Wealth of untold proportions laid in front of the duo, but their attention was not focused on it. Instead, they paid more attention to the powerful and mysterious man that stood before them.
“Who are you?!” Jet drew his swords, thinking the man to be an opponent that had somehow slipped by them, but Leon just held up his hand, not speaking a word.
Michael turned to Leon with a wolfish grin. He was very happy and proud of Leon. He was glad that he could see this rise and that Leon was not a waste of his efforts.
“Well done. You both have impressed us by your feats through Divinity’s Bout. You will be duly rewarded aside from the gains of this floor. Until when next we meet.” Michael nodded his head and vanished. He did not say anything that hinted at the fact that he was already acquainted with Leon though.
“Was that… A God?” Jet wondered with an open jaw. Leon nodded his head but didn’t speak. Instead, his mind lingered on what Michael had said. Michael said that the two of them had impressed ‘them’. And he had implied that they would meet again, probably soon from his tone of speaking. Did that mean…
He quickly shared his thoughts with Jet and the dark haired man’s eyes went round like saucers.
“No way… Does that mean we might be selected?” Jet could not help but voice his thoughts.
After Divinity’s Bout was concluded, as per the customs, a number of people from each zone would be selected by the Gods as the most outstanding of their zone.
“I don’t know, but it might be what he implied.” Leon shrugged and once again turned his attention to the treasures. This was not his first time interacting with a God, not to mention it was Michael, so he was in less of a shocked state than Jet. He stepped forward and picked up a handful of the gold coins mounded up into a small hill in front of him.
There was only gold in front of Leon. He saw no silvers nor bronze. Staffs, crowns, wands, pots and bars that were made entirely of gold. Even the pillars that held up the room shone with a golden luster, which led Leon to believe that they were also crafted from gold.
“This much wealth is enough to propel my family to untold heights…” Jet sighed when he finally regained his senses. He looked around with wonder.
When Leon looked at him, he did not see the powerful elite that could manipulate space itself. Instead, he saw a boy who was made mature too early. He could not help but ask, “Say, how old are you, Jet?”
“Hmm? Why are you asking?” Jet turned to Leon with surprise.
“Just curious.” Leon shrugged. He could not exactly explain what his intuition had told him.
“I’m twenty. I just turned twenty a month before Divinity’s Bout started.” Jet chose to tell Leon. After all, they were friends.
“Ha, what a coincidence.” Leon chuckled. “I’m also twenty.” He had been twenty before coming to this world, and he felt it was nice to have a friend who was his age mate. After all, Leon was someone who found joy in the little things sometimes.
After a few more moments passed in silence, the two friends began packing up the riches contained within the treasury. There was so much to go around that they did not bother with splitting the shares beforehand. Instead, they just started packing what they could. Whenever they found a fruit or herb that would seem useful, they would bring it up so that they could pick what could help them in any way.
Leon picked things that seemed useful for himself as an Obsidian Skeleton. Things that could reinforce and strengthen his bones. He also picked them with Kaladin and Nero in mind. As fellow Obsidian Skeletons, they could benefit from those items.
Aside from those, he also picked items that could boost one’s mental strength. Those were for Nedra. And also he got some potions and herbs that could boost intellect and magical prowess for himself and Kaladin.
By the time the place was swept clean, there were twenty round, head sized orbs that radiated energy. Leon felt them with his aura, but had no idea what they were. They reminded him of the orbs that he had found on lower floors that enhanced his strength in different ways.
“What do you think these are?” He turned to Jet with a defeated sigh.
“No idea. But they seem to hold pure mana within them. Why don’t we split these equally first. We can find out their use later.” Jet scratched his head in confusion, as he too did not know what use the orbs were. Not even Joseph, Leon’s summon who acted as an encyclopedia, had an idea on what the orbs were.
Leon nodded and the two quickly split up the orbs. Leon stored nine of them in his treasury and took one in his hand to examine it more closely. An idea came to mind, but he pushed it aside for now. They still had to deal with the aftermath of defeating the floor boss. The competition would come to an end soon enough, but Leon did not know how long that would take.
“Let’s go deal with the others.” Leon gestured above and climbed out of the treasury. There, he saw something he had not been expecting.
The doors to the boss room had been opened wide, and a multitude of people were pouring in. Weapons were raised and pointed at Hank’s group, as the new comers all thought that Hank and his group had killed the boss and taken all the gains for themselves. Upon seeing Leon and Jet coming out of the treasury, though, they turned to them.
“Alright, cough up the rewards!” A thickly built woman yelled. She brandished a pair of hammers at Hank with a fire radiating in her eyes.
“And what if we don’t want to?” Hank remained firm. Now that Leon had appeared, he felt more confident. That was because there was no way the competitors would allow Leon to escape when he had just come out of the treasury. So, when they turned to attack Leon, he could search for an opportunity to flee with his friends.