"Come at me!", yelled Lucas as he wasted no time waiting for the imps to approach him and instead rushed towards one himself.
"Kik! Graaarrh!", the imp growled at Lucas, breaking free from it's momentary shock and lunging at him, prompting the other imps to join in as well.
"Come on, guys, we can't sit idle either!" said Warren as he and the others finally jumped into the fight.
Although they all struggled to coordinate with each other at first, as the fight continued everyone gradually adapted to each other's fighting patterns. Within less than ten minutes after that, all the imps lay on the floor completely defeated.
"Phew! That was one heck of a workout", Warren exhaled, panting lightly with his body now covered in a thin layer of sweat.
"For such small creatures, they were quite tenacious", Caitlin grumbled as she wiped the sweat off her brow.
"Yeah, I'm beat!"
"My body feels sore!"
The Becker sisters grumbled in complaint as well, laying flat on the ground. Lucian lay on the ground as well but he was panting too heavily to complain much. Andre and Lucas were the only two that didn't seem that tired from the battle and Warren noticed this.
'It makes sense for Andre because he had some breathing time after we joined the fight' thought Warren with a light frown as he stared at Lucas, deep in contemplation 'But why doesn't he seem even the least bit tired?'
Lucas approached Caitlin with his duffel bag in hand and pulled out a water bottle, offering it to her.
"Here", he said.
Caitlin nodded at him gratefully and gulped down the bottle. Lucas had made sure to keep an eye on her during the fight, just in case she needed any help. However she had done just fine on her own, with only a few minor scratches here and there.
"You fought well", Lucas praised her.
"Really? You must've had quite the easy fight if you had time to even look at me", said Caitlin jokingly.
Lucas just shrugged and said, "I don't know. They didn't seem too hard to fight with all of us chipping in at the same time. Maybe that's why"
Caitlin nodded slowly, "Hmm, yeah maybe you're right"
'Then again, even a whole team of experienced raiders find imps a pain to deal with in large numbers' thought Lucas, looking down at his own two hands 'Yet I feel like I could have fought them all by myself…'
CLAP! CLAP! CLAP!
"Well done", the Avatar congratulated them as it slowly descended to the ground, "You have successfully defeated the first wave of monsters without any casualties whatsoever"
One of the Becker sisters sat up and raised her hand.
"Hey, Mr. Avatar guy, what exactly were those things?", she asked.
"The creatures you just fought are called Imps. Red Skinned Imps to be specific", answered the Avatar, "They are just one of the many other beasts that you shall face during the awakening. They are a notorious bunch that typically fight in numbers in order to overwhelm powerful opponents"
The Avatar then turned to Lucas and asked, "You managed to figure that out very quickly, Lucas Wilson. Why is that?"
"Simple", answered Lucas, "The first thing I noticed when the imps appeared was that most of them emitted low levels of mana-"
"What? You mean you could tell the difference in their individual strengths already?", asked Lucian mockingly, "He probably just guessed and went for the ugliest one"
"Not quite", said Lucas, not even sparing him a second look before he continued, "The two slightly larger imps that stood at the back of their group had more mana than the others, so I assumed they were the ringleaders and therefore the bigger threats"
"The weaker imps tire out the prey while the leaders finish it off…", murmured Caitlin in realization, "Clever"
"Impressive. Well then, with that out of the way, time is moving and so must we", said the Avatar and it snapped it's fingers once again.
The corpses of all the imps suddenly began to dissolve, leaving a few glowing objects laying on the ground. Although the others didn't recognize a single thing, Lucas almost shouted out loud in excitement at the sight before him.
"The objects that lie before you are a few examples of the loot that happens to drop as rewards for defeating beasts", explained the Avatar as it waved it's hand, prompting them to walk forward.
Andre was the first to approach one of the items, a small rolled up piece of glowing parchment. Instantly, a system screen flashed before Andre's eyes and displayed the item's information.
[System: You have obtained Basic skill scroll
[
-This skill enables the user to identify the name, race and other details of a target. Varies in efficiency according to the level of the user.]
[Would you like to learn the skill?
-Yes?
-No?]
"Basic skill scroll…?", asked Andre.
"Hey, I picked one up too", said one of the Becker's, "Mine says it's some skill called 'scan'"
Her sister perked up and waved her own skill scroll, "Mine too!"
"Same here", said Warren, "Does everyone have it?"
The others all nodded, turning their heads to the Avatar for an explanation.
"I intentionally made it so that that skill would be the first that you would all receive", the Avatar started to explain, "Although it is just a Basic ranked skill scroll, I'm sure you are all aware of how important it is to have information about whatever opponents you may be facing. Even the slightest bit of information could make the difference between life and death"
Everyone nodded in agreement with what the Avatar said and chose to learn the skill immediately. Caitlin then raised her hand up with a question to ask.
"You said this was a Basic ranked skill, right? Does that mean there are other higher ranked ones?", she asked.
"Of course", answered the Avatar, "From the lowest to the highest, there is the Basic, Intermediate, Advanced, Elite and Legendary rank for all skills. The higher the level of beast you defeat, the better the rewards"
"Cool", said Warren before he pointed at the rest of the items on the ground, "What about those crystals and that book?"
Scattered across the floor were twelve finger-sized purple crystals as well as a thin little green book. Lucas' eyes widened slightly and in an instant he was moving, already bending down to pick up the book.
[System: You have obtained mortal grade codex
[
-A grimoire said to have once been wielded by a fallen sage that specialized in healing magic. However, after decades of dormancy, it's power has waned greatly. Can gradually be upgraded to unlock it's full potential.
Attached Skills:
-Healing Touch
-Mass Heal
-???
NOTE: Can only be learnt by the mage class]
'No way!' thought Lucas in astonishment as he double checked the information he was reading.
"The crystals are the vessels that contain a beast's mana. They can be crafted into weapons, vehicles and all sorts of other useful contraptions", explained the Avatar before it glanced at the book in Lucas' hand, "As for that book-"
"Lucas, what is that?" Caitlin walked up to him and asked him. She saw how fast he had moved and figured it had to have been something pretty interesting.
"That is a codex", answered the Avatar on Lucas' behalf, "Unlike skill scrolls, codexes are basically grimoires that specialize in a specific set of skills and not just one skill in particular"
The Avatar then pointed at the book and continued, "That one happens to be a Mortal grade codex, the lowest grade. Above that is Elite, Legendary, Divine and Ancient grade. Just like skill scrolls, the higher the beast the higher the chance of getting a better codex"
"Whoa! Seriously?!", exclaimed Lucian as his eyes wondered greedily towards the codex.
And he wasn't the only one as everyone now had their eyes glued to the codex that Lucas held. Having a codex this early before the game actually began would be beneficial for any of them after all.
Lucas silently cursed his luck at the awkward situation he was now in but he steeled his nerves and made sure to stare everyone down, making his intentions clear. There was no way he was parting ways with such a good codex, especially an upgradable one at that!
"Oi", Andre suddenly spoke up and walked over to him. His hulking figure towered over Lucas menacingly as he ordered, "Had over the book"
-----------------------
A/N: Oh damn...