Is it Wrong to Copy Abilities in Apocalypse?

Rewards.

These were the only positive things humans saw in a quest, and maybe that was the only reason for them even to have a will to fight.

[ → The relics/artifacts you have collected.]

That was the reason why the reward this time looked more enticing to the people who had seen or collected some excellent artifacts or relics.

Alex was one of them, and the reward he found quite to his liking was nothing but an arrow that looked rusted as if it would break any moment.

[[Artemis's Wrath (Mythical—>Heroic): An arrow of a goddess, that was used to bring divine retribution on many beings.

→ Homing - The arrow follows its target once locked.

→ Anti-Immortality - Once hit by this arrow, even immortal beings would lose their immortality for a while. (Locked)

→ Invisibility - The arrow remains hidden from the target until hit, only if the target doesn't see it being shot.

→ Divine Judgment - Once hit by this arrow, the target would face divine retribution in the form of great misfortune. (Locked)

]]

This was one of the relics he got from Karina's base, and this was the reason for his eyes widening when he saw it.

It was a broken arrow; it was clear from how it had locked functions, and how it had its rank lowered to heroic.

The condition of the arrow was just additional proof.

Now, what was the difference between a relic and an artifact?

Artifacts were something made by humans, or some demigods, with no religious belief or anything like that—with no mention of them being in any mythologies.

Relics, on the other hand, were items related to the gods in human mythologies—Mjölnir, The Spear of Longinus, Excalibur, and such.

Could everyone make out which item was an artifact and which was a relic? No, they can't; only people like Alex, who had inspection abilities, could tell them apart.

The Aremis's Wrath, a weapon so strong that anyone who knew what it was would keep it to themselves, not caring about the consequences.

It was just that kind of weapon; even people with no experience using a bow and arrow could kill their enemies with that single relic.

It had homing skill after all, and it even had invisibility—the durability of a heroic-ranked weapon was just a plus.

But the one who picked it up probably thought that it was a waste as it looked broken.

If they knew what it was, then Alex wouldn't have been able to have this thing in his possession.

This was the best thing Alex had been able to find until now, even after he cleared around 10 more rooms in the past 3 hours.

But it was not like he didn't get some more interesting things...

[[A Piece of Xuanwu's Shell (Heroic): Someone with great crafting prowess once defeated the mythical being called Xuanwu, the black tortoise. It was from the shell of that being that these pieces were made. They can be treated as individual artifacts as well, but once combined, their power breaks the chart. (1/6)

→ One-Way Shield - The piece of the shell makes it possible to be surrounded by a tortoiseshell-like shield, but the user can attack their adversaries from the inside as well.

→ Extra Life - The piece of shell has the ability to sense mortal danger to its holder's life, and once it does, it would make an impenetrable shield that could block any attack, but once used, the shell breaks, making it impossible to ever make the Xuanwu Shield complete.

]]

This was an artifact created with the shell of a mythical beast, and Alex, who knew how important it could be and how useful it could be in a life-and-death situation, kept it out of his inventory.

It was something he found in one of the rooms with 25+ leveled beasts.

Yes, Alex had entered some level 25+ rooms, and he did it stealthily, searching for the artifact for a while.

All the while he did it, he could feel his heart ready to jump out of his throat as it was nerve-racking, but the reward he got made up for everything.

He had it in his pocket for a while because he wanted the artifact to stay activated all the time—staying in inventory turns off any item, keeping them in a space where time is paused.

That was when he found another artifact—a pretty much useless artifact if not for the fact that Alex knew exactly what he could use it for.

[[Mana Conduction Thread (Uncommon): A thin thread made of the most mana-conductive metal; prolonged use can help in mana control. The thread won't break until the mana is supplied, but once stopped, a single snap could break it.

]]

This artifact wasn't good for defense or offense; it didn't even have some very good auxiliary ability; it was just what it looked like—a thread.

But a strong thread was what Alex needed right now, so with that thread, he attached the shell, hanging it around his neck.

That was when Alex discovered something.

[The Divine Arbiter of Justice and Order is asking for you to let another god out of the mute.]

[The Remover of Obstacles agrees with her words.]

[The Eternal Devotee of Rama is saying that this god can be trusted.]

[The Enchantress of Love agrees as well.]

[Several Gods are in favor of the Divine Arbiter of Justice and Order.]

The gods in his chat seemed to want Alex to unmute another god, which Alex couldn't understand why—that was until...

[["%$@$%—Ah, I can't say her name; well, 'the divine arbiter of justice and order' wants you to unmute another goddess of her own pantheon—also her granddaughter in a way."]]

The certain god, who had become a new source of information for Alex, told him why all of them wanted to let this god get unmuted, but he still didn't get something...

"Why should I do it?"

For the first time, he talked to the other gods, and not just 'the certain god'.

[....]

[....]

His question, however, caused everyone to go quiet; they couldn't say anything about it.

They couldn't tell him why he should, as that would go against the rules the system had set, but not every god was so strictly bound by the rules...

[The Eternal Devotee of Rama is looking at a Certain God.]

[The Remover of Obstacles is looking at a Certain God.]

[The Divine Healer of Mankind is looking at a Certain God.]

[The Divine Arbiter of Justice and Order...]

[The Enchantress of Love is...]

[The Metal De...]

All of them turned toward the only one who could do it, causing the certain god to shake her head.

[["The arrow you got was given by that goddess that %$@$% wants to get unmutes—ERROR!! ERROR!!]]

[The Certain God has been warned.]

[["Alright, Alright; I guess it was my fault this time; I won't do it again, hehe~"]]

A series of notifications flashed past Alex's eyes, causing his eyes to squint.

The message from the certain god was cut off by the system, but from what he read and heard, Alex was already aware of what she wanted to say.

His focus turned toward the arrow he had in his storage—Artemis's Wrath—and then he turned to look up at the sky.

With a last look at his storage, he made his decision. story-at-MvLeMpYr