As Anne was about to step out of the broken office, Feng Ye remembered something.
"Wait..." Feng Ye says quietly. Anne stops her footsteps.
One thing remained. There was still loot to be claimed. He definitely couldn't leave this pile of loot for the guild, especially after all the hard work. It's only right for them to get their payout.
Feng Ye quickly walked up to the guild branch leader's corpse. He approached it and then crouched at its side.
"What do we do with him?"
Anne replied from behind him. "Leave it, Krum probably will take it away and use it as evidence. He will take care of the report and then probably incinerate the body. Seal the records."
Feng Ye nodded. He then glanced at Anne slowly. "What you see next, you didn't see. Okay, partner?"
"Okay." Anne nodded.
As soon as Anne agreed, Feng Ye went into full loot mode. He turned over the guild branch leader's corpse and dug its pockets. Scavenging for any values he could find.
Anne who was staring at Feng Ye's action was speechless.
"You.."
"Don't worry about it. It's our spoils of war and for the trouble." He dug out a small pouch of beast cores and tossed it over to Anne.
Anne caught it and grinned.
"That's your share." Feng Ye ripped off the brass knuckles from the branch leader's hands. "These are mine."
He put the knuckles into his inventory. After a brief pause, Feng Ye also put his red blade into his inventory. He walked over to the daggers he had dropped earlier. Luckily, they weren't damaged. He dropped the two daggers into the pockets of his cloak.
"You are blatantly using your spatial skill now…" Anne muttered.
"Only in private." Feng Ye replied. "It's convenient and there's no reason to hide the larger weapons in my cloak."
"That's reasonable. Then, with your spoils of war taken, are you ready to head out?" Anne asks with a hint of pushiness.
"Yep, let's go. Let's meet up with Flora." Feng Ye stood up and walked with Anne towards the exit.
They exited into the hallway. The barrier cast by Anne was able to isolate most of the damage, however, the outside still had numerous cracks which had spread throughout the walls.
Along the way, Feng Ye pulled up the stat screen in his mind.
--
Candidate 15864457 Information.
Name: Feng Ye (Candidate)
Rank: 1
HP: 71%
Mana: 25
Strength: 6
Agility: 6
Stamina: 6
Intelligence: 8
Charm: 4
Free Attribute Points: 20
Note: An average human (non-candidate and non-contractor) has standard attributes of 4-5. After accepting the contract and becoming a candidate, the
Talent: None.
--
Now was the time to decide on how to allocate his twenty free attribute points. Previously, placing ten into strength, and five into agility and stamina would be a good use case for overpowering Krum and Anne at that time. However, now that he didn't need to quickly assign the points, he could be more thoughtful.
At this time, it would make sense to even out the stats a bit more so he was more versatile. Currently, he is setting up his foundation. There would be more opportunities to lean in any particular direction.
He ensured to use up all the free allocatable stats. It would be foolish to not do so especially when his life is on the line.
He decided on the following distribution:
+6 Strength
+6 Agility
+6 Stamina
+2 Intelligence
His final stats now looked like this:
--
Candidate 15864457 Information.
Name: Feng Ye (Candidate)
Rank: 1
HP: 71%
Mana: 25
Strength: 12
Agility: 12
Stamina: 12
Intelligence: 10
Charm: 4
Free Attribute Points: 20
Note: An average human (non-candidate and non-contractor) has standard attributes of 4-5. After accepting the contract and becoming a candidate, the
Talent: None.
--
Feng Ye was satisfied with this distribution. He felt a surge of warmth throughout his body. His limbs felt easier to use. His body felt lighter. He definitely felt stronger. Tapping on his chest lightly, he could feel that his body became more sturdy.
It was a significant upgrade. With these stat improvements, he may have been able to take on the guild branch leader much more easily. As for the tentacled demon, he would probably still need assistance and support considering its numerous attack methods and tendril coverage. It definitely would have been much easier and he wouldn't have been as battered though.
Anne noticed that Feng Ye was gazing into space and gave him a nudge. "What are you spacing out for?"
Feng Ye just had finished his free point allocation and snapped back to reality.
"Was just thinking about what's next.."
Anne rolled her eyes. "Sure you were."
They walked down the staircase and reached the guild branch's second floor. The sounds of shouting and confusion had quieted down throughout the building. Order seemed to have been restored.
Throughout the hallways, several new armored figures in polished guild uniforms moved in and out of the rooms. From the second floor, they looked down and could see the situation on the first floor.
These new armored figures barked orders to the guild branch enforcers and restrained the remaining thugs who had joined the earlier riot. General Krum stood at the center on the first floor. He no longer covered his appearance as he issued numerous commands to wrap up the cleanup.
Some of the enforcers that were abusing their authority earlier were now in shackles. On each side, they had uniformed enforcers staring them down. Each of their statuses had been stripped and their uniform removed. Krum didn't care who they knew or what they knew. He just wanted justice done fast and efficiently.
"Looks like he's not wasting time," Anne whispered.
Anne and Feng Ye continued walking through the hall until they reached the lounge area on the second floor where most receptionist took their break. It was a quiet room.
Inside, Flora sat on a stool at a wooden table tending to Red. Red was wrapped up in several places. Bandages across his chest and one of his arms. He had taken numerous cuts and bruises. He sat across Flora on another stool. He seemed to be in a fine mood despite his injuries as he still had the energy to crack jokes.
Anne and Feng Ye entered the lounge. The sound made both Red and Flora look up.
"Look who finally showed up." Red snorted.
Flora also turned and glanced at them. Her eyes which were filled with concern lit up slightly. "You are okay!"
Anne nodded. "Yep, barely made it. We are alive and well."
They exchanged some light banter. This change of atmosphere was a much-needed break from the chaos that had happened the past few days.
--
Meanwhile, back on the third floor in the former guild branch leader's office, the corpse remained. Two shadows emerged out of nowhere and appeared beside the corpse.
"Tch.. useless." A masked man with dark robes glanced at the corpse and at the ceremonial dagger that was not shattered.
A woman nearby also hidden in dark robes sneered. "A fool that overreached himself. A failure." Her voice was filled with disdain.
The masked man gave a dismissive shake of the head.
"It wasn't all completely wasteful. He was there."
The woman's tone shifted. "The blade…?"
A brief silence fell before the man replied. "He has it."
"The blade did not reject him…"
"No. It didn't." The masked man's voice grew more serious.
"Perhaps…he may be suitable. We must start our preparations earlier. Inform the elder."
With those final words, both cloaked figures disappeared into the shadows once again.