Return of the Tower Conqueror

  A Massive Haul

Cain looked forward to ripping Elypso's treasury apart -- it wasn't because he was expecting to find an item that wound suddenly solve every issue he had with his current fighting style, but because it was the very first time Elypso was 'defeated' -- usually, bosses that can 'respawn' tend to drop a motherload on their first defeat, with each subsequent one dropping far fewer and far weaker items.

Elypso stepped aside with a sigh as Cain rubbed his hands greedily, causing others to look at him strangely while he ventured inside. He locked the conversation he ha with Elypso under a lock, and others didn't quiz him; whatever was said between the two, they knew, had to stay between the two and it was none of their business. Yuki, despite being a newcomer, simply deferred to what the others were doing and followed their example, pretending nothing was wrong and merrily following Cain inside for the spoils.

Others followed soon after and stumbled on Cain breaking open a literal chest hugging the corner of what looked to be the main quarters of the building. A flash of light swarmed the room for a moment as a string of notifications blared through Cain's vision, forcing him to squint and examine them all one by one.

By the count's end, he realized they'd grabbed nine different pieces of gear, two one-time-use items, several dozen crafting materials, two tattered maps, a small figurine, a few different gems and, to his genuine shock and surprise, a few bottles full of liquid -- which he instantly recognized as potions. There were three Health Potions, two Mana Potions, one Fireflight Potion, one Ghostmade Potion, and one Shadowmane Potion. By then, he'd already sorted out most of the items, keeping two pieces of gear for himself and the rest for the others.

//Jadewoven Necklace(B-)

Level: 45

Requirements: 200 Intelligence

+25 Intelligence

+10% Mana Regeneration

Passive[0] -- recover fixed 1% missing Mana every 2 seconds in and out of combat

Passive[1] -- first magical attack against you deals 33% of its intended damage immediately, with the rest dispersed over the next 6 seconds. This can only occur once a minute.

Passive[2] -- spending Mana generates 'Jade Motes'; every 1000 spent Mana generates 1 'Jade Mote' that stay orbiting the wearer for the duration of the fight. The wearer can, at any point, destroy the motes and gain temporary Mana equal to 25% stored within the Motes for 2.5 seconds. After being destroyed, no new Motes can be generated for the next 6 minutes.//

//Mistcast Boots(A+)

Level: 50

Requirements: 250 Intelligence

+20 Intelligence

+33% to Movement Speed

Passive[0] -- casting a 'Skill' during combat increases movement speed by 7% for 5 seconds, stacking up to 10 times.

Passive[1] -- when the wearer receives direct damage, gain a burst of 300% movement speed for 1.5 seconds, followed by a 160% boost decaying over 2 seconds. This effect can occur every two minutes.

Passive[2] -- for each second that the wearer remains stationary, gain a 'Charging' buff. Each stack of the buff will increase movement speed by 7% for 2 seconds when the wearer moves, stacking up to 30 times.

Active[0] -- surround yourself in the mist, decreasing threat generation greatly and granting you the ability to glide gently for 60 seconds. Requires 3min recharge.

Active[1] -- leap forward toward the designated spot at the maximum distance of 400 yards. Cannot be used in combat. Requires 8min recharge.//

//Vial of Distinction(???) One-time-use

Use: gain 'True Sight' for 3 minutes, granting you ability to see through stealth, obstacles, and even dimensions.//

//Knight's Sanctimonium(???) One-time-use

Use: cast judgment upon the targeted creature, banishing them for 3 minutes. During the banishment, the creature cannot attack or move, but any attack against it will free it. Works on boss-types.//

Just looking at these four items, Cain was already slightly shocked at the genuine value of the loot; it wasn't so much about the immediate power-up in damage they'd provide, but more so the sheer utility that they came with. Immediately upon seeing the effects, nearly a dozen ideas popped into Cain's head about reaching places that would otherwise remain impossible for some good time. This was especially the case for the Knight's Sanctimonium as, without a shred of doubt, the group would have to fight two-three bosses at once during the 'SSS' quest. This, effectively, would cripple the fight's actual difficulty. In the rankings of the items from 'garbage people use garbage items' to 'broken to the point gods should be ashamed of allowing the developers to be born', this one definitely fell head-first into the latter.

As far as the tattered maps went, Cain had no way of actually deciphering them. He'd have to go to a specialist in the City and see where it takes him.

//Unknown Small Figurine(?)

Note: Figurine of unknown origin that seems to hold enigmatic energy within.

Hint: Perhaps someone versed in Runes and Seals may be able to offer more information.//

Cain was actually extremely interested in the figurine as the items like these usually led to the 'hidden quests' where the rewards tended to be Classless Skills. And despite Cain being able to 'freely' create Skills, Classless Skills were actually incredibly difficult to reproduce as they often came with elements that the Elementalist would never be able to access or just ridiculously empowered versions of the normal elements, such as gaining 200% Health for a brief moment of time. Cain could create something similar with the 'Body' element, but not only would the Mana cost be impossible to actually cover, the increase in Health would be minimal.

As for the gems, there were three types -- Archgilde, Ryben, and Atye. Gems were multi-purpose items that would slowly grow in importance as the people climbed floors; as of now, they were actually kind of useless -- for instance, it was possible to 'enhance' armor with them by taking them to the blacksmith, but even Taima would, at best, be able to get around 10 extra Vitality from Ryben. However, that was just for now; as such, Cain tucked them into the corner of his inventory and left them for the future.

Lastly, he looked at the potions, barely holding back a smile. Despite the fact that there were only 2 Mana potions and that, essentially, they would do little to nothing for his combat prowess, it was a good sign -- it meant that it was possible to get a hold of them before the Alchemist began showing up.

'Health Potions' simply restored 70% of max Health flat, but the ones Cain looted could only be used by the 'Unawakened' -- above, the potions would have a flat, numerical value usually rather than %. Mana Potions he looted worked the same, recovering 60% flat of max Mana per consumption.

'Fireflight Potion' increased movement speed by 30% for 15 seconds, 'Ghostmade Potion' turned whoever drank it quasi-invisible for 1 minute, but the effect would be broken upon any movement, and 'Shadowmane Potion' granted 7 seconds of actual, genuine stealth to whoever drank it.

There were a lot of possibilities with the haul, Cain realized -- but none were quite feasible for the near-future. After all, he had less than a month before the 'SSS' quest would be immediately forfeited, and in that time frame, he not only had to squeeze four more bosses, but also a visit to the City and then the full swing back to basically the edge of the desert.

There was simply no room for him to add extra two or three detours that would be the best for the items. That wasn't to say the items won't be useful otherwise, just sub-optimal.

"Damn, you had some good shit," Cain said to Elypso, prompting the latter to smile bitterly. "Maybe life of theft ain't such a bad thing." And that's just what the system let me take... he mused inwardly, though the glint in his eyes didn't escape Elypso's gaze.

"You're quite greedy, eh?"

"Well, our group is named 'the Greedy Seven'. Though, since it keeps expanding, we're gonna need some re-branding."

"..." the looks of destitute hollowness nearly caused Elypso to burst out into laughter.

"I was thinking the 'Greedy Bunch', but it's too simple -- I need a deeper wordplay. Maybe something to do with Robin Hood... play on 'robbin'... maybe if we all wore hoods instead of masks? Hmm, or maybe..."

"Alright, he's officially in his own world," Emma announced with a clap as everyone turned toward her, ignoring Cain. "We're gonna have a lunch now while he sorts out his brain. Elypso, you joinin'?"

"Uh, sure," Elypso found it funny how quickly everyone flipped a switch, realizing they were quite used to the man's escapades. "He's always like this, I presume?"

"... more than we'd like to admit," Emma said as they left the building came back since the sun was well out; even if they could protect themselves with Mana, it was quite boorish to keep it up at all times -- especially when there was a perfectly shaded room right there. "But it all depends on how long he gets stuck. I once made a mistake of saying there was no way he could make a pun out of our daughter's name, and he literally didn't sleep that night, woke me up at like 4 A.M. like a maniac to tell me he'd found one. It... it had something to do with bananas? Cabanas? I've no fucking clue. All I know is that it was dumb as fuck."

"... alrighty, now there's no way in hell we're spending the lunch doing anything else -- we're listening to 'Cain and Emma' stories." Jamal said.

"Yup." Kramer nodded. "I was actually gonna suggest it, but I thought you guys might be over them."

"You'd think we would, after months now," Daniel said. "But, I dunno. Emma always finds a story that just keeps escalating things."

"Alright -- how about, this time," Emma said. "I tell you a story of how I got kicked out of the university because of Cain... kind of."

"Oooh!!" after a collective show of interest, Elypso realized that... there was no food anywhere. The group just sat down and began listening to the woman telling her story. Shrugging, he went to the back and took out some bread and yam, gulping them down as he, too, joined-in on the listening. After all, their world did sound quite fascinating.

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