Lin Hao and Richie were both equally shocked by Fu Mei's sudden demonstration of power. She clutched her head as the effects of her [Temper] skill began to wear off.
"Ugh. I shouldn't have done that." As her skill wore off, a loud notification rang out to the party.
"You have defeated the Executioner of Huln. Calculating the reward score."
A calculating sound began to rang out from the notification window, as Richie stood up eagerly. "See I told you it's just like a video game!" Richie said with a goofy smile on his face, but Fu Mei clutched her forehead in annoyance.
"That guy was real. The blood we just saw real. This isn't a video game."
Lin Hao was silent, uncertain of what to make of things.
This was progressively becoming more and more like a video game to him. Quests, designated boss enemies, etc.
Were the inhabitants of this world going to be treated like NPC's? He wondered if that would be the case.
A loud dinging sound came out as the notification window finished preparing the rewards. The rewards then manifested to them based on the contribution in the fight.
"Top Contributor:Fu Mei"
"Runner Up:Richie"
"Lazy Bastard:Lin Hao"
Richie turned to Lin Hao and laughed, "Yo Lin Hao did you see what the system called you!" Richie laughed at what it has designated Lin Hao as, while Fu Mei couldn't hold back a chuckle.
"Distributing appropriate rewards." The system echoed out, as a glow of light appeared to all three of them.
A loud notification also rang out to them.
[You have leveled up!]
In Fu Mei's hand, a translucent blue necklace with a bright sea blue crystal had manifested itself. In Richie's hand, a cube of all thing was now in his grasp.
Lin Hao meanwhile received nothing. It seemed the system was now determined to laugh at him despite his early advantages.
Richie held the cube up in the air, "Hey Lin Hao. Doesn't this look like the Cube we touched?" It was a translucent glowing cube of power, that possessed a metallic circuitry all over it's body.
When looked at, a window appeared describing it.
[Cube of Intelligence]
"Whomever uses this, will gain a 5 point increase to their intelligence stat permanently."
"Huh Lin Hao, looks like it's just the thing for me then!" Richie did not hesitate to use this, causing his intelligence stat to increase all the way to 9.
He was lacking in that department, and now would regenerate his Cubic Reservoir faster.
"What does that thing do Fu Mei?" Lin Hao asked her, as she held up the blue sea like necklace to him.
[Tear of the Sea Goddess]
"A lost artifact, said to belong to the goddess of the sea. Legends say it was the first tear shed upon the death of her child. Doubles the users Cubic Reservoir Regeneration, and grants a 50% boost to all [Sea] or [Water] based skills. A catalyst for awakening."
Lin Hao found the description interesting, how the system had separated [Sea] and [Water] into two different categories.
This item would be a powerful advantage for Fu Mei to use. The crystal within it was shimmering with an ethereal blue glow of power.
"When I hold it, I can almost hear the breeze of the ocean." Fu Mei said, as she began to put it back on and equipped it.
"Wait, shouldn't we take care of the prisoners?" Richie said, pointing to all of the people still trapped inside of cells.
The sounds of their fighting had to have been heard by somebody else. One of the prisoners, an elderly man began to speak up. "Nobody will have heard us. No guards ever come down here, they were too scared of the Jailer to patrol."
Lin Hao and his party then began to liberate everyone within the prison, which came down to twelve people in total held captive within here. They broke all of the chains, shackles and locks on the cells.
"Can you tell us anything about this place?" Lin Hao asked them, one began to speak up. A vagrant wearing tattered clothes.
"I don't know how you got into such a nasty place, but you must be our savior! This is the main location of the Cult of Huln. They worship a dark god and make sacrifices to him almost every day...Everyone you see here has been taken or kidnapped."
Many of them looked at the party with sad expressions.
"Well you don't have to worry about these guys anymore, we'll be taking them down!' Richie proudly exclaimed much to the reassurance of the prisoners. "Most of them can't physically fight. They rely on dark magic to cast things, or summon strange demonic creatures to fight on their behalf. Please, be careful. The Cult leader himself is not to be underestimated. He can summon many creatures to fight for him!"
Lin Hao thought back to the bear they struggled to kill, a group of them would be more than problematic to handle.
But they were stronger now, they could adapt to whatever came their way. "It's better if you stay here. That way no harm will come to you."
Lin Hao looked through the group, and noticed no other people from Earth seemed to be amongst them.
"I say, you look like a hero young man. Your dressed like a knight, and came with a party to save us. Please, make it back safe!"
The old prisoner encouraged them, as the prisoners cheered for them to go forth.
He appreciated the feeling, it was one he was very unfamiliar with in his previous life on earth. Actions such as heroics were condemned or shamed, and now he was being thanked for once.
It was a good feeling.