The main question Jack was debating in his mind was whether he should go back for the loot or not.
‘Notification Log,’ thought Jack to himself, once again reading through them in order to try and ascertain the loot value.
You have slain Lv. 3 Lunar Wolf.
The following items have been deposited into your inventory (please loot slain creature for items):
TP x100
Name
Jack Fletcher
Age
28.6 Years
Race
Human [F-]
Cultivation Level
3 [45%]
Class
Swordsman (O) Lv. 3 (23%)
Cultivation
Initiate I
Talent
-
Skills:
Inspect, Qi Blade [MAX], Qi Pulse [Lv.2]
Equipment
[F-] Bastard Sword
STR
9
CON
11
DEX
8
AGI
11
PER
8
WIS
7
INT
9
WIL
7
QI
4/12 (11+1)
FP
0
TP
165
While both [Twilight Boar] and [Lunar Wolves] were Level 3 creatures, the tutorial points awarded by the latter far eclipsed the former. Tutorial Points were directly deposited into the inventory, but the items had to be manually looted. A fair amount of time had passed by now, so even if James wanted to loot… well, Andrew’s body, he would have done so.
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It was a pity that no new skill was offered to him for reaching level three in his [Swordsman] class, but getting a new skill every level would be a bit of an unrealistic expectation.
“Sarah, I’m going back to claim my loot. Can you stay here for five minutes?” Jack asked her calmly, treating her no different from before.
Her eyes flickered for a moment, but thankfully she seemed to find strength and nodded, standing up with her spear held in a relaxed stance.
“I don’t think James is in the area, but be on the lookout for any monsters. Don’t lose your cool,” Jack gave her a nod, seeing her regain some of her old composure was heartening.
“You will come back, right?” Sarah asked just as Jack was about to go past the tree’s cover, giving him pause.
Jack sighed, and then responded, “If I wanted to abandon you, I wouldn’t have stayed to console you.”
The response might be more logical than emotional, but from Sarah’s relieved expression it was also the correct one. Jack nodded, before unsheathing his blade and breaking out of cover in a sprint, initially cutting leftwards but then strafing to the right- his eleven agility really demonstrating his prowess as the loss in momentum was far less than he expected.
Jack covered ten meters in flurry, and then to be on the safe side released a [Qi Pulse], able to cover a total of 60 meters at level two. Jack finally released the tension in his body, reducing his sprinting pace to a jog, and then stopping entirely.
Andrew’s lifeless body lay in front of him, his hollow eyes staring at the sky with disbelief in his eyes, the blood near his throat that spilled onto the ground having coagulated by now. Jack felt a slight urge to vomit, but he was able to resist with little willpower– giving some credence to his theory, that Qi naturally made the mind desensitized to gore.
To his surprise, a notification popped up the moment he was in a meter’s distance from Andrew.
Thirty minutes have elapsed. You have discovered an unclaimed kill: Level 2 Cultivator. Loot will disappear in [1:28:55]. Would you like to loot?
Jack didn’t immediately respond, taking a brief glance at the cloudless skies. In that moment, there were only two words in his mind— how vicious.
Sighing, Jack glanced around his surroundings before bending slightly to close Andrew’s eyes.
“You made the mistake of underestimating people you thought weaker than yourself. I won’t,” Jack whispered with some emotion in his eyes, his own way of paying his respect- he barely knew the man, and his impression was not a particularly good one, but all grudges are wiped out in death.
“Rest in peace, Andrew,” Jack muttered as he hit ‘Yes’ without hesitating. Dead men needed no belongings, after all.
The following items have been deposited into your inventory (please loot slain creature for items):
TP x125
Lunar Wolf Cape [F- Armor]. Reduces slashing damage and dulls weapon momentum. Regulates ambient temperature for the wearer. Self-cleaning.
Jack’s eyes slightly widened in surprise. This was an unexpected reward, only real pity being that it was a cape instead of a piece of armor.
Since thirty minutes had elapsed, this meant that Jack was free to claim the other two wolf carcasses as well.
The following items have been deposited into your inventory (please loot slain creature for items):
TP x100
Lunar Wolf Boots [F- Armor]. Reduces sound of footsteps and regulates ambient temperature for the wearer. Self- Cleaning.
Lunar Wolf Gloves [F- Armor] Designed to allow the wearer maximum comfort while wielding any weapon. Regulates ambient temperature. Self-cleaning.
TP Total: 390
Without tarrying, Jack immediately began to retreat after securing his loot. Another five minutes later, he was standing next to a puzzled Sarah with a slight smile on his face. Reaching out into his inventory, Jack pulled out a pair of elegant silver gloves that shined with an otherworldly radiance, a radiant wolf etched onto its surface that shimmered under the sunlight, before tossing it to Sarah.
“What’s this?” Sarah asked puzzledly, catching the gloves mid-air casually.
“For you,” Jack had learned from his mistakes, and he would not make the same mistake again— his tendency to hoard all the good items and knowledge was dangerous, Andrew already having learned that lesson first hand. He wanted too much, and it was at the cost of others.
And quite honestly, even by his paranoid standards— nothing Sarah had done since the beginning had given Jack reason to doubt her character or personality.
“But-,”Sarah began to protest, and Jack figured he could likely complete that sentence.
“I have two more,” Jack retorted, which cut off her protest. He draped the flashy silver cape behind his back, identical to the silver wolves’ lustrous, smooth fur and to his surprise, the two ends automatically tied themselves to his neck. Jack immediately felt a cool, pleasant sensation on his back– giving him a slight reprieve from the summer heat.
Jack then swapped his leather boots with a furry, silver pair, and felt as if he was in heaven due to the cooling sensation it provided. Moreover, it felt as if his bare feet were making contact with the ground instead of thick boots, giving him a greater degree of control over his movements.
On the other end, Sarah seemed fascinated by her new gloves- thrusting her spear outward in slow motion and practicing a few maneuvers that she’d likely invented herself.
“Sarah,” Jack spoke, rousing her from an impromptu practice session. “This place seems safe enough for now,” Jack said, and then mentally added, ‘and I’m dangerously low on Qi’. It appeared that the wolves were alone, after all.
“Okay.”
“So, since we have the time, I’m going to teach you the real way to use [Qi Pulse]. And handle a spear, if time permits,” Jack explained, capitalizing on both their improved moods. His decision not to share information was mostly a safeguard against Andrew, but things had gone in a truly unexpected direction with James’ assassination. Now though, he was comfortable sharing his [Qi Pulse] trick, especially since he was a level higher than her.