Even knowing what he was about to see didn't make it any easier. Ronan baulked at the stench of human waste and rotten flesh.

Just like before, there were five rotting human corpses chained to the stone brick walls of the cell. It was disgusting. A waste of life and yet another reminder and reason why the goblins had to die—even if they were just creations of the tutorial. Hell, even if this room was just a creation, the inspiration had to come from somewhere. If goblins were real, somewhere out in this vast multiverse, Ronan vowed to one day find and kill them all if they were anything like the goblins in the tutorial.

I'll make those evil, ugly bastards pay for all their crimes, he vowed to himself.

"So, what did you find?" Dana asked, hands on hips.

"Nothing," Ronan chuckled with mirth. "Just an empty room with some chains lying on the floor."

Dana narrowed her eyes, but didn't press any further. The others seemed to not care much, too excited about the treasure they'd found within.

"I would tell you what we found, but I suspect you already know. Share it equally or I'll make you," she said, stroking her whip.

Ronan knew exactly what she was talking about. While he'd been in the room with the prisoners, a notification he'd not seen before had appeared in his vision.

Goblin's treasure hoard has been obtained!

+1,633 Copper Credits

+12 Bronze Credits

Leader distribution selected! Select distribution:

Ronan Steele: 100%

Keith Ledbury: 0%

Terrance Wright: 0%

Jackson Wright: 0%

Dana Lowry: 0%

Ronan was able to adjust the individual percentage of the money that each of the party members would receive. He imagined that if a more tyrannical person were in charge, they could make others do the work and keep everything for themself.

He did wonder why it had only appeared now and not while they were fighting and killing, but the system's whims were unknown and mysterious. He just put everyone at an equal twenty percent share and then confirmed it.

You have received 891 Copper Credits and 2 Bronze Credits!

So my bonus only applies to my share and not the total, he realised. Or maybe if I was the one to claim the hoard, it would increase the total, too? I'll test it next time.

"Good, you didn't try to scam us," Jackson quipped.

Terry cuffed his son on the back of the head. "Don't be daft, Jack," he scolded.

"Alright, the third door is probably the way forward," Dana interjected, reaching out to open it.

"Wait a moment, Dana," Ronan called out. "Let's invest our stats and take stock of our loot before we go in. Maybe there's weapons or items we can share out. I think Keith needs to choose his class, too."

Keith nodded in agreement. He'd reached level 10 while they were fighting their way here. Ronan expected him to pick the fighter class this time, rather than rogue, since he wasn't as cowardly as before.

"Good idea," Dana agreed, pulling her hand back and sitting against the wall of the tunnel.

Each of them found a spot to sit and began to read through their notifications. They first wanted to assign their stats. Besides, they would need to find out what loot they'd earned before they could share it amongst themselves.

Ronan had used mana bolt a dozen times or more on their way here. He had refined his control greatly. At the beginning his mana bolt was the shape of a tetrahedron with jagged edges and an unstable structure.

However, his most recent mana bolt had almost perfectly straight edges. It wasn't just an aesthetic improvement—the internal structure was more rigid and stable. That in turn increased the speed it ripped through the air. It also made it pierce through goblins far more efficiently.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

However, that came at the cost of its explosiveness. Ronan had noticed that the more stable his mana bolts, the 'sharper' they were, but the less destructive.

Rather than sticking to one form, he would need to vary his usage depending on the opponent. He would have that chance soon, given they were about to face that endless horde of goblins.

The increase in control was reflected in his gains and he felt confident in being able to reach the cap before his death. They'd developed excellent teamwork and despite the memories of his past life, he allowed himself a small glimmer of hope.

Perhaps Terry might be able to handle a few blows from that hobgoblin champion. It was terrifyingly fast and strong, but perhaps it lacks in defence… he couldn't help but wonder.

Putting those thoughts aside for now, Ronan pulled up the kill notifications of the few groups of goblins they'd encountered on the way to this final battlefield.

You have killed [Lesser Goblin Warrior Lv.14-19]x4, [Lesser Goblin Archer Lv.12-20]x3, [Goblin Berserker Lv.15-18]x2, and [Goblin Shaman Lv.16]!

Experience has been split among your party members!

Party Experience Bonus has been applied!

+238 Copper Credits

+16 [Mana Mastery]

+Lesser Goblin Ears (Common) x7

+Goblin Toes (Common) x3

+Wooden Buckler Lv.19 (Common)

+Goblin Vambraces Lv.14 (Common)

You have leveled up to Lv.14!

You have leveled up to Lv.15!

You have leveled up to Lv.16!

You have been restored x3!

+6 Wisdom

+3 Intelligence

+3 Vitality

+3 Endurance

+6 Free Stat Points

Unfortunately the loot drops were pretty average this time. The shield might help him to block a few arrows, but wouldn't be put to such lethal use as it had in the past.

He wasn't fighting up close and personal at the moment. The vambraces on the other hand would give him some defensive stats.

Perhaps he might live one tenth of a second longer against Magriz'al. That thought brought a dry chuckle to his lips.

Splitting his free stat points was easy. He was going for a two to one ratio between wisdom and intelligence. At first he'd only put points in intelligence on a hunch.

Now however, he believed he had an idea of what it actually did. He'd noticed that his mana bolts were far deadlier as time went on and he continued to level up.

That could've been explained away by his control increasing, but the levels of the enemies had also been steadily rising. Also, it was hard to tell the difference in lethality between two spells when both of them killed the green bastards in one shot.

He quickly pulled up his status to check on his mana and progress to the mastery cap. Hopefully he would reach it before his inevitable death at the fists of the champion.

[Status]

Name: Ronan Steele

Race: Human (G)

Heritage: ERROR: Unreadable (Analysis attempted: Results unreadable. DNA matches: 0. Recognised characters: '2')

Level: 16 (20)

Class: Mage (Common) (Fighter (Common))

Fortune: 471 Copper Credits, 3 Bronze Credits (6,169c)

[Stats (1.028)]

Health: 220/220 Stamina: 250/250 Mana: 201/300

Vitality: 19

Endurance: 22

Wisdom: 30

Regeneration: 4 (+1)

Resistance: 6 (+1)

Strength: 9

Agility: 5

Intelligence: 22

Dexterity: 5

Acuity: 7

Tenacity: 12

Luck: 2

Charisma: 4

Available Points: 0

[Traits]

Personal: Inevitable (Epic)

[Skills]

Unified Language Adaptation (Universal)

Relentless Training (Common)

Magic Strike (Common)

Vital Surge (Common)

Mana Bolt (Common) (Class)

[Mastery]

Pugilist I 7/100

Mana 39/100

Pain 1/100

Spear 2/100

Sword 3/100

Stamina 2/100

[Cultivation]

Mind: None

Body: None

Energy: None

Soul: None

Two fifths of the way there. It's not as close as I'd hoped, but I should be able to make it work, he contemplated to himself. He had gained the most mastery when focusing on improving control and being creative, rather than simple killing.

However, there was also the fact that sometimes quantity had a quality of its own. When he killed a goblin with a mana bolt, it would always provide him with at least 1 point in mana mastery.

Given that they were about to face a nearly endless horde of the little fuckers, he could exploit that to his advantage. He also wondered about his personal trait.

Ronan hadn't felt its influence much, but he supposed that was the whole point. If a strike was going to miss by a hair's width but actually struck his enemy, then wasn't it working perfectly? He wasn't sharp enough to tell.

"Alright, I'm all done. How about you lot?" he asked the group, peeling himself from the tunnel wall and marching towards the final door.

The rest of them nodded and muttered words of agreement. Only he knew exactly what was coming, but they all suspected it would be more of the same.

He wouldn't be so cruel as to tell them. In his heart he was still clinging to a faint glimmer of hope that their much improved party composition this time around might give them a chance against that terrifying boss monster.

"Well, here goes nothing. Get ready," he declared, grabbing the handle and swinging it open in one fluid motion.

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