Silence returned as Gerhard stood in the now-empty zombie dungeon. He had cleared the full dungeon. Quite impressive, he had to admit and very, very fruitful.
A slow, satisfied smile appeared as he looked at the items that lay all over the ground. The normal zombies dropped 'Tooth of the Dead', which was a low-ranked crafting item, 'Ribs', which also could be used for crafting and finally, 'Soul Stones'.
A soul stone held Mana inside it, so it could be used for quick recovery, if it was combined with [Mana Meditation] or for crafting as well. It was a very useful item to have.
Each of the zombies gave Gerhard 350 EXP, which wasn't a lot, but considering he just cleared 250 of them, that number stacked. But that wasn't even the big prize.
The Legion Zombie.
The Legion Zombie gave Gerhard a whopping 420'000 EXP.
"Oh, baby."
Gerhard had just gained 10 full levels! 10! That was more than he had gained since he started grinding, but it made sense. Gerhard was not Han Jihan, the main character of 'The Gamer' Manhwa. He had access to ridiculous weapons, even if they weren't overpowered just yet.
Plus, Gerhard had the advantage of knowledge. He trained himself and honed his skills, didn't have anything else to do, and spent days grinding the right skills and preparing for such a moment. He didn't go the magician route; he focused on just a few skills.
[Creation], [Dismantle], [Mana Shield] and using the weapons. That was basically it, and how powerful they were if used correctly was shown. Also, it didn't hurt to have a Power Sword... yeah.
Gerhard looked at the ground, where the items of the Legion Zombie lay. The first were five potions.
[Lowest grade Recovery Potion - Rank: normal]
A recovery potion. A lower to middle grade potion that instantly recovers 200 HP. Tastes like strawberry.
-
The second was a skill book.
[Skill book: Life Drain - Rank: rare]
Technique possessed by some middle rank or above Undead that can absorb life force. It absorbs the target's life force and adds it to the user's.
With training, it is possible to transfer the user's life force to allies.
-
And the third was actually just as amazing.
[Resources Pack - Rank: rare]
A pack of resources totalling up to 100kg of materials used for various crafting processes.
-
The resource pack was a godsend as it allowed him to improve his weapons this way, and judging from the carbon-fibre pieces that were included, he could create a full set of Flak Armour.
"This was a very fruitful dungeon run."
------------------
|Name: Gerhard
|Class: The Gamer
|Level: LV17
------------------
|HP: 700/700
|MP: 400/400
------------------
STR: 31
VIT: 22
DEX: 20
INT: 40
WIS: 17
LUK: 2
------------------
|Points: 50
|Money: 0
------------------
His current MP regen stood at 10.8 per minute. Now, he had 50 status points to spend, and the question was how he should spend them to get the most of it? Before he thought too much about it, he decided to spend 10 SP and place it into INT.
INT: 40 -> 50
[The skill' Mana Affinity' has been created through INT rising to 50.]
Mana Affinity (Passive)
| A technique that allows the user to become more sensitive to Mana and handle it better.
Effects:
+ 10% increase in MP recovery
+ 5% increase in total MP amount.
+ 5% increase in magic attack.
+ 5% increase in magic defence.
+ 30% increase in MP-related skill effects.
-
The effects could be felt immediately. This was amazing for Gerhard. His total MP, which was 10 times his INT, was now also multiplied by 5%, reaching 525 MP. But not only that, now all his skills that used Mana cost 30% less, which was beyond amazing for him.
His MP regeneration was now 15.6 per minute.
"Hahaha... YESSSHHH!!"
Gerhard experienced a few minutes of euphoria before coming down and realising where he was. He was still in Warhammer, and he was still just slightly better than cannon fodder. If he had to guess, he was somewhere at Elite Imperial Guard level, maybe a bit more, maybe a bit less. He didn't know yet. But he was definitely more powerful than the Planetary Defence Force overall.
The new Title, 'Zombie Slayer', was also interesting.
[Zombie Slayer]
When you attack the Undead:
Attack increases by 30%.
Defence Increases by 30%.
All stats increase by 5.
-
That was a neat title to have. Especially the + 5 to all stats. This would make clearing the Zombie dungeon a piece of cake from now on. A useful little EXP farm. But that was not something Gerhard was going to do right away. First, it was time to recuperate, calm down, and look over all the new materials he had got, to stock up on his ammo, repair his weapons, and create new and better ones.
.
Gerhard sat in his small room and looked at all the resources the final boss had given him. It was interesting that the item, which was supposed to be money in the Manhwa, was now a resource. And in a way, it made sense, since resources were what counted. Paper money was useless.
The Resource Pack lay open before him, spilling out materials that were far too clean and refined for the Underhive. Carbon-fibre sheets, layered plastek, flexible mesh, reinforced polymer, even a few intact thermoplastic plates.
Gerhard whistled.
"Jackpot."
This wasn't scrap, but proper, useful and new material. And with his growing [Creation] skill, that was a gold mine.
Gerhard pulled out his existing armour set and laid it out piece by piece. Flak Vest, the Helmet and the Arm Bracers. Right now, he missed: the Leg Guards, Shoulder Plates, and Groin Guard.
He cracked his knuckles.
"Let's fix that."
[Creation]
Gerhard focused, recalling the blueprint he had learned days earlier when he first dismantled the Flak Armour. It was an amazing fact that he had a system to assist with all matters concerning creation. He didn't have to understand the entire process of how the armour had been created.
He took the different pieces and then used [Creation]. The first piece formed. Two curved plates shaped for the thighs, reinforced with flexible joints.
[Flak Leg Guards – Rank: Uncommon]
Lightweight protective leg armour.
Effects:
+18% physical resistance
+25% fragmentation resistance
Improved mobility joints
-
Gerhard grinned, seeing the rank of the item.
"Uncommon already… nice."
Next came the shoulder plates. They were layered and angled, designed to deflect incoming strikes rather than absorb them directly.
[Flak Shoulder Plates – Rank: Uncommon]
Reinforced shoulder protection.
Effects:
+12% physical resistance
+15% energy resistance
Minor deflection bonus
-
Finally, the last missing piece, the groin guard. He paused for a second.
"...yeah, that one's important. Although... maybe not in this reality."
[Flak Groin Guard – Rank: Common]
Basic protective plate.
Effects:
+10% physical resistance
+10% fragmentation resistance
-
Once all pieces were complete, the system reacted.
[Flak Armour Set Completed]
[Set Bonus Activated]
[Full Flak Armour – Rank: Uncommon]
Durability: 420/420
Effects:
+35% Physical Resistance
+50% Explosive / Fragmentation Resistance
+15% Energy Resistance
Impact Dispersion (Enhanced)
Thermal Absorption (Improved)
Set Bonus:
+10% Damage Reduction when stationary
+5% overall durability to all equipment
-
Gerhard flexed slightly as the armour equipped itself from his inventory. It was light, much lighter than expected and far more comfortable. But that was to be expected, since he had equipped his 'character' with the Gamer system and wasn't wearing it physically in that sense. But he reckoned that it was still light.
"Now we're talking."
Gerhard sat down again, pulling out another selection of materials. He thought about what to do, apart from fixing and maybe improving his weapons and creating more ammunition. His next stop was to continue farming the Zombie dungeon until he gained barely any EXP from it and levelled his skills and stats.
But to do that, he had to find a way to better train his physical stats. And he had an idea.
A certain training method he had seen in his past life. The idea was centred around a special breathing technique.
Total Concentration Breathing.
Total Concentration Breathing was a breathing technique that involved expanding one's lungs to intake as much air as possible, accelerating one's blood flow and heartbeat, and increasing one's inner body temperature, resulting in one's bones and muscles becoming more excited.
Using Total Concentration Breathing essentially enhanced the user's physical traits and capabilities while still remaining human. Such traits included superhuman strength, speed, stamina, durability, endurance, and the mental abilities needed to keep up with their superhuman bodies, such as faster thought processes and reaction times.
But how was Gerhard going to train this? He had no teacher who could guide him. The answer, at least the partial one, was those special gourds that the Demon Slayers used.
Total Concentration: Constant was a Total Concentration Breathing state during the morning, noon, and night, and even while asleep, that advanced Demon Slayers, such as the Hashira, could constantly maintain.
There was an immense difference in strength, speed, and stamina between someone who could maintain Total Concentration Breathing at all times and someone who could not. Doing it every minute of the day drastically improved one's physical fitness.
Learning to maintain a constant state of Total Concentration Breathing required tremendous effort, though the skill itself is noted to be quite elementary despite the required effort.
The training process involved blowing into a special type of gourd, one that was much harder than usual. The objective was to blow into the gourd with enough strength to make the gourd break apart. As training progressed, the gourd was replaced by larger and larger versions of the same type. The largest known examples were about the size of a chair.
To improve Total Concentration Breathing and blow the gourd, the user should first work on their lung capacity. The main character of the story did this by getting up early and running around, which worked out his lungs with fast movements. He also practised holding his breath.
Lastly, as meditation helped with concentration, he also meditated by sitting in a Siddhasana pose, and breathing slowly and deeply, circulating the air all the way to the fingertips.
...
Gerhard shrugged, remembering these things. It was worth a try, in his opinion. He was all alone. Who was going to judge him if it didn't work? After all, he now had a Gamer body, so it might just work.
[Creation]
The materials were compressed and reshaped after Gerhard prepared the initial steps. He first formed a gourd using clay he found on the ground and unlocked the blueprint. Then he used better, more powerful materials to create the gourds.
Instead of a natural gourd, what formed was something different. It was smooth, dark in colour and reinforced, most likely beyond the natural gourds, almost like a hybrid between an organic and mechanical engineered design.
[Training Gourd – Rank: Uncommon]
Durability: 300/300
A reinforced breathing training device. It has extremely high internal pressure resistance and is designed to train lung capacity and breath control.
Effects:
+10% efficiency when training breathing-related skills
Slight increase in stamina recovery when used regularly
-
Gerhard blinked. Of course, it had stats. He picked it up, turning it in his hands. It felt solid, maybe way too solid.
"Yeah… this isn't breaking anytime soon."
Gerhard stood up, having forgotten the other things he wanted to do today. He held his back straight and closed his eyes, as he inhaled as much as possible and then exhaled into the gourd as hard as he could.
...
Nothing happened.
He tried again.
Inhale. Fill the lungs completely and exhale.
He tried to push further, forcing more air into the small gourd. After a moment, he felt chest pain. His lungs burned as he tried harder.
"Haaaahhh..." he took a deep breath.
He wasn't depressed by this. Pain was good; that meant it was working, at least something was working. He grabbed the gourd again, placed it to his mouth and blew as hard as he could.
Nothing, not even a dent.
"This is going to suck."
He inhaled again, even deeper this time. He tried to feel the Mana in the air, breathing it in. Naturally, there was no Mana in the air, as this wasn't the same universe as the Gamer. But there was energy in the air that was 'mystical' in nature.
Then he blew into the gourd with everything he had.
Gerhard lowered the gourd slowly. His chest hurt, and his head throbbed slightly. But he didn't stop.
For hours, Gerhard didn't stop and didn't rest. He used all he could think of to somehow get a skill for this. He breathed in as deeply as he could until it hurt, and then pushed until it hurt more. Eventually, without him realising it fully, his internal Mana shifted slightly, affecting his lungs.
It took a very long time for the long-awaited blue notification to appear.
[A skill has been created through a special action.]
[Through continuous breathing control and lung exertion, 'Deep Breathing Energy Control' has been created.]
Deep Breathing Energy Control (Active/Passive) Lv.1
| EXP: 0.00%
| MP: 5 per minute
| A breathing technique that enhances physical performance through controlled respiration, by precise Mana control.
Effects:
+10% total HP (Passive)
+1% HP regeneration (Passive) -> +10% when active
+10% total MP (Passive)
+1% MP regeneration (Passive) -> 10% when active
Special Effects:
+2 STR (Active)
+2 VIT (Active)
+2 DEX (Active)
+2 INT (Active)
-
Gerhard's eyes widened slightly. After laughing for a moment, he lay on the ground and fell asleep a moment later.