Chilly picked out pieces of ghoul out of his shredded arm. Little specks of ash and other spots of unidentifiable gunk speckled the injury. While this world did run on game logic, it didn’t seem like the greatest idea to leave a wound with such a clear route to infection. The gunk ran deep, and there was only so much he could do without water, but he gave it his best shot.

With his forearm relatively clean, he began working on his thighs after carefully pulling his pants down. Picking at the injury hurt, but the pain was muted compared to what he would expect of such an injury. In his past life on earth he had been in a motorcycle accident which had removed most of the skin around his knee. Now that had hurt like a hot damn.

The entire operation was made more difficult - and more painful - by his trembling hands. The adrenaline which had allowed him to retreat with such alacrity had faded. Leaving him trembling like an addict with withdrawal symptoms. The poor lighting conditions also didn’t help. He had dropped his torch in the alcove, so the steady bright light was replaced by Incinerate’s flicker.

Chilly cleaned his thighs the best he could, but then paused at his chest. He clearly felt the injuries under the unbroken armor. It was annoying that the armor didn’t protect him properly, but he supposed it was nice that it guaranteed he would never need to replace it due to damage. The injuries though, did not appreciate being covered up. So after checking around for danger and no small amount of trepidation, he began unbuckling the plate vest.

His plate vest was what gave him his regeneration after all.

The plate vest came loose and fell forwards onto his lap. Abruptly the pain magnified exponentially. He doubled over in agony, as fresh tears were drawn from his eyes. With a gasp, he fumbled to re-equip the plate vest. The moment the straps snapped into place, the pain muted, becoming bearable once more.

“What...in the actual...what...” Chilly panted, clasping his forearm and stomach as the memory of the pain left him trembling even harder.

His health was fine. It hadn’t dropped, so something else must have caused the pain.

Chilly gave his armor a suspicious glance, then with a wince, sighed and pulled off his right boot.

His health and armor dropped, but the pain was unaffected. The pain remained muted. It hurt enough to demand most of his attention, but just low enough to be bearable. It was becoming obvious that the current level of pain he felt was not because his wounds were mild. There was something else happening behind the scenes that was reducing his pain. The question was what. Needless to say, this was a question that Chilly really wanted the answer to.

Chilly muttered expletives, as he pulled his boot back on.

It wasn’t equipment that reduced pain. At least not generally.

Chilly methodically removed his gear one by one and confirmed that his pain level didn’t change for any of them.

It wasn’t equipment that reduced pain, there was just something special about his chest. It also wasn’t because the injury was underneath his body armor. He had plenty of injuries beneath his pants and on his face, and his pain was entirely unaffected by removing his helmet or pants.

Either the body armor slot had a special property of reducing pain or the life regeneration mod on his plate vest was responsible.

Chilly queried the system.

Iron Plate Vest

Body armor

Magic

iLevel: 1

8 armor

3% slow (hidden)

0.45 life regeneration

That confirmed it. Probably. Life regeneration reduces pain.

“Well that changes things doesn’t it.” Chilly told the penguin who just popped into existence beside him. “If getting hurt didn’t hurt then this dungeon would actually be hella fun.”

The penguin just stared at him.

“Not talkative are you, huh.” Chilly shook his head, then pulled up the character sheet.

Gregory “Chilly” Morhuil

Level

Exp

Skill Points

Spec

3

0/3

2

Fire

Life

Life Regen

67/148

0.45

Armor

Fire

Cold

Lightning

Chaos

34

25.37%

0

0.00%

0

0.00%

0

0.00%

0

0.00%

Incinerate

Helmet:

Iron Barbute

??? (Available)

Body Armor:

Iron Plate Vest

???

Pants:

Woolen Pants

???

Boots:

Leather boots

???

Gloves:

???

Jewelry:

???

Mainhand:

Iron Sword

???

Offhand:

Lit Torch

(AN: A=augment, L=level for skills and equipment respectively)

Level three. Health went up by 15. It looked like the experience required for the next level was equal to the current level. There was also a new skill available. But first, Chilly checked out Incinerate.

Incinerate

Unleash a beam of fire that burns enemies that it touches. The beam dissipates after 5.2m.

Deals 50.4 Fire damage per second

Channeling

Damage went up and the range increased by ten centimeters. It was reassuring that skills would improve passively as he leveled up.

You have an open skill slot!

Choose from one of the following skills:

Vitality

Your body thrums with a powerful vitality increasing both your life and life regeneration.

Regenerate 2.4% of maximum life as life per second

6% more life

Prismatic Aegis

Empower your armor with the power of the elements granting a powerful buff to elemental resistances.

10 fire, cold, and lightning resistance

5% more fire, cold, and lightning resistance

1s cast time

60s duration

Enduring Cry

Roar with rage granting a burst of healing and passively increasing maximum life.

Recover 6 life per nearby enemy + 4% of maximum life on use

12% more life

2.2s cast time

“Ask and ye shall receive.” Chilly smiled as he stared at the options. Prismatic aegis was immediately out. The resistances would be nice, but as far as he knew the undead in the Mausoleum dealt physical damage with a hint of chaos damage from the desecrated ground.

Enduring cry was good. In fact, it was probably better than Vitality at recovering health. 4% of his maximum health was roughly 6 points and would only increase as he upgraded his gear. That would make it recover 12 life per use or slightly more than 5 life per second if there was only one enemy nearby. Far superior to Vitality which would only recover 3-4 life per second.

In other words, almost twice as good, in the worst case. Against more opponents then it would become even more efficient. In reality, it was an anti swarm skill. With it, a horde of undead rats wouldn’t be able to touch him. If there were even hordes of rats in this dungeon. So far that hasn't been the case.

The other problem with Enduring Cry was that it required him to stop casting Incinerate for the duration of its cast time. That was 2.2 seconds where he wasn’t dealing damage. At 50 damage per second on Incinerate that was an opportunity cost of 100 and a bit fire damage for 6 health.

Not great.

The extra life granted by Enduring Cry was nice, though wasn’t super appealing for some reason. It didn’t provide something that would turn a fight in his favor. Instead just providing a slightly larger buffer before he keeled over.

The real clincher, however, was Chilly’s earlier discovery. If life regeneration really did reduce pain then there really wasn’t a choice. Enduring cry just healed him. It didn’t grant life regeneration.

The sound of a penguin shuffling down the hallway stole Chilly’s attention and he turned to greet the newcomer. A blue box appeared when the penguin got close enough to be seen by Incinerate’s flames.

Quaesitor Mortem

???

“Hey! You’re back.” Chilly called out with a smile. “Got any more advice for me?”

“A penguin might be flightless but even they have reached the Stars.” The penguin said sagely. “Fear not, surviving but fear, not living.”

Chilly blinked, trying to parse the penguin's words. “Uhm, so you are saying that I should take Vitality since pain can make me scared to continue?”

The penguin nodded sagely, “Thanks for the chapter.”

“Thanks for the chapter.” Chilly responded automatically. When the penguin had said those words it had sounded so much like a polite goodbye.

The penguin nodded once more, then Realm Walker clattered to the floor and Chilly was left staring at a dissipating cloud of smoke.

“Must be some sort of greeting or goodbye back on their world.” Chilly murmured to himself. “That means what it said yesterday about tables was the real message. Got to keep that in mind if I see a table...”

Without further ado he selected Vitality. A rush of cool relief flowed through him as the pain receded and his life began ticking up with alacrity.

A massive grin on his face, Chilly opened up the description of Vitality.

Vitality

Your body thrums with a powerful vitality increasing both your life and life regeneration.

Regenerate 2.7% of maximum life as life per second

6.8% more life

Augments available

“So it was showing me the skills at level 1.” Chilly said, then pulled up the available augments.

Choose an Augment for Vitality. Costs 1 skill point.

Maximum 1 Augment.

Heart of the Warrior

Regenerate 3% of maximum life as life per second

Troll’s Blood

24% more life regeneration

Titanic Vigor

12% more life

Stalwart Bulwark

Regenerate 3% of maximum life as life per second while stationary

Unity of Purpose

Vitality affects nearby allies with 50% less effect

Indomitable

60% reduced effect of sap on you

“Another 3%.” Chilly gasped. “That would put me above 5% per second. I could stand on desecrated ground forever without dying.”

“Ok, ok, ok, ok.” Chilly forcefully calmed himself. “Step by each as pops always says.”

Sap

Debuff

40% less life regeneration

“Yikes. Sap sucks, good god.” Chilly dismissed the popup, and selected Heart of the Warrior as Vitality’s augment. It was far and away the best augment at the moment. Another wave of cool relief flowed through him as the pain disappeared entirely.

Vitality

Your body thrums with a powerful vitality increasing both your life and life regeneration.

Regenerate 5.7% of maximum life as life per second

6.8% more life

Excited, he pulled up his character sheet.

Gregory “Chilly” Morhuil

Level

Exp

Skill Points

Spec

3

0/3

1

Fire

Life

Life Regen

158/158

9.4

Armor

Fire

Cold

Lightning

Chaos

34

25.37%

0

0.00%

0

0.00%

0

0.00%

0

0.00%

Incinerate

Helmet:

Iron Barbute

Vitality

Body Armor:

Iron Plate Vest

???

Pants:

Woolen Pants

???

Boots:

Leather boots

???

Gloves:

???

Jewelry:

???

Mainhand:

Iron Sword

???

Offhand:

Lit Torch

“Now that’s what I’m talking about!”

Chilly dismissed all the windows, and jogged over to the pool of light in front of him. He collected his sword and torch and examined the corpse of the ghoul. A single Essence of Iron rested innocuously between the ghouls ribs. Mildly grossed out, Chilly reached in and looted the coin. Then he turned and considered the other alcoves further down the hallway.

“Not happening.” Chilly shook his head like a dog shaking off water and turned around. “Nearly ten life regenerated per second or not, I refuse to fight another ghoul like an idiot.”

He returned to the Shrine. There, he collected the axe and infused it with an Essence of Iron. The more damage the weapon could do the better.

Iron Axe

One handed axe

Magic

iLevel: 1

24-51 physical damage

17% increased area of effect

“Area of effect, huh...that’s cool.” Chilly narrowed his eyes. “Wait a second. I’ve been scammed.”

Then he pulled out his torch and exclaimed, “Wait a second this isn’t the first time I've been scammed.”

Chilly pulled out his torch and compared its description with the axe. Then he called up the description of an Essence of Iron. Then he looked at the two magic weapons on the crafting bench.

“Ok. Can someone tell me why neither of these weapons have a resistance modifier on them? The Essence specifically says it guarantees a resistance modifier.”

Chilly turned around to the couple penguins loitering around the Shrine.

“Anyone?”

No one responded.

“Hmm, a mystery wrapped in an enigma.” Chilly muttered, putting the odd behavior out of his mind.

Enough distractions. It was time to put the first part of his plan into action. He picked up the axe and walked over to the door to the Mausoleum. After settling his grip on the old weapon, he raised the axe high over his head and slammed it down hard onto the door’s hinge.

“Hmm,” Chilly shifted his stance, then with a grunt of effort slammed the axe into the stone right beside the door's hinges.

Stone chips flew through the air.

Chilly inspected the axe then the damage to the stone. Tiny fractures ran the length of the axe, but less than a second later they faded away.

Grinning, Chilly raised his axe once more.

He hacked away at the door for what felt like hours before the tough stone relinquished its hold. With a bone shaking crash the wooden door crashed to the floor. With a weary sigh, Chilly set down the axe. He was covered in sweat, though strangely enough his arm did not feel sore from the constant banging. A faint tickle at the back of his throat warned him of his impending need for water.

After a brief respite, Chilly squatted down beside the door and deadlifted it into a standing position. When it was vertical he held the iron bars to keep it steady.

It was time for step two of the plan.

Maneuvering the wooden door down into the Mausoleum was a challenge. It was too heavy to lift, so Chilly maneuvered the door by balancing it on one end then rotating it about its axis until the other edge was touching the floor. A classic move heavy furniture strategy. Eventually he made it back to where he had slain the level two ghoul.

Shuffling the door in front of him, Chilly peeked down the next alcove on the left. Instead of an alcove, it turned out to be another hallway that extended several meters before ending in a T-intersection. Hesitating, Chilly decided to ignore it for now and continued moving straight.

He paused at the next alcove and peeked inside.

Putrid Ghoul

Level 1

Life: 132

He jerked back, then maneuvered the door to block the entrance to the alcove. Before he could fully move the door, the ghoul enraged, lunging at him and slamming heavily into the door.

Chilly grunted, but improvised. He braced himself under the door, and grasped the iron bars with his free hand. An effort of will later, fire erupted out of his closed fist, licking past the word iron bars and engulfing the room in glorious flame. A couple tense seconds later the ghoul disintegrated in a wave of purple miasma.

With a grin, Chilly maneuvered the door back several feet until it was out of the purple miasma. Immediately its life began to recover, at what was actually a fairly decent clip.

The plan had worked!

Chilly waited for the door's health max out as he looted the corpse. An Essence of Azurite hid gainfully inside the creature's skull.

This alcove was similar but slightly different to the first one. It too had a broken sarcophagus hanging out of a hole in the wall, but unlike the first alcove this one was significantly more damaged. The walls were crumbling. Damaged to the point that loose stones had built up on the ground making it treacherous to walk over without good boots. The damage was so bad on the left side that the wall had collapsed entirely. A hole large enough for Chilly to pass through lead to the last alcove in the hallway.

Cautiously he peeked through the broken wall-

Putrid Ghoul

Level 2

Life: 206

He retreated and checked on the door's health.

Chilly waited a couple more seconds for the door's health to top off then maneuvered it to block the hole in the wall. After a brief check that he hadn’t missed something, he once more unleashed Incinerate into the other room.

The ghoul screeched. It slammed into the door. Claws racked and wood splinters went flying. A second later the ghoul screamed again. This time with an unearthly quality to it.

You have been Hindered

Chilly maintained his relentless assault. Standing bravely behind his wooden defense and hurling fire and destruction through the gap. A tiny sharp twinge of pain suddenly appeared on his hand.

Chilly glanced in horror at his shredded hand that the ghoul had somehow reached through the bars. Despite appearances, it barely hurt at all, feeling more like a paper cut than a debilitating injury. Even as he watched the damaged flesh knit itself back together with breathtaking speed.

With a grin, Chilly ignored the injury and redoubled his attack. Incinerate raged through the iron bars until they glowed red hot. A second later a wave of purple miasma flowed from beyond spilling about and around the wooden door.

Chilly dragged the door out of the miasma with a wide smile. Another ghoul down! Using the door was turning out to be a genius move.

That being said, the level two ghoul had brought the door closer to destruction than he was comfortable with. A level three ghoul even might be able to break the door down before he could kill it.

The real problem was that Incinerate was damaging the door at the same time as the ghouls. There didn’t seem to be another option though. He could try to reach around the side of the door and fire Incinerate from there, but it didn’t seem feasible. It was difficult enough bracing the door against the ghoul’s relentless pressure. Trying to do so with only one hand would be impossible.

As he waited for the door to recover, Chilly inspected the room. To his surprise the inside of the sarcophagus wasn’t empty like the others had been.

Iron Barbute

Helmet

Common

iLevel: 2

9 armor

“Level 2, huh? Don't mind if I do.” Chilly took the helmet.

He stepped out of the alcove and found himself at the end of the long hallway. Before him was the last exit from the hall that he hadn’t yet explored. Now that he was closer he saw that it was a short hallway that ended in a third T-intersection. Given the length of the hallway it was likely that the left hand path connected to the second T-intersection. He looked down the hallway and considered for a moment.

Instead of continuing on, he decided to return back to the Shrine. He had a helmet to craft.

He left the door behind. It was simply too heavy to transport easily. As he passed by the alcoves he had looted, a flash of blue and white caught his eye. He turned towards the alcove and saw a penguin with stars in its eyes sitting atop the edge of the broken sarcophagus.

NickXenix

???

Chilly stared mesmerized as a tiny blue planet traveled across the surface of the penguin's eye.

“Kekekekek,” The penguin laughed maniacally, clapping its flippers in excitement. “Thanks for the chapter!”

“Thanks for the chapter.” Chilly responded politely.

“The Kobold Scholar watches your struggles.” the penguin crowed in response, “Come to my library if you manage to escape this hellhole.”

“Kobold Scholar? I see, I’ll be sure to do that. Thank you for the invitation.” Chilly replied politely. “Out of curiosity, would you mind telling me why the system says your name is Nick Xenix? Is the Kobold Scholar a title?”

The penguin cocked its head curiously, seeming to consider the question. Then with another maniacal laugh dropped Realm Walker.

Chilly left the smoke behind. No further distractions interfered. The undead he had slain had yet to rise. If they even would. Regardless, Chilly entered the Shrine in high spirits.