Chapter 143: Hi
Henry pulled two healing potions out of his Inventory and drank them with his back to everyone else in the room.
[You have recovered 120 Hit Points]
[Hit Points: 138/210]
—————
[Name: Henry Morgan]
[Level: 21 (1791/6000 Exp)]
[Race: Human]
[Class: Gunslinger]
[Title: Death's Bane, Vyker-Killer, Infernal Partner]
[Hit Points: 138/210]
[Mana Points: 40/320]
[Strength: 31]
[Agility: 63]
[Stamina: 30]
[Perception: 31]
[Skills:
{Marksmanship Lv. 4 <Active Sub Skill: Quick Thinking> <Active Sub Skill: Reload>} {Taming Lv. 2 <Active Sub Skill: Bonding>} {Insight Lv.2}
[~Arcane Tapestry~:
Imprinted Spells: Shocking Grip.]
—————
Henry's attention was especially on his Mana points and while it was recovering, for what was to come, he'd only be caught off guard by it being so little so he pulled two Mana recovery potions and downed them.
[You have recovered 120 Mana Points]
[Mana Points: 160/320]
'That'll do for now,' Henry thought. He swiped his status screen away, looked down and his eyes fell on Echo's Spear as it shimmered with a dull magical light.
He picked it up and while his eyes acknowledged that it was a good weapon, he didn't feel at all comfortable with it in his hands. It was useless to him and while he could have stashed it away as he had done with the other loot he had gotten so far, he decided the Spear was better in the hands of someone who could use it.
"Andor," he called out as he tossed the Spear at the Fighter.
Andor looked up at the sound of his name and raised his hand to swipe Echo's spear out of the air the moment it was within his reach.
"Use it," Henry said.
"Oh," Andor said and he looked the Spear over before he added in a voice thick with conviction,
"I will."
Andor recognized the Spear. After all, he had seen it kill four men so far. The quality of the Spear's make and the dull magical glow it gave off set it apart from other weapons Andor had held so far. It was imbued with more magic than any of them.
Meanwhile, Louis changed out of the leather Armor he was wearing and into the robe he had looted from the Sarcophagus.
"Putting aside the fact that you just picked that thing up from beside a skeleton," Henry said with a small smile as he went on to ask,
"How will it protect you more than the Armor?"
"Look at your chest. That Armor isn't protecting anyone," Louis said,
"Besides this robe is making me very sensitive to Mana. I'm recovering my reserves slightly faster than normal and that's a massive plus."
"If you say so," Henry said.
The rest of the raiding party quickly made it known that they were going to stay behind,
"We just got free from those cuffs," one said, "Putting ourselves in any more danger seems foolish. No offense."
"None taken," Henry said with a smile,
"Going ahead in the Dungeon is foolish. You'll be safe here."
They would be safe there. Even the vines that used to writhe on the ground had stopped moving after Echo's defeat. The only thing the members of the Raiding Party had to worry about was getting forever trapped in the Dungeon if the Boss wasn't defeated.
"Come on," Henry said and led Louis and Andor to the other side of the room where he pulled the door that had been popped open an inch.
The door swung open wide and with a purposeful breath, they stepped forward into another dank corridor dimly lit by the violet torches hanging off the wall.
"Ah," Louis said and took a deep breath when they had just taken their first steps into the corridor,
"Can you feel that?"
Henry rolled his eyes. Of course, he couldn't feel whatever it was.
Andor, however, breathed in deeply as he said,
"Yes. Yes, I can."
"What can you feel?" Henry asked with a sigh.
"Better," Louis answered, "I feel better."
"I feel stronger," Andor said with an affirming nod.
"It's the Dungeon," Louis said, "It makes us better. Stronger."
Henry furrowed his brows then and glanced back as he called Magical energy up to his eyes.
[Activating <Insight Lv.2>]
——————
[Name: Louis]
[Race: Human]
[Class: Mage]
[Health: 150 ———> 160]
[Mana: 180 ———> 200]
[Strength: 13]
[Agility: 15]
[Stamina: 20 ———> 22]
[Intelligence: 81 ———> 85]
*[Remarks: A young Mage who makes up for what he lacks in Magical Training with a lot of enthusiasm and Talent. Has only discovered one Elemental Aptitude (Lightning).
Has impressive potential but Killable should you want to.]
——————
——————
[Name: Andor]
[Race: Human]
[Class: Fighter]
[Health: 200 ———> 210]
[Mana: 150 ———> 160]
[Strength: 62 ———> 66]
[Agility: 34]
[Stamina: 30 ———> 32]
*[Remarks: A Fighter who makes up for his limited Martial training with enthusiasm and Impressive strength. Has Impressive Potential but is killable should you want to.]
——————
Henry looked through the Stat screens with his brows furrowed at the increases.
'So this is how the Dungeon works?' He asked in his head as he faced forward again and kept leading the other two down the corridor,
'Why did they only get stronger when they were out of the room and not the moment Echo was dead? Or better still, after they had killed all the Decaying Undead.'
The way Henry saw it, the Stat increases were similar to how Nyx's stat increased whenever she leveled up; Random allocation that prioritizes her most-used stats without any input from her.
Of course, Henry was sure neither Louis nor Andor had shared in his Exp. At least he believed the System would have informed him if that had been the case.
No, this was all because of the Dungeon and while Louis and Andor saw it as being because of some mysterious energy that he couldn't feel, Henry saw it more as them getting rewarded by a System that did not make itself known to them.
'But would that mean that everyone in this world technically has a System?' Henry wondered but the more he thought of it, the more complicated the matter seemed to be so he thrust it aside for now.
Also, they had arrived at the end of the corridor and stood at the foot of a stairway that spiraled up into a gloomy and unlit higher floor.
Step by step, Henry, Louis, and Andor walked up the stairs and soon, they had left the violet torches of the corridor below behind and were going only by touch, taking every step carefully until Henry's outstretched hand touched a flat surface.
"Hold on," he said to caution Louis and Andor to stop but the wait didn't last long because the surface reacted to his touch a second later.
Violet light glowed around the edges of what looked to be a door and, with a click, it opened inside. Henry pushed it further in and a violet light welcomed him as he led the others into a massive hall.
The Hall was brighter lit than the Corridors Henry and the others had walked through so far. A few feet away from where they stood, the floor became separated into multiple squares and when Henry made to walk, Louis held him back.
"Wait, there's something about this place," he said.
"What is it?" Henry asked but before Louis could answer, a door many feet away from them —the only door that led into the hall besides the one Henry and the other two just walked through— popped open with a click.
A hand wearing a gauntlet was gripping the door as it pushed it open fully before a head with flowing dark hair popped in.
Henry recognized the head. It was the Lady Knight he had met outside the Dungeon.
Dame Eloise barely cast her eyes around the hall before she announced in that smooth dutiful voice of hers
"It's clear. But take cautious steps. There's something about this—"
Eloise paused her sentence then as though she only now noticed Henry, Louis, and Andor. She even raised a brow as she raked her eyes all over Henry's front. Precisely on the cut across his chest.
Henry slowly raised a hand as the rest of Eloise's party —including Sir Aurelius the Knight— walked into the hall.
With a small smile playing at the corner of his lips, he greeted,
"Hi."