Eight gruelling hours full of incessant screaming later, Marcus finally got up from the bed he was in. Well, it wasn't really a bed, but rather a carved flat log with a Willow Reed casing filled with the feathers of the Birdzilla, a massive dodo that had taken over the entire top half of the left part of the island, as the mattress. Sky Bear fur was used as the bed's duvet, and overall Marcus was rather proud of his creation.
He dressed into his clothes and asked the system, 'so what's new with the system now that I've levelled it up?'
< "Ah you're finally up! Well, Marcus, the magnificent system has been incredibly generous in the incredible benefits of the wond-" >
'Just get to the point'
The system audibly pouted, sulking a little before saying, < "The new additions of the system include an open inventory, an instant analyse and value sense and, finally, as store! I'll explain all of these, starting with the inventory." >
< "The inventory, unlike the one that only stored system earned money, will be easily accessible to you. To open it and see what's inside it, say or thing 'open inventory', similar to the menu. To add something to the inventory, simply hold it in your hands and will for it to happen, and to remove it, either open your inventory and manually take it out, or just think of the object and will for it to be taken out. Things held in your inventory will be in a paused state of time, however, living things cannot be placed inside of the inventory. The current inventory limit is ten objects, however, an object can not be larger than 3 cubic metres squared. If it is, it will take more than one slot. Objects can be stacked as much as you want as long as they don't exceed the cubic feet limit, meaning you currently have 30 cubic metres of space" >
< "Now the instant analyse. Instant analyse means that, as long as the item isn't too powerful for your comprehension, you will automatically know its rank, rarity and name, as well as any previous information you know or may have come across in your time. If your memories are erased, or something similar, the additional knowledge will not show up, but that's probably quite unlikely." >
< "Value sense will give you the rough value of an object that you hold in your hands or are touching, and works the same way as instant analyse." >
< "Finally my favourite part, the store. The store will randomly generate two random objects, skills or pets that will be on sale for a week. To buy them, you will have to pay with money or treasures equal in value to the things being sold. The system will evaluate the value of the treasures judging by its value and demand. So, small tip, making a multimillion company and selling part of it counts. And for today's options, we have…. A pink fluffy bed robe and an ultra-comfortable pillow!" >
Marcus was flabbergasted. Although the objects are random, how could the random objects be this useless?
'Are there any special functions for them? Or are they just that bad?'
< "Actually these items are hereby my special request! They might look useless, but they are only even more useless than they look! Unless, of course, you use both of them. If they are slept in at night, comprehending and understanding skills will be a lot easier and will rise as you sleep!" >
Marcus was shocked. These items were really much better than they appeared!
< "You didn't have to ask me you know. You could've just used the instant analyse to see what it did." >
'Oh yeah… good point. Oh well, doesn't matter much now. How much do these cost anyway- oh my…'
Marcus rubbed his eyes as smacked out at the menu in front of him, hoping it had glitched or something. Twenty platinum pieces each…. That was outrageous. He had the entire wealth of the entire island and it only added up to about a hundred platinum pieces, and these were for the usage of the whole kingdom! How could he spend nearly half of it on a quilted pillow and a duvet? The kingdom would have his head!
Marcus said a quick prayer to whoever was out there that the Faction had been collecting funds. He had earned 10 platinum pieces for the quest and hadn't earned much else throughout the year that he hadn't spent of used to practise blacksmithing. He would also need more money to practise void smithing and void rune smithing, which would probably take a good chunk out of his fortunes.
After some deliberations and considerations for his future blacksmithing career, Marcus finally decided he wouldn't buy the current items in the store and would level up his comprehensions another way. He simply didn't have the funds to practise comprehending the skills he had already levelled up to the max, and even if he could use it for blacksmithing, he wouldn't be able to make anything if he had nothing to make weapons out of.
Marcus used instant analyse on the items in the store to see their rarities, and was shocked by what he saw:
[Quilted Pillow of Comfort]
-----[Rarity – Legendary]
-----[Rank – None]
-----[Description – A pillow of the greatest comfort, quilted with the feathers of legendary beasts. Sleeping with this pillow will increase your comprehension by 5x if used with the [Flamingo's Cloak]. Made by a supreme alchemist, artificer and blacksmith known as 'REAPER, The Void Shattering King'.
[Flamingo's Coat]
-----[Rarity – Legendary]
-----[Rank – None]
-----[Description – A legendary set of bed robes made of the feathers of the legendary Flamingo of Dreams. If used alongside the [Quilted Pillow], the wearer will receive 5x the comprehension of their skills. Made by a supreme alchemist, artificer and blacksmith known as 'REAPER, The Void Shattering King'.]
Marcus didn't recognise who 'The Void Shattering King' was, but he sounded quite impressive, especially considering he had made two legendary items. Marcus made a mental note to find out more about him later on, but more importantly, he'd have to find out how rare this item would be in the store.
'Hey, Artemis? What do you think? Should I buy the items or leave them until next time?'
< "Were you listening to anything I said? I SPECIFICALLY had these items put in the shop FOR YOU! I thought we were over the foolish phase! These items will greatly bolster your ability to learn the void forging and rune forging by 5 TIMES. That means we can get five years of practice into one, and that's on top of the already boosted learning you get from the system! It's literally the perfect item for you right now." >
Marcus quickly understood what Artemis had said, and without saying much dug into his reserves, pulling out 23 Platinum pieces from his own money, and buying the [Quilted Pillow of Comfort], before throwing it into his inventory.
Marcus cleaned up a little, before stepping outside of his accommodation, and beckoning for one of the nearby beasts to come over.
"Call the Royal Accountant for me and have him meet me in the Meeting Hall."
"Yes, your Majesty."
Marcus smiled, fully pleased with the kingdom he had taken over and reformed over the past year. He now had an army of loyal beasts and good relations with others far stronger than even he was.
Fast forward a half-hour, and Marcus met with his accountant. His accountant was a centaur and was Marcus's most trusted advisor. He had gotten Marcus through many of his early financial struggles when he had first found the kingdom and supported him through his campaign to sovereignty.
"What were the rewards of sweeping the Faction's cave complex?" Marcus asked.
"Well sir, we managed to gather a good sum of treasures, the estimated value is about 50 platinum pieces, which gets us to a healthy value of about 150 gold pieces."
"Good. Well, I'll need 20 platinum pieces and the kingdom's rare metals," Marcus vaguely stated.
"But your Majesty! That money and those metals are needed for the blacksmiths and to fund our kingdom's growth!"
"Don't worry about that, Kolkar, by the end of the year I'll have made some incredible weapons for the kingdom's usage. I've never disappointed you before, and I don't plan on starting now!"
Kolkar took a deep breath, before squeakily saying, "yes, your Majesty, we can reroute some of the funds going towards the Kingdom's expansion, as long as you are sure there will be returns."
"I have never been more confident in my life!"
"Well, Sir, if you are that confident, then good luck I guess."
"Well, in that case, have the funds sent to my room before the end of the day."
Marcus walked off after saying this, leaving Kolkar in confusion.
Hours later, Marcus received the funds and mater
"Artemis lets begin the training."
< "Good idea, Marcus" >