Ivan walked back to unite with Wanyama and Onelight, who mournfully stayed with Baka's corpse.
Suddenly, an info panel popped up in the perception of every member of this adventure party.
Level one of the Vate Prison Realm cleared!
Info: Brave raider, you and your party have completely cleared the threats on Level One of the Vate Prison Realm. Proceed to ascend to a higher level immediately. Don't forget to collect loot drops.
Instantly, the bones of the decimated skeletons coalesced with a pixel-like effect to form various drops. Exp stones were the most abundant among the drops that appeared. Exp stones were the size of an adult's thumb.
Wanyama had laid Baka to lie on the ground. Two loot drops appeared on Baka's chest. They were a class card and a larger-than-normal EXP rock. The other members of the crew walked over to the trio.
Wanyama was visibly bitter about Baka's death. He expressed his frustration regarding the cowardly six, blaming them directly for Baka's demise. The six acknowledged their fault, but they reminded Wanyama that he was also to blame. In a rather ironic twist, they blamed Wanyama for being in a class that was practically useless in close combat.
"Everyone, shut the hell up!" Ivan yelled, unable to tolerate the bickering he was witnessing.
"We messed up terribly. Baka, the strongest member of our team and the only one who truly had the qualities of a leader, is dead. He died because he was trying to lead by example. We failed him; we all failed, except for one of us," Ivan said, turning to gaze at BlueBlack as he uttered the last sentence.
He continued, "BlueBlack was the only one brave enough to follow him into battle while we all stayed cowering in fear and anxiety. But now, things will change here. All of us will fight. If you don't fight, you are going to have to fight me."
Ivan picked up his weapon, which he had rested upright on the ground. He placed the weapon over his shoulder to underscore his statement. He stared at every adventurer there with him. No one seemed to want to fight him, given his assertive declaration.
"Good, no one wants to fight me," Ivan said. "It's time we share the spoils. If the spoils were to be shared based on those who put actual effort into this raid, most of us wouldn't get anything. But that's not the smart thing to do; some of your skills are Exp-dependent and could be crucial at any point along this adventure."
"But the first person to pick should be BlueBlack. She worked when it truly counted, even though it didn't turn out well in the end. She gets to take the Exp rock that appeared on Baka."
Ivan had a strong hunch that the large Exp stone on Baka contained up to a thousand Exp points. The stone was larger than an adult's clenched fist. BlueBlack claimed the large Exp rock. She didn't hesitate to assimilate it.
She looked at Ivan and said, "I received ten thousand Exp points."
Ivan nodded. He stepped forward and picked up the class card on Baka. He inspected it, and as he expected, it was the Royal Dragon Mutant class card. He gave the card to Onelight to keep, as she was the only adventurer in the crew that had a system inventory. He told the team that Baka's class card would be handed over to Brainboss_7. Everyone was content with the decision.
Ivan nominated Wanyama to take the mantle of leadership, to lead this crew going forward. No one opposed the nomination. Wanyama reluctantly accepted the mantle. The reason Ivan didn't step up to take the mantle of leadership was that he wasn't sure of himself. He understood that he was now overwhelmed with emotions of anger and deep self-disappointment. He didn't want to make decisions while in this state.
He had observed everyone's reaction to Baka's death and noticed that Wanyama was the most level-headed person amongst all of them. This was where Ivan's past life's instincts had come to life. He didn't notice that he was acting level-headed when he was making the decision to make Wanyama the leader of the crew.
In tight situations, when a spy was about to be uncovered in the enemy camp, it was crucial for the spy to remain cool-headed to cautiously calculate their next line of action. The next line of action was usually to flee immediately, but in perilous situations, the option to flee had been cut off. So it required the spy to act—to act like he was a true member. The spy would weave through psychological and physical traps, which were demanding in both intellect and emotional control.
Ivan had just displayed a spy's aptitude for emotional control.
Wanyama shared the loot drops fairly among himself and his teammates. The Exp stones were shared equally, and the excess of one Exp stone went to BlueBlack because of her bravery. One hundred undead skeletons were slain in total. Every one of the thumb-sized stones contained fifty Exp points. Every skeleton decimated had dropped one Exp stone, and that was the least drop. Some skeletons were as generous as dropping two loot items.
The other loot items they shared were things like bone swords, bone helmets of low durability, torso armour of low durability, and bone gauntlets, which were also of low durability. Ivan put on a bone helmet, bone torso armour, and bone gauntlets.
A new set of system information popped up in his perception.
>>>>
System Info
Character Name: Nnamani Ivan
Avatar Name: Black Riot 79
Physical attributes
HP—100
Vitality—10
Strength—10.01
Agility—10.1
Speed—10.01
Stamina—10.05
Intelligence—10.01
Info: Ten points is the base grading for a regular player. A rating of 10.1 implies that a person is two times stronger at an attribute than a regular human being. If the rating goes higher, the power gap increases at the rate of 0.1 point to +1x power.
Item attributes
Defense—10 Attack—(1) 50, (2) 500, (3) 10
'Hmmn. Physical attributes? My attack power comes in three categories: fifty points, five hundred points, and ten points. The gap between a C-rank weapon and an S-rank weapon is huge,' Ivan deliberated on the new set of information displayed on his system.
Ivan didn't know what item owned the attack rated ten points.
Wanyama surveyed the situation. Everyone had equipped items they thought were suitable for the next level raid.
"Let's go," Wanyama said, taking the lead to set off for the next level.
A flight of crimson stairs had appeared the instant Ivan decimated the last skeleton. There was a floating sign close to the stairs with the words: 'Ascend the stairs to enter Level Two.' The adventurers ascended the stairs, discussing their plan on how to raid Level Two without incurring loss or fatal injuries.