As Aug looked at the goblin, the outline went from blue to green, and the ability generated a brief report on the corpse.
[Corpse scan complete]
[Level 5 - Goblin - F Rank - Normal]
[7 normal items obtainable from processing. Would you like to proceed?]
As Aug accepted the prompt, his mana was drained, and the goblin before him pixelated blue and dissolved. Before he knew it, seven items appeared neatly at the bottom of the bath, and the corpse was completely gone, without a trace.
He had spent two mana per item, setting his total left over to one, but this was okay. He didn't need his mana often, and he was about to sleep, regenerating it.
He looked at the items individually, picking them up one by one.
[N5F - Goblin hide - Reagent - Has all the properties of paper, but smells worse.]
He assumed since the scan had scanned the goblin as normal, level five and F rank, this was the N5F. The other items he had gotten were all N5F as well and were:
[Goblin bone pile (Tier 1) - Reagent - An assorted pile of brittle goblin bones made into a teepee.]
[Pickled goblin brain - Consumable (+1 INT | 5 mins) - Pickled goodness the size of a pea.]
[Goblin rags - Reagent - Just enough to cover the essentials.]
[Dried goblin arm - Weapon - Kill with the power of a goblin slap.]
[Goblin grabby hand - Tool - Squeeze the tendon and the hand closes, increasing your reach, just.]
[Hollowed goblin head - Projectile - Aerodynamics of a brick, damage of a tennis ball.]
Aug's eyebrows rose as he looked at the items. He had received no items from the torso region of the goblin, but he assumed this was because the sword had skewered and ejected most of it.
He also observed a five percent increase in his experience following the processing, which could only be attributed to the process itself.
Looking through the items again, the bones stood out as the most interesting one, because they were the only items possessing a tier. As he focused on the bones, an outline appeared blue again and went green after a moment.
[3 items obtainable from processing. Insufficient mana to proceed.]
So tiered items meant he could use his [Corpse Processing] again.
He rejoiced, for he had discovered a method to earn money and experience beyond the dungeon. But this enthusiasm was short-lived. Aug put all the items into his inventory, and now with low mana and low energy, he could barely keep his eyes open.
The next day dawned, and Aug woke up and rolled onto his back. He opened his inventory and smiled when the goblin-related items were still there. It wasn't a dream.
He had a few hours until he had to meet at the dungeon, so he ate some breakfast and did some research on the market.
He searched the market for any goblin parts that were being sold, and surprisingly, there were very few. As he had suspected, most people didn't bother trying to salvage items from corpses. There were a few [goblin rags] up for one steel coin, but nothing else.
Aug listed everything but the [goblin bones] at reasonable prices and closed the market. Within minutes he had sold a few of the items.
It was an accepted practice when purchasing from the market that you leave a comment for the seller, even if it was just thank you. Comments and reviews build brands. Aug read the comments, and most of the items had such comments as, [I bought this as a joke for my friend. He will find it funny.]
However, a sale is a sale, and Aug grinned. A smile graced his face as he finished breakfast, a rare occurrence since his parents passed.
By the time the party was walking through the first floor of [goblin World], he had made 205 steel coins and sold everything but the [goblin rags]. He couldn't help but smile.
"Stop smiling, Augustus, you're creeping me out," said Selene, the mage of the dungeon party and the party's other bully.
Aug sped up to walk in front of her, wanting to keep his smile, but this was also not acceptable.
"You walk at the back! If anything attacks us from behind, a beauty like myself cannot get injured," she said, flicking her hair, as if she thought of herself as a goddess.
Ilya, the group's healer and last member, glanced back at him apologetically. She was the only person who showed him any kindness. Alistair ignored him, and Frank and Selene bullied him. It was nice to have one person around whom he felt safe. Sadly, she also faced bullying whenever she acted friendly towards Aug, leaving him with only apologetic smiles. As a result, she was the only one to whom he paid any mind.
Ilya's long, royal blue hair, secured in a ponytail with six bands, almost touched the ground. She possessed golden eyes and a lovely face. She was rather short, wore a pale blue robe over her leather armour and held a large golden ring, which glowed white when she used her healing magic.
Ilya was by far the most experienced adventurer in the group and an amazing healer. He was not sure why she had stayed partied with these people. She was almost level 30 and had awakened her novice class, which is where she got her healing abilities. Before she was a healer, she was only a buffer, but her novice class increased her utility significantly. Maybe she thought she owed them a debt of gratitude because she had been in their party when she levelled past 25.
The rest of the party were between levels 18 and 23, and were all grinding to get their novice awakening.
Today they had decided instead of scouring the first floor for prey, they would go to the second floor. Although more dangerous, they had been extremely cautious until now.
Once a dungeon is conquered, it ceases spawning creatures that attack nearby regions, and the conqueror gains ownership. Since someone completed this dungeon hundreds of years ago, the original owner had long passed away, and the city had inherited it. This ownership granted them the freedom to establish any rules they desired, such as permitting loot rules, charging an entry fee, or any other stipulations they chose.
Thankfully, since the dungeon was in a prominent city park, the city had established the first level as a free zone for anyone holding an adventurer's license. Unfortunately, beyond the first dungeon level, you were required to pay a small toll to pass. The city framed this as a donation towards the city's upkeep.
Aug assumed the group would foot his bill when they got to the stairs to the second level. But when they reached the tollgate, Frank paid for four people and then waited beyond it for Aug to pay his own entry.
The cost was 100 steel coins, his entire fee for today. If it hadn't been for his ulterior motives, he would have walked away from working for free. But he paid it, to which Frank smirked, and they continued down to level two of the dungeon.
The goblins here were level eight instead of five, allowing for slightly more experience per kill.
Upon reaching the first pack, Aug assumed his customary position at the back, out of harm's way, and waited.
As the battle began, Aug began searching for the best target for his [Corpse Collection] ability. At the front of the group of goblins was a goblin warrior, who led the charge. This goblin interested Aug the most. But, unfortunately for him, the party was particularly brutal towards the warrior and finely diced it, making it useless for collection.
Soon enough the battle was done, and as usual, the party sat down and rested while Aug rushed between bodies and collected the loot.
As Aug stopped at each of the treasure boxes, he scanned the bodies, trying to find suitable targets for collection.
Depending on their dismemberment, he could get between four and eight items from each goblin. But then he came across a larger goblin, mostly intact. It had died from blunt force trauma to the head, and its skull had caved in. This meant he would not get a brain or head, but the rest of the body was fine.
Once the scan was complete, the ability generated a report on the goblin:
[Corpse scan complete]
[Goblin - N8F]
[8 normal items, and 1 uncommon item obtainable from processing. Insufficient mana to proceed.]
Aug grinned; this was new.