Your Bearings.

After my emotions finally started to wind down I got to work. Luckily there weren't any monsters where I was, and even more luckily, I wasn't on the verge of death. My crushed ribs made it hard to breathe from the pain, but as far as I could tell at least, none of my organs had been seriously damaged thanks to my magic.

'First things first.' Taking my time, I slowly carved out the demon's manna stone from its heart which had turned to stone. It glowed a brilliant dark purple and was the size of my fist. 'This feels a little wrong since He used to be human… But no one will believe me if I don't take it back.'

After taking the stone I gathered my weapons, staring for awhile at the greatsword I had killed it with. 'Sure. I'll take this too, a souvenir for Lu.'

Ripping it out made the body jerk upwards, giving me the shivers, but after a moment I got my confidence back that it was dead for sure.

'Ok. Step two.' I took off my armor. Double-checking my ribs and treating the scrapes from when I blasted the demon's thumb off with my dark magic… Not that I actually knew enough about medicine to do anything if something was seriously wrong…

The scrapes were no worse than a bit of road burn though, and at the very least none of my ribs were sticking out, so I figured I'd live long enough to see my next fight. Looking down though… 'I can't believe after all that I was the one that trashed my armor…'

The entire right side of my body was bare, covered in a single streek of scraped-up skin, and my armor was just completely missing between my ribs and ankle, with the exception of a thin strand of the waistband from my pants, which still held them up at least. 'I really hope this isn't deep enough to scar…'

To cover the holes in my armor I flipped around my jerkin and hung it from my waist. It was too dented to wear anyway, and even if it wasn't the last thing I needed was something tight around my ribs making it hurt even harder to breathe. After that, I looted the demon's tunic. At first, I tried to cut it up, but it wouldn't tear, despite how shabby and torn up it already was.

Using my magic I took a closer look.

[

Abyssal tunic. [rare]

Armor rating 120

Material (Uknown)

Base armor rating (Uknown)

Enchanted, (Durability, tare resistance.)

]

'Well… That explains it… What's with this quality rating? I take down a boss and even though it's wearing rags it drops rare gear that was enchanted and has crazy high stats… Now it really feels like a game…'

I compared it to my other gear for reference. My old leather armor that could stop most weapons was rated at 85, and my plate arm guard was rated at 110. Both were unenchanted of course. 'Yea… Magic must just be awful if it can make rags better than plate mail…' I let out a heavy sigh, immediately regretting it as my ribs ached from the deep breath. 'I guess I don't actually know what this thing is made out of to be fair.'

I quickly made several secure knots to the tunic, tying it tightly around my chest to make up for my jerkin that was now protecting my hips. Finally, I used my magic to sow a needle of ice through my pant leg, tearing off a section from farther down and making a few straps to hold the slit closed.

'Now that that's all taken care of, let's take a look around then shall we? If this really is a game, then there has to be loot right?' I thought to myself jokingly. 'What I really need is a way out.

I thought back to the trap that dropped me down there. 'I mean, this is basically a secret room… I was sliding for about three whole seconds, so assuming the slide angle was 45 degrees, that means I probably fell around 130 feet or so… The staircases between levels were each about the height of two stories, taking that into consideration I probably dropped about 5 floors.' I froze for a second, surprising myself at how fast I calculated the numbers.

Turning back to the corpse behind me I slowly rubbed my temple with one hand. It was like a great weight had been lifted off my shoulders, and like my mind had been cleared of all the dark fog that was surrounding it. It felt… Well… It felt good.

I turned, trying to figure out which way I should go. 'Five floors isn't bad but… This is just a Giant empty stone room…'

I amplified my dark sight, combining it with my manna to heighten my senses. Everything around me was chiseled stone, handcrafted, like a giant temple. Then I finally started to make something out in the distance.

When I approached it, sure enough, it was a dragon… Well, the corpse of one. Long dead too, with a sword sticking out of its chest that was three stories tall. 'Sure would have liked to see that battle… Don't tell me all that was just the tutorial…'

Continuing on I saw slash and scorch marks all around where the fight must have taken place. The only thing I knew for sure was that there was no way they were human. I doubted even my father could use a sword that size. The scary thing though, was that the handle was thin enough for his hand to fit around, meaning the person using it couldn't have been much larger than him.

'I'm so never coming back here…'

Eventually, I stumbled upon the end of the room. Before me sat a massive skeleton, even larger than the dragon. All around it sat treasure, gold, and jewels.

He didn't seem like the other skeletons. He seemed… More lifeless somehow. Behind the throne, there was a sack filled with gold and jewels. It was too large for me to carry though. It was likely whoever was there last had to leave it behind… The skeleton's sword pommel lay resting on his shoulder, while the point was on the ground, its eyes regally staring down at me.

'Well… I mean if no one else is taking this treasure…' I looked around, making sure whoever was there had really left without it, and in doing so I noticed a large book strapped to the skeleton's shoulder, poking out from just under his robes. I climbed up on the throne to take a closer look at it. Its bone structure was surprisingly stable, and it almost felt like climbing a tree. With my magic reinforcing my muscles, I made it up to the book with no problem. 'Now, how do I get it out of this case? Oh, should I just cut the leather straps holding it to his shoulder?'

Just as I drew my sword the whole earth began to shake.

"SO YOU'VE FINALLY RETURNED!" A great voice bellowed as the skeleton's eyes lit up with firey red orbs that left traces of light as they moved.

'What is wrong with this palace!' I quietly snuck backward, instinctively hiding under his robe.