The Holy Boost and Eye of Light complemented each other, adding to each other's ability. Even though they looked weak, the Abyssal Eye that he had encountered previously was quite powerful on its own. It had been too bad that it actually costed 5 Fate Points to master. It would have complemented his low demon bloodline.
"Speaking of which, where did my Low demon bloodline come from?" Metro realised that he had been ignoring this random skill all along. He had only heard about it from that guy who said that it was part of his skill set, and he had skipped past its description. He was sure that it had not been there before. The Guardian Aria had too much to answer for.
Ignoring the Natural Talents list, Metro summoned the status screen in his mind. Pressing on the low demon bloodline skill, he finally managed to see its description.
[Low Demon Bloodline: +1 to Fortitude, +1 to Strength. Bathe in Demon Pool to upgrade to Gluttony or Illusion Demon Bloodline, or use 1 Fate Point.]
Fate Points could upgrade skills forcibly, but Metro felt that it was not worth it. He would prefer to fulfil the required conditions to level up the skill, since from the looks of it, Fate Points were extremely valuable. Metro also checked out the levelling conditions for the Trained Body. This time, it showed the effects of the skill itself. Following that, Metro checked his body stats.
[Basic Trained Body: +1 to all stats. Undergo Military Hologram Version 2.0 to upgrade to Novice Trained Body, or use 1 Fate Point.]
Strength: E-
Fortitude: E-
Agility: F
Intelligence: F
Mysticism: F
"Military Hologram Version 2.0? Demon Pool? Could I buy these items from the forum or black market that the insectoid mentioned? Might as well check them out before I spend my Fate Points." Metro organised his thoughts and nodded to himself. "I should also improve my stats. Those stats are simply horrible."
"Hey, how do I get to the online marketplace?" Metro inquired, and got shrugs in response. "Just wish for it and it's there. Public Natural Talent stations are stationed in various places, but the marketplace can be accessed by just using your mind."
Metro focused on the idea of a marketplace, and a huge catalogue of items expanded inside his mind. There were several categories, from [Skill Books] to [Firearms]. The prices ranged from Body Upgrade Points to Fate Points. As long as a Player had the required currency, they could buy any number of specific skills and items.
Since Metro had the time, he browsed the marketplace for information first. There was a new term, [Skill Books] that he had learnt. Once people got out of the tutorials, there were no more penalties or events, letting the Player have a free roam experience.
Some changes also occured, like characters in the world being able to drop items instead of being granted through events. However, these items were not guaranteed to drop or they would drop a counterpart that could not be used as an item directly, unlike guaranteed drops from events. It could be seen as both a drawback and benefit.
While checking out the catalogue, Metro even saw the Basic Trained Body and Low Demon Bloodline skills. They were 3 Fate Points and 1 Fate Point respectively. "The Trained Body skill is actually worth that whole scenario? That's a lot."
Metro did not even bother with the weapons category, directly skipping over them. His main goal here was to find the items he needed to level his skills. There was a search bar at the side, so he inputted the names of the items, and several copies of the items popped up at different prices.
"Demon Pool, 6 Body Upgrade Points... Military Hologram Version 2.0, 3 Upgrade Points... Nice!" The prices fit within Metro's budget. Without thinking much, he converted 1 Fate Point and snapped up the two items, which instantly appeared in his arms. It was a vial of liquid and a circular device.
"Oh, you bought the Military Hologram Version 2.0? Oh damn, I forgot to warn you! You know this item pulls you into a hologram world to train you? It requires at least 3 months to train the whole body and you only have 2 months for every scenario. So you need to actually go through one more scenario before you can upgrade the body."
"Ahhh, no wonder it costed so cheap compared to the Demon Pool. No matter, I already bought it." Metro was not the type to cry over spilled milk. He proceeded to buy the two holy skills that he had wanted earlier. The skill books that had caught his fancy were still too expensive to buy.
The moment Metro bought the skills, he could feel his whole body changing. His eyesight started to become exceedingly clear, as he felt a warmth licking his skin, giving him tingles. A small pressure seemed to have lifted from him, as he swung his limbs around.
His mind was filled with the knowledge of a lesser light spell from the Holy Boost. It was really basic, with the ability to form a layer of hard light on his hand. In order to receive more enlightenment, he had to cultivate the Holy Boost in the Return of the Witch's sun, which Metro did not intend to do. Luckily, he could recharge the energy of the Holy Boost from any source of light he encountered.
"Holy based physical skills? Not bad, not bad." Nana nodded at Metro's choice. "We have a small pool there. It's normally used for relaxation, but you can pour that vial there to create a medicinal bath for your upgrade. Be careful though. It's going to be insanely painful with that slight holy constitution you got going." After saying that, Nana revealed a cheeky grin, in anticipation of Metro's pain.
Metro saw the grin, but he only gave a good natured smile. Pouring the vial into the small pool of sewer water, which turned it into the darkest shade of black, Metro submerged himself into it, feeling the effects come into play almost immediately.
Two surging feelings came from his heart. The urge to devour everything, and a slight connection to the space around him. These two feelings started fighting inside his heart, while Metro slowly meditated to keep himself under control.
The fighting in his spirit and the slight holy energy fought each other, which continually took its toll on Metro's mind. His whole body started to get exhausted, as his body also fought against the foreign presences in his body to prevent them from wreaking havoc on his body state.
The black water had turned into an intense whirlpool ending at Metro's chest. As one of the feelings started to win, the black tint started to disappear, creating a black exoskeleton on Metro's chest. As the black exoskeleton finished forming, it sunk into Metro's body and disappeared along with the black water, forcing Metro awake.
Metro at this point looked extremely thin and gaunt, but he dragged himself out of the water with ease. "Want to watch some food? Come here." Nana was waiting for him by the meeting table, gesturing for him to come over.
With a crazed expression on his face, he rushed towards the spread Nana had prepared for him and devoured it like a mad wolf, stuffing food into his mouth left and right using his hands.
"Basic Gluttony Demon bloodline. That's one of the best skills for developing the body." Looking at Metro's reckless feasting, Nana leaned back on her chair. She had observed Metro submerging in the Demon Pool for one week, since she had nothing better to do.
Once Metro had consumed all the food ferociously, his new bloodline was finally sated. Metro looked embarrassed once he had finished up, and quickly dipped his hands in sewer water for a wash.
"Now that I'm done, I should use up my Body Upgrade Point before I use the hologram device right?" Metro casually put a point towards his intelligence. Intelligence was one of the stats that he appreciated the most. It was only through intelligence that humanity was able to outsmart beings stronger than them, which was definitely Metro's experience in the tutorial.
[Intelligence: F+]
Metro then pressed a button on the hologram device, and was sucked inside the device instantly. When he was finally ejected from the device for the new scenario, he had already been through half of the training.