After seeing the girls off, and making sure they promised to go to a Recruitment office, Faust walked back to his temporary home thinking about the next wave. Rewards were coming soon so he would be upgrading his equipment and skills.

Bolster and Focus was number one on his list for how tough this next battle would be. He also planned to find Gamebreaker and find out what Grade his Schema was.

Golden Dream was nowhere to be seen, but Gamebreaker worked with Diego occasionally, so it wouldn’t be hard to find him.

Strolling and thinking deeply, he caught sight of a flash of blue hair hiding in an alley. Suddenly he smiled.

Nirvana had seen him with Amelia and Ranna. What she would do now was beyond him, but he could exploit that to his own ends.

His Schema needed him to challenge and beat someone with their own abilities to gain their power. But a challenge didn’t have to be a physical fight.

[Schema: Blood Lord]

[Rank: Epic]

[Details: Grow stronger by drinking blood and commanding dark forces.]

[Schema Abilities: Attribute drain, Blood Regeneration]

Nirvana had no direct combat ability he could use against her. But Attribute Drain could be considered as a challenge. She could likely control her realness, making it hard for him to take her Attributes.

But Attribute Drain was an internal thing. If he could subdue her emotionally he had a feeling it would weaken her ability to resist him.

Nirvana was in love with him.

He wasn’t blind.

But she wanted him more like you’d want a prize. Prizes were unique, given to only one person, and were a symbol of your worth.

But Prizes were meant to be won.

Nirvana winning him meant managing to make him fall in love with her without revealing her feelings. Love is war. And Faust did not think Nirvana was ready to go to war with him.

◇◇◇

Rewards for the second wave were coming soon. Faust was about to reach level 6 based on how much he contributed. Last time he got 400 experience points but this time he was bound to get double at least. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

He pulled out three items. Three items he had been unable to use this whole time, because of Requirements. Two skills books and one item.

Actually, let me get the loom out too.

[Shadow Step Lv1 (Silver): Step into one shadow and reappear in any other within thirty meters. Requirements: 150 Spirit, 200 Agility, Level 6. Cooldown: five seconds]

[Shadow of the Mind Lv1 (Silver): Conceal your mind from mental attacks. Requirements: 200 Spirit, Level 6. Cooldown: ten seconds]

[Repulsion Shroud (Silver): A special cloak that increases your resistance against magical and physical attacks. +50 Spirit +70 Constitution. Requirements: External power source, Level 6, 250 Constitution, 200 Spirit.]

[Velvet Loom (Silver): Used to craft materials together. Increases durability and can imbue special properties. Requirements: Level 5, 100 Spirit]

With this next level up and the Essences he would be rewarded, Faust could only hope his attributes would reach the steep requirements of the skills.

Shadow Step would be perfect for a Gate infiltration mission. Shadow of the Mind made him not only physically resistant but mentally too. Repulsion Shroud, though he doubted he would make the requirement, would make him even more of a menace.

[Spirit: 129 (+40)]

[Agility: 190 (+40)]

If he didn’t hit it now, he had to go out hunting for the remaining points. With Nirvana’s Schema and his current strength it wouldn’t take long.

Ding!

[Rewards for the first wave are being distributed!]

[You have been rewarded 1200 experience points]

[Origin Coins: 3000]

[Goblin Core x30]

[Goblin Mage Core x30]

[15x Goblin Essence: Consuming will increase Agility by 2.]

[15x Jackal Essence: Consuming will increase Agility by 2.]

[20x Goblin Mage Essence: Consuming will increase Spirit by 2.]

[15x Kobold Shaman Essence: Consuming will increase Spirit by 2.]

[10x Jackal Rider Essence: Consuming will increase Strength by 2.]

[10x Goblin ears: Alchemical ingredient used in many potions.]

[15x Goblin Axe (Bronze): Poorly made bone weapons]

[20x Goblin Dagger (Bronze): Poorly made steel weapons.]

[20x Goblin Mage Staff (Bronze): Grants enhancement to spells. +10 Spirit. Requirements: Level 3, 30 Spirit]

[12x Skill Stones: can be used to upgrade skills.]

[12x Enhancement Stones: can be used to upgrade equipment.]

[You have gained skill book "Flowing Viper (Silver)"]

[Sterling Rapier (Silver): A light, fragile weapon with great piercing strength. Increase the grace of your movement. Reduce your weight. +30 Agility, +30 Strength. Requirements: Level 6, 250 Agility, 150 Spirit]

[3x Stamina Potion: Greatly recovers stamina in seconds.]

[3x Mana Potion: Greatly recovers mana in seconds.]

Faust held his jaw, nodding with a disgusted look on his face. Like the good disgust, because these rewards were nasty.

Now this is what I’m talking about.

A new skill, greatly increased Attributes and a new type of reward—potions. These were bound to be very useful for the next three waves, which would be tiring.

[Congratulations, you have leveled up to Level 6!]

[You have gained 5 points in all attributes, and 5 free points to distribute.]

He put all his points in spirit and pulled up his stats.

[Name: Faust]

[Level: 7 (980/1000)]

[Constitution: 165 (+70)]

[Strength: 120 (+115)]

[Agility: 195 (+40)]

[Spirit: 139 (+40)]

[Schema: The Perfect Match, Blood Lord]

[Schema Abilities: Schema Replication, Instance Replication, Attribute Drain, Blood Regeneration]

[Skills: Mirage Lv3, Appraise Lv3, Acid Shot Lv3, Severe Hit Lv2, Dark Maw Lv2, Dash Lv2, Observe Lv2, Heavy Fireball Lv3, Rage Strike Lv2, Focus Lv2, Craft Golem Lv1, Bolster Lv1]

[Equipment: Slime Tether +3, Jackal Dagger +3, White Travelling Cloak +3, Midnight Fur Hat +2, Iron Cutlass +3, Shaman’s Necklace]

[Combat Power: 619 (+265)]

[Origin Coins: 6519]

[System: 100% Drop Rate]

With the Essence he had he would just barely make ithe requirement’s for the skills. Thank the system. If not for this event he wouldn’t be getting Goblin Mage and Kobold Shaman Essence. He hadn’t even known there was a Kobold Shaman in the battle!

He quickly consumed everything and watched his stats go up like a child at a candy store.