NOVEL NEXT 107: Rewards
107:
Tom found himself panting heavily as he let Aleph’s rare artefact slip away from his grip. Before the adrenaline pumping through his veins could finally recede, he discovered a surge of raw power flooding his body.
His sight was clouded with the Divine System’s notifications since there was nothing more in the final sector that could threaten him and Tom’s jaw dropped open as he read through them.
“There’s no way…,” He trailed off, his expression incredulous as he stared at the flurry of notifications before him.
His Ephemeral Ranked The Fool card had leveled up from 9 to a whopping 14. With each level, he got 10 attribute points, 5 soul points and one skill upgrade point. To his slight dismay, there was no new skill that the Fool revealed to him, but Tom had been suspecting for a while that he would not get any more skills so easily.
After all, he had barely even begun to scratch the surface of what his current skills were capable of.
But fifty attribute points alone put him well beyond the realm of being threatened by anyone in the entire Syrelore Kingdom, he suspected. Perhaps barring its king.
[For your exemplary performance in battle against a Nether Lich in the Zelez Dungeon’s final sector, you have been awarded the feat: Unyielding Slayer.
Description: In the face of overwhelming might, you did not falter when many others in your stead would have. You struck back.
+ 3 to all statistics]
[Name: Synrak Veralis (Thomas Lowe)
Age: 18
Soul Card: The Flame [Level 6] (The Fool [Level 14])
Feats: Nether Slayer I, Invictus, Unyielding Slayer
Statistics:
Physical: 35 (+4)
Mental: 35 (+4)
Proprioception: 30 (+4)
Soul Power: 112/112 (120)
Free Points: 50
Skill Upgrade Point: 5]
Levels that would have taken him months, if not years to obtain had shifted in what felt like the blink of an eye. Even if he did not factor in the unexpected boon that was the Unyielding Slayer feat, just the fact that The Fool was an ephemeral card meant that the amount of free points he got per level dwarfed what Aleph and Zirel would have gotten.
Just the fifty free points alone meant that unless he was preyed upon by underhanded means like poison or heavily encircled, it would be very difficult for anyone in the Syrelore Kingdom to kill him any more.
Let alone the changes using his Skill Upgrade Points on a skill he had been desperate to level would bring.
However, none of that was enough to move Tom the way he had been.
[The Rewards for slaying the Nether Lich in the final sector have been deposited in your inventory:
[Card Name: Mirror World
Rank: Rare
Level: 1
Skill Upgrade Point(s): 0
Ability:
1. Mirror Dimension, Level 1: Summon at will a 24x30 inch gateway to the mirror dimension that can be manipulated at will. Absorbs any one continuous, non-organic means of attack as long as it does not exceed the damage tolerance of the Mirror Dimension.
Mirror Dimension permanently stores the continuous, non-organic means of attack and can reproduce 100% of its efficacy perfectly for one attack. It is able to counter with no delay at the wielder’s will.
SP Cost is variable]
At first glance, the Rare Card’s description didn’t seem particularly impressive to Tom, especially considering the fact that Aleph’s own rare card basically let her come back from death’s door.
However, that changed when he realized that the Mirror Dimension could reproduce a 100% of the original attack’s efficacy at level 1.
If Tom was right in his inference, that number would go up with the number of Skill Upgrade Points he invested in it.
If everything worked out in the end, he would be able to counter an opponent with their own attack, except stronger.
They would never see it coming.
A moment later, Tom stepped back with startled motion as a blur of violet streaked downwards before him. Almost instantly, the fabric of space was ripped apart to reveal a deep, shimmering violet that crackled with energy.
[As a reward for clearing the final sector of the Zelez Dungeon, you will be offered the opportunity to teleport to a location in the nearby vicinity. You may select such a location of your choosing within the next ten minutes, exempting yourself from the dungeon reset.
You are also being granted the opportunity to declare your achievement to every dungeoneer within the Zelez Dungeon, though you may choose to withhold your name if you wish to.
Current Display Name : Synrak Veralis will be made public as part of the announcement if you choose to consent.]
“There we go,” Zirel announced. “A way out of this mess without picking a fight with an entire contingent of Royal Knights.”
“Do you think they are waiting for us?” Tom could not help but ask. Sure, he didn’t need to fear the Royal Knights, but he wasn’t sure if he had the heart to fight them when he had first hand witnessed their kindness. Their interests were inextricably tied to the Nobles, but they hadn’t forgotten where they hailed from.
“You did use the Nottrakon Elite Guard crest to infiltrate the Noble district. And that was after they were already on high alert, after the elixir theft. Oh and I didn’t hide my face on our way here. I’m sure whatever’s waiting for us outside isn’t their full force, because hell, who’d expect a three man team of outcasts to survive the final sector,” Zirel explained, though his tone wasn’t self-depricating in the slightest. In fact, he seemed overjoyed, his cheeks warm from emotion as he stared at the emptiness that undoubtedly concealed the divine system’s notifications.
“I suppose it would be poor form to ask what you gentlemen received as a reward?” Aleph chimed in, her tone as curious as it sounded overwhelmed.
“We’ll have plenty of time for that,” Tom replied. “For now, are you guys agreeing to let the system share our names?”
“Obviously not,” Zirel replied.
“No,” Aleph followed, a flicker of a second behind him, causing their voices to overlap.
“Hm,” Tom hummed in thought. “Well, I guess I’ll claim the glory then.”
“What?” Zirel asked.
“You guys would just be painting a target on your heads if you revealed your names. Mine, though? I'm nobody. Let them scratch their heads as they try and figure out just where in Artezia I crawled out of.”