119. This Is the Reason Why

Due to how much poison was on him, it looked as if Jong Ho’s body was coated in spinach jam.

I was fine due to my Mana Shield, but that wasn’t the case with him.

On top of that, it was leaving holes in the duffel bag that the Awakened use, which could withstand most attacks.

It was a bag made by processing a bloodstone.

Since it was made from a S ranking stone I’ve received from Karin, it had a durability far surpassing any pathetic armor humans could make.

It was durable enough for me to wear it during combat in dungeons below level 30.

However, since it fell apart like wet tissue paper, I was able to reconfirm just how much damage the poison from the Jewel Goats did.

Many bloodstones spilled out from the holes of the bag like rice, but I didn’t feel any regret.

What I was really worried about was if any essences were mixed in the stream of stones spilling out.

To check on the loot, I headed out the portal.

“Hyung-nim, it looks like you’ll have to get the poison on your body washed off with the Cleanse spell. For us, it’s fine, but it looks like it’ll be lethal for average person to even get near us.”

I held up the duffel bag that had been torn apart as I spoke.

It seemed that Jong Ho had the same idea.

“Yep. Looks like I’ll have to.”

“Yes. I’ll have to talk with Mr. Ho Yeong from the association. He’ll have to prepare a high ranking healer for us.”

“Yeah. Call one for me, will you.”

“Yes. It’ll be inconvenient for them, but I’ll need them to come over here. About the mimic. Seems we get a bag full of goodies whenever we meet one.”

“It really doesn’t hold back when it gives.”

“I’ve only seen a mimic 3 times so far, and out of those 3, 2 of them were from when I was hunting with you. It’s pretty amazing.”

“I’ve seen it twice my whole life, and all of them was with you.”

“I guess we have quite the synergy.”

“I don’t want to admit it, but it seems so.”

“You don’t need to say the first part…. Whatever, let’s go check on what our loot is. It seemed that even a Titan Boots dropped when I was packing up.”

“Really? I didn’t see.”

Flipping the duffel bag upside down, I poured out all of its contents.

The sound of bloodstones colliding with essences was like music to my ears.

The amount of loot that poured out was an enormous amount.

That was to be expected, since the duffel bag that was the size of a cow was filled to the brim.

The first item that stood out for me was the Titan Boots.

Looking at that, Jong Ho had a smile that seemed to claim he had the entire world in palm of his hand.

“Hey! Really? It’s a pair of Titan Boots!”

“You can thank the Jewel Goat King.”

“It was a good goat….. if you don’t consider this slimy poison…..”

“It was an artifact that you really needed. Good for you.”

“Agreed. In Korea, there are less than ten people who use this item…. To think that I am going to be one of them.”

“I think you are the strongest out of all of them.”

“Pfft. I wonder how I got to here…. Life works in the strangest of ways, don’t you think? To think that a manager for the Awakened would become an Awakened himself, then growing this far by meeting you. I’ll take off these boots and give them back to you then.”

“Don’t do that! Do you want to get poisoned again while you take them off and put the other ones on? I don’t have any plans to drag your dead body back. You know that my Status Denial has still over 23 hours left before the cooldown is finished.”

“Ah…. That’s right. Then I’ll get the new pair after I get the spell Cleansed on me.”

“Yes. There’s a sword, gauntlet, and even a skill book beyond ranking. It’s almost like a party.”

“Things are working out so well that I’m feeling a little worried. To think that we’d get this much loot from the first day of hunting.”

“I think so as well.”

“Let’s not dwell on possible misfortune that may or may not come our way! For now, let’s enjoy this fortune instead.”

“That’s right!”

For now, we decided to inspect the bigger artifacts first.

Equipment that drop from higher level dungeons have a tendency to bind to the first person who equipped them.

To simply put what binding means, it means that the moment a person picks up the loot, they become the sole owner of it.

That was why we had to take special precautions not to touch the equipment with our bare hands when shoving in the loot into the bag.

An item that someone desperately needs could be completely useless for someone else, after all.

There was a need to use Eye of Insight to thoroughly inspect the equipment.

After that, the owner would be chosen depending on the information on what the equipment did.

“Are you sure that you didn’t touch any of the equipment?”

“Of course. That’s why the duffel bag has many holes in it. I even ended up scooping the poison inside.”

“Smiths are something else. To think that they’re able to process these bloodstones to make artifacts that don’t melt at this level of poison. All right. We’ll start by inspecting the sword.”

-Black Moon-

*Strength +1000

*Dexterity +100

*10% of total strength increased.

*One-handed.

Checking the information, I grabbed onto the blade of the sword and tossed it to Jong Ho.

With a confused expression, Jong Ho asked.

“Why?”

“This doesn’t bind to the user. Also it isn’t as good as the sword I’m using.”

“Is that so? What’s the stat on it?”

“……”

Black Moon was roughly 1/3rd the width of Banwol Jincheon that Jong Ho used and had a crescent shape.

It was simple without any decorations, almost plain enough to mistake it as a giant table knife.

I informed Jong Ho about the stats the sword had and recommended him to use it.

This one-handed sword was the equivalent of the two-handed sword Banwol Jincheon.

He looked at the Banwol Jincheon next to him as he spoke.

“There’s quite the difference in stats.”

“Yes. The strength bonus is nearly twice old weapon. On top of that, there’s a dexterity stat bonus.”

“Hm….”

“What’s up? There shouldn’t be any need to hesitate due to the difference in stats.”

“I’m kind of attached to this weapon.”

“I don’t think this is the time to get lost in old fond memories? In less than 3 months, we’ll be leaving to the demonic realm. Since we need to fight with our lives on the line, don’t you think that we’ll need to put our growth first?”

“That’s true.”

“You can put it in storage at home and take care of it. I’ll buy a display case for you. You can think of your fond memories for a long time.”

“Pfft. Alright.”

“So now you get 1800 strength and 100 dexterity from your weapon, right?”

“Yep. Well if I have one for each hand that is.”

“Why do you look so regretful. We can hope to get another.”

“So you’ll be hunting in the level 39 dungeon only from now on?”

“I think that’ll be the case for while, don’t you think? I wouldn’t know if the level 40 dungeon has a hidden boss or not.”

“Then what should I do?”

“You should stick with me until you are strong enough to clear the level 38 dungeon by yourself and gather stats. Until then, you should focus on upgrading your artifacts. It shouldn’t take that long with the rate we’re getting experience points and at the speed we’re clearing the dungeon.”

“I even have a pair of Titan Boots now. Now this dungeon won’t be that dangerous, so we should go ahead do as you planned.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Okay. Let’s do it.”

“Yep. First, we’ll finish checking the rest of the loot though.”

The chest piece and helmet were far weaker than the current equipment.

For Jong Ho, you could say that the most important option out of all his artifacts would be on his chest piece.

And now that he found the level 38 dungeon with golems that’ll let him farm stats, the option would be more important than ever.

Lifting the chest piece and helmet, all the bloodstones and essences that were in there spilled out.

Just from that, I could tell there was a lot.

The only thing left was the gauntlet.

Currently, Jong Ho and I were wearing the highest grade Lizardman Gauntlets, which gave a 20% resistance to all magic.

Artifacts that bosses drop also have a tier to them.

Lizardman Gauntlet at its maximum has a 20% magic resistance, but the grade dropped was at random.

It was quite a decent defensive equipment, but there wasn’t any special effects attached to it sadly.

“I guess the only thing left are the gauntlet and the skill book?”

“Yes.”

“I think I’m going to go crazy from just staring at it without being able to touch it. Hurry up and examine them.”

“Ok.”

-Minotaur’s Hoof-

*10% damage reduction from all sources

*Regular attacks excluding skills are 20% stronger.

*Binds on equip.

It seemed that I hit the jackpot.

It reduced damage taken from all sources and even increased the damage of my basic attacks.

This meant that the swings I made with my insanely high strength stat became even stronger.

Added on top of the 20% damage reduction from the Lich King’s Helmet and the 40% damage reduction from the armor I obtained from Joker, I would be taking 70% reduced damage from all sources.

Attacks from regular monsters could be blocked by my Mana Shield.

However, skills beyond ranking like the Lich King’s Black Hole attack would go through the shield.

I was certain that the leader of the monsters such as Berdan or the demon king would pour out attacks far beyond that level.

I had many shield spells, but I believed that focusing as much as I could on defense was a good priority to have.

With this much damage reduction, I wouldn’t be instantly killed from a single attack, no matter how powerful.

“Hyung-nim. I think I hit the jackpot.”

“What is it that it’s got you all riled up?”

“Sorry to ask, but I’d like to ask if I could use this first before I tell you what it is.”

“Hey now. Of course. You are the carry, and I’m the sidekick!”

“I’m glad that you think that way. Of course, you are going with the full stamina build. There’s a plethora of stats you can earn from the golems, and as for your lack of offensive power, you can cover it with the ring. Let’s focus on defense. I’ll do so as well.”

“Right. First run of this portal and a hidden boss appears. We’re really lucky today.”

“I know, right? Essences and Essences of Transcendence. Let’s finish up cleaning up the bloodstones and get moving.”

“Okay. They say that blessings come in droves! But… aren’t you ignoring the skill book? It’s a skill beyond ranking skill book at that though?”

“Ah! Give me a moment.”

“Limiter Release and Mana Drain?”

“It’s obvious that Mana Drain has something to do with recovering mana…..”

“Yes. Thus, it’s a skill that hyung-nim will learn.”

“Then what do you think Limiter Release does?”

“There isn’t a requirement to learn, and there’s no other information I can get other than the name.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes.”

I quietly pushed both skill books towards Jong Ho.

Mana Drain was a skill that Jong Ho needed desperately.

Since I’ve never seen this skill before, I wasn’t sure if it would simply increase mana regen rate of the user.

It could inflict a certain amount of damage and recover mana based on that as well. As for me, who never ran out of mana, I had no need for it for sure.

“I’ll learn Mana Drain.”

“Yes. You should also learn Limiter Release as well.”

“Am I learning this because you know what they do?”

“Just believe in your bro’s gut feeling.”

“We could be wasting the skill books.”

“Hyung-nim, do you remember?”

“Hm?”

“Do you remember when I was speed leveling Meteor and Iceberg.”

“Yep, I remember.”

“Remember that I asked if there was way to reduce cooldowns of skills?”

“Oh! I remember. What about it though?”

“You said that there isn’t a way to, but I think this is it.”

“Limiter Release?”

“Yes. Trust me. Since there isn’t a required stat in order to obtain it, it’s probably not an offensive or defensive skill. There isn’t even a level requirement. This probably means that any class can obtain it, right?”

“True.”

“Something that all classes are burdened with. It must be cooldowns, right? It affects both low and high leveled alike.”

“…….”

“Looking at your current skill levels, I think they’re far behind your current growth rate. Since I have infinite mana, I can use the skills constantly to level them up, but you have a limited mana pool.”

“Is that so….”

“That’s right!”