Nox skimmed the mission pop-up. Some elf princess was in deep trouble, and the rewards were ridiculously massive. Honestly, elves and princesses weren't really his thing, but the EXP and stat points on offer? Yeah, he wasn't about to pass that up. Getting stronger was the name of the game, after all.

'Alright, let's do it,' he thought, and the blue screen in his vision flickered. A city map materialized in his mind, a red marker blinking a few miles off, somewhere in a residential zone that was probably a total wreck by now.

[Target: Princess Serian Feselian.]

[Status: Hunted, in extreme distress.]

'Hunted, huh?' The System didn't bother with the specifics of who or what was after her, not that it really mattered to him. The main thing was getting to her before she croaked and all those sweet, sweet rewards vanished into thin air.

First things first, he figured he should check his own stats. He brought up the display in his head.

[Player Status]

[Name: Nox]

[Level: 16]

[Title: Anomaly Slayer, Dungeon Conqueror (First Clear)]

[HP: 180/240]

[MP: 0/0 (Sealed)]

[Strength: 42]

[Agility: 32]

[Stamina: 25]

[Endurance: 25]

[Perception: 25]

[Luck: 22]

[Unallocated Stat Points: 45]

[Divine Coins: 100]

[Gods Watching You: 47]

[Skills:]

[Regeneration (Passive) - Lvl 1: Slowly regenerates health over time. Effectiveness increases with level and Endurance.]

[Indomitable Will (Passive): Resistance to mental attacks and pain significantly increased. Prevents submission effects.]

[Weapon Mastery (Passive) - Lvl 1: Increases proficiency with all weapon types. Bonus damage and accuracy.]

[Appraise (Active) - Lvl 1: Allows the user to gain information about items, creatures, or individuals.]

His health was still on the mend, that Regeneration skill doing its slow-but-steady work. Forty-five stat points were burning a hole in his virtual pocket. Then he remembered the god-gifts Auraelia had mentioned. 'Just think 'Accept' or something.' He poked around his System interface until a little tab labeled 'Divine Mailbox' started blinking. He mentally clicked on it.

First up, a message from the Lord of Carnage.

[Lord of Carnage has gifted you: Berserker's Draught x1 (Temporarily increases Strength and Endurance by 20%, decreases Agility by 10% for 5 minutes. Side effect: Minor rage.)]

[Accept? Y/N]

'Sure, why not,' he thought, accepting it. The little potion icon pinged into his mental inventory.

More messages followed pretty quick.

[Master Strategos has gifted you: Scroll of Tactical Insight x1 (Consumable. Reveals one exploitable weakness of a targeted enemy. Single use.)]

[Accept? Y/N]

'Could be handy,' he acknowledged, tapping 'Accept'.

[Trickster God Hermes IV has gifted you: Hermes' Express Beans x5 (Consumable. Temporarily increases Agility by 30% for 1 minute. May cause jitters.)]

[Accept? Y/N]

'Express beans? Sounds sketchy, but okay.' Accept.

[Goddess of Gentle Showers has gifted you: Vial of Purified Dew x2 (Consumable. Cures minor poisons and removes negative status effects like bleeding or burn.)]

[Accept? Y/N]

'Always good to have heals.' Accept.

[The Silent Watcher has gifted you: Shadow-Wisp Amulet (Accessory. Grants +5 Agility. Passive: Slightly muffles sounds of movement when worn.)]

[Accept? Y/N]

'Accept.' He mentally equipped the amulet straight away. 'Plus five Agility, and the passive says it muffles movement sounds. Good deal.' That would probably make him a little less clumsy when he was trying not to be heard.

Then came Auraelia's gifts. And they just kept on coming.

[Auraelia, Goddess of Resilient Sparks has gifted you: Skill: Lesser Mana Weaving (Mid-Tier Active Skill - Lvl 1) x1 (Allows the user to perceive and interact with ambient mana to fuel minor magical effects. Requires mana channels to be unsealed for full use. Current potential: minimal interaction.)]

[Accept? Y/N]

'Accept.' A new icon, 'Lesser Mana Weaving,' lit up in his skill list. The description mentioned perceiving ambient mana, which sounded like a whole other can of worms for later, especially since his 'mana channels' were apparently still locked down. For now, it was just… there.

[Auraelia, Goddess of Resilient Sparks has gifted you: Sunstone Blade (Rare Sword - One-Handed) x1 (A decently crafted sword imbued with faint solar energy. Deals bonus radiant damage to undead and shadow creatures.)]

[Accept? Y/N]

'Accept.' A decent sword was always welcome.

[Auraelia, Goddess of Resilient Sparks has gifted you: Mysterious Divine Egg x1 (A warm, pulsating egg of unknown divine origin. Requires specific conditions to hatch. May contain anything from a powerful familiar to a sentient plant… or just a really fancy omelet.)]

[Accept? Y/N]

'Accept.' He mentally tagged that one as 'weird, deal with later.'

The list didn't stop there.

[Auraelia, Goddess of Resilient Sparks has gifted you: Pouch of Endless Trail Mix (Common Utility Item) x1 (Never runs out of a surprisingly tasty mix of nuts, dried fruit, and chocolate chips.)]

[Accept? Y/N]

'Accept.' Endless snacks? Hell yeah.

[Auraelia, Goddess of Resilient Sparks has gifted you: 'World's Best Player' Mug (Cosmetic) x1 (It's a mug. It holds liquid.)]

[Accept? Y/N]

'Accept.' He almost snorted. A mug. Okay then.

[Auraelia, Goddess of Resilient Sparks has gifted you: Sparkle Grenade x3 (Consumable. Explodes in a dazzling, non-lethal shower of glitter and confetti. Excellent for confusing weak-minded foes or celebrating minor victories.)]

[Accept? Y/N]

'Accept.' Sparkle grenades. For real?

When Auraelia's gift notifications finally petered out, Nox just mentally blinked at his inventory. A new skill that sounded like baby steps into magic, a solid sword, some kind of mystery egg, infinite trail mix, a literal mug, and glitter bombs.

'This goddess is… a lot,' he thought, a bit stunned by the sheer randomness of it all. 'Seriously, these gods are nuts.'

He gave a small mental shake to refocus. Forty-five stat points. That was what mattered. He wanted to spend them before heading out. Thinking back to that last fight in the gym, he knew what he needed.

'Strength's decent, but getting hit less and hitting faster would be way better. More toughness, too. And maybe not being so oblivious to stuff.'

He dumped 15 points into Agility, another 15 into Endurance, 10 into Perception, and the last 5 into Strength.

His stats sheet refreshed.

[Strength: 47]

[Agility: 47]

[Stamina: 25]

[Endurance: 40]

[Perception: 35]

[Luck: 22]

He felt that. A definite upgrade. It was like his body just synched up a little better, movements feeling a bit more fluid. The lingering discomfort from his earlier scrapes was already less of a bother, and he felt more tuned in to his surroundings, like he could process what was happening around him a whole lot quicker.

Alright, next up were the skill boxes he got from clearing the dungeon. He had two of them: a "Random Skill Box" and a "Unique Skill Box."

'Random one first, get the appetizer out of the way,' he decided. 'Open.'

A new notification popped up.

[Random Skill Box opened!]

[New Skill Acquired: Parkour (Passive) - Lvl 1]

[Description: Enhances natural agility and coordination for traversing complex environments. Reduces fall damage, increases jump height and climbing speed. Improves with Agility.]

'Parkour, huh?' He considered it. 'Actually, yeah, that could be super useful for navigating this busted-up city.' Seemed pretty practical, given how wrecked everything looked.

Then he turned his attention to the Unique Skill Box.

'Okay, big money, no whammies. Open.'

The notification for this one had a bit more flair to it.

[Unique Skill Box opened!]

[Congratulations! You have acquired a Unique Skill!]

[New Skill Acquired: Core Integration (Passive/Active) - Lvl 1]

[Description: (Passive) Grants an innate understanding of the energies within monster cores. (Active) Allows the user to attempt to absorb a monster core, converting its essence into direct power. Successful integration can result in permanent stat increases, combat buffs, or, rarely, the acquisition of traits or abilities related to the absorbed creature. The outcome and potency are dependent on core quality, user's current level, Endurance, and compatibility. Failure can result in temporary stat drains, internal damage, or other negative effects. Risk increases with core power relative to the user.]

He read through the 'Core Integration' description pretty carefully. 'Hold up, this sounds like it'll work with those monster cores I grabbed earlier.'

Being able to straight-up absorb their power? That was a serious shortcut to getting stronger, way beyond just grinding levels. The fact that it wasn't a guaranteed win, that there was some risk involved, actually made it more interesting. Definitely a game-changer, this skill.

So, his toolkit was looking a lot better now. Passives like Regeneration, Indomitable Will, Weapon Mastery, and Parkour were all solid. And now Core Integration on top of that, plus the Appraise skill he still needed to try out.

The Shadow-Wisp Amulet was a nice little stealth boost, he had the Sunstone Blade, a bunch of consumables, and that weird divine egg was still pending.

Yeah, he felt a hell of a lot more ready for whatever came next.

Time to actually get a move on. The city center was still on the list for later, but this princess gig was top priority now.

He pushed himself up from the concrete ledge he'd been sitting on. The deep ache he'd felt earlier had eased off, replaced by a fresh kick of… well, not exactly enthusiasm, but definitely readiness.

He gave a quick look in the direction Yeda and the others had taken off, then squared himself towards the route his map was showing for Princess Whatever-her-name-was.

'Alright,' he thought, a slight smirk touching his lips internally, 'let's see what kind of trouble we can find.'