NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 18: Claiming the Reward
The moment Liam saw the System notification, he dropped to his knees, breathing heavily.
He had sustained severe damage earlier, and his final attack had been beyond his limits, worsening his condition.
He quickly accessed his personal status, checking it anxiously.
[HP: (600/25)]
[Distribution Points: 9]
But as soon as he saw he'd gained some Distribution Points, he felt relieved.
Without hesitation, he said, "Distribute five points to Vitality and the rest to Endurance."
[Distributing...]
As usual, a warm, soothing sensation spread through his body, and his miserable condition began to improve.
With each passing second, his breathing became more regular, but it wasn't enough.
sigh!
[HP: (650/70)]
[Distribution Successful]
Tremor!
Suddenly, while catching his breath, the ground beneath him shook violently.
His body stiffened, and he forced himself to stand, checking his surroundings.
He then saw the floor in the center of the hall open up, revealing a short platform with a large brown box on top.
He furrowed his brows in confusion, and after a brief moment of hesitation, he walked toward the box and opened it cautiously.
The box was almost empty, containing only five rings of different colors, resting on a white cushion in the center.
"What's this?"
As soon as he posed his question, System notifications appeared before him.
[ CONGRATULATIONS! ]
[ You have obtained your Reward 1 ]
[ C-Rank Magic Item: Five-Color Ring ]
The moment he saw the rings were his reward, his body relaxed, and he no longer felt anxious.
At the same time, he wondered,
"A ring? But there are five rings in front of me. Did the System make a mistake?"
His head was already aching, so he didn't ponder it and asked directly,
"System, there are five rings, not one?"
[ Each of the five rings is a part of the Five-Color Ring ]
"That explains the name."
He scoffed at his own stupidity, feeling a bit curious.
"So, what are the abilities of these rings?"
[D-Rank Blue Ring: Enhances Magic]
[D-Rank Silver Ring: Erects a Defensive Magic Barrier]
[D-Rank Red Ring: Enhances Mental Strength, Protects against Psychic and Mental Attacks]
[D-Rank Purple Ring: Casts a medium-range offensive spell: "Rock Blasts"]
[D-Rank Green Ring: Casts a Highly Potent Healing Spell, Enhances Physical Strength, and Protects against Weak Poisons]
[The rings can be combined once per day, allowing you to raise one of the rings' abilities to C-Rank]
Although Liam had experienced several consecutive shocks from the System in previous days, he was still amazed by the rings' power and diverse abilities.
With great excitement, he held them in his right hand and murmured, "These rings are truly incredible.
With their help, my weaknesses will greatly diminish, and my skills will be enhanced.
If I had them from the start, I wouldn't have had such a difficult time fighting the Dungeon Boss."
After organizing his thoughts, he cut his left wrist and poured his blood onto the rings to create a blood bond, making them easier to control.
As his blood fell onto the rings, they glowed with a faint golden light, absorbing some of his blood.
Liam then felt a strong bond connecting him to the rings, sensing he could control them easily without expending large amounts of Mana or mental power.
Without hesitation, he put on the rings, took control of the Green Ring, and cast the Healing spell on himself.
A gentle green aura enveloped him, and his wounds clearly began to heal.
A strange grinding sound emanated from within his body, indicating that his broken and cracked bones were mending.
He nodded in satisfaction, then controlled all five rings simultaneously.
They all glowed with a faint golden light and merged to form a single, five-colored, semi-transparent ring surrounded by a beautiful aura.
Once the rings fully merged, the power of the Healing spell intensified.
Within a single minute, all his wounds healed, leaving only a few small scars that refused to disappear.
He wanted to continue casting the Healing spell, but he felt his mental power and Mana rapidly depleting.
So, he stopped and unmerged the ring, allowing it to return to its original state: five colored rings, worn across the fingers of both hands.
"Hmph," he exhaled tiredly and sighed,
"Just as I expected, it's difficult to control a magic item that surpasses my rank, especially when it comes to high-level healing magic."
In reality, the magic item reduced his Mana expenditure by hundreds of times.
If he were to cast the C-Rank Healing spell by himself, it would have depleted his entire reserve in three seconds or less.
He wanted to ponder the matter longer, but another set of System notifications appeared before him, interrupting him.
Yet, he wasn't annoyed; on the contrary, he felt happy about what he saw.
[ CONGRATULATIONS! ]
[ You have obtained your Reward 2 ]
[ Please select one skill from the list before you ]
Liam was slightly surprised but not confused.
He already knew that defeating the Dungeon Boss would reward him with a magic item and one skill, but what truly amazed him was that he would get to choose the skill himself.
He quickly looked at the list of skills and began to read it carefully.
– – –
[— Echoing Scream —]
– A special skill that allows you to unleash a high-frequency scream capable of destroying fragile objects.
– You can adjust the scream's power as needed.
– The echo can also be used for vision in darkness.
—— (Mana-consuming skill)
[— Poison Body —]
– A special skill that allows you to transform your bodily fluids into lethal poison.
– You can control the level of toxicity as desired.
– You can inject poison into your enemies through your fingers or fangs.
– Anything containing your poison can be tracked.
—— (Mana-consuming skill)
[— Acid Ball —]
– A special skill that allows you to spit a powerful acid ball capable of dissolving rock and weak metals.
– You can also secrete acid through your hands.
—— (Mana-consuming skill)
[— Spider Web —]
– A special skill that enables you to weave hard and sticky threads to restrict enemy movement.
– Threads can be launched from either your hands or mouth.
—— (Mana-consuming skill)
[— Bone Regeneration —]
– A special skill that enables you to heal bone fractures and cracks at extreme speed.
– The skill does not work on wounds or fleshy tissues.
—— (Body Vitality-consuming skill)
After Liam finished reading, he had a strange expression and murmured,
"This list isn't random. It's derived from the skills of the monsters I faced in the dungeon.
This makes choosing a skill that suits me easier, but why are all these skills so disgusting? They'll make me resemble a monster."
As soon as he thought about it, a strange shiver ran through his body, especially when he imagined himself spitting acid at his enemies during combat.
He knew that this was somewhat normal; many Ascendants possessed strange and disgusting skills, but he simply didn't like the idea.
Without hesitation, he dismissed the Acid Ball skill and rejected the idea of choosing Bone Regeneration or Echoing Scream, as he didn't need them.
After much thought, he finally chose the "Poison Body" skill.
[ CONGRATULATIONS! ]
[ You have obtained a new skill: Poison Body ]
[ You can now exit the dungeon ]