Chapter 481

Arthur sat back on his haunches, watching as Bomoh Umi - miraculously alive and mostly uninjured but for some bruising on her side at being thrown aside by him - worked on Jan. His teammate was awake now, grimacing in pain and muscles locked in place as feathers, salves and mud paste was placed on her body. Normally, Arthur would have laughed at such healing methods but this was the Tower and he could tell that Jan's pain and wounds were closing.

Now, whether that was just because she was utilizing the Advanced Healing technique to help close it or the bomoh's ministrations were taking effect, he could not exactly tell - or ask. But, really, she was less in the range of dying outright from complications and more in the, suffering till she was healed stage.

Turning the Boss beast core over in his hand, Arthur stared at the lustrous yellow object that was their prize. Beautiful, and probably quite expensive. He hefted it once and bounced it on the palm of his hand once and then again before he decided to pocket it.

“Will she live?”

“Yes. She shouldn’t – but she will,” Bomoh Umi said.

“Score another one for the Clan Seal, eh?” Arthur asked Jan who glared at him, her breathing slow and careful. He chuckled, straightening as he walked around the room and checked the bodies that had not disappeared. The look Bomoh Umi gave him was less than kindly but he ignored it. He wasn’t going to give up on loot just because she thought he should be more careful.

Not that he expected a lot, but the rajah’s body which was untouched yielded the best goods, including a medallion that the System notified him about almost immediately, and a small belt knife.

 

Belt Knife of Gracious Royalty

Effect: Increases the perceived charm of the wearer, making them seem to be more courteous, polite and overall engaging than they naturally are.

 

Arthur bounced the tiny knife in his hand, snorted and put it on his belt. He was curious how it worked, and knew that the moment any of his teammates realised it, he would never live it down. On the other hand, while he might not be the kind to go all the way to wearing a completely mismatched set of gear for the best effects, he wasn’t going to turn down something so obviously useful just because he was about to receive some good natured ribbing.

On the other hand, the medallion was a little less focused.

 

Medallion of Irregular Courage

Effect: While wearing the medallion, user has an increased chance of dispelling fear effects and to muster their courage.

 

He slipped the medallion over his neck, shaking his head a little. He probably would offer it to Jan when she recovered enough. While it might be useful for him, he liked to think he was bullheaded enough to fight through most things and his Yin Body already gave him a similar effect to this. At the same time, she had helped him out on this battle and deserved some form of recompense for her help.

Obviously, she’d get her share of the final fight shards and the like, but it was not enough, at least not in his view. While he might be the boss, having his bodyguard be stronger could only be of benefit to him. Nor was he dumb enough to underpay the person guarding his back – after all, they were the kind who could put a knife in it most easily.

Not that, being a Clan Leader meant that it was easy. At least, not until he could designate a new heir. At that point – or close to when that could happen – was when he would need to worry about betrayal. There were enough slop books – half of them generated by AI at least – that rethreaded those same kind of tropes. The smart ones took older works about inheritances, royalty and lineages and then reworked the tropes into modern day guilds and clans, rewriting them via their chatbots and then cleaning up with some basic review.

Not that it was wrong – in fact, Arthur had to admit – he’d read a few of them in time. Not a lot, since they were rarely unique enough to be worth reading more than the AI created summaries; but it passed the time, especially when he was on a scooter, caught in traffic.

“Two magical items. Not a bad haul…” Arthur explained to Jan as he returned, squatting beside the woman. She was now propped up, more charms woven around her and smoke bowls drifting all around her. “Not a lot of cores though. If we waited for a few more adds, we might have been able to farm the floor.”

“You joking ah?” Jan started, then caught sight of the glint of humor in his eyes. She relaxed, waving a fist weakly at him. “Why you no kill some of the ponyet around me?”

“Was busy killing the boss.”

“After!”

“Truthfully?” Arthur gestured down at his body which was still healing. He still hurt, though his Yin Body and mind had allowed him to push the notice of pain to the side. “Couldn’t. Scared they come back and fight me.”

He had woven another Refined Exploding Energy Dart and stuck it in his Pocket Simpanan, just in case. But mostly, he was utilizing his Advanced Healing system to slowly patch everything else together, deadening the pain signals that ran through his body.

“Hah.” Jan seemed satisfied with his answer, which he would not have been if he was in her shoes. Then again, he kind of understood. He was learning, slowly, not to risk his life as much; not as much as he might. Lose a little on each run, but at least increase the chances that he would finish the runs.

After all, building up a proper Guild would make him richer and stronger than anything else he could do. In time, he would start getting enough monster cores from the Guild itself that he could directly refine into his core and become stronger.

As the silence lingered, Jan could not help but ask. “Now what?”

“Now?” Arthur shrugged. “Now we grind.” Crossing his feet, pushing the pain aside, he sighed. “Which reminds me…”

She snorted but didn’t interrupt as he started cultivating. There was no better time to start than now. After all, each moment saved was a moment won.