Collecting Rewards (1)

A few hours earlier...

When Roland saw that the snake would die soon, he let the others deal with it and went back to putting out the fires. Standing there waiting for the snake to die definitely wasn't the most exciting thing to do. Before he started though, he checked on the quest progress.

[Quest: Save The Forest]

[Completion Rate: 43/100% ]

[Contribution: 27%]

[Minimum requirements for completion:]

[Contribution reaches at least 15%] [✓]

[Forest fire is put out]

[Flame Scaled Two-Headed Snake is Defeated]

[Rewards:]

[200 SP]

[Any choice of water element skill from the shop with a price below 1000 SP]

[Bonus: 300 SP+ a new skill]

'What made the contribution go up again?' he wondered. He hadn't put out any fires yet and a few more had already started during the fight. It was strange that such a thing would happen.

[You contributed a lot to the fight against the snake, so it was also added to both your personal contribution and the completion rate]

'So the other quest conditions are also included in the completion rate?'

[Yes]

'Alright then.' He thought.

Although it didn't do much besides lowering the amount of effort he had to put in, it was good to know this information earlier. Continuing to put out the fires, he waited anxiously for the snake to die.

"Ding!"

[Flame Scaled Two-Headed Snake is Defeated] [✓][You have slain Flame Scaled Two-Headed Snake Lv. 24]

[295 System Points Obtained]

'Well that's done.' he thought. The people that were previously fighting it should start putting out the fires soon.

After the few more hours, he was finally done. The forest was clear of fires, although it was almost entirely gone. Still, he had completed the quest the system gave him.

Now, it was time to collect the rewards.

[500 SP Obtained]

[Water Element Skill Token Obtained]

[Any Element Skill Token Obtained]

'Tokens? What are those for?' he thought.

[You can use them to claim the skills from the quest]

'Where are they?' He asked.

[Look inside your Spacial Storage]

'Oh, right!' Roland had completely forgotten about it.

He quickly peeked inside to have a look. Besides the mana crystal from the cave, two small tokens lay inside. They looked like they were made of crystals, and despite there being no light source, they glittered inside the storage space. One was blue, with a small picture of a water droplet on both sides. Compared to the other one, the other was white, and there was a star in place of the water droplets.

'These must the be tokens the system mentioned.' Roland thought. Since he didn't know how to use them, he asked the system.

[Go choose a skill that fits the criteria in the shop first]

'What skill should I get?' he wondered. He had two opportunities, and he wanted to make the most out of them. Suddenly, a message appeared in front of him.

[I would suggest getting Mana Barrier]

'Mana barrier? Why?' He already had basic mind magic, and it could also create a shield to protect him. Why did he need another skill that did basically the same thing?

[The skill is a lot more useful that the barrier you can currently create. I'll show the description of the skill to you]

Roland silently watched as another screen appeared in front of him.

[Mana Barrier]

[Creates a barrier that only uses mana when hit. As long as you have enough mana, it can block almost any physical attack]

Roland was shocked when he saw this skill. He could just keep the skill on forever, and no one could assassinate him, since the barrier would block them. Plus, if he had enough mana, he could probably block a nuclear bomb!

[This skill still has an upper limit to the amount of damage it can block]

'Then what's the most damage it can take before breaking?' He asked.

[About the force of a missile. However, the amount of mana needed exponentially increases the higher the damage it needs to block. If blocking a missile used 10 mana, then blocking something ten times the force would require 100 times the mana, and blocking a force ten times that would need 1000 times that amount]

'So that's how it is,' Roland thought. Still, this skill would be really useful in the future, and the upper limit would probably increase as it leveled up.

'So how do I use the coupon on this?' He asked.

[First, go into the purchasing screen]

Roland nodded, clicking on the skill again.

[Purchasing Mana Barrier for 1000 SP]

[Confirm?]

[Yes] [No]

'Now what?' He asked the system.

[Grab the token from inside your Spacial Storage]

'Which one?' He asked.

[The white one]

Roland nodded and did as he was told.

[Now put it in the circular slot on the panel]

Roland looked at the payment screen, and saw a small, circular groove, which was probably where the token went. He had never noticed that before, which he found strange.

He put the token inside, and another screen appeared in front of him.

[Use 'Any Element Skill Token' to pay for the skill?]

'Yes,' Roland answered

[Mana Barrier Added to your Skill List]

He checked his status page, and found that the skill was there, so he went ahead and decided what to use his second token for.

'System, can you show all water element skills with a price below 1000 SP?'

[Got it]

After the system replied, a gigantic list of numerous skills appeared in front of Roland. He felt dizzy just looking at them.

He turned away, and decided to think about what type of skill he wanted first. If he wanted to look through the whole list of skills, he would be on his deathbed by the time he was done.

Meanwhile, he thought about what he already had covered. He had enough attack skills, and mana barrier would take care of defence. He didn't have a speed related skill yet, but that wasn't a priority. It would be best if he got a skill that increased his overall capabilities, something like a passive skill.

'System, an you filter out everything that's not a passive skill?'

Another list of skills appeared in front of him, although it was significantly smaller that the previous one.

He looked though the list, and found something that sounded cool.

[Royalty of the Ocean (Passive) ]

He immediately check the see what it did, holding high hopes for it.

[Double movement speed underwater, Mana recovers 50% faster under water, and water related spells do double the damage. If you are out of the water for more than ten minutes, all your stats are halved]

'Oh. So that's how it's gonna be.'

Roland immediately decided not to get the skill. Most of it's abilities were only usable underwater, and he didn't have any powerful water element spells either. Moreover, his stats would be halved if he was out of the water for more than ten minutes! He wasn't aiming to become a fish, he just needed a good passive skill.

'Hey, system,' he asked, 'is there something similar to this that doesn't want me to stay underwater forever?'

[No]

'Great.' He thought to himself. Now he needed to find something else.

'Oooh! This looks good!' He thought excitedly, looking another skill.

[Master of the Seas]

[All stats are tripled when in the ocean and skills have triple the effectiveness. You cannot leave the ocean]

'Nevermind.' Roland thought speechlessly. All of these wanted him to stay underwater, and their abilities were useless if he wasn't.

'I guess I have to keep looking.' He thought, continuing to scroll through the list. He could already tell this would take a while.