Chapter 021 - Equipped

The instant Anna stepped through the door back into the lobby another notification appeared in front of her. She stopped and let the door close behind her as she read it, enjoying the slightly soothing sound of the boiling water around her. It was better than the eerie quiet of the forest. It was also nice having something man made beneath her feet.

Quest Complete!

The Forest of Blood
You have become the apex predator of the Forest of Blood and have purged the corrupted dryad from its depths.

As soon as she read the last word the window vanished from sight and a sudden gleam of light nearly blinded her. She squinted against it and held up her arm as something collected in front of her. Moments later the light faded and a piece of metal about eight inches long was left behind, floating in the air. She lowered her hand and stepped towards it, tilting her head and looking beneath it. I know I should be used to magic shit by now, but floating metal things is nuts. What is it?

She was hesitant to touch it right off the bat, especially with the creepy abstract carvings on its silvery surface, but when nothing else happened she shrugged. Oh well, might as well get it over with.

She snatched it out of the air.

Stygian Inheritance Token of the Disciple - Blood (Unique)
This token is granted to those who pass the trial of the Forest of Blood.

“Oh, alright,” she mumbled, twirling it between her fingers, “Neat.”

Then it started shining again and she dropped it.

“Oh fuck! What the hell?” she demanded, stepping back from the glimmering object as more light collected on its surface. She watched in real time as the odd engraving changed. The abstract images turned into something more recognizable. A pair of eyes and a fist clutching at a world. She felt a chill run up her spine as the glowing faded, leaving behind a gold token rather than a silver one. She knelt back down and picked it up, holding it at arms length in case it decided to misbehave again. She squinted, waited, and when nothing happened she took another look.

Stygian Inheritance Token of the Heir - Blood (Unique)
This token is granted to those who pass the trial of the Forest of Blood and complete its bonus conditions.

“There we go!” she said proudly, “Much better.”

She looked up past the walkway framed by pools of boiling water towards the podium standing at the apex. She could see the door to the labyrinth just past it. Alright, lets see what happens, she thought and walked over. She stopped in front of the podium and examined the slots set into the sides. There were three, each pointing at one of the three doors in the chamber. She glanced back one last time towards the Forest of Blood before setting the token in the respective slot. It clicked and a faint glow burned along the edges before fading. She tugged at the token again and it didn’t budge.

“Locked in, got it. So I don’t get to change my mind if I give up on a bonus condition,” Anna mumbled. “All the more reason to go for it.”

She squinted, “Speaking of quests…”

She pulled up her stats screen and eyed it for a moment. Is there a quest log or something? Usually I just pull the individual quest up but… here it is!

A new window appeared listing her active quests. She looked at the first one and frowned. I knew it, fucking System is really messing with me, isn’t it?

Main Quest

Alone - Part 1 (Variable Difficulty)

Quest Complete!

You have leveled up and unlocked your base class. Turn in this quest to complete it.

Days left until integration of Earth: 351 Days, 18 hours, 14 minutes.

Rewards: 1000 Iron Coins, Uncommon Equipment Token

She sighed and scratched her head, Turn in quest.

Rewards have been distributed! Please continue your path to unlock the next part of the Main Quest.

“Of course it’s not just going to tell me what to do next,” she muttered before shrugging, “Oh well, I got a token out of it.” She grinned, “And some money!” she frowned, “The value of which I have no concept of and nowhere to spend it.”

She sighed and walked over to her usual spot on the floor, sitting down and laying down to stare up at the ceiling. It felt like every time she was making progress there were more questions to be asked and she was made painfully aware of how in the dark she was. Even so, a basic understanding of this new life of hers was better than nothing. 

At least there’s loot to cheer me up, she thought greedily.

She rolled onto her side and propped herself up, pulling out the uncommon token first. It was a plain disk a lot like the one she had received at the very beginning of this waking nightmare. She cracked it and it dissolved into powder. She waited a few seconds before opening her inventory and spotting the new item inside. The sigh of relief out of her was palpable.

“Boots,” she groaned and plucked them out right away. The boots were calf-high leather boots with thick metal plates fixed on the shins, calves, and over the toes. They were otherwise unremarkable save for the delightfully soft interior.

Reinforced Boots of the Tutorial (Uncommon-Grade)
This heavy set of boots is resilient and comfortable for the wearer, superior in every way to a mundane piece of similar design. It can withstand physical damage and assist in maintaining balance on difficult terrain.

“So long old shoes!” she laughed and put them back in her inventory before equipping them. Her old shoes were replaced on her feet and she groaned at the luxurious feeling on her feet. She wished she could replace her socks but one thing at a time. She pulled her old shoes out and looked them over. The skate shoes were more than a little worn and she was honestly shocked they’d held together as well as they had with all she’d been through. Even so, now they were threadbare and beyond fixing as far as she knew. 

No point in letting them take up a space in my inventory, she thought and set them aside as she pulled the next token out of her inventory. The Dungeon Loot Token of the Blightweaver Dryad was a deep slate color rather than the lighter shade of the uncommon tokens. It also weighed significantly more. She pressed her thumb against the center and was surprised to find a moment of resistance before it cracked. Did I need a minimum strength before I could even break this thing? That’s nuts. The system is really unforgiving.

She opened her inventory and pulled out the new item.

Stygian Blightweaver Dryad’s Gauntlets of the Firebat (Mortal-Rare)
These heavy gauntlets are made from the steel-forged fleshplates of a Stygian Blightweaver Dryad and fitted with cured Stygian Doe Matriarch leather and Trapweaver Silk lining. These gauntlets provide a high amount of physical protection and a small amount of magical protection. The wearer takes half damage from fire of the Mortal tier when worn. The wearer may activate the gauntlets with mana to conjure up to three firebats at a time to attack an enemy within range. +10 Strength.

Anna’s jaw dropped. The gauntlets were beautiful. They were nearly black, a polished charcoal-gray color that reminded her of burned wood. At the end of each finger was a pointed claw that she didn’t doubt could be used to do a little damage if necessary. Most importantly, though, was the last line in the description of the item before the glorious stat boost. She held the gauntlets up reverently, “A fucking ranged attack!” she laughed and immediately equipped them. 

Unlike the other sets of gear she was wearing, these literally felt powerful when they appeared on her hands. It was the only way she could describe it. There was a tingling between her and the gauntlets that made her feel stronger just for wearing them. She clenched her fists with a wild grin on her face and pointed towards the far side of the hall. It was remarkably intuitive, just use a little mana like she was going to cast a spell and the gauntlets did the rest of the work. A single bat made of flames appeared in the air over her wrist and launched towards the distant wall, exploding with a crack of sound.

She checked her mana tolerance to see the impact.

Resources:
HP: 148/148 | SP: 158/158 | MT: 7/140

Not bad, not great either. A good fallback if I need a ranged attack, she thought and eagerly pulled out the last token. This one was for upgrades and she knew exactly what she would be using it on. She only had one piece of gear that was of the common grade and the fact that it had survived all the punishment it had endured was a miracle. She unequipped her chainmail breastplate and dropped it on the ground. It was wrent and torn in places, the rings ripped and the leather around the shoulders in especially bad shape.

She held the upgrade token over it and crushed it, the powder drifting down towards the item.

Would you like to upgrade the Chainmail Breastplate of the Tutorial to Rare? Yes/No

Yes.

Please select an Upgrade Route for this item: Defense or Utility

She glanced at her club, the evolution of her old crowbar. She’d picked damage over utility last time and it had paid off. The weapon bashing through pretty much everything she had faced. It had struggled a little with the dryad but that wasn’t a big deal, it was a boss after all. I’ve been losing lots of health recently, maybe I should focus on the basic stuff before I try to go off the reservation. I’ve done enough pushing my luck recently anyway. I need defense.

She made her choice and light flared within the armor as it rose into the air like the crowbar before it. It groaned and hissed, the chainmail tearing itself apart and melting down as it grew larger and larger. By the time it hit the ground with a clang and a thud she was grinning ear to ear. A good portion of the chainmail was gone, the upper chest now covered in a solid plate of slightly darkened steel. Chainmail extended down the abdomen while plates formed on the shoulders and upper arms. It had a simple design but she wasn’t looking for anything fancy.

She picked it up and looked it over.

Guardian’s Reinforced Half-Plate - (Mortal-Rare)
This heavy half-plate chest piece is made from treated steel that has undergone several layers of magical reinforcement and engraving. It provides a very-high amount of physical protection and moderate amount of magical protection. The wearer may activate the armor with mana to reinforce all armor currently worn and temporarily amplify their defenses. This effect may only be used once per six hour period. +7 Vitality, +3 Endurance

“It’s perfect,” she breathed and equipped it, enjoying the tingling feeling of wearing the rare armor. She got to her feet and flexed her body, twisting and adjusting her posture a few times. It was a bit heavier but with her strength the difference was negligible. She didn’t try out the active effect on it though she did reflect on it. Six hours is a long time, so I should be careful about using it. Interesting that rare items seem to universally have some sort of active effect and stat boost. My ring has one but it's a ring. 

She pulled up her stats.

Resources:
HP: 183/183 | SP: 173/173 | MT: 4/150

Attributes: Available Free Points: 0
Strength: 54 | Agility: 25 | Intellect: 27
Vitality: 37 | Endurance: 35 | Willpower: 26
Awareness: 26 | Insight: 25 | Presence: 65

It only took a little bit of number crunching to figure out that the stat bonuses from her armor did not calculate with her percentage bonus but stacked on top of her base stats. Makes sense since they aren’t actually a part of my body, she thought. Still, looking good Flitt. Does fifty in strength mean I’m ten times stronger than I was when the integration happened? She flexed her arms, It doesn’t feel that way. I mean… I think I’m a bit more toned.

She couldn’t help glancing around surreptitiously despite knowing she was alone and unequipped her breastplate and robes, lifting her tattered undershirt. A set of toned flat abs hiding beneath it. It was a little unsettling but also very gratifying. “Oh hot damn,” she laughed, “I got ripped.”

She threw her armor back on and double checked the fit. Horned helmet and hood, robes and chest armor, plated boots and clawed gauntlets. She slung the club over her shoulder and walked to one of the boiling pools. It wasn’t super reflective but it was good enough. She looked down at herself and snorted, I look like I should be hunting tiny people with hairy feet, she thought wryly. Definitely not a flattering look if I was looking for people to be happy to see me.

She smiled, Good. Let ‘em piss themselves.

She lowered her weapon and took a deep breath, looking up to the ceiling. She’d been so focussed on surviving so far she hadn’t really given herself time to think about things beyond it. Now that she had a few levels under her belt and was well equipped she couldn’t help but stop to dwell on a few things. Mom, I hope you’re alright in all this, she thought. If anything happened to you I… she shook her head and turned towards the two doors leading out of the lobby. The unknown door and the Blighted Labyrinth.

My mana tolerance is nice and high now and I’m even mana-touched. I might as well, she shrugged and walked past the unknown door. I’ll save you for last.

Anna stopped at the door and pulled a glowstone out in anticipation of the dark interior. It’s a shame I don’t have paper or anything, mapping this place out would make it a hell of a lot easier. There’s probably a trick I didn’t see the first time.

Done with her musings, she pulled the door open and stepped inside. The stale air still tanged with ozone and that sickly sweet aroma that told her mana was present in every breath she took. The hallway was the same as before, a single passage leading forward before splitting off. She stood at the threshold and waited for a few minutes, occasionally glancing at her mana tolerance which had bottomed back out at zero by the time she’d left the lobby.

Resources:
HP: 183/183 | SP: 173/173 | MT: 0/150

No change, she thought with a smile. I guess all that pain in the mana pool really paid off. She slung her club over her shoulder and strode forward, Let’s get this done.