After I got out of the dungeon, I simply stood still for a few minutes, not doing absolutely anything. Then, I suddenly slapped myself just to make sure this whole thing wasn't a dream. It truly felt like one, but considering the pain I am currently feeling from the slap, I shook that idea away.
I looked at my right hand and saw my sword. Then, I looked at my left hand, and... there was nothing there. Prior to getting out of the dungeon, I had stolen the club of a goblin I had killed. However, upon exiting the dungeon, that weapon ceased to exist. That was to be expected, as you cannot take the weapons of monsters in the dungeon. The only way you'd be able to is if you are lucky, and a boss drops a [Permanent Weapon], but you have to be quite lucky. The weapon has to be shining with an aura, otherwise, you cannot take it even if it looks exactly the same as its shining variant.
My sword, for example, was a permanent weapon that I got from killing the Inferior Goblin King a few years back. It was pretty solid and way better than the normal medieval swords.
After convincing myself that this wasn't a dream, I didn't go to the guards. Instead, I sat on the ground and brought up my backpack. I took out the many F-ranked cores I got from the dungeon. These cores looked like crystals, and the higher the rank of the crystal, the more brightly it would shine.
Usually, I would take these to the store and sell them for a meager amount of money, since I couldn't use them before. But now that I am awakened, I could use them however I like!
With a thought, all of the cores I had began to shine brightly, and the interface popped into existence in front of me;
[Would you like to use the cores?]
I clicked yes without a moment of hesitation, and shortly after, all the cores disintegrated into particles. I brought up the interface and clicked on [Status]. Everything was the same, except for the skills I have obtained;
[Skills Obtained:
I turned my attention towards the top right corner of the screen, and right there, was the number "3" along with an image of a golden orb.
These were the golden orbs you would get from destroying cores. Despite using 100 cores, I only managed to get 3 orbs here. That's how low-quality F- rank cores were.
These orbs had a purpose, of course. With them, you could increase any of your stats. Of course, the price for increasing them was quite high, but it was worth it.
I checked my "Speed" stat, and noticed that it needed 2 points to increase by 1 level. I also saw that the other stats needed the same amount, and that made me a bit depressed. I could only raise 1 stat for now.
I didn't raise my stats just yet and instead chose one of my skills,
"How do I use the upgrade function...?" The moment I muttered this out, a new interface popped up;
[Would you like to upgrade this skill?
Price: 3 points]
I felt delighted when I saw this interface, but that feeling quickly died down upon seeing the price. An entire 3 points just to raise my skill by 1 level! Still, I wasn't that depressed. I need to remember that I could get way more points in the future. After all, the cores I have got are only F- ranked. Once I go to a higher-ranked dungeon, the points I get will be higher, too.
I didn't upgrade my skill and instead wanted to try the "Amalgamate" function of my innate skill. Just like before, a new interface opened;
[Choose the skills you want to merge.]
I immediately chose 3 skills, which were the "Novice" type skills, the ones that increased my attack speed when I wielded a weapon.
[Would you like to merge these skills?
Price: 3 points]
"3 points again..." I muttered dejectedly. If I merge these skills right now, I wouldn't have any points left. Thankfully, I didn't get depressed or anything like that. Instead, I began to think about what I should spend my points on.
Should I raise my stats, upgrade one of my abilities, or merge them all together?
I thought about it for a few minutes and eventually came to the conclusion that... it really didn't matter. I was going to repeat the dungeon again anyway and would get the points lost.
After coming to that conclusion, I lifted my hand and chose... to merge them all together. This was the most exciting one of all, so I naturally had to pick it first.
[Merging the skills;
[Gained the skill
My eyes shined upon seeing the name of the new skill, and I immediately checked its description;
[Name: The Novice King of Weaponry
Rank: F-
Description: The moment you wield a weapon*, your power and attack speed with said weapon would be multiplied by 2.
*Weapons needed for this skill: Spears, Clubs, and Swords.
Experience Gained: 34.53%]
"Nice!" I almost shouted out upon seeing the description of the skill. A new 2 times strength effect! I had a slight doubt in my heart that it would simply merge the descriptions of the skills I had gotten, but that clearly wasn't the case! It gave me a new effect!
Not only that, but maybe because my Novice of Clubs was an F ranked skill, instead of F-, it even gave me experience!
This was really great!
"Hah..." I managed to calm down a bit, and suppress the emotions that were welling up inside of me. I needed to calm down and not get overly excited with any new skill I get. After all, I'm probably going to get a plethora of skills in the future. I need to get used to this feeling.
After I got this skill, I turned my attention to the gate behind me, and I grinned like a maniac. I'm not planning to leave now, oh no...
I calmly turned around and pressed my hands upon the gate. Then, just like before, my surroundings changed. I was now in the same long, depressing hallway. I played with my sword a bit, and then, I ran full speed toward the end of the hallway.
"Criiik!" A goblin had managed to catch a glimpse of me, and, with its club lifted high, it tried to attack me.
Unfortunately for him, I was much faster. Before it could even strike me, I cut off its head cleanly.
After I had killed this goblin, I touched its shoulder, and got a skill;
[Gained
[Detected the skill is a variant of
[The gained skill is turning into experience for
"Oh, so it would turn into experience even if its a different skill now?" I muttered upon seeing the interface. It seemed that, as long as the skills I had gained were a part of King of Weaponry, then they would be turned into experience. Naturally, I didn't mind this. Instead, I felt even more excited.
After closing the interface, I got the core of the goblin and continued running towards the end of the hallway.
Anything that was in my path, I would cut it down.