Chapter 54: Spoils
After the simple treatment, more than half of the negative effects in his status bar were gone. Only the 'Weakened' status remained, which had reduced his stamina bar by half.
"But it's not a big problem. This status will slowly disappear after the fracture has healed."
Seeing that he finally looked somewhat human again, Shawn nodded in satisfaction, completely oblivious to the fact that he was covered in walker blood and looked terrifying from a distance.
It was only then that Shawn remembered the level-up he had glanced at earlier. He opened the system again, his eyes widening as he looked at the rows of data that popped up.
[Level Up! Lv. 15 → Lv. 22]
[Skill Points Gained: 7]
[You can now assign points.]
Although the level-up sound had already played a while ago, seeing this data now, Shawn could still faintly hear the cheerful sound effect in his ears. He had expected a big level increase after this, but he had never thought he would gain 7 levels in one go. This was basically the biggest single-battle improvement he had ever had!
"Wait, if I gained 7 levels, why do I have 7 skill points left??" Shawn was both surprised and confused.
He opened the skill panel. The 'Fortitude' tree was indeed unlocked, and he had put 2 points into 'Pain Tolerance' and 'Healing Factor', which was correct. But that meant that from the 7 levels he had gained, he had actually received 9 skill points.
Why?
Shawn was puzzled, but the moment his gaze swept over the 'Fortitude' attribute again, he vaguely remembered.
[Experience has reached Level 20. Requirements met.]
[Attribute Tree Unlocked — Fortitude]
This was the message that had automatically popped up when he opened the system in his dazed state. Level 20 unlocked a new attribute tree. Clearly, this was a level of special significance to the system.
9 skill points minus the 7 corresponding to the level-ups left 2.
"Does that mean that when I reach Lv. 20, I get 3 skill points directly, just like at Lv. 1?!" Shawn remembered the 3 skill points he had received during his very first level-up. The more he thought about it, the more plausible it seemed.
"If this guess is correct..."
The thought of getting 3 skill points every 20 levels made Shawn feel like he had boundless energy. It even seemed to diminish the negative effects of the 'Weakened' debuff.
"I still have skill points left, doesn't that mean I can max out the Strength attribute in one go?" Shawn flipped through the skill pages, unable to put them down.
He looked down at the 'splint' on his right arm, then opened the Strength attribute again, looking at the last two levels over and over, his heart itching as if a cat were scratching it. But in the end, Shawn let out a long breath.
"Forget it. I can wait 5 hours."
"Every time I've added points, my body has changed. This time I'm injured, and I'd be adding two levels at once... better not to risk it."
"I'll deal with it in 5 hours!" Shawn made his decision.
But then another question arose. Shawn opened the system and waited for a while, but no new notification sound came. He frowned. "Shouldn't there be rewards after a Blood Moon?"
"Don't tell me I get no reward for single-handedly taking on that entire horde."
Shawn rummaged through the system. After waiting for half an hour, there was still no new notification. Just as he was about to close the system in disappointment, he noticed that 3 new items had appeared in his backpack.
4 magazines, one piece of equipment, and one mod.
"I knew the system wouldn't shortchange a disaster victim." Shawn immediately grinned.
First, the equipment.
[Athletic Outfit (Light Armor) Lv. 2 — Enhances athletic vitality and increases maximum health (max health increases with the number of set pieces equipped).]
[Full Set Bonus: Reduces food and water consumption.]
"Not bad at all." Shawn's wood armor had been completely destroyed during this last Blood Moon. With this piece, he now had gloves, a hood, and a light armor chest piece. Although they weren't from the same set, if he could equip a full set, the bonuses would naturally be better than the full Lv. 1 wood armor set.
With that, Shawn tapped a few times in his backpack, and a layer of armor instantly appeared on his body. He found the Stalker Hood obstructed his vision, so he toggled it to be hidden. He also used the remains of the wooden bed to craft a pair of leg armor and boots.
His current equipment was as follows:
-Stalker Gloves Lv. 3...
-Stalker Hood Lv. 1...
-Athletic Outfit (Light Armor) Lv. 2...
-Wood Armor Boots (Basic Set) Lv. 1...
"Hm," Shawn looked down in surprise. "It really does feel a lot lighter."
It wasn't just the defense and fabric of the gear. The moment he put them on, the effects of all the equipment took hold. The attribute bonuses were tangible, but compared to the Stalker gear, the Athletic set's bonus was more obvious to him at the moment. Just by putting on one piece of light armor, he felt like he was about to float. He didn't know if it was because he had never had any 'Agility' bonuses before that the feeling was so strong.
He opened his system panel. His maximum health had increased by 5 points. For a single piece of a Lv. 2 set, this was a significant bonus. His only other health bonus came from his level, totaling only 22 points. This one piece of equipment added 5 points, which was quite a lot. At a critical moment during the Blood Moon, those 5 health points could have been life-saving.
Shawn was very satisfied.
Next, he looked at the mod in his backpack.
[Helmet Light Mod — You don't need to shine yourself. This helmet light can illuminate the limited darkness (A light source that can be installed on any helmet).]
A helmet light? Good stuff! Shawn's eyes lit up the moment he saw it. This was absolutely indispensable for moving around at night. He had just equipped the Stalker Hood. He directly installed the Helmet Light Mod and the Cigar Mod he had obtained earlier into the hood's only two mod slots.
"Lights on," Shawn thought.
Instantly, a 60° cone of light spread out from him, its warm glow illuminating almost the entire second floor. From Shawn's perspective, the effect of the Helmet Light Mod was similar to his vision during the Blood Moon. Although not as sensitive, he could basically see everything in his field of vision clearly.
"Good stuff... really good stuff." Shawn was in a great mood.
As expected, a great price paid would surely yield an equivalent reward. What was that saying... the bigger the storm, the more expensive the fish! Shawn had nearly gotten himself killed this time. These rewards weren't much, not much at all!
"Ha—" Shawn couldn't help but grin as he looked at the last 4 magazines.
*****
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