Chapter 31 "Proof of A Brawler"
"I'm An Elite Myself | Grade: Epic
Show your worth against an Elite Enemy.
Bonus: +3 All Stats"
Ioki swiped the blue window that just popped up as he slowly opened his mouth and scratched his head, "Hufh... I'm sorry that happened to you, Nine Paws."
The Nine Paws was seen lifelessly as his body slowly disintegrated. If one could see his spirit, the Nine Paws probably had a halo and wings with tears falling down as his spirit ascended to Heaven.
After rushing against each other and trading a few blows, luckily or maybe in this case unlucky for the Nine Paws. After they got into a stalemate and locked fists in point-blank range, Ioki launched a side knee to the Nine Paws lumbar region.
A critical hit popped, crushing the ribs of Nine Paws, and knocked him for quite a distance. Following the knockback, Ioki rushed in and jumped, delivering a jump kick to the staggered Nine Paws. Another critical procced...
Sent the Nine Paws flying to the back and snapped his body after stopping by the rocky wall.
"Level Up!" Windows pops before Ioki as he sends his rival to the afterlife.
The crowds cheered on Ioki as he defeated the Nine Paws.
"What a fight!"
"Unbelievable show of control! Seriously, the fight is top-notch!"
"Hey, accept my friend request. Let's party up sometimes!"
As the crowd cheered on Ioki and started sending friend requests to Ioki, Ioki slowly moved to the mark on the wall. Something shiny could be seen from the hole inside. As Ioki approached and crouched, he extended his hands.
"Nine Paws' Chest | Grade: Unique
A reward for defeating Nine Paws.
May contain: Nine Paws' Wraps, Nine Paws Sandals, Skill Book: Gǒuquán, Nine Paws' Essence."
A chest covered with white wrappings and fur could be seen on Ioki's hands.
"Eh? What? Did Nine Paws ever drop something like that?" A voice from the crowd asked.
"No... This is my first time seeing it," Another replied.
The Vermilion Dawn executive approached him while Ioki sat and observed the chest before him.
"An absolutely fantastic fight, kid!" The man complimented Ioki.
"Ah, thank you... Umm, Mister?" Ioki asked as he shifted his gaze to the man in red armor.
"My name is Reinhardt, the vice-leader of Vermilion Dawn. KumaKuma sent me---" As he spoke, Ioki raised his hand, signaling him to stop talking.
Ioki stood up from his sitting position, raised his hand, bowed, and then prostrated before the Nine Paws chest.
"Thank you for the great fight. Even though the end was kinda disappointing, you still rewarded me with something to remember you by," Ioki said to the chest while his head was on the ground.
He raised his head, and then slowly, his hands could be seen touching the chest. A blue window popped up asking for confirmation on whether to open the chest or not. Ioki pressed the confirm button.
Not long after, just like the wild dance the owner of the chest had shown before ascending to Heaven. The chest danced and hopped left and right as the white wrappings swayed.
"Enhanced Luck in effect!" A blue window popped up.
"Congratulations!
A Great Blessing Upon You!
Great Rewards Will Be Granted!"
A silver window followed the blue notification as the chest shined.
The chest then disappeared.
He opened his inventory to find the items.
"Nine Paws Wraps | Grade: Unique
The torn wraps of Nine Paws served its time to keep the wrist of Nine Paws away from injury.
o Nine Paws Wraps
o Grade: Unique
o Lvl: 40
o Req: Str 48 | Dex 60
o Str: 26
o Dex: 31
o Set Effect (2): Enhance Martial Arts Skills
o Description: The torn wraps of Nine Paws served their time to keep Nine Paws' deadly paws from injuries.
"Whoa! The wraps on his hands! Now I can finally equip one myself and look more cool!" Ioki exclaimed as he equipped the wraps.
"Warning! Level and Stats are not sufficient. Equipping the item would greatly reduce the stats by 80%!" A blue window popped up, but Ioki ignored it and swiped it.
Seeing Ioki act like that made the people watching him forget that Ioki was still a boy.
Suddenly, his bare hands are now wrapped neatly with the Nine Paws Wraps. Neatly covering the whole hands, not even a skin was exposed as it slipped through between his fingers, stacked on top of each other, covering his knuckles, and tied tightly on his wrists.
o Nine Paws Sandals
o Grade: Unique
o Lvl: 40
o Req: Dex 65
o Dex: 42
o Set Effect (2): Enhance Martial Arts-related Skills.
o Description: Memento from a fighter in the West as his fate was sealed by Nine Paws paws.
Ioki ignored the blue window that popped before while he equipped the wraps. As Ioki equipped the sandals, another blue window popped up before him.
The sign of ignorance dates back to when Ioki picked up the axe of Hell Grunt in Hell and made his way through the Tutorial Bridge. Ioki ignored the blue window from before because he thought he would be fine with it...
"Warning! Level not sufficient. Equipping the item would greatly reduce the stats by 50%!"
Ioki grunted for a bit before opening his status windows.
v Ioki
v Lvl: 29 | Job: None
v Str: 42 (+5)
v Dex: 71 (+27)
v Con: 84
v Int: 31
v Wis: 31
v Cha: 46
v Luc: 157
v Chr: 41
Ø Stats Points: 40
The chat went wild as they saw Ioki's newest stats.
"Hahh... Yes, I know this is supposed to be a secret to you guys, but I need to fill in one of the equipment stats requirements. So, feast your eyes on my stats, I guess..." Ioki stated with a gloomy expression.
"Having the 50% reduction itself is already sucks... If I have an 80% penalty on the other equipment, then I might as well raise my stats to fill the requirements," Ioki thought inwardly.
He put 6 points into Strength and the rest into Luck like before.
The 80% penalty is now gone and replaced with 50%.
v Ioki
v Lvl: 29 | Job: None
v Str: 48 (+13)
v Dex: 71 (+37)
v Con: 84
v Int: 31
v Wis: 31
v Cha: 46
v Luc: 191
v Chr: 41
"Brother... I really envy your stats even though I'm already way higher level than you..." Mr. Turtle typed.
"The Charm stats weren't there when I last saw your LIVE!" DarkFlame typed.
"That Dex alone is enough to rival a glass cannon Assassin around Level 50, not to say the rest of his stats are way above the charts for his level," Assassin GodNo.1 typed.
"If you think Stats alone is enough to carry your ass through Ashen Fantasy, then the whole leaderboard would fluctuate each second because of Players experimenting on their own stats," Rocky_Ramboa typed.
"Yep, my Ioki is a special case! After fighting him firsthand, Ioki is definitely the one who boasts the most precise control! Not to count, most of his hits were meant to trigger the guaranteed critical hits by attacking their weak points, although his Luck definitely helped most of the cases..." Ms. Maria typed.
Ioki smiled, seeing the chats complimenting him and his stats, "Well, what can I say? I told you I'll make the best out of three days while I'm here!"
"Oh yeah! I forgot, by the way, I still have the essences! Oh my God! The skill books as well! I'm getting excited!" Ioki continued as he jumped around.
Ioki then took out the 3 essences from his inventory.
"What kind of essences are those?" DogChaser typed.
"One of the essences is Rock Turtle's essence that I gave him, the other is Nine Paws. Idk about the red one..." Ms. Maria typed.
Ioki stared at the sphere smugly as he turned it around. The sphere that was watching Ioki now could only see the crowds.
"I forgot you guys weren't there when I got this essence, hehe~ That would be a secret! You guys have seen my stats at least. Now be grateful for it!" Ioki playfully taunted the chat.
Ioki then proceeded to take the first essence, "Umm, how do I use this?"
Back then, when Ioki gave the essence to the Goblin, it absorbed it immediately without anything else to be done.
A deep voice replied, "You put that inside your mouth, kid. Your body will absorb it and spread the essence around your body."
Ioki turned and saw the source of the voice was from Reinhardt, "Ah, thank you, Mr. Reinhardt!"
"May I ask though, what are those essences supposed to be?" Reinhardt inquired.
"Oho? Why? Is the Vermilion Dawn worried that I'll win the bet?" Ioki teased.
Dumbfounded by Ioki's reply, a heavy laugh echoed from inside the armor, "Hahaha! Great joke, kid! The reason our leader made a deal with you because even a high lev---"
"Bla bla bla... They are themselves, and I am myself. You know what, Mr. Reinhardt? I always have the last laugh. They say the one with the last laugh laughs the best," Ioki cut him off as he put the first essence into his mouth.
Reinhardt could only laugh again at Ioki's remark.
The first essence popped as soon as he put it in and closed his mouth, and a wave of white energy washed over him.
"Shouldn't it taste like candy? Why is it bland?" Ioki complained as he put the second essence in his mouth.
The red essence popped, and a wild energy of fiery red waves glowed before it dispersed.
He took the third one, a dark blue essence, into his mouth. Waves of calm, dark blue energy covered his body before slowly disappearing.
"Nine Paws' Essence | Grade: Unique
The essence of Nine Paws is given only to the one worthy.
Upon consuming, will give: Nine Sense (Passive), +3 Str, +6 Dex."
Ioki then proceeded to take the books and read them. The books disappeared after he had read a few pages of them. It turned into yellow sparks particles and got absorbed into Ioki's body.
"Skill Book: Gǒuquán| Grade: Unique
A ruthless style of fighting known to incapacitate the opponent through any means necessary ferociously. Originated from the street, learned by the Monks, and perfected by Nine Paws.
Skill: Gǒuquán (Passive)
Critical rate +5%, Upon critical hits the opponent will bleed. Attacking the bleeding opponent inflicts +10% damage.
"The spirit of Nine Paws resides within you."
Seeing the last notification, Ioki was baffled, "Chat, what does this mean?" Ioki asked as he turned the sphere once again to face him.
The chat didn't have a single clue about it, so Ioki just shrugged his shoulder.
"Hmm?" Ioki noticed something from the ground where he picked up the Nine Paws Chest.
He walked to it and saw a collection of fangs and jewels stringed together by a line of brown string. He picked the item up from the ground and examined it.
"Brawler's Proof | Grade: Special
Surviving the world of Kobold eat Kobold, Nine Paws name stand above the other ordinary Kobolds. He only heeds the Pack Leader barks."
"Brother! That is a special item! Usually, when a special item is given, you can trigger a hidden quest!" Mr. Turtle typed.
"That's right, the Prince of Sand raid was triggered with a special item called Heart of the Desert as well." KumaKuma typed.
"Ahem!" Reinhardt's heavy voice asked Ioki's attention, "I believe if you are done with all the things here, then let's make haste. Time is precious to both you and me, kid."
"Vermilion Dawn!" Reinhardt shouted.
A unison of "Yes, Sir!" echoed throughout the cave.
"We will escort him to the arena of Pack Leader," Reinhardt issued his command.
The group replied again, "Sir, yes, Sir!"
He turns his gaze to Ioki. Beneath the red helmet, Ioki could feel his gaze as the heavy voice slowly spoke, "So this kid won't have any excuses when he loses the fight and joins our ranks."
Ioki could only respond to this with a nervous smile as he slowly put out his tongue.