I check the system messages.

[Level up!]

Name / Nickname

Ellis Vincere / The Last Winner

Race

Human

Class

Master (Rank C)

Level

48 (500/700,000)

Titles

Proud Owner of a Rock…

~

~

Health Points

700/792 (+120% bonus)

Mana Points

100/360

Armor Points 0

Might

72 (67 + 5)

Agility

72 (57 + 5 + 10)

Vigor

72 (57 + 15)

Mind

72

Spirit

116 (80 > 106 + 10)

Perception

40

Charisma

20 (5 +15)

Luck

2

Unused

20 > 124

Holy shit! That one guy skyrocketed me up thirteen levels! Of course, my first stat over 100 is spirit, and it's the only one I don’t use…

I have enough free stats to make my five base stats reach 100 each with 12 points left over. I really want that to happen…

Might

100 (67 > 95 + 5)

Agility

100 (57 > 85 + 15)

Vigor

100 (57 > 85 +15 )

Mind

72 > 100

Spirit

116 (106 + 10)

Perception

40

Charisma

20 (5 +15)

Luck

2

Unused

124 > 12

The overwhelming energy fills my body equally after I allocate the stat points. Looking at my status fills me with glee. I have to calm down before I can start my looting.

After grabbing the elemental crystal, I filled a jug with [Black Tree Sap]. This stuff is poisonous but can be distilled into potion ingredients. I will probably sell it or give it to Rain.

The rest of the tree is useless or damaged beyond repair. I slide down the mound and locate the cave obstructed by roots. With the tree now dead, I can enter and search this place for any valuables. The blockade crumbles under the might of Flash Gordon. We enter inside with everyone else.

The cave seems to be structurally supported by the roots system overhead. Fortunately, there are no alternative passages along the tunnel. The ground is slick with moss, and the air is strangely damp.

Since I am no longer in a fight, my mind starts to drift.

Trees need light to live, but does that apply to a [Shadow Arbor]? Or any of the trees in that fracture? With all this rain and lack of sunlight, this entire forest should be dead long before I stepped into it. Is the FIB keeping the fracture stable by artificially keeping the forest alive? How the hell would that work.

I suddenly stop my foot in mid-air. I almost stepped into a snare trap. I crouch down and see the snare is made of vines. This seems to be created by a spell rather than manually made. The noose doesn’t lead anywhere, but it still functions. I poke the snare and trigger it. It whips nothing into the air.

Is this druidic magic? It seems similar to an outlander spell I saw in the library, but what is it doing here? I carefully keep walking down deeper inside.

There were a few more traps. Rob fell into a pit trap and got stuck between some punji stocks. It's karmic justice for sure. The traps were old and magical, except for the pitfall, and got more frequent as we went deeper.

We must be deep under the ground at this point. We have been walking for an hour. Light is not a problem as floating globules of light surround Duchess as she lays on my shoulders.

The tunnel reaches an enormous room filled with vegetation. The floor is a paved stone that has been overgrown and forgotten, and glass cases dot the room, shattered beyond repair.

This seems to be an underground showroom that has been discarded. Looters must have been here before me since anything of value has been taken.

“Search around and tell me if you find something interesting.” I make all my tamed beasts help.

Duchess finds nothing of note and decides to rest on my shoulders. Rob chatters his teeth and calls me over to him. He’s pointing to a dead body covered in wilting and dying red flowers. As I reach out and try and touch one, a system message appears in front of me before my finger touches it.

[Blood Flower is in a critical state and is fading from a lack of nourishment]

[Will you feed it?]

[Y/N]

This reminds me of when I first met Rob, but [Blood Flower] rings a bell. Where do I remember it from? I am sure I read this before. Maybe my [Lexicon] can tell me.

[Species: Parasite (Rare)

Variant: Blood Flower

Rank: F-A

The [Blood Flower] is a rare parasitic plant that feeds and deposits seeds into its victim’s blood. They used to be planted by druids after a bloody battlefield, but they have since been corrupted. Rare cases have shown [Blood Flowers] having a symbiotic relationship with other creatures. The host feeds them blood as the flowers are a deterrent from preditors.

There is no known way to remove a Blood Flower from their victim without killing them.]

I quickly pull my arm away, I may have a shit ton of health, but I'm not going to let some vampiric parasite steal it all away from me!

Even if I can form a relationship, the only benefit I would get would be no one ever going near me because I am a highly contagious host of parasites.

“Good job Rob, don’t touch any of the flowers and look elsewhere.” Rob walks away.

I tell the rest of my beasts to avoid any suspicious plants. I found a ring on the hilt of a piece of scrap iron. I had to pry it off the handle before my hands could get on it.

[Ring of Thorns (Degraded)]

This item doesn’t have a rank, so it must be really good or extremely bad. It has no item description, and the name is ominous. Should I put this on?

Almost like Khan read my mind, one of his bodies brings me a small gold coin that could barely fit in his mouth. I guess I’ll flip a coin. I reach out and grab the currency, but something unexpected happens.

The gold dematerialized in front of me.

[Congratulation, User!

With your offering of (One Gold Coin), you are eligible to join the (Beta Test!) (Releasing Soon!)

Cici (CC) is your new revolutionary money system in (Your System Window).

Your (Money) will be converted and kept safe in our state in the art (Divine Realm)

Feel free to store and spend as much money as your (Heart) desires. -Merita

(interest rates my not app…etc.)]

An advertisement plays right in my system window, a promotion from that scammer. Every few words are said in a robotic voice, but everything else was definitely Merita. A new tab is on my system. I click on it, and a pop-up appears.

A little robot with pigtails holds up a sign that reads [CC: 1,000]

It seems like that gold coin is worth one thousand CCs… Wait a second…

Is CC Charlie Coin? What the hell, Charlie! Is this the huge deal you made with a goddess?! If it’s fully implemented into the system, then the information, and maybe even the mana gods, would have to be in on it too. Wait, didn’t I invest early on? Shouldn’t I have a stake in the matter…

I have a headache now…

Fuck it, if Charlie can be one of four shareholders, where the other shareholders are literal divine entities, then I can risk a finger with this ring.

I slide the ring down the length of my middle finger. The crusty and unpolished ring slides down to the bottom before stabbing me with thorns lining the inside.

AH FUCK

I completely expected this to happen, but the sudden draining of my health alarmed me greatly. I try to pull off the ring to no avail as the ring almost instantly sucks away exactly 1000 health. I feel light-headed and unsteady. I should have put the ring on my fake hand.

I almost faint from low blood pressure, but I start sending [Heal Anything] to my bone marrow to speed up blood production. I double my health before looking at the ring.

The crust has fallen off the ring. The ring is lustrous silver with wooden motifs etched into the metal. It feels like the ring can be removed now, but instead, I use [Scientific Insight+].

[Ring of Thorns F (Degraded)

This ring is a long-lost relic from a bygone age. The ring has heavily degraded and will need to be fed with the user's blood.

Effect One: The ring cannot be taken without the owner's consent.

Effect Two: The ring may reflect (1%) damage taken before mitigations back to the attacker.

Effect Three: LOCKED]

My hands start to shake, and a tear forms in the corner of my eye. This is it! The moment I have been waiting for! A real relic of my very own. I read the stories of the heroes finding a magic weapon that grants them unlimited power.

But… mine is like a parasite, having to drink my blood to slowly get stronger…

I throw away the notions of anything that can ruin this moment. I stare at the ring on my finger and smile.

[Wierdo]

I ignore Duchess and start whistling a jovial tune. There was nothing else in here but scrap metal and broken glass. I decide to leave this underground system.

~

It wasn't hard getting out. It was a hallway with disarmed traps. But the problem was what lay at the top. While we were underground, all the remaining [Shadow Wolves] swarmed at the sight of the dead tree and started eating the wood. When I exited, over 50 level 50 wolves stared me down.

I am glad I used [Broken Blood] and [Heal Anything] before leaving that room. I only needed to heal myself to over 330 health, then burn that blood to fill my mana, Using 366 mana to completely heal fully. The journey back here was so long, [Broken Blood] is off cool down, and I can abuse this again. I just wish that It would stop giving me heart palpitations. I have to take a breather and let my gui’s [Beating Heart] take effect.

The wolves seem to be desperately licking up any remaining sap, but none is left. I quickly compile a plan to get us all to level 50 in the shortest time possible. Even after that boss fight, my tamed beasts are still a few levels lower than me.

“I know you guys are tired, but after we finish this massacre, we can rest.”

I bring out the jug of sap and pour half of it onto my body, coating me in the tempting liquid. Wolves already hate me, and with this new glaze in the form of sap, I am almost irresistible to these hungry beasts. The wolves become animated, and a ferocious hunger fills them.