Loot
Seeing Leviticus dispatch the cultist Jason turned around and ran over to help the others deal with the last of the undead. It was as simple as casting his flame-throw, and within a few seconds the rest were cleared out.
The moment after the last skeleton fell, they all received notifications from the system and Jason focused on his interface.
[System Message – Your party has slain twenty-three enemies. Calculating individual contributions.
Level Four Skeletal Knight – One – Solo Contribution – full rewards will be given – Fifty experience points.
Level Zero Skeleton – Nine slain – Partial contribution and final hit – Partial Rewards – six experience points.]
After the notifications finished flashing before his eyes, Jason looked towards the corpses of the skeletal knight and the cultists that were beginning to disappear in a sparkle of white light.
When The System would finalize a battle, as long as there were monsters or NPCs of this world over level one, it would convert their bodies into items, skill books, or materials for the victors to use.
Anyone would be able to pick up this loot, including the original items that were carried by the enemies.
Due to this feature, there were certain Users who would attempt to steal the kills and loot of others; it quickly became important early on in the game to always be on guard even after a battle. It was impossible to know if others were secretly waiting in the dark waiting for the perfect moment to steal your experience points, loot, and your life.
As the corpse of the Skeletal Knight faded away, his armor, weapon, and a book clattered to the ground.
Over by Leviticus the two corpses disappeared leaving behind their clothes, a pile of items, and a skill book.
Jason walked over to the Knight to pick up the loot dropped by it and was delighted by what he found.
[System Message - Helm of the Dark- uncommon – level 3
Defense: 20
Requires: 15 Str | 13 Dex | 14 Int
Intelligence + 5 Constitution + 10]
[System Message – Cracked Breastplate – Common – Level 3
Defense: 30
Requires: 10 Dex | 13 Str]
[System Message - Necro-Claymore – Rare – Level 5
Requires 30 Str | 13 Dex
Attack: 50-60 Damage
Skill: Necrotic Overload – Bathe the Claymore in Necrotic energy. For three minutes increase all damage by 200% and add life-steal effect, regain 1/8th of damage delivered as vitality points.
Damage over time effect – Rot: Twenty damage every second.
Skill Cooldown: Five Minutes]
[System Message – Tower Shield – Common – level 5
Requires: 20 Str
Defense: 50]
[System Message - Bone Trap – Skill Book
Summon three angled bone prongs at location of choice trapping the enemy. Bone Prongs deal 5 damage each and can take ten points of damage before being destroyed.
Area of effect: one foot by one foot
Mana Points: Ten
Skill Cooldown: Thirty Seconds]
Jason was overjoyed at this moment even though he hadn't even taken a look at the cultists drops yet. This Skeletal Knight had given him 50 experience points, a rare weapon and a Skill Book. Skill Books wouldn't always drop and were difficult to obtain even later on in – Might, Magic, Mayhem –.
Receiving one now was a huge help for him, especially since this was a skill that had a ton of potential. Just like how his Flame Throw skill increased in size and in strength when he had leveled it up, each and every skill could level up and become more powerful.
Some skills had higher potential than others and there was always a maximum number of times a skill could level up. At a certain point the skill would evolve into a higher tier skill and could be increased when certain pre-requisites were met. Jason knew that this skill that he had just picked up had huge potential and couldn't wait to see the power it would have at higher levels.
Jason immediately chose to learn the skill and poured his experience points into it.
[System Message - Bone Trap - 10/10 (Beginner)]
[System Message - Bone Trap – 20/20 (Intermediate)]
[System Message - Bone Trap – 40/40 (Adept)]
[System Message – Bone Trap has evolved into Bone Prison – 0/80 Expert
Summon five angled bone spears surrounding a location of choice, piercing, and trapping the enemy. Bone Spears deal twenty damage each and can take 100 points of damage before being destroyed.
Area of Effect: Five feet by five feet
Mana Points: Forty
Cooldown: Fifteen Seconds]
After draining his experience points down to 22/10 and evolving the skill to Bone Prison, Jason felt content. He now had an extremely powerful skill that would aid him immensely throughout the rest of this quest. Compared to the other players that were out grinding low level mobs, Jason was raking in a fortune.
Even though there might be players that have leveled up two or three times and maybe increased a skill or two, Jason had already leveled up a skill to Expert. A skill of this power would instantly kill any player under level five, and incapacitate any player under level ten.
He looked up and saw that Leviticus was walking over with his arms full of the loot from the cultists.
"All of these belong to you Jason." Leviticus dropped the pile at Jason's feet. "If not for you, we all would either still be trapped or have died at this point. I am grateful to you and wish that you receive my kills loot as a token of my gratitude."
Jason nodded at Leviticus, "Thank you, your kindness will be remembered." He then knelt and began looking through the loot. The two cultists didn't leave behind much. They had thirty copper between the two of them, common robes that didn't provide any defense or attack bonuses, some uncommon crafting materials and two medallions that The System notified him of being medallions that hid him from the senses of the undead in this catacomb.
What really excited Jason was the Skill Book.
[System Message – Necro Tide – Skill Book
Requires: Int 20
Summon a wave of necromantic flames to wash over your enemies. One-Hundred Necrotic damage. Half-Damage returned to User as health.
Area of Effect: Twenty Feet Wide by Thirty Feet Long
Damage over time effect – Rot: Twenty damage every second.
Chant Time: Ten Seconds
Mana Points: Seventy
Cool-Down: Two Minutes.]
This skill was the definition of over-powered at this stage of the game. Jason knew that as a swordsman and front-line fighter he wouldn't have the time to charge a skill like this. It would be possible if he used it on a single target that was trapped by Bone Prison, but in the end that would just waste the area of effect of the skill.
A skill like this would be best fit for a mage, a User who focused on their intelligence or will stat. He would have to find someone suitable to learn this skill who would be loyal to him.
After putting everything into his inventory, he asked one of the men to go and grab the others they had left behind. After everyone had regrouped, he motioned towards the stairs leading upwards and said, "Lets get you guys home. Once we make sure the church upstairs is clear of any enemies, go home; you're free. Leviticus, you should inform the guards of what is happening here so they can send back-up."
Jason knew the guard house was on the other side of town. That should give him just enough time to finish his quest and grab anything valuable before the guards arrive.
"What about you?" Asked Leviticus while he gripped his broken bow tightly.
Quickly thinking of a bullsh*t excuse, Jason answered "The cultists surely know by now that their plans are exposed and it's only a matter of time before the guards arrive. They might be hastening whatever plans they had and I intend to stop whatever nefarious purpose they have." Jason wanted to give himself a pat on the back, that sounded so noble and righteous.
Outwardly Jason attempted to look heroic and determined to do away with all evil. He thought he was doing a decent job at it, even though he just wanted to keep the quest rewards to himself.
Leviticus looked at him in awe, 'Such a brave man! If only there were more hero's like Jason among the new Users!'