━━〔 BASIC INFORMATION 〕━━━
Name: Marlon Ashleigh
Talent: Absolute Attack (EX)
Power Level: 8 (91%)
Power Rank: FF
Health Points: 96/130
Health Regen: 1 HP/min
Aether Points: 20/100
Aether Regen: 1 AP/min
━━━〔 STATS 〕━━━
Strength: 56 | Agility: 55
Vitality: 13 | Intelligence: 50
Free Points: 8
━━━〔 ATTRIBUTES 〕━━━
Physical Attack: 140 | Magical Attack: 138
Physical Defense: 10% | Magical Defense: 5%
━━━〔 SKILLS 〕━━━
Passive: Drain (D), Night Instinct (F), Rock Body (F)
Active: Punch of Iron (D), Punch of Judgment (B)
[ INVENTORY (1/5) ]
X1 Skill book
.....
While the nerds harvested the corpse for loot, Marlon went through his character status.
"Four level-ups and a new skill… not bad at all," Marlon muttered with a small grin.
His gaze landed on his free stat points. Instantly, he poured all of them into Vitality.
[ Vitality: 17 (+8) ]
[ Health Point: 130 ------> 170 ]
Warmth surged through his body immediately, spreading really fast. His mind and thoughts became clearer than ever.
Feeling the invigorating sensation, a smile spread across his face.
He shut the system and turned to observe the nerds as they meticulously harvested every piece of corpse inside the crimson expanse at rapid pace.
'At least they're very effective for something,' he thought.
After about thirty minutes, the harvesting process was over. The loot lay on the ground in front of Marlon. The two nerds stood opposite him, staring at it with amazed expressions.
Their loot consisted of: x12 FF-grade monster cores, x3 F-grade monster cores, x2 EXP orbs, and x1 Aether Crystal.
The monster cores were small, almost as big as an orange, each with a dim crimson color. They were very useful in the manufacturing industry, especially blacksmithing.
The EXP orbs were smaller than the monster cores, about the size of a cherry, blue in color. As the name suggested, they granted the user a certain amount of experience points when consumed.
Finally, there were the Aether Crystals which could be used for meditation, increasing the user's maximum Aether points.
"This is very good loot," Ashton said, lifting his gaze to meet Marlon's. "If you want all of it, you can take it. We barely did anything."
"Yeah, seriously. You earned it," Logan added. "We were pretty much dead weight anyway."
Marlon listened to both of them with a blank expression, then snorted. "Bullshit. I made a promise, and I'll stick to it. But don't think you're getting it for free."
Both of them exchanged confused looks.
"You'll get a cut of the loot," Marlon said calmly, his tone dropping cold. "Think of it as payment to keep your mouths shut. If a single rumor spreads about what happened here… I'll find you both and break your legs."
His expression turned fierce as he spoke causing Ashton and Logan to swallow nervously and nod quickly.
Seeing their attentiveness, Marlon softened his expression into a smile. "So, let's get back to business."
He took out six FF-grade monster cores and shared them between the two of them.
Ashton and Logan thanked him heartily.
The remaining loot, Marlon kept to himself, storing them in his inventory. Later, he would use what he could and sell the rest when he had the chance.
After the loot was distributed, the three strolled out of the crimson expanse with fulfilled expressions on their faces.
"What are your next plans, Marlon?" Ashton asked.
"It's still early. We can clear two more blood-level zones before dawn," Marlon said with confidence.
Ashton and Logan could only agree. After witnessing his immense strength firsthand, they knew he was more than capable of what he had just said.
[ You have exited CRIMSON EXPANSE. ]
====
Evening finally approached.
The cold and aggressive wind blew sand and dust across the desert, where a group of seven trainees wearing Sandshift gear could be seen approaching a red-hued magical barrier.
Lyra strolled casually behind the others, scanning the area for loose monsters.
"Today's raid was exhausting," a black-haired boy holding a finely crafted wooden bow said with a sigh.
"Yeah, those two crimson serpents were a pain in the ass to deal with. If it wasn't for Lyra and Johnathan, we would still be battling them by now," a young lady responded.
"Lyra is an incredible teammate. We're lucky she came with us," the boy replied.
Lyra eavesdropped on the conversation as they didn't really bother to keep their voices down. She could only scoff and turn her attention back to the environment, trying her best not to recall her family problems or the encounter with the masked man.
Meanwhile, the party drew closer to the danger zone. They had all decided to clear it as quickly as possible and end their raid for the day.
"I need everyone to be in optimal condition before we attempt to clear this zone. Take your healing potions if your health points are low, and drink any boosting potion you have," Johnathan announced in a serious tone.
Two of the party members obeyed immediately, taking out the healing potions they had purchased beforehand and consuming them.
The others either equipped their weapons or made final preparations.
Johnathan observed calmly as his party readied themselves. His eyes landed on Lyra standing at the back, casually kicking sand up with her boots.
He could only sigh.
Just as he was about to approach her and strike up a conversation, a boy at the front suddenly barked in confusion, drawing his attention and that of the other party members toward the red-hued barrier.
They all spotted three figures strolling out of the barrier casually while chatting.
"Thanks to you, both of us leveled up. If you're raiding again tomorrow, hit us up — we'll gladly tag along."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever, just don't slow me down tomorrow, or I'm ditching you both." Marlon responded casually.
Just as he finished speaking, he noticed the others standing silently not too far away, watching with puzzled expressions.
A blank expression appeared on his face at once. Had they been stunned by some loose monsters? Why are they so stiff? he wondered.
Just then, the party finally broke their silence.
"Isn't that the masochist Marlon and the two useless nerds from this morning? And they just stepped out from a cleared danger zone? I must be seeing things. Please spank my ass."
"You meant 'slap my face,' right?"
While the two gossipers exchanged words, the others stared at Marlon, Ashton, and Logan with astonished and confused gazes.
Lyra observed them from afar, her attention mainly on Marlon.
Johnathan stepped forward.
"What happened inside the danger zone?" he demanded arrogantly, asserting his leadership.
But Marlon's already blank expression turned even blanker as he met Johnathan's gaze, completely unintimidated.
The two nerds immediately sensed that something bad was about to happen.
Ashton stepped forward and replied on Marlon's behalf, trying to come up with something believable.
But Johnathan disregarded him as though he were a fly. "I wasn't asking you."
.....
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