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Chapter 24: Parting Ways

The actual loot turned out to be 4 things in total.

It was 1 item, 1 Ingredient and 1 material that dropped together with the money.

Beak Splinters: (material)A few pieces from the beak of a deep sea creature, a rare material and usually used in crafting expensive knifes or to get high quality arrow tips.

Suspicious Flesh: (material)This soft flesh would be great in any dish and when dried can be used to enhance the overall flavor. Its origin is the only thing that seems a bit suspicious.Effect:+10% effectiveness to all dishes created via the cooking Skill.

Coral Staff:This staff was found stuck inside the beak of a gigantic sea creature.

Crafted out of sturdy Coral it has gained special properties.Damage:37 - 71Durability:50/50Special Effect:Increases all healing by 7%.Additional Effect:+ 10 Vitality.Requirements:Level 16, Healer orientated profession.

The Money was given to the Warrior as he did the least work.

In the end it was decided that the Archer would get the 'Beak Splinters', Lilliana was handed the 'Suspicious Flesh' and Sanja received the Staff that was a dearly needed upgrade from her old one.

"Are you really ok with this Makoto? I mean you did most of the work for killing the Elite Monster, I kind of feel bad for not giving you anything..."

The Priestess said while looking at her new Coral Staff with a bit of guilt.

"I told you, it's alright.

I could have not killed it alone anyways, you healed me a lot and everyone played their part in that fight. I got the experience from killing it and that is more than enough for me."

Not only that but he also got a new stat from the fight which was worth a lot more than one weapon he would have to practically throw away later again anyways when he out leveled it.

So in the end Makoto was not upset at all for not getting 'anything' out of the fight.

"If you say so..."

Sanja said and embraced her new weapon with a happy smile.

It was at that point as he watched her that Makoto remembered something.

Immediately he walked over to Lilliana who stared at the block of flesh in her hands, somewhat confused and unsatisfied.

"Hey Lilly, I just remembered I have something for you."

He said while pulling out the Darkblood Wand from his Inventory that he had completely forgotten about until now.

Immediately her dark brown eyes lit up when she saw the Weapon.

"You can have it, if you pay me a small amount that is."

Makoto said with a smile and she looked at him suspiciously.

"How about 5 Silver and it is yours?"

"Only that much? For a second there I thought you would rob me blind judging from the way you looked at me. I think that is a bit too cheap, where is the catch?"

Lilliana asked still a bit suspicious as to why he would sell her a weapon like that for only such a small sum.

Naturally she had checked the stats on it right away and had no problem with even paying triple of the amount he asked for.

"Let's just call it a one time offer.

So, do we have a deal?"

Makoto asked with an outstretched hand.

Without having to think about it she shook his hand and the item disappeared from his Inventory while 5 Silver got added to his wallet.

"Thank you, Makoto."

Lilliana said with an honest smile, her opinion of him shot up after he cut her a deal like that and for him the money itself did not play that much of a role, the important thing was that she would remember his kindness and he could potentially use it as leverage or as a favor in the future.

Maybe even enough to blackmail her later on, who knows.

Looking at this happy girl and her new wand made a sinister smile appear on his face, he tried to hide right away with a cough before she had any chance of noticing it naturally.

Soon enough they headed back to Marahel.

Even after finishing off all the Tasks, Makoto still did not reach the next level although he was very close now.

Determined that he was too high leveled for this area, he shed light on his problem.

"I think I will head further East to the Capital guys, I know you still have to take care of a few things and this is the best hunting ground for you all but I feel like I'm falling behind.

I wish you good luck and see you another time."

Waving them goodbye, Makoto turned and left the Party.

It was a bit abrupt but it had to be done, he was practically wasting time here.

Behind him both Lilliana and Sanja watched him until he disappeared through the east gate of the town.

They looked at each other for a second and Sanja motioned in Makoto's direction.

"Why didn't you follow him Lilly?"

She asked while looking at the blushing girl.

"I have no idea what you are talking about."

Lilliana stubbornly said, standing her ground but not able to look into her best friend's eyes.

"I have known you for a long time now Lilly and I know that look, if you want to be with him why are you still here?"

She asked while patting the smaller girl's back and looking at her questioningly.

"Shut up Saji... just... shut up..."

Lilliana said while throwing another look in the direction that Makoto had disappeared to.

.....

The Skill 'Penetration' has leveled up!

Makoto wiped the sweat from his forehead while dislodging his sword from a Titan Crab's dead body.

He had started to hunt them again after parting ways to increase his Skill level as it was the only Monster that actually increased his proficiency at this point.

Looking at the Skill and after that at his Status window he was quite pleased with what he saw.

Penetration:Even the strongest of defenses can be broken through with effort and tenacity.Skill Type:passiveSkill Level8 (0%)Skill Effect:+ 26% Armor Penetration

Status WindowName:MakotoLevel:19Alignment:GoodClass:Crimson WarriorRace:HumanGender:MaleTitlesSlayer of All, Righteous Demon, First of a KindHealth:1290/1290Mana:560/560Strength:115Agility:127 (+5)Vitality:78 (+20)Wisdom:40Intelligence:40Fame:26Evasiveness:38Willpower:35Special Effects:+5% Damage against all living beings.

+15% Damage against Chaotic or Individuals with an 'Evil Alignment.

He had finally reached level 19 after hunting a lot more Titan Crabs to level 'Penetration'

Also, thanks to his Class that increased all stats except 'Fame' by 30 points, his 'Willpower' was now at 35 instead of 5.

He could now use the special effect from it to increase his stats by 17.5% for 3.5 seconds.

It was not a lot but now he had enough time to actually get a few good hits in until the effect went on a 24 hour cooldown.

Something else that came to his mind after leveling up was to try and add some extra points to his 'Willpower' just to try it out but a system window stopped that attempt.

You are only able to allocate stat points from gaining a level to your 5 basic stats, Strength, Agility, Vitality, Intelligence and Wisdom.

That was the message that showed itself when he tried it so he just put 3 into Strength, 5 into Agility and 2 into Vitality like always.

Something else that happened on his way to Elisante was rather displeasing.

A new system message showed up and Makoto paled after reading through it.

For your poor hygiene as well as continued efforts in getting as much blood and dirt on yourself as possible, the Divine Beings have judged your Soul to be dirtied by its fleshy shell and have put a status effect on you!

Tainted: -40% in all stats until the body has been cleansed thoroughly.

Sighing deeply, Makoto looked at his ingame body and in a way could only agree.

His entire attire was drenched in dried blood, every visible piece of skin was also sticky and a strange smell was now coming from his body, like rotting meat.

Not hesitating in the least, Makoto ran into the lake and washed his body for the first time since he entered Azalon.

It was like a layer of his skin came off after he rubbed over himself a few times.

He even took his gear off and washed everything separately in the water, thankfully getting rid of stains was a hundred times easier in Azalon than in Real Life.

After exiting the lake, a dark oil like sustenance was floating on the water where he had washed his body.

You have successfully broken free of the status effect 'Tainted'!

Clean for the first time in forever, Makoto continued his Journey down the beach, he was heading south as crossing the lake seemed impossible and who knew what dangers lurked in those watery depths.

After a few hours of travel he started to see the other side of the lake so he knew he was at least doing something right, during all of this time he occasionally fought with a Titan crab until his Skill experience stopped again.

Unable to gain any proper experience he hurried his own steps, in search of new monsters to kill and in hopes for more battle.

The further he traveled south the more he was able to see trees, grassy plains and other things on the opposite side of the lake as the land seemed to come closer with every step he took.

Soon enough the distance was not more than 30 feet and the calm lake had turned into a fast and loud river that headed all the way south, probably to the ocean again.

Makoto stood on the beach of this rushing river, water occasionally splashed into his face as he looked towards the other side, so close but at the same time so far away.

Having no other choice in the matter, he decided to risk it, took a few steps back and then dived head first into the water.

It was cold, that was the first thing that came to his mind.

The next thing that happened was that a sudden tug on his whole body dragged him to the right, the water was moving so fast that swimming forward seemed a nearly impossible feat.

After struggling against the strong current for a long time, Makoto finally reached the other riverbank.

He was kneeling at the shore for a good bit, coughing up water every now and then.

After the dizziness disappeared, he dared to stand up and surveyed his surroundings.

A quick look on his map confirmed that he really did cross the river, only now he was a good mile or two further south than before.

Happy to have made some progress, he started heading north alongside the river again until he actually reached the other side of the lake.

It really was an enormous body of water as even on his map there was a gigantic span of undiscovered nothing in the middle of the two sides of the beach.

Shrugging his shoulders, Makoto started to head east again, this time he finally was really heading in the right direction.

The biggest change in scenery for him was that instead of the normal forest he had been used to, there was only the occasional tree here but a lot more grassy hills and plains.

Makoto didn't have to wait long to see a new type of enemy.

Crescent Bear: lvl 20

Dire Plain Wolf: lvl 19

That was the first two bigger monsters he encountered.

The Crescent Bear was a gigantic beast, easily towering 15 feet when it was standing on its hind legs with paws as big as Makoto's entire upper body.

The Dire Plain Wolfs had black, thick fur and numbered over 50 in each pack.

Both mobs could be called a new challenge as he never before fought a bear and also never engaged a pack that big.

Readying his sword, Makoto was about to run into combat when a sharp whistle in the air suddenly made every hair on his body stand up before something hit his left shoulder with enough force to throw him onto the ground.

You have received 312 Damage from the player 'Shakalum'!

An arrow was stuck in his back and he broke the shaft with a roll to evade the next one that had been aimed for his head this time.

Finally he was able to get a quick reprieve and actually look at who was attacking him.

On a nearby hill Makoto could see the silhouettes of 3 players.

One of them obviously had to be the archer that shot him but it was not only that as the next attack sent a barrage of Fire balls his way, making him jump to the side yet again.

Furious and already having an idea that this had to be his first encounter with actual Bounty Hunters, Makoto charged towards them.

Jumping right and left he evaded shot after shot and covered a good distance until the Archer used a Skill that made a white projectile home in on Makoto and he was unable to dodge it properly as it grazed his side.

You have received a status effect!

Blighted: - 35% regen to all until the battle is finished.

"Oh you gotta be kidding me here!"

Unable to believe that this archer had the exact Skill that was the Nemesis of his Class, Makoto rolled on the ground again but this time something like a bright colored wave of light hit him squarely in the chest.

You have received 276 Damage from the player 'Hellios'

Already scraping close to the 50% mark and with reduced healing, Makoto knew it didn't look good considering he still had not reached this group of 3.

Again an arrow flew past him, only millimeters away from hitting his side.

Facing complete despair and unable to advance any further, attack after attack destroyed his health slowly but surely until Makoto decided to retreat.

Trusting his high Agility he ran off in a Zigzag pattern but then something happened that ruined it all.

An arrow, seemingly following a thin thread, was able to hit at the back of his knee while he was mid-sprint.

You have received 198 Damage!

You have received a status effect!

Cripple: -30% movement and attack speed until the battle is finished.

Screaming out his anger and frustration, Makoto limped away as fast as he could but it did not take long for yet another fireball to hit his back.

You have received 221 Damage from the player 'Kalaros'

Falling to the ground under the constant barrage of these ranged attacks he was unable to do anything, all he could do was watch his healthbar slowly decline.

Grinding his teeth and cursing the name's of these Bounty Hunters over and over again, Makoto's health finally reached 0.

You have been killed!

Your body will stay behind for a maximum of 24 hours as you have been killed by someone who accepted the Bounty Request on your head!

You are unable to respawn until either 24 hours have passed or your body has been successfully delivered to the nearest Magic Institute.

Immediately logging out and jumping out of his capsule, Makoto ran headfirst against a wall and screamed his lungs out.

"Fucking bullshit!"

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That is the Chapter for today!

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