, correct?”
“I did.” Alex answered.
“Then no. The System would only react to a System Reward that way and not a box unassociated with its rewards. For instance, put any other box down on the ground and ask the System to open it and literally nothing would happen.”
“Ok… So, this reward appeared from the System on purpose?”
“Not exactly. It’s not like the System decided to give you this reward. Some factor we aren’t taking into account or simply do not know about has allowed for this item to appear. The System generates useful items when it’s able to for all Users. As this world becomes more stable, you’ll see less and less rewards. It’s the same thing with Quests, Special Dungeons, etcetera. The Systems energy will shift to another new world and so on.” V.V. explained.
Ugg…
Alex groaned. “Special Dungeons… What’s that and if there are Special Dungeons, are there Normal Dungeons?” Alex said as he felt a headache brought on by knowing that more annoying, life-threatening things were in his future.
“Of course there are Normal Dungeons. Their just called Dungeons though. It would just be silly to call them that.” V.V. said.
“Of course…” Alex said, mocking V.V.’s use of the words that were not at all obvious to him.
Alex touched the block of what appeared to be ice and yanked his hand away. His Orbs and Sphere immediately jerked in place, preparing to defend him but he settled down almost as quickly as he’d been startled. The ice wasn’t cold at all but hot, very hot. Whatever encased the item had the appearance of a shoebox sized block of ice and was as hot as an open flame. He hesitantly reached out again and tapped his knuckles to the block. Doing it quickly enough didn’t cause him to get burned so he decided to attempt storing the block when his knuckle made contact. It took a few taps, but he eventually stored the block with no issue.
“We’ve been here a while, can we set up camp or do we need to keep moving?” Alex said as he looked up at V.V. who had already stored her experiments.
“We should have already moved on, but it was good to rest for a while. We need to get as close as we can to the center today and tomorrow, claim it.”
“Crap… I don’t suppose I could buy a pair of wings and jump off the island instead of fighting massive monsters?”
“You should have thought of doing that when we were still standing on the edge of the cliff.”
“That was an option!?”
The group of seven moved through the woods quickly. V.V, Opal and Ruby cleared any obstacles that Alex could potentially run into but there weren’t many. The path they were taking was the one the deer had taken to reach Alex. Many of the obstacles he may have run into were already broken or trampled by large hooves. Two more hours flowed passed as they bared down on the center of the island. Twice, V.V. detected enemies nearby, but they never got close enough to trigger any kind of combat. Alex thought it was strange that the forest seemed so lifeless besides one beetle carcass they’d passed. It looked to have been crushed under none other than powerful hooves. No crazy squirrels or enraged lizards jumped out at them as they ran through the lush forest.
Light cut through the gaps in tree canopies as gentle winds swept around them. If Alex didn’t already know there were deadly monsters roaming around, he’d have thought it to be an incredibly peaceful place. He was about to comment on how nice the weather felt when V.V. abruptly stopped. When she stopped, he stopped and so did his Orbs. His Sphere was still casually hovering over his right shoulder in its preferred spot. Alex didn’t know why it did that actually, but his mind caught itself before it started to wander. Focusing on V.V, he waited for her to do something. She slowly spun in place a few times before quickly floating over to Alex.
“I’ve detected five monsters moving to the North-West of us.” V.V. said in a metallic whisper.
“…Which way’s North?” Alex asked almost meekly.
Zzsigh
“Coincidently, North is almost directly towards the center of the island.”
“Is it coincidence or by design?”
“Who’s design?”
“No idea.”
“Anyway, the monsters aren’t moving fast so we may want to wait here for a bit unless you want to take them out.”
“Let’s wait…”
“I figured as much.”