Trash in the Apocalypse

Gilbert pulled his hand out from the Giant Milkfish's eye. He used Empower and Sharpen on his hand to pierce through the creature's eyes. The creature already stopped moving the moment his hand entered its head. It is due to the brain getting squashed from the punch. 

Gilbert likes to call this attack Torpedo since it hits like one. He swims from afar and charges at top speed with Empower and Sharpen. Anything hit by his punch was guaranteed dead as long as the attack hits.

Thanks to Rofi's struggle, the Giant Milkfish was late to react and was killed in a single strike. 

"Someone pick him up. Get him treated immediately, he's heavily injured, so be careful handling him." Gilbert said and his thought was transmitted underwater. "Everyone else, take care of the small ones."

A group of fishermen finally appeared in the distance. Two of them dove deeper to fetch Rofi while the others continued ahead to face the school of fishes.

Rofi was carefully brought to the surface, and in a matter of minutes, the whole schools of fishes were dealt with. The dead milkfishes started to float up and were stashed in everyone's inventory.

The veteran fishermen were part of the Pioneers, a small community established by the original settlers from Black Haven, the citizens, the middle class, and some of the higher-ups. It was a private group with strong individual and political powers.

Only Gilbert could speak underwater due to the water elemental book he learned. With nothing to do, he was able to research and improve the things that he needed for daily fights. Transmit thoughts through water was one of them. It was very efficient at has a very cheap energy cost.

After the casual slaughter, Gilbert grabbed the Giant Milkfish by its mouth and dragged it as he swam forward. "Let's go back and review the events on land. It's not fun when I'm the only one talking."

—

Rofi woke up and saw a white ceiling above him. He tried to move but a jolt of pain erupted in his body.

"Please don't try to move. Your body just got operated on and Mister Noel said that a proper rest would help you recover faster."

He turned his head and saw a nurse tending to another person on the adjacent bed. It was a familiar person and someone that caused tears to come out of his eyes.

Andok lay peacefully on the bed. The blanket covering him couldn't hide the fact that he had missing legs.

The nurse didn't saw him since she was fixing things by the side, and so he asked, "How is he?"

The nurse finished placing the dextrose and turned to him. "This patient got injured after encountering a boss monster in the middle of the lake. He's beaten badly but with healing skills, he was able to recover back to normal. Still, the damage was done and the body experienced it. He'll probably wake up after some time, but it would take a few days depending on his stats."

After the nurse gave an explanation, she pushed her cart next to his bed. She asked a couple of questions and wrote his answers on her notebook.

"Alright, I think you can be released in the afternoon considering your already in good condition. However, if you want to stay to get some more rest, it's entirely possible,"

Rofi watched the nurse leave the room with her cart, then turned to Andok and stared at his empty legs. If he didn't agitate the giant creature, if he could have killed it immediately, Andok would still have his legs.

He stood up and exited the door. In his mind, he was burning with the desire to become stronger. At the same time, he promised to find something that could help Andok with his situation.

Rofi submitted an application to register his newly learned skill and received a notification to head over to Black Haven compound.

When he arrived at the front desk and stated his business, a separate agent took him and brought him inside. He was brought to a back office and the place was far from what he imagined. The place was clean and presentable but the grandiose of entering a powerful faction left him disappointed.

He was told to take a seat and answer a digital form while he waits for someone to come over. Snacks were served on the table and the agent left.

The digital form was a simple questionnaire asking him the name of the skill and what it does. If it asked him how it worked, he would have immediately left since it was akin to stealing credit before even paying. That would be a total scam! 

If Rofi casually thought he was getting rich when he learned the skill, he now wanted every bit of money he could get out of this deal. Registering the skill would give him several benefits like royalties for every time it was viewed and bought by other survivors. His goal has changed from living a good life to becoming stronger. He would gather enough CP to buy items and equipment that would make himself stronger.

He already waited half an hour and no one has checked on him. If it wasn't for the online auction, he would be so bored waiting alone. He used the idle time to search for things that could heal, grow, or strengthen the body.

Registering skills was a cumbersome process with great rewards. That means a lot of people would try to blackmail and steal skills from hardworking individuals who made them.

That's also one of the reasons why no one has yet to meet him. 

Currently, Evo was doing background checks about Rofi, and when he found nothing suspicious, he evaluated the skill. 

The skill was an excellent underwater detection skill. However, it still had a glaring flaw attached to it. It only works underwater. 

Rofi received an email from Black Haven congratulating him for successfully registering the skill. Attached was the terms and conditions for registering the skills. 

He skipped most of the useless details and searched for the amount he received. On the middle part of the file, a glaring 40,000 CP rests in place together with various reasons for only receiving this amount.

He would receive 40,000 CP a month for the rest of his life. In return, any future skills he develops shall be registered under Black Haven. Prices could stack, and adjustments could be made if the individual stopped producing skills.