The Second Life of Adam Cosmos

Ding!

[You have slain Dark Priest Novhekaar, Level 300. You have absorbed 350,000 Essence.]

After receiving the confirmation that he defeated the Lich, a series of messages flooded Adam's notification window.

However, all that Adam cared about at this moment was that he had slain the Lich. The rest can wait. There's a far more important thing to confirm other than reading system messages.

The most crucial thing right now is to check the stability of his surroundings.

Fortunately, the explosion stopped. With his heightened perception, he tried to sense the status of his surroundings.

'It seems safe from cave-in for now,' thought Adam after observing his surroundings for several minutes.

For extra precaution, he waited for one hour while keenly paying attention to his surroundings for any sign of the tunnel collapsing. When he didn't detect any indication that the tunnels would collapse, only then did he decide that it was finally safe to head back.

The walk back to the boss fight area was a lot farther than Adam thought; he ran so fast under the effects of Haste Potion that the distance he covered was far more than he originally expected. It took him nearly 20 minutes to return, yet he felt like he only ran for 30 seconds.

He returned to find that a huge portion of the clearing had been buried in rubble. Adam estimates that several hundred bodies of the undead were buried by the collapse and that he will need to dig them up if he wants to loot their bodies. But at the moment, Adam doesn't care about them.

What he's looking for is the grand prize: the Lich's loot. Fortunately, the force that emanated from the Lich ensured that it was not covered by any falling debris. In the same vein, it seems that the rubble in the clearing wasn't too deep due to the force that came from the Lich; much of the rubble was pushed to the side but thankfully it didn't block any of the tunnel passages.

'At least I don't need to dig up the Lich's body,' sighed Adam in relief.

Without any further ado, he inspected the items left behind by the Lich.

As a regressor, Adam has seen or at least heard of high-level items. But only now did he realize that he doesn't really know much about truly powerful items.

It didn't take him long to check the Lich's belongings for the item details. What took him so long was to process what he just read.

"So these kinds of gear became available so early on!?" Adam finally exclaimed.

The kind of items Adam has before him are the kind of items that only became publicly available about a year after Pangea's release.

'A pro guild truly cannot be underestimated,' said Adam after calming down for a bit. 'Now, I know why they didn't disclose anything else.'

Back when Maxima declared they defeated a Lich in the catacombs, they didn't mention anything about the loot. And now that Adam saw what they gained, he can understand why. Each and every single one of these items would have caused envy across the player base.

As much as pro guilds want fame and recognition, no guild would want to add an unnecessary target on their back by advertising they have an item that others would covet. This is because the items that the Lich dropped are so powerful they would still be considered immensely valuable even 2 years after the game has been released.

There is no need to mention just how powerful these items are for players after barely 4 weeks of playing the game.

Now, Adam is starting to have a better glimpse at how powerful Maxima was in his first life.

First, the loot from the hidden room. Next, the Battle of the Chamber of Sacrifice. Then, the loot from Dark Priest Novhekaar. Afterward, they were granted the nobility status by Imperatrix Demetra for defeating the Lich.

Their gains had a snowball effect where the reward from one achievement contributed to the gain of the next achievement until they became one of the undisputed super factions in the Lorikan Republic.

With that thought running in his mind, he reviewed the loot he acquired from the fallen Lich.

The first, and least notable loot is a Necromancy Class Tome. He now has a total of five Necromancy Tomes that he intends to put up for sale in about a week's time. By then, the Hanjun Guild of South Korea would make an advertisement that they're buying Necromancy Class Tomes, which would then be followed by rich independent gamers also interested in becoming necromancers.

Then, he went over the rest of the items.

Essence Orb (Uncommon) x1

Description A magical artifact capable of holding a certain amount of Essence. Can be used to draw Essence to power certain spells.

Details: 39,182/50,000 Essence

The Essence Orb will become a mainstream item for mage-type players about a year from now. In particular, it allows Dark Magicians to have a backup supply of Essence to fuel their special spells. Since Adam himself isn't a Dark Magician, he doesn't have much use for this. Furthermore, it doesn't have much use as a backup of absorbed Essence in the event of dying as the item is not bound to the player, thus limiting its use as a portable Essence insurance.

So Adam just absorbed all the Essence from the artifact and plans to sell the orb at a later time. At this point in time, there are probably no Dark Mages that have learned a spell that requires Essence, so putting it on the market would not be profitable yet.

Dark Ethos (Unique) x1, (Rare) x1

Description: A physical manifestation of the Dark.

Details: Absorbing it would grant an effect associated with the Dark.

Dark Ethos, or Ethos in general, is a rare find. The most common benefit it gives is a stat related to its affinity, but some players claim that they acquired other benefits from the item. However, this claim is largely unconfirmed even during the apocalypse. Dark Ethos, from what Adam remembers, typically gives a permanent increase to Mystery stat. But for now, he decided to check the rest of the items before absorbing the Ethos he has.

Karva's Effigy (Unique)

Description: A special effigy meant to store a beast-type creature. This is used to summon Dark Priest Novhekaar's undead steed, Karva.

Details: Consumes 1,000 Essence to activate. If Karva is slain, requires 3 days and 10,000 Essence to revive.

'Well, this would make exploring the Undead Region far easier than I thought!' exclaimed Adam.

An undead steed doesn't feel fatigued or run out of stamina. Therefore, he can now explore with much ease. If he wanted to, he could head for the Sanctus Lux Fortress at this very moment and probably beat the Dark Sun and Magick Maidens in getting there first. But seeing as there's nothing urgent to be done at the Fortress, there is no need for him to do so.

Adam was pondering as to why a Lich that is capable of levitating would have the need for a mounted beast.

'I guess the Lich had this as a backup in case he ran out of mana and needed to flee on foot,' he concluded. 'If nothing else, this Lich was particularly careful back when it was a living Dark Priest.

Adam's assessment of the cautious nature of the Dark Priest was supported by the next item which happens to be a legendary ranked item.

Novhekaar's Cloak (Legendary)

Type: Cloak

Armor: 3

Weight: 2

Durability: 19/50

Requirements: n/a

Description: Novhekaar himself created this powerful cloak to possess enchantments he deems useful.

Assassin's Woe: +10 Perception, Negates a critical hit once every 24 hours.

Necrotic Allure: The undead are drawn to the wearer of this cloak.

Divine Resistance: Grants 20% defense against Holy-based magic

Magic Repair: Can be repaired using essence.

'A legendary item at this stage in the game.' Adam couldn't help but reflect in amazement. 'I wonder how this would fare at an auction if I sell it now?'

Of course, Adam has no plan whatsoever to sell the item. The value of the item in his possession cannot be bought by money.

First, there is the Assassin's Woe which grants +10 Perception and a life-saving effect of negating a critical hit once every 24 hours. There is no doubt that the Dark Priest feared assassination back when it was alive.

Then, there is the Necrotic Allure that draws the undead to the wearer of the cloak. It is obviously ideal for a powerful Necromancer to use Undead Enthrallment to control the wandering undead, but to Adam who kills undead for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, this would make his prey seek him out instead of him having to painstakingly hunt them.

Then there is the Divine Protection effect, which is an essential defense for a Dark Priest to possess. Should Adam encounter hostile White Mages, he will have some layer of defense against their spells.

Finally, there is the Magic Repair which allows the item to be repaired without having to bring it to an enchanter or someone with a tailoring class. Since the cloak's durability is at a low 19/50- no doubt from the javelins he hurled at the cloak's previous owner, Adam decided to repair it.

[You have lost 310 Essence.]

"So, 10 Essence per point of repair, huh?" said Adam. "Not bad. I wish all my gear had Magic Repair."

Afterward, he removed the Ranger's Cloak he had been using this entire time and wore Novhekaar's Cloak instead.

The Ranger's Cloak effect of concealing his identity and level as well as its 50% noise reduction is useful back when he had no options to choose from. But now that he's past level 100 and is at least 30 levels ahead of the top rankers, even a Scan scroll would not reveal his level to other players anymore. As for his name, he's not particularly concerned as he was previously; he is confident that his name would fade into obscurity as the other players made their own exploits public for fame and glory. That, and the +10 Perception is too good to pass up.

With the cloak's effect, his current total Perception is at 25- around the same level as most scout classes.

"It seems Assassin's Woe is designed to detect and neutralize a would-be assassin," said Adam, noting the benefit granted by the two aptly named effects to counter the stealthy nature of an assassin to deal a devastating blow from stealth. "A woe for the assassin, indeed."

And the loot did not end with the cloak. The next item, a ring also of legendary rank, rendered the need for a Bag of Holding obsolete for Adam. And as soon as he equipped the ring, the item became bound to him- something that he was grateful for. In case he dies, at least the item will not be taken away from him.

'It's a good thing I'm past Level 100 now,' thought Adam contently. 'Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to wear two rings.'

Spatial Ring of Sorkis (Legendary)

Restriction: Adam

Description: Made by Enchanter Sorkis, this ring allows the user to store items to nothingness and retrieve them at a moment's notice. Some believe that Novhekaar killed Sorkis just to gain possession of this ring, while others believe that Sorkis is a good friend of Novhekaar and gave this ring to him as a gift.

Details: Requires 100 Essence to store and retrieve items.

"Now, I feel like I'm playing an old-school RPG!" exclaimed Adam.

Novhekaar's Cloak has amazing effects, but there will be times when Adam needs to unequip it. The Spatial Ring of Sorkis, on the other hand, will always be needed. Having a spatial inventory would make all his worries about overcarrying items will be completely a non-factor.

He immediately used the ring to store the Bag of Holding he had.

"So, it's 100 Essence per item? And it looks like a Bag of Holding with items inside it is still counted as one item."

Then Adam realized the tactical advantage of this ring. If he were to put all the items individually, then he could retrieve the item at a moment's notice without having to rummage through his bag. But of course, doing so would mean he will need to use 100 Essence for each item.

"I'll still need the Bag of Holding for most items, but I can store the essential ones in the Spatial Ring individually."

With an item that requires Essence to activate, he's beginning to have second thoughts about selling the Essence Orb. Perhaps, having an item that can store Essence for use is not a bad idea after all.

He quickly separated all the essential items he had- scrolls, usable items like grenades, potions, and flasks, and stored them in his spatial inventory separately so he could withdraw them at a moment's notice. He didn't mind the Essence that it cost him to do this; the advantage of immediately taking the item he needed at a moment's notice was worth the expense.

Novhekaar's Ritual Mask (Unique)

Description: A simple white mask that Novhekaar wore when he started the ritual to transform into a lich. It was a representation of leaving his identity as Novhekaar and embracing the new existence that he will become.

Details: +5 Perception, +500 MP

The next item was a mask- which he immediately equipped. There's not much to be said about it; the face-concealing effect of a mask is a welcome bonus, but another increase in Perception and the massive MP bonus is a welcome boost to his mana pool.

Then, the last and final item from the Lich's possession is a dagger.

Sacrificial Dagger (Rare)

Type: Dagger

Damage: 90

Weight: 1

Durability: 30/30

Requirements: 5 STR, 10 DEX, 10 MYS

Description: A dagger owned by Dark Priest Novhekaar. It is kept in excellent condition despite the constant use of sacrificial rituals to extract the essence of his victims.

Essence Absorption: Absorbs an extra 10% essence from the victim if used as a killing blow.

The damage is higher than Vetius's Dagger, but the real prize is the 10% extra essence absorbed from kills. The advantage granted by this effect speaks for itself. And for a solo player like Adam, the extra 10% would be even more pronounced.

However, he doesn't have the necessary 10 Mystery stat requirement- he is only currently at 6. This lack of required Mystery stat reminds him of the consumable item he got from the Lich, the Dark Ethos.

He currently has two Dark Ethos- a unique and rare grade. The unique is of a higher grade so Adam chose to absorb it first. To his surprise, there are several options he can choose from.

Ding!

[You have absorbed a Dark Ethos with multiple effects.]

[Please choose ONE from the following effects.]

[1. +5 Permanent boost to Mystery stat.]

[2. 10% boost to the power of Dark-type spells.]

[3. 15% Mental Resistance.]

Normally, an Ethos would provide a permanent boost to its most relevant stat. In the case of a Dark Ethos, it is usually a Mystery stat boost. And while there is the option of a +5 boost to Mystery stat that would allow Adam to meet the MYS requirement of the Sacrificial Dagger, the other option is surprisingly good which made him reconsider.

The spell power buff doesn't have any use to Adam as he's not a Dark Mage. But the 15% Mental Resistance is too good to pass up. There are not many ways to attain Mental Resistance. Items with Mental Resistance are rare, and traits are even more difficult to come across.

With this in mind, Adam made his decision.

Ding!

[You have chosen 3. 15% Mental Resistance.]

A 15% Mental Resistance is not easily acquired. Most players rely on a White Mage or Paladin to cast a high-level spell to gain some form of Mental Resistance. Yet he can secure one at 15%? There is no reason to pass up the opportunity to get the resistance. If he really needs a Mystery stat boost, he still has another Ethos he can use.

[You have gained the Mental Resistance trait.]

'Good.' thought Adam with immense satisfaction. 'This will be very useful when I get to New Camelot and participate in that Demesne Quest.'

Next, he absorbed the lesser-ranked Dark Ethos.

Ding!

[Your MYSTERY has permanently increased by 3.]

Sure enough, the less-ranked Ethos did not yield an extra option and the Mystery stat boost is only +3 as compared to the +5 option for the first one. However, this is still a win for Adam. Now he has a total of 9 MYS.

Since he's only lacking 1 point, he decided to level up once and used the stat point to increase his Mystery- bringing it to a total of 10.

He is now Level 110, while the top rankers have just started to hit Level 80. Of course, this means that the cost of leveling up has significantly increased compared to those below level 100. Adam will experience a slower rate of leveling up from this point forward.

He then equipped the Sacrificial Dagger and Vetius' Dagger. For now, he will use both daggers as his primary weapons.

Adam was about to start checking the system messages he received after killing the Lich when he suddenly sensed movement coming from above- which would be the Inner Catacombs. At first, he thought they were undead; after all, the effect of his cloak was to draw undead towards him. However, that did not appear to be the case.

Thanks to his heightened perception, he can detect nearly twice as far as he could before. And he can sense the movement of those headed his way: they appear to be players. By his estimates, there are around 20 of them from the overlapping sound of footsteps.

"Oh, this should be good," smirked Adam. "Let's see what happens."

Aside from the system messages, he also still needs to loot the Crystal Beasts. And since most of them were buried by the rubble, leaving is not an option. There is no way he will let anyone get the loot he fought hard for. How he reacts to the approaching party of players will depend on how they act when they encounter him.

Having no intention to leave, or even hide, he decided to check his Pyromancy skill tree while waiting for the group's arrival. Since he upgraded his MYS to 10, there are most likely new spells he became available. Perhaps there's something worth adding to his spell line-up.