Neo stood frozen before the now halved corpse of the Specter, his gaze fixated on the blood-covered obsidian cleaver in his hand with disbelief. Then, he slowly shifted his attention to the flickering texts above, his shock deepening even more.
[Congratulations, Master! Your strength has increased a bit with this kill!]
Neo remained silent even after hearing Aurora's voice, but soon he snapped out of his daze and gasped.
"W-What!?"
As information flooded his mind one by one, Neo quickly opened his Artifact Hall and glanced at the appearing texts with an intense gaze.
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[Artifact Hall] /Lvl.1/
• Possessed Artifacts:
- Bone Cleaver ~ Mastery Level [1/100] (Novice)
• Available Artifacts:
- Garments {Stone Boots}
- Accessory {Light Bringer}
- 1 Random Artifact {Common Grade}
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[Notice! The Level of the Artifact Hall can be increased through 500 System Points!]
'So that's how it is...' sighing as all the information about Artifacts and their Mastery Level reached his mind, a surge of awe swept through Neo's body.
It seemed like that depending on how much and in what way he used a type of Artifact, such as the Bone Cleaver, he could hone his skills much faster than one normally would be capable of, thus allowing him to wield them as if he had been practicing with them for years!
Furthermore, it turns out that if he could push a type of Artifact above a specific Level, in this case above the Novice Level, his Artifacts could also gain extra benefits such as passive traits or another useful Attribute!
'This... Is amazing!'
A delighted grin formed on Neo's face before his gaze lowered a bit, then waved his hand and opened the Legacy Hall.
He already knew he could buy other Artifacts for System Points, however, as he only had 250 points he decided to save them for later, especially now that he had a new Legacy for sale!
Whoosh!
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[Legacy Hall] /Lvl.1/
• Available Legacy Capsules:
- Fortified Physique
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[Notice! The Level of the Legacy Hall can be increased through 500 System Points!]
'Hall Level here too... I wonder what will happen if I collect enough System Points to increase the Level.' Neo pondered for a few moments before he decided to check out the new Legacy Capsule.
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• Legacy Capsule {Fortified Physique}:
▸ Tier: 1
▸ Stage: Infected
▸ Description: A simple Legacy that makes your physique scarcely stronger and more agile. Your stamina grows as well!
_________________
'100 point... Should I buy it?' Neo hummed quietly but soon shook his head.
Just what kind of question was that? Of course, he will! While, unfortunately, it was true that he couldn't raise the Stage of his Legacies which were acquired from Legacy Capsules, they still granted him powers that could help him survive!
Thus, it was needless to say he did not waste even a second to spend 100 System Points on the new Legacy Capsule and use it!
[Congratulations! You have gained a new Legacy {Fortified Physique!]
Swish!
In that very instant, Neo felt a peculiar change occurring within his body which lasted for only a few moments before vanishing completely.
No muscle tearing agony or bone-piercing ache. There wasn't even a sudden stabbing pain anywhere in or on him, only the sensation of his whole body becoming a little bit lighter and more refreshed than before!
The whole process was a bit... disappointing, for some reason.
'Well, at least it's still better than nothing.'
With those words, Neo shifted his gaze at the corpse before his feet, then looked toward the direction from where the agonized screams of people could be heard even at this moment.
Neo stayed like that for several seconds, then took a deep breath and tightened his grip around the hilt of his weapon.
"Let's do this..."
* * *
Somewhere within the now almost completely overrun Shelter, among the burning ruins of the once great buildings, a young woman lay on the ground with a pale face, one of her hands tightly clenching the small frame of her newborn to her chest while the other was raised forward, right toward the figure standing before her.
"P-Please... Please don't kill me! I beg you! I will do anything, just please spare our lives!"
"Oh? Anything, you say?"
The Specter, wearing heavy armor that covered his whole body except for his head and holding a large mace, raised a brow before a devilish grin formed on his face.
"Then take off your clothes!"
The woman, covered in both blood and don't, hearing the man's words paled even more and her hand subconsciously tightened even more around her child as tears began to flow out of her eyes.
"P-Please... I beg you..."
"You..."
The man, upon hearing the pleading of the woman in front of her frowned and then became enraged, his right foot firmly stomping into the ground below.
"Bitch! Are you deaf or what!? I said, take your fucking clothes off, right this instant!"
With that, the Specter raised his weapon above his head, ready to swing it right into the woman's skull! However, just before he could have started the motion, suddenly the mist around him began to swirl abnormally.
"What!?"
Feeling that something was not right, the man wished to spin around, but it was too late. Even before he had a chance to move an inch, something sharp pierced his shoulder which quickly traveled down to his waist to the opposite side!
"...Eh?"
Lowering his gaze, the Specter watched with horror in his eyes as his upper body slowly began to slide to the right while his lower part fell to the left, blood and organs spilling everywhere in the process!
[Notify! The durability of your Artifact {Bone Cleaver} fell from 98 to 96!]
[Congratulations! You have killed a Specter! 50 System Points acquired!]
[Congratulations! Your Artifact Mastery with {Cleavers} has increased by 1!]
'Huh? No new Legacy?' Neo thought with surprise.
[It's because you already possess the Legacy he had.]
'Oh... Is that so?' Neo hummed silently and glanced at the trembling woman on the ground. It seemed he arrived just in time, if not, he didn't even wish to imagine what fate would have fallen on her as a result.
Shaking his head, Neo just sighed and turned around, ready to walk away when suddenly, the woman began to speak.
"T-Thank you..."
"Hm?"
Glancing behind over his should with surprise, Neo watched as the woman, holding his child in her embrace, stood up with weak and exhausted movements, and bowed slightly.
"Thank you... thank you very much! I can hardly express my gratitude! You are a true hero!"
Neo raised a brow before he shook his head and without any word walked away, mist already swirling around his body and making him vanish from sight.
It seemed now that his body became stronger and more resilient thanks to his new Legacy, he not only needed less time to recover to be able to use his Mist Camouflage again but was able to use it longer. Though, even like this, he knew that his limit using his Legacy seemed to be around 5 minutes or so while he needed at least 1 minute of rest to be able to activate it once again!
Not bad, but not good either.
While Neo walked through the Shelter with slow steps, suddenly Zen in his head laughed with mockery and began to speak;
"Did I hear that correctly what that woman said or what? A hero? Haha! How funny! More than a coward, if you ask me!"
Neo rolled his eyes or at least wished to, and as he walked slowly forward in the veil of the thick mist, he shifted his head to the side. There, another Specter was visible, this one wearing the same set of armor as the rest while his sharp sword rested deeply in the chest of an innocent man before his feet.
He was killed with a clean stab right through his heart.
[At least he died faster than the rest...]
Neo nodded and approached the still-unaware Specter from behind. Then, once he was close enough, he swung his weapon, this time targeting his enemy's neck for a faster and cleaner kill than previously.
Swish!
Thud!
[Notify! The durability of your Artifact {Bone Cleaver} fell from 96 to 94!]
[Congratulations! You have killed a Specter! 50 System Points acquired!]
[Congratulations! Your Artifact Mastery with {Cleavers} has increased by 1!]
'So even if I don't use its Attribute, its durability will drop... Good to know.'
Neo was about to turn around and keep walking away when suddenly his face paled and snapped his head to the side, watching as the mist not far away from him at some point in time became abnormally thick!
'Crap!'