Progression of a Magic Fighter Ch. 5

Ch. 5: What’s in the Loot Orbs?

The river area was as good as any for Jor to rest. He just had to move upstream enough until he reached a bend. Then the river ape massacre would be out of his sight.

He thought about taking their meat and roasting it, but decided against it. Certain skills were needed to ensure unknown monster meat didn’t upset the body and have one puking their life away.

Taking a seat on a round boulder, Jor glanced up. The sky was a warm golden hue, the late afternoon waning toward evening. The river flowed steadily onward, filling the air with its babble.

“I wonder how Lily and Mr Shaw are doing?” Jor asked out of the blue, which surprised him.

He’d completely blanked out everyone of concern once he stepped into the ascension chamber. His focus tended to stick close to his goals and survival. Now that things were quiet, now that all the Tier 4 apes were dead, his mind wandered.

Jor shook his head and frowned. This is not the time to let my mind go astray. I’ve only warmed up. Indeed, this was all the warm up phase. The arena contest would be the serious phase.

Lily and her sister. Mr Shaw and his son. They were the only contacts who mattered to Jor. The only contacts who seemed to understand him better than most people and didn’t treat him poorly for being half mongrel.

But Jor needed to ensure he made it back victorious for his own sake more than theirs. They couldn’t do anything for him here. His destiny rested in his own hands.

He let his thoughts of his contacts come and go. Then he refocused on what mattered.

The loot orbs.

Jor reached out with one arm, his palm facing the golden sky. The first loot orb phased out of his hand slowly. Then a second one followed a little faster than the first. In a short time, five loot orbs hovered above his palm with no concern for a particular formation.

The white baseball sized orbs stared blankly at him. They gave away nothing that could tell him what lurked inside. Only the Game would know.

Some scholars theorized the Game rewarded randomly. Others theorized the Game rewarded purposefully.

Jor shall see.

<Do you wish to open a Mundane Loot Orb?>

Jor breathed deeply before he answered. “Yes.”

The top orb trembled. It flashed a bright white light. Then it disintegrated into sparkles before the Game sent a new message.

<You’ve gained +1 Life.>

“Strong start,” Jor said. He hummed in delight, feeling more secured with his life. He felt more likely to survive.

It was good that he waited. The loot orbs would reward anything other than experience once he maxed out his levels. This way, he gained the most out of this challenge.

<Do you wish to open another Mundane Loot Orb?>

“Why not? Sure.”

The same sequence played out. A bright flash. A rain of sparkles. And then a reward.

<You’ve gained +1 Life.>

Jor chuckled. He figured it would be hilarious if all his loot orbs gave him nothing more than life stats. That would take his life from being his weakest stat to being his second strongest.

This was not a bad way to progress his Gamer build. He might be able to take more risks and survive the experience.

<Do you wish to open another Mundane Loot Orb?>

Jor gave his assent for the third time. He waited for the usual flash and glam. Then things took a different course than expected.

A silky green scarf appeared on his forearm, the dangling ends painted blue while looking a little ragged. Jor could barely speak, so the Game filled the silence with its message.

<You’ve gained a Mundane Summon, Scarf of Momentum, Tier 4.>

<Scarf of Momentum - Mundane - Tier 4 - They say those who stay on the move reach their goals faster. You gain an additional 10% to your Body when you start moving quickly. This increases to an additional 20% to your Body if you continue moving quickly.>

“I got a summon. I got a summon!” Jor shouted in glee.

For the Mundane Rank, it was a very good summon, too.

Loot orbs were prized things to have. They could give a plethora of different rewards. Most commonly, loot orbs would give extra experience if a Gamer’s levels weren’t maxed. Or they would give more stats just like how the first two orbs raised Jor’s life.

Gaining a summon was a big deal. They were linked to the Gamer and could be summoned from their profile or placed back on a whim. A Gamer would never lose their summon unless they gave their summon away or allowed it to get destroyed.

Jor watched with glee as he dismissed his scarf. It broke down into white sparks and disappeared from around his forearm. Holding his breath, he commanded for the <Scarf of Momentum> to appear around his neck.

White sparks fizzled into existence around Jor’s neck and extended out to the side. In a few seconds, the scarf appeared wrapped competently up to his lower face. The end fluttered past his shoulder with the calm breeze.

The attire felt nice against his skin. He imagined it was a good look while his shirtless chest bore four ragged scares.

I want to test it but I still have two more orbs! Jor clenched his jaw and focused.

<Do you wish to open another Mundane Loot Orb?>

“Yes, yes, yes! Let’s go!”

A few tense seconds later, Jor’s excitement dulled.

<You’ve gained +1 Life.>

Jor tried to smile and tell himself this was a good thing. In no time at all, he raised his life stat considerably. He felt more certain of his survival than ever before. He could probably take a solid hit from an ape and still fight functionally.

I’m still a little disappointed, though. After receiving a summon, Jor figured he could gain another one. Now he had one orb remaining.

Should he even open it?

What if it was another life stat?

Jor thought about the gold he needed to secure his way out of the empire. He could sell the scarf, but ironically, loot orbs ran for a higher price than a known item.

The mystery behind loot orbs made them highly valued. They could be more valued than their rank sometimes.

Jor shook his head. “No, no, I’m thinking about this the wrong way.”

He needed every edge to defeat the contest and make it back as an adept. To become one of the mighty ones, no longer mundane, he couldn’t spare a single loot orb.

<Do you wish to open your last Mundane Loot Orb?>

Jor gritted his teeth. He noticed the subtle changes of the Game’s questions. Jor was uncertain if the Game was taunting him, warning him, or helping him.

He almost wanted to stop as he felt his anxiety rise. But Jor knew hesitation in these pivotal moments would only make him weak.

“Yes! Open it, dammit.”

The last loot orb flashed. It broke into sparkles. All that remained faded from view, leaving the space above Jor’s palm empty. His heart sank as he waited for the Game to tell him about his reward. The wait felt like an eternity.

<You’ve gained a Mundane Attribute, Aura of Struggle.>

Jor nearly fell off his boulder. He’d never heard of an attribute reward coming from a loot orb before. New powers should only come up when ascending. He desperately prompted the Game to reveal the new attribute’s information.

<Aura of Struggle - Mundane - If life is a game, why does it hurt those who struggle? If life is a game, must we turn our struggles into power? Once you’ve received critical damage, gain an aura and an additional 35% to your Body and Magic.>

Jor blinked, his hand pulling his scarf from his face shakily. Two emotions ran through him at the same time. Glee and despair.

He’d never heard of a mundane attribute granting an additional 35% buff to two stats at the same time! But the price was outrageous. He could only use it once he received critical damage. That would only happen if he fell below half of his life.

Had the Game given him those life stats to set him up for this?

“I can’t rely on the aura. It would be hard to train,” Jor said. Unless I purposefully hurt myself to see what it’s like.

Was he determined enough to do that to himself?

Jor grimaced, realizing he was more than determined enough, scarily so. He couldn’t let a power exist in his profile without testing and training.

The irony wasn’t lost on him either. He had more life now. It would take some hard hits to get him to critical damage.

“Fuck you, Game!” Jor shouted into the sky. “Fuck you!”

The Game didn’t respond, leaving Jor to stew with his grim insights of himself. His mind was set on training. I don’t have to start now, at least.

A splash in the water caught his attention. Focus enhanced perception, so his eyes caught the slim but glistening scales of a little fish.

Jor’s mouth watered. Something bestial stirred in him. It had been a while since he had meat.

As the sun set, Jor stood in the deepest part of the river. He used a combination of focus and <Water Sorcery> to catch fish and toss them on land.

Every time a fish swam near, his hand darted through the water, finding little to no resistance. It was like sliding a sharp knife through soft material. I know having a sorcery should lead me to being some powerful and fancy wizard, but it’s surprising how useful it can be for simple things.

Jor remembered a few snippets in his past life where he saw moving pictures from an electric mirror. He remembered tales about powerful individuals splitting the ocean apart, summoning rain storms, commanding giant sea beasts, and all sorts of fantastical things.

The same could be found in Watari, but in the higher ranks where the great ones and supreme ones ruled. The creatures in those ranks above adept were beasts of myth, though Jor had no idea if there were more ranks above great and supreme. If there were, they were well-hidden.

After catching his fill of fish, Jor found new ways to use his sorcery.

He ran water along the edge of his palm to gut the fish. He headed into the forest, found some not-so dry twigs, and used his sorcery to drain the moisture out of them. Droplets of water fell from each twig as if they were sweating, ensuring they were extra dry to set up a proper campfire.

In no time at all, Jor had the fire going, the fish pinned on sticks, and the smell of cooking meat filling the air. Too bad he didn’t have any seasoning, but he had a side of nuts, berries, and mushrooms he’d foraged from the area.

Truth be told, these were things he’d learned in Watari, especially after mom’s passing and before Jor found work catching fish for Mr Shaw or helping Lily deal with disorderly drunks at her inn. The years between the ages of six and fourteen were hard and desperate times.

“Not anymore,” Jor said, smiling. “I’ll beat this challenge. I’ll find a way to outmaneuver the empire. I’ll make life way better for myself from now on.”

Jor raised his hands and balled them into fists. Glory. Gold. Everything that was good in life. He would earn it all with his two fists. He would punch his way to victory and avoid the mistakes of his past life that led him to this new one.

Another starry night hovered over Jor’s head. The river continued its babbling song. His fire crackled merrily. The fish tasted great along with his usual items foraged from the forest. Fed, Jor laid back and appreciated the peace and quiet before falling asleep.

The next morning, Jor performed a quick morning exercise routine and stretch. He ran along the river bank to continue his warm up before breaking out into shadow boxing. He tried it without the scarf.

Then he wore the scarf and varied his speed until he found the tempo the scarf considered ‘quick.’ It was above half speed, but not max, thankfully. Better yet, the moment he received the buff to his body, it became easier to maintain that specific speed the scarf liked.

Incredibly, speed wasn’t the only thing buffed. Having a buffed body would affect everything physical, strength, agility, balance. This was a very excellent summon because there were others that would only affect specific traits.

Jor spent hours getting used to moving below the speed the scarf considered ‘quick’ and shifting into a higher speed to receive the buff. Then he maintained that higher speed to feel how long the buff took to go from 10% to 20%. Optimally, if he had the scarf at max power while using <Blood of War and Peace’s> transitional buff, he would peak at 40% for his body in a fight.

“Damn,” Jor said during a break. “I don’t have any more enemies to test this on.”

Wait. Did he need enemies?

Jor reread <Blood of War and Peace> again.

<Blood of War and Peace - Mundane - Your father is of the Icerath People, an aggressive human group. But your mother is of the Izlandee People, a friendly human group. You gain an additional 20% to your Body when transitioning between offense and defense.>

No, there was no mention of enemies. Jor went back to practicing, but this time he imagined himself in more duress while switching from offense to defense and vice versa. It felt tricky at first, as if he was removing a blockage in his brain. Then in a single moment of brilliance, he felt the buff from <Blood of War and Peace> and zipped into a counterattack against an imaginary enemy.

“Oh, ho, ho, ho. This is nice.”

Jor practiced more transitional maneuvers that kept his body buffed with an extra 40%. He felt incredible, like a whirlwind of a human. He could’ve massacred the apes even faster if he’d had this extra advantage.

No matter how fast he moved, the scarf stayed comfortably wrapped around his neck and lower face. The tattered green and blue end fluttered in the wind of his actions.

Jor spent two days training with his body stat buffs at the river area. He didn’t truly need that much time. He was stalling. But eventually, he refocused his concerns on the power giving him major anxiety, <Aura of Struggle.>