Leo identified the bag of dirt, unsurprised that he was a bit off in his predictions of it being plain soil.

Bag of Enchanted Ash (Common)

This ash has been enchanted with fire mana. Can be used as a catalyst to craft fire-affinity items with greater ease.

Not bad, someone in the camp could maybe use it. Leo grabbed the sack, which was twice the size of his hands and placed it on the ground next to him.

Cain glanced but didn’t say anything.

Next up was the armour pieces. And after identifying the first one, Leo expected nothing less from a dungeon as difficult as this one.

Bracers of the Cinder Hound (Rare)
A pair of bracers made from the hide of a Cinder Hound. The combination of primal brutality and fire mana has given these bracers life. Grants the wearer resistance to fire and an improvement to danger related senses.

Enchantments:

Hound’s Awareness

Fire Resistance

+10 Agility, +10 Endurance

Requirements: Level 45+ in any E-grade Class or Profession

“Hot damn,” Leo said, lifting the bracers out. Warm.

The bracers were made of dark red leather, with patches of fur that flared with harmless flames every now and then. The stats were incredible too, eclipsing anything he had in terms of stats. It might also increase his danger sense if the Hound’s Awareness enchant applied to his Nerveflash.

Leo placed them to the side, not on the ground like the dirt—or ash rather. If the bracers were that good, this next item might be the best thing he’d ever seen.

Cinderheart Cuirass (Rare)

Forged from the hardened carapace of a Siege Breaker Antling General and tempered within the heart of the bastions furnace, this mantle retains a living ember at its core. The chitin plates flex with the wearer’s movements, built not for knights behind walls, but for those who shatter them.
Crimson Veins glow faintly beneath its surface, heat pulsing in time with the wearer’s heartbeat.

Enchantments:

Fire Resistance

+15 Toughness, +10 Strength

Active Ability - Surging Flames

Ignite the inner core for 12 seconds, coating you in flame.

While active, your melee strikes deal additional fire damage. Each successful hit increases the heat. At maximum heat, your next strike releases a short-range burst of searing flame, damaging and lightly staggering nearby enemies.

Cooldown: 1 Hour

Requirements: Level 45+ in any E-grade class or profession

The chest piece rested in his hands, dark crimson fading to near black along the edges. Layered chitin plates overlapped across the front in tight, angular segments, each one fitted so precisely it looked grown from a single shell. Thin seams traced between them, faint heat glowing beneath the surface like coals buried deep in ash.

He tilted it slightly. The light from the torches caught along the ridges, giving it a sharp, predatory edge.

The interior flexed when he pressed against it. The structure gave just enough through the ribs and shoulders to allow full rotation. Whoever shaped this had understood movement. This armour was for forward motion, for driving through resistance and keeping momentum.

A slow grin tugged at his mouth.

This suited him.

Cain saw him raise the impressive chest piece. Leo stored it in his ring before the man could say anything.

After saving Cain’s life, he decided to claim whatever loot he wanted. Not that he would just take everything, that felt dirty, but this was too good to pass up.

He couldn’t wait to equip it, doing so the moment it appeared in his ring. His armour changed into the glorious new chestpiece, fitting him like a second skin as the chitin segments rearranged themselves over his muscles. Heat pulsed once against his sternum—in time with his heartbeat.

This feels amazing, and I bet it looks cool. A little breezy though.

Cain started laughing, loud and boisterous, it echoed off the dungeon walls. It made Leo spin around in alarm. Cain laughed even harder.

Leo glanced down, following Cain’s eyes. “Oh fuck!” His armour was immediately switched out again with his gi.

He’d completely forgotten that his Gi covered both his chest… and his legs, leaving his johnson, and glorious white buttcheeks on show for all to see.

All he was thinking while Cain calmed himself down, or tried to not die of laughter, was how glad he hadn’t cleared this dungeon with his friends. Because he would have done the exact same thing. Ashley would have never let him live it down.

He suddenly missed them, worrying about what was happening outside. He needed to speed this up. Reaching down, he picked up the bracers and threw them at Cain. He raised his arm to catch them and they bounced off his newly growing stump. Leo wanted to laugh but held it back behind pursed lips.

“You can have those. I’m keeping the chest and the bag of dirt. I’ll split the crystals, and you can have two of the boxes. Then we can decide who takes the artifact,” Leo said pointedly.

Cain didn’t reply, his laughter stilled.

Opening all four of the boxes, his loot senses were tingling. Leo identified the first two to quickly judge them, thinking they were similar to each other—in looks at least.

Blood-Tempered Core (Rare)

A furnace core stained with the blood of battle. It resonates with those who thrive in close-quarters slaughter.

Can be absorbed to grant a small increase to strength or infused into a skill to increase raw damage and heat.

Has crafting and alchemical uses

Requirements: E-grade

Molten Core Shard (Rare)

A fragment of the general’s core, still warm with furnace energy. This glowing, semi-liquid crystal radiates both heat and life.

Can be absorbed by fire or heat aligned beasts to grant an increase to fire affinity

Requirements: E-grade Beast

Leo raised both items into the air, looking at them intricately. They were both incredible items, and the latter could even be used for Ellie, basically locking in one of his two choices.

Why do I have to be the nice guy? Bet he would have taken everything. Leo groaned, hating the fact he was being reasonable.

The items were pretty self explanatory, with one of them clearly being better for Cain than the other. Leo would give him that one, depending on how bad the other two items were.

But considering when he opened the last box it seemed to almost sparkle with power, Leo knew that Cain would be definitely getting the blood core.

Ashen Mist Pellet (Uncommon)

This is a concentrated volume of ashen mist. When crushed, it will release a large plume of ash that obscures vision and damage over time to enemies within.

Charges: 3

Crownfall Emberband (Epic)

A heavy band of darkened gold wrapped around a suspended core of crystallised emberstone. Molten light swirls within its centre, never settling, never cooling. Faint glyphs spiral along the inner rim, etched so finely they are almost invisible until the stone flares.

The ring hums with restrained devastation.

Enchantments:

Mana Regen (Small)

Heat of the Flame - Fire based skills gain slightly increased area of effect

+25 Intelligence, +10 Wisdom

Active ability: Crownfall

Mark the sky above. After a brief delay, the sky fractures around the target zone and a rain of molten fragments descend.

Each impact explodes on contact, dealing heavy fire damage in overlapping bursts. Enemies caught within multiple detonations suffer escalating burn damage over time.

Lasts 10 seconds

Requires a total of 10,000 mana to use. Mana can be stored over time.

Cooldown: 8 hours

Requirements: Level 45+ in any E-grade Class or Profession

“Wow…”

That was all he could say as he lifted the precious from the box. He twirled it in the light, unable to read the runes/sigils that began to form on the inside. Whether it was because the writing wasn’t a real language, required some kind of runic profession, or needed a bearded wizard to read it for him, Leo didn’t know.

What he did know, was that he was putting this ring on, immediately. He slipped it on, feeling the increase to his mana pool. The crystal flared once as it adjusted to him, spreading a warmth within.

He could even tell that his mana was regenerating quite a bit quicker than before, like a current finding a wider river. That would be incredibly useful, because what in the hell was the cost of that active skill?!

Ten thousand mana was more than triple what Leo had in total.

Thankfully, he could store mana into it but it would still take a long time to do so. He tried to store a chunk of his mana but it wouldn’t take it all at once. More like a constant drain he could increase or decrease.

Still amazing though. Choice made.

Leo didn’t toss the items this time, he walked over to Cain placing the blood core box and the pellet box next to him. Along with that he placed ten E-grade Essence Crystals. Cain stored them without a word.

“Now,” Leo began. “The main prize..” he looked towards the fragment that hovered in the air above the pedestal.

“The reason you chased me in here. The reason behind everything. How do you want—”

“Take it,” Cain said.

Leo frowned, then spoke after a pause. “Why?”

“Debt.”

“I thought we were square. You save me, I save you.”

“Take it,” Cain repeated, not giving him any more information.

Not willing to argue further, Leo walked to the keystone, identifying the last item in the dungeon.

Antling Queen Keystone (incomplete)

One half of the Antling Queen Keystone required to enter the palace of the Queen. Combining this with its partner will form it into the complete keystone.

It was simple in design—little more than half a broken rock. There were clear segments where the other half would fit in. He ran his finger across them—sharp, but soft.

Leo stored it without fanfare, glad he could do so and wouldn’t have to carry it in a satchel like they did the core shards earlier in the dungeon.

Time was ticking down now, and while Leo wanted to look into his new skill selection, he needed to get back to his friends. He’d spent too long here.

There was a part he could do without going through the massive undertaking of Signature skill unlock, and that was the one that just unlocked itself.

Elemental Adept Class mechanic unlocked

He brought up the mechanic, and couldn’t help but smile. Things just got better and better.

Elemental Momentum (Rare, Class Mechanic)

Through disciplined control of elemental mana, you learn to carry power forward from one action to the next. Meaningful elemental techniques generate Elemental Momentum. Swapping elements, striking with infused attacks, and sustaining your Elemental Stance builds and maintains this momentum.

Momentum represents accumulated elemental flow and may be expended to empower advanced techniques.

Momentum decays slowly when not actively engaged in combat, unless at maximum stacks.

Maximum Momentum: 100

It was like unlocking a part of his brain that was always there, but never accessible until now. Knowledge of the skill was trickled into being. He felt his Essences resonate briefly, almost like they had been waiting for him to gain this skill. It made him wonder if destiny was a real thing, or perhaps the system knew the future somehow.

After dismissing that philosophical nightmare, Leo couldn’t help but be reminded of his Iron Repetition skill. Building stacks by attacking. He’d been unable to upgrade the common rarity skill so far, no matter how much he’d been using it. It had become something he just ignored, used, and enjoyed the active bonus without thinking about.

Now there was something else stacking he had to keep track of. Getting used to how much each way of generating the momentum would be important, and would require a lot of practice. The line, ‘advanced techniques’ had him more eager than he realised to unlock his signature skill, but the dungeon was going to shut down and he needed to be fully recuperated.

Ellie suddenly burst from his soul-space and tugged at his gi like she wanted attention.

“What’s up?” he asked quickly before realising.

He pulled out the Molten Core Shard he’d stored and held it out for her. Her eyes lit up and Leo wasn’t sure what to do with it. How did he infuse—

Ellie ate the shard.

In one bite, the small piece of molten glass was swallowed. Ellie started radiating a small heat as her eyes closed. Then she curled up and Leo realised she was going to be out of it for a bit.

He wondered if he could get her into his soul-space so he wouldn’t have to carry her and tried to do so. Surprisingly, it was as easy as a thought, pulling her in without even waking her. It could be she was ready for it and not actually asleep, but Leo smiled at being able to do it regardless.

“So…” Leo suddenly looked towards Cain with steely eyes, their eyes met and an understanding was established—what happened now?

“Are we going to go back to killing each other the moment we are out of here? That was your goal after all,” Leo said.

Cain exhaled, but not out of exasperation. His shoulders tightened.

“I’m not going to go through all this trouble of keeping you alive to just end you while you can’t walk. But we can’t overlook that you tried to kill me, multiple times, before we got started here.” Leo’s expression turned hard.

“What say we extend the truce outside the dungeon?” Leo suggested.

“Fine.”

Leo’s eyebrows rose. “Well, okay then.”

“You stay out of my half of the city,” Cain added suddenly. “Cross into it, you die.”

“And here I thought you might have changed.” Leo clicked his tongue. “Fine. Can you stand? I’m leaving, and if your people are outside and I leave without you then it’ll end badly for them.”

Cain used his one good arm to steady himself, then pulled himself to one foot, balancing easily. He nodded.

The pair left through the portal, the blue swirling vortex taking them out of the dungeon in what felt like an instant.

Emerging, what struck Leo first was the coolness of the air. Like going from a sauna into the nice summer air, breeze on his face. He breathed it in deeply, enjoying every moment.

He was swiftly approached by two men, both looking as young as he was, armed with a spear and axe respectively. Leo identified them.

Human - Level 30

Human - Level 31

Almost twenty levels lower. They looked startled upon seeing him, then their eyes widened as they no doubt followed up with their own Identify.

“Where–” one of the men said before another flash showed Cain emerge. Missing limbs but looking no less intimidating.

They froze, not saying a word.

“Explain,” Cain said.

They hesitated, neither one of them speaking. Cain growled and one of them suddenly summoned courage.

“We have defended this area since you’ve left, sir. Som–someone attacked us, killed Carlos. An archer. Ibrahim tracked him with his darts…”

His words became slower as Leo’s aura started to creep out. The air tightened. “Finish your sentence,” Leo said, speaking slowly.

“We–we tracked him to their camp… Ken said to take them all… and…” He took a deep breath, shutting his eyes. “Kill whoever resisted.”

Leo’s jaw locked. His molars ground hard enough to ache.

His eyes bore into the two men, fists clenched.

Heat surged through his calves. The stone cracked under his toes before he even pushed. A Cloak of Wind manifested around him. Wind began swirling the dust. A moment later he shot up into the air, elevated higher by the wind, a Spark Dash took him further.

He looked towards his camp, hoping to see something with his improved vision. He could barely make out what looked like an assault of attacks impacting a dome-like barrier.

Ashley’s barrier. His stomach dropped.

Hitting the ground with enough force to crack it, Leo got right up to Cain’s face.

His breath came sharp and fast. “If anything has happened to them, at all, I will find all of you and make you regret ever attempting to do anything in this tutorial instead of just cowering in fear for two months.”

Leo didn’t wait for a reply. Lightning Drive crackled into being, blue arcs snapped across his skin. The ground blurred beneath him as he ran for his friends.

Praying he would get there in time.