As usual, Ezra started from the lowest ranks and worked his way down.
[Iron Gut] - Lv. MAX
Iron Gut grants the user extraordinary resilience to toxins, poisons, and harmful substances. With a body that has adapted to endure environmental hazards, the user can digest nearly anything and survive in conditions that would incapacitate others.
Reduces damage taken from poisons, venoms, and harmful substances by 35%.
Allows the user to consume spoiled or toxic substances without suffering harm. This includes poisonous food, water, and environmental hazards (like contaminated air).
Poison and toxin effects are slowed by 50%, giving the user more time to find an antidote or heal.
That… was pretty useful. Ezra had noticed that most of the C-rank skills were extremely powerful in a specific domain. If Ezra was ever in a situation where he’d be forced to eat potentially dangerous food, this skill would probably save his life. Internally, he ranked the skill highly.
[Stone Skin] - Lv. MAX
Stone Skin temporarily alters the user’s flesh to become as hard as stone. While active, the user can shrug off physical attacks with ease, gaining enhanced durability for a brief time.
Reduces physical damage taken by 20% for 10 minutes.
Grants 10% resistance to blunt-force trauma (e.g., hammers, clubs, or falls).
Duration: 10 minutes | Cooldown: 1 hour.
It wasn’t flashy, but given how many times Ezra had gotten knocked around, he knew how much of a difference 20% could make. This was getting tougher and tougher to decide.
He moved to the first A-rank skill.
[Second Wind]
When the user is pushed to their absolute limits, Second Wind activates, providing a surge of energy that can turn the tide of battle. This emergency boost keeps the user fighting, even in dire circumstances.
When health drops below 25%, the user immediately restores 20% of their maximum HP.
This effect can activate once per day, providing a single-use lifeline in intense fights.
Activation is automatic and does not require user input.
That definitely wasn’t bad at all. In a pinch… 20% could make a big difference, just like [Stone Skin].
He moved to the final one. Hopefully, it would be something exceptionally good so that he wouldn’t have to decide between all 4.
[Regenerative Blood]
The user’s blood has been infused with potent regenerative properties, constantly working to heal and sustain them. Regenerative Blood provides a consistent flow of healing both in and out of combat, allowing the user to endure where others might falter.
Instead of the default 1 %, the user regenerates 4% HP every 20 seconds during combat.
When out of combat, HP regeneration increases to 10% HP every 30 seconds.
Regeneration is passive and does not require conscious activation. It is active as long as the user is alive.
Severe injury healing penalties will decrease by 50%
Additionally, small injuries (e.g., cuts, bruises, and minor burns) heal 30% faster.
Well, damn. Once again, it was an exceptionally solid ability. Ezra grabbed a stick and wrote out the calculations. So if he regenerated every 20 seconds, that meant that he’d be back up to full in 500 seconds, or a bit over 8 minutes?
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
Wait, no, that sucked. 8 minutes might as well have been forever in combat terms…
But on the other hand, if he had a near-fatal wound, maybe [Regenearative Blood] might give enough regen to keep him alive? But couldn’t you apply that to [Stone Skin] or [Second Wind]? Damn it, making decisions was so much harder when it was his life on the line…
Finally, he stopped and realized something.
It said ‘when out of combat’. How many times after a bad fight had he spent in recovery? He’d managed to avoid serious injury as of late… uh, kind of. He looked at his conspicuously damaged arm that Filamenta had temporarily fixed.
He hadn’t thought about it, but although he had a higher speed of regeneration even without the skill, it still took a while for injuries to heal. Case in point, his arm. It seemed like severe injuries took time for the System to patch back together, as was implied by the second-to-last effect line. Maybe with [Regenerative Blood], he could take breaks during extended fighting and be back up to full strength quickly.
He clicked the final skill.
[You have gained Regenerative Blood!]
Ezra looked over at his string-grafted arm. He could already feel his skin knitting itself back together, which was a deeply discomforting feeling, by the way. He shut his menu and looked over at Dumrivil. Based on his stance and the way his eyes seemed to be reading something in front of him, he was probably distributing his own stats. Ezra crossed his arms and waited in silence.
Dumrivil tapped the air in front of him, then looked over at Ezra. “Right, I’m guessing you got a level out of that?”
Ezra nodded.
“Yes, I got lucky.” Ezra stuffed his hands in his jacket pockets. “I think it’s about time we get these monster parts back to our friend in the Ravenwing guild?”
They picked up the monster parts, Dumrivil chose to carry the Lion head since his Strength was so ridiculous, while Ezra elected to pick up the snake tail and goat hooves.
They were barely a few seconds out of the town when they heard a voice.
“Pretty impressive stuff.”
Ezra turned. Alanya stood behind them, a smirk on her face. She had her hood down, revealing her onyx goat horns.
“It was a real pain in the ass,” Ezra said. “Remind me not to take any more missions from you.”
Alanya laughed.
“Oh, Ezra,” she said. “If you’re the type of person I think you are, our paths will end up crossing far sooner than you might expect.”
Ezra threw her the snake’s tail. “Hey, catch.”
She pulled a brown pouch from her belt and faced the opening of the pouch toward the lion head. The pouch expanded into a massive gaping hole and swallowed the lion head whole, then shrunk back down into a normal pouch.
“A bag of holding made from S-rank materials.” She put the pouch back onto her belt. “In case you were wondering.”
“I wasn’t,” Ezra said, the words a complete and total lie. “But thanks for telling me.”
She tossed her head. “Hm, I’d best get going.”
“What about our payment?” Dumrivil said.
Alanya looked at Dumrivil out of the edge of her sight.
“Two days,” she said.
Ezra raised an eyebrow. “Two days?”
“Yes, and not only will you receive the warehouses you’re looking for, but I believe that we’re on the verge of finding Villscha’s main base.”
The main base? “What will that do for us?”
“Simple. If Villscha is storing unencrypted evidence anywhere, it’s going to be there,” she said. “Of course, that’s only a guess. Perhaps he’s paranoid enough that he doesn’t store documents of that type anywhere.”
Ezra’s jaw locked. He wasn’t sure about this—all they had was her word.
Dumrivil glanced at him and gave him a subtle headshake, he was right. Her level was too high—it was too risky.
They’d just have to trust that she wasn’t planning to screw them over.
Alanya gave him a wink.
“I’ll see you soon, Ezra,” she said. “Perhaps, sooner than you think.”
A bright light flashed from her, forcing Ezra to shield his eyes. When the light died down, she’d vanished.
“How the hell did she do that?” Ezra said.
Dumrivil shrugged. “A-rankers are something else, I guess.”
----------------------------------------
They made their way back toward the town. Ezra’s wound had already healed after 12 hours—significantly less than his other arm wound had taken to heal if he remembered things right. They ended up sleeping under the stars again.
When it came to the materials, Ezra and Dumrivil agreed to split it. Dumrivil would take the hooves, while Ezra would take the lion head. That suited Ezra just fine. Dumrivil asked Ezra to turn in both of their loot at the guild for storage. He said that he had preparations to make for their mission. Ezra shrugged and chose to along with it.
Ezra opened the guild doors, lion head in hand. A few glances went his way, but nothing extreme. He looked around the room. Prise wasn’t there and neither were most of the guild girls. Only a single one remained,
He looked around. Come to think of it, there weren’t a lot of people in the guild hall at all.
“Quiet day,” Filamenta said.
He stepped up to the guild girl and dropped his loot at her desk. She jumped and looked at the lion head with wide eyes.
“M-mister One-Eye,” she said. “Are you making a deposit or selling?”
“Deposit.” He reached into his jacket pockets and pulled out the goat hooves. “Put these in Dumrivil’s account.”
“Dumrivil?” she said. “Were you with him?”
Hm? “Yes, I was.”
“Where did you last see him?”
“Why does that matter to you?”
She laughed, her arms tensed. “Oh, just wondering. We like to keep an eye on high-ranking guild members, you know?”
“Ezra, I think we’re screwed,” Filamenta muttered.
Ezra drummed his fingers against the desk. The windows were darkening. He looked at the reflection in the glass. Behind him, the handful of people in the lounge area were reaching for their weapons.
“Alright,” Filamenta whispered. “I’ll appear in your hand in three seconds. You know what to do.”
One.
Two.
Three.
Filamenta flashed into his hand as a needle. He turned and threw her. The needle sailed through the air and pierced a wizard in the eye.