Chapter 41: Reward settlement

The white light finally faded and Karl found himself standing inside a wide pale chamber.

Leon, Mira, Atherion and the surviving Fitzalans also appeared nearby.

For the first time since entering Forgotten Cave, everything around them was quiet.

Then a familiar notification appeared in front of Karl.

[Congratulations, Host.]

[You have successfully survived a near-death emergency.]

Karl’s eyebrow twitched.

Yeah and thanks for repeatedly vanishing whenever things actually became dangerous.

The System replied almost immediately.

[Now, now. What would Host have done without the System?]

Probably spent less time wondering whether my System had died.

Karl was about to continue when he remembered something much more important.

Wait, what about the Emergency Mission? There was supposed to be a reward.

[Emergency Mission completed.]

[Reward obtained: Undead Summoning Token.]

A dark token appeared inside Karl’s hand.

He checked its information briefly and found that it could be used to obtain a special undead, though the remaining details would only become clear when he actually used it.

I’ll deal with this later.

Karl stored the token and was about to ask the System another question when several notifications appeared before everyone in the chamber.

[Forgotten Cave completion settlement commencing.]

[Unique Completion Path confirmed.]

[Calculating contribution and rewards...]

Golden light descended over everyone and an enormous amount of EXP entered Karl at once, forcing his Status to update repeatedly as his level rose.

[Level increased.]

[Level increased.]

[Level increased.]

The notifications continued until another message finally replaced them.

[Current Level: 99.]

[First Transition required to continue leveling.]

[Excess EXP has been stored.]

[Stored EXP will be applied after completion of the First Transition.]

Karl opened his Status and confirmed it.

Level 99.

He had reached the limit before his First Transition, while the remaining EXP from Forgotten Cave had been stored.

Leon and Mira had reached Level 99 as well, and both received the same notice informing them that further progression required completing their First Transition.

Leon looked through his notifications and grinned.

"Level 99, it’s crazy."

Atherion and the surviving Fitzalans had clearly received large amounts of EXP as well, though Karl had no reason to inspect their progression.

Before anyone could discuss it further, the settlement continued.

[Individual reward evaluation complete.]

Several lights descended from above and stopped before different people.

Karl’s reward appeared first, atiny condensed fragment floated in front of him, almost transparent except for the faint golden light moving inside it.

[Fragment of Divinity obtained.]

The System immediately commented.

[Host has been extremely fortunate this time.]

Karl looked at the fragment.

What exactly is this?

[A portion of the Divine Blood shed by the Sovereign remained inside Forgotten Cave.]

[The remaining power of the Divine Furnace refined part of it during the dungeon’s collapse and converted the result into Host’s reward.]

Karl looked at the fragment again.

So this is actual Divinity?

The fragment dissolved into his hand and an unfamiliar sensation passed through his body before a new notification appeared.

[New Attribute unlocked.]

[Divinity: 0.1]

Karl immediately opened his Status Panel, acompletely new section had appeared among his attributes.

[Divinity: 0.1]

What does 0.1 Divinity actually do?

[Host does not currently possess sufficient information to properly utilize Divinity.]

Karl sighed.

Useful as always.

Another reward appeared in front of him before he could ask anything further.

[Unsealing Token obtained.]

Karl checked it briefly and stored it beside the Undead Summoning Token. Whatever it could unseal, using it without knowing more would be pointless.

Mira’s individual reward appeared next.

A strange heart-shaped crystal formed from condensed darkness floated before her, with black energy continuously moving through its surface.

[Shadow Heart obtained.]

The moment Mira touched it, the shadows around her reacted.

She checked the information for several seconds before turning the crystal in her hand.

"Most of it can’t be identified yet."

Karl glanced toward her.

"What can you see?"

"I need to refine it slowly, the rest should become clear while I absorb it."

Mira stored the Shadow Heart without trying to use it immediately.

Leon had already received his own reward.

A thin jade-like manual rested in his hands, and he quickly opened its information.

[Body Refining Technique obtained.]

The technique used Qi alongside physical training to continuously strengthen the flesh, bones and overall foundation of the body.

Leon read through the opening section before nodding.

"It’s good."

Then his eyes moved farther down.

[Recommended Daily Practice: 2 Hours.]

Leon stared at the line for several seconds.

"Two hours every day?"

Mira looked toward him.

"You wanted to become stronger."

Leon looked offended.

"I wanted power, not homework?"

Karl ignored him and glanced toward Atherion’s group.

Their individual rewards had already appeared as well, but nobody made any attempt to inspect what the other side had received.

Once the individual settlement ended, everyone expected the dungeon to finally send them out.

Instead, the floor began moving and seven circular pedestals rose slowly around the chamber, each carrying a different treasure.

Leon immediately stopped complaining about his training manual.

"Oh?"

Atherion examined the seven pedestals before looking toward Karl.

"I have no interest in asking what your group received from the individual evaluation."

Karl raised an eyebrow.

"How generous."

"Those rewards were assigned directly to each person."

Atherion’s gaze returned to the pedestals.

"But these will belong to us."

Karl scoffed.

"No."

Atherion turned back toward him.

"We entered using information held by the Fitzalan family, and my group contributed throughout every trial."

"And my side contributed just as much."

Karl stepped closer to the pedestals.

"Without us, Seraphine and what happened with Lyra and Armando, this dungeon wouldn’t have ended anywhere near this completion route. You’re not taking all seven."

Atherion’s expression hardened.

Neither of them intended to surrender the treasures and the argument continued until it became obvious that pushing much further would only start another fight.

Atherion finally looked toward the seven pedestals.

"My group takes four."

Karl considered it briefly.

"Then we take three."

Atherion nodded.

"Fine."

There were more people on Atherion’s side, and three of the seven treasures was enough for Karl to accept the split without wasting more time arguing.

Neither group asked what the other intended to choose.

Karl walked toward the pedestals with Leon and Mira, but he had barely looked across them before one treasure caught his attention completely.

A small transparent bottle rested upon one pedestal and golden liquid moved gently inside it.

Karl immediately used Perception.

[Divine Elixir]

His attention stopped there, this was the main reason he had deliberately searched for Forgotten Cave in the first place.

Karl walked directly toward the pedestal.

"I’m taking this."

Leon glanced at the bottle and shrugged.

"Go ahead."

Karl picked up the Divine Elixir and carefully stored it away.

After Satan, the Divine Furnace, the Sovereign, Armando and everything else that had happened inside Forgotten Cave, he finally had the thing he had actually come here for.

His grandfather could be cured at last.

While Karl remained focused on the Elixir, Leon had already found something much more suited to him.

A beautiful sword rested upon another pedestal, carrying enough power that Leon reached for it almost immediately.

"Mine."

His hand closed around the hilt but the sword melted.

Leon froze as the entire weapon collapsed into a strange metallic liquid that crawled across his hand and wrapped itself around his forearm.

"What the fuck is this?!"

He shook his arm several times, but the substance refused to come off.

Leon grabbed it with his other hand and tried pulling it away while Mira started laughing beside him.

"Stop laughing and help me!"

Then the identification appeared.

[Weapon Embryo obtained.]

Leon stopped struggling and read the information.

The weapon had no fixed form and could change according to the intention of its wielder.

Leon looked at the metallic substance and thought of a sword and it immediately hardened as a complete sword appeared in his hand.

He changed his thought and the weapon melted before reforming into an axe, then a spear, a shield and many more

Leon went silent for several seconds before slowly looking toward Karl.

"Karl, I definitely picked the best one."

Karl thought about the Divine Elixir sitting safely inside his storage.

"Sure."

Leon had already changed the Weapon Embryo back into an axe by the time Mira approached their final pedestal.

A strange beast egg rested upon it.

Faint markings covered the shell, but Karl did not recognise them despite searching through everything he remembered from his previous life.

Mira placed one hand against it.

[Unknown Beast Egg obtained.]

[Species identification failed.]

[Bloodline identification failed.]

The egg gave a faint pulse beneath her hand before becoming still again.

Leon leaned closer.

"That’s it?"

"For now."

Mira lifted the egg from the pedestal.

"It’ll hatch eventually."

Karl examined it once more but found nothing familiar.

"Keep it, we’ll figure it out later."

Mira stored the egg away, Atherion and the surviving Fitzalans had already selected their four treasures, though Karl paid no attention to what they had taken.

Once the seventh pedestal became empty, the reward chamber finally began trembling.

[Forgotten Cave cleared.]

[Unique Completion Path confirmed.]

Before the teleportation could start, one final notification appeared before everyone.

[Unique Path completed.]

[Special Title obtained: Heretic.]

Karl’s attention shifted immediately as the title information opened beneath it.

[Heretic]

[Those who have rejected or opposed the authority of an Outer God.]

[Outer Gods will naturally hold a negative impression of the title bearer, and their hostility will be increased.]

[Priests and Avatars of Outer Gods will automatically sense the presence of a Heretic within approximately one kilometre.]

Leon read the description twice.

"What the hell is an Outer God?"

But nobody answered him as more information arrived.

[When killing followers, Priests or Avatars belonging to an Outer God, EXP gained and item drop rates will be increased.]

[Heretic Mark acquired.]

[The Heretic Mark will deepen whenever the title bearer kills an Outer God’s Avatar or another sufficiently important representative.]

[As the Heretic Mark deepens, the Heretic title may increase in rank.]

Mira looked through the notifications with a slight frown.

"So we get better rewards from killing them, but they also hate us more?"

Leon scratched his head.

"And apparently their priests can tell when we’re nearby, great title."

Even Atherion and the surviving Fitzalans looked confused by the wording.

Karl looked at it deeply as his expression changed slightly before the notification finally faded.

[Final reward settlement complete.]

Karl looked over everything he had obtained once more.

The Undead Summoning Token, the Unsealing Token.

The Fragment of Divinity and the newly unlocked [Divinity: 0.1].

Then his attention returned to the Divine Elixir.

For Karl, that alone made everything inside Forgotten Cave worth it.

White light began gathering beneath everyone.

Atherion gave Karl’s group one final glance while the surviving Fitzalans began disappearing beside him.