Once the goblins had been killed and Hugo had healed, more messages popped up.

*DING!* [Sword Work Skill] Increased to level 3

*DING!* [Nights Eye Ability] Increased to level 3

[You have shared Basic Blood Reaver Healing with your companion]

*DING!* Class: [Blood Reaver] has reached level 3 – Experience Acquired.

Damn, my Nights Eye ability jumped two levels from fighting those guys in the dark. I looked around and noticed my vision improving slightly. It wasn’t like seeing in the full light of day, but I could now make out more details that were previously too dark to see.

With the rooftop clear, I sheathed my sword and examined the items that the goblins had left behind, starting with their weapons. As soon as my fingers touched the crossbow, a new message popped up.

*Item Identified!* [Goblin Steel Crossbow, common: F-Grade] – Forged by goblin blacksmiths with the cheapest metal they could find. It’s a heavy, cumbersome weapon with a slow reload time but it more than makes up for it by firing bolts with the power and speed of bullets (Current state: Average).

I tried to lift it up, but the thing was heavier than it looked and there was no strap, which meant I’d have to carry it in my hands.

[Player Overloaded. Send item to Inventory? Y/N]

I selected yes and watched it vanish before my eyes. A smile crept onto my face. A looting system changed everything. Though it was weird that it didn’t come up until I was about to carry too many items on my person. I guess the System didn’t want to overwhelm players with too much information at once.

When I touched the second crossbow, the same item identification information came up, but in addition to that was a simple question.

[Loot? Y/N]

The other crossbow went into my inventory, much to Hugo’s dismay.

“Hey! Maybe save some loot for the rest of us,” he said as he flew over to me.

“Why would you need a crossbow?”

The crow gave a little shrug. “Dunno. Maybe I could sell it or trade it for snacks.”

“You’re thinking about food now?”

“I have a high metabolism,” he said testily. “Besides, I gotta get something to wash the taste of goblin blood out of my mouth.”

I sighed. “Fine, we’ll split the loot for now.”

I mentally called up the menu and selected the inventory. There, alongside the unopened Common Loot Box, were two square images of the crossbows. Selecting one made it reappear, which made Hugo happy. He pecked at it once, and then it disappeared into his inventory.

The next weapon were the three swords and before an argument could start, I cut Hugo off by explaining that not only did I do most of the work in killing them but that my Class was specifically built around using swords. I wasn’t greedy though and let him have one of the blades while I put the other two into my inventory which seemed to pacify him.

*Item Identified!* [Goblin Steel Short Sword (common: F-grade)] – A common blade that you’ll find on most goblins. It’s less a precision weapon and more of a blunt hunk of metal. The point of it, however, has been sharpened keenly so that even the dumbest, laziest goblin can effectively stab something with it (Current state: Average).

With the weapons taken care of, I wondered about if any of the goblin armor was lootable or not. Obviously, none of it would fit me or Hugo, but the bird had raised a good point about trading it. If we encountered other residents in the tower, then it’s possible one might have a use for the leather armor as a crafting material.

It turns out that Hugo was way ahead of me on that front. He pecked at one of the bodies and I watched as the whole thing vanished. Worried that he might take it all, I placed my palm on the closest goblin body and used the loot command.

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*Item Acquired!* [Goblin Boiled Leather Cap, common: F-Grade] – Basic headgear for the poverty-stricken goblin that wants more than a prayer for protection when something dangerous goes for their skull (Current state: Average).

*Item Acquired!* [Goblin Boiled Leather Chest Piece, common: F-Grade] – Gives the average goblin foot soldier a false sense of security by looking more effective than it actually is. It won’t stop a blade unless the attack is very weak and boiled leather can be a bitch to clean, but hey, it’s better than nothing (Current state: Average).

*Item Acquired!* [Goblin Rough Linen Tunic, common: F-Grade] – A homespun tunic crafted by his mother that’s now been tarnished by the blood of the previous wearer. I hope you’re happy (Current state: Poor).

*Item Acquired!* [Goblin Rough Linen Trousers, common: F-Grade] – Soiled by a bowel evacuation at the moment of the wearer's demise. I simply can’t fathom the purpose in acquiring such an item and now I think far less of you than I did before (Current state: Poor).

*Item Acquired!* [Junior Goblin Corpse, common: F-Grade] – Dun-dun was just trying to make his family proud. Everyone always bragged about his cousin Sleevil making level ten by his fifth cycle, and Dun-dun was determined to do the same. Lacking any aptitude for physical combat led to him being placed with a crossbow and being put into your path. You’ve killed him, you monster! Now his family won’t even have a body to bury (Current state: Poor).

It was difficult to tell how much of what the messages said was true or not. The System seemed to display a sick sense of humor that didn’t always align with the truth. Still, I wasn’t going to feel bad about the goblins I’d killed when they’d attacked first. Whether they were constructs created by the System or sapient living creatures dragged here from another world, they had been placed here to kill me and other players. If I wanted to survive, then I had to harden my heart to these monsters.

I looted a couple more bodies with similar tales of woe attached to them about how evil I was for killing a goblin. I ignored them and went to join Hugo, who was standing next to the last body, which, if I remembered correctly, was the squad leader I’d killed.

“Arise!” Hugo said.

My hand went to the sword on my back as a pale, ghostly version of the squad leader appeared to peel off from its physical body and stand up. It then bent down and outstretched one hand, which Hugo hopped right into before yawning.

“Woah, that tired me out,” he said.

“Yeah, we never had much of a chance to talk about your class. It’s called Psychopomp?”

“That’s right,” said Hugo. “My class says that I am a guider of souls. I can take the spirit of a deceased and command them before sending them to the afterlife. It is a grave responsibility and a huge honor to harbor the soul of another.” He then turned and looked up at the squad leader ghost. “I think I’ll call you Chuck Norris, or Norris for short.”

Norris’s face was a blank mask and gave no indication that he cared one way or the other. He moved forward robotically and must be obeying some kind of mental command that Hugo was sending him.

The bird hadn’t been much of an asset in that first fight, but if we leveled up Psychopomp enough, then the possibilities were staggering. We could end up rolling down to the ground floor on the back of a ghost army. Of course, there had to be a catch or two. The System wouldn’t just hand out such an over-powered ability without a drawback. Hugo yawned again and was struggling to keep his eyes open. That was it. It must have taken almost all the energy he had to raise Norris up, which means it’s not an ability to over rely on in the middle of a fight.

All this talk of leveling up prompted me to check my stats out.

Stats

Name: Lucas Hudson

Race: Human (Class F)

Class: Blood Reaver Level 3

Strength: 6

Vitality: 5

Intelligence: 10

Constitution: 6

Dexterity: 10

Perception: 10

Willpower: 7

Free points remaining: 22

Seems kind of low for six goblins. But then again killing the hound had been a part of a quest. Plus, there’s a lot that I can do with twenty two points.

The problem in deciding what to level was that almost everything seemed good. Hitting level ten had unlocked extra abilities and so that was my first stop by leveling strength, vitality, and constitution to ten. I didn’t know what willpower did, so I left it alone for the moment. New electrifying power surged through me, but I received no new abilities or skills from it. There were nine free points remaining. Intelligence might help me with crafting, but I couldn’t see much use for greater blood potions at the moment. Vitality felt like it was the amount of health I had, whereas constitution seemed like it was more about endurance and toughness. I’d need to find a coin and get to a payphone to confirm it though.

I’d also have to be cautious with the points in the future now that I know hitting a stat level of ten doesn’t always hand you a new ability. In the end, I decided to lean on my strengths and put the remaining points into dexterity.

I reminded Hugo to do the same to which he responded with, “yeah yeah. I’ve done it already. Come on, I want to see what’s next.”

He remained sat in Norris’s hand while the ghost stood by the door.

“Can’t you open it?” I asked.

Hugo scoffed. “I don’t have thumbs Lucas, and my ability can only make one of Norris’s hands solid to hold me up.” He suddenly yelped as the squad leader ghost disappeared and the bird frantically flapped away to avoid falling.

“So there’s a limit to how long you can keep a summon active?” I asked.

“Obviously,” he replied, ruffling his feathers before looking up at me eagerly.

“I’m not carrying you. I need my hands free. Sit on my shoulder instead.”

“Fine,” he sighed before flying up to do just that.

I opened the Stairwell access door, and we began our descent down the dark staircase.