[The system has detected that the user is in possession of a mana stone]
[Does the user want to use the mana stone to enable the shop?]
[Yes/No]
Adolf was stunned when he read the message, not even in his wildest dreams did he think that the strange stone he extracted from the goblin would be a mana stone and that it would serve to enable the store, well for starters, he didn't even think I know that mana stones existed .
<'Shit, why the hell am I hesitating? I accept' Adolf didn't think twice before accepting. 'Only a fool would miss this opportunity, maybe in the store he can buy food or water and even if the store serves much more, the current me is enough with that.'
[The user has agreed to consume the mana stone he has in exchange for enabling the shop]
[...]
[...]
[The store has been enabled successfully]
[Congratulations for being the first user to enable the store]
[As a reward, he has been given the opportunity to choose a class skill for free.]
[The reward is only valid within the next thirty minutes. Passing the thirty minute mark, the reward will expire, so choose wisely and quickly]
Adolf's eyes and mouth widened at the system messages, just being able to enable the shop was already wonderful but being able to get a class-related skill totally free from him was magnificent.
'No wait, I currently own the black mage class and this is a temporary class from what I understand, the fair lady told us that our classes will become a permanent class when they reach level ten, so getting this reward right now isn't great when compared to getting it later when I already have a permanent class, also with this chance to pick a new skill makes me say it's time to choose the path I'll walk.
Will I be a curse-oriented mage? Perhaps a warlock with powerful black magic spells? Or maybe a necromancer with an unstoppable army of undead?
Originally my plan was to take my time to think it through and choose the best path for me, but now it looks like that won't be possible, so instead of instant power, I'll go for a lifeline style ability no matter which path I choose. take more In the future, my main goal right now is to survive'.
With those thoughts, Adolf opened his status panel and there he could see a new option called [Shop], he quickly selected the option and could see that the shop was much more than he could imagine, not only could he buy skills but he could also buy various kinds of items such as weapons, armor, accessories, and consumables, but when Adolf wanted to see what kind of items they were out of curiosity, the system sent a series of messages that made him frown.
[The [Weapons] shop section is locked. To unblock...]
[The [Armor] shop section is locked. To unblock...]
[The [Consumables] shop section is locked. To unblock...]
[The store section [Accessories] is locked. To unblock...]
For Adolf to unlock those sections, several mana stones were required and not like the one he got, but mana stones ranging from low rank to mid rank were needed.
Adolf wanted to spit out three liters of blood seeing such a drastic jump, to enable the shop and skill section a lower rank mana stone was required, but to unlock the other sections much higher rank stones were needed and not only one two mana stones, but some sections needed ten or more mana stones, Adolf was able to get the mana stone thanks to the burnt knight who killed the goblin and the goblin had no interest in his corpse.
In the end Adolf decided not to think about it for now and preferred to concentrate on which ability he would choose, he already had a plan.
'If I can't choose a life-saving skill, I'll choose a skill like a shadow cloak that allows me to hide.'
His plan was that if he couldn't select a lifesaving skill, he would select a stealth skill, with that at least he could rely on something other than his shadow cloak to hide.
Opening the shop, Adolf was able to see a smaller number of skills than he originally thought, the number of skills displayed in front of him was approximately thirty skills. 'In the end my expectations were too high, I can't forget that I'm still at level one with a trial class.' In the end, Adolf flipped through the catalog of skills without finding any that really caught his eye.
'Minor Paralysis... Ball of Darkness... Rise of the Undead... Spear of Darkness... Raise Zombie... Minor Strength Debt... Create Bone Armor... Dark Mist. ..
No, no skill that satisfies my criteria, most of the black mage's abilities are based on spells of darkness, necromancy, or curses. Necromancy skills are mainly based on raising undead and skills that help them, like weapons or armor, darkness spells are based on incredibly high destructive power, but have almost no defensive skills, last but not least, the curses leave a lot to be desired, they are mainly support skills and without any real power'.
In the end, Adolf could only carefully go through skill by skill to find a suitable skill for his current situation.
He could only read the vague descriptions about the skills that left a lot to the imagination, that for him was extremely annoying, then on top of that he had to think about its usefulness and decide if it was suitable or not, that took Adolf about twenty minutes. , but at least he was able to get three candidates.
The first skill was called [Shadow Stalk], it allowed the user to be almost invisible by hiding in the shadows, the bad thing was that the skill only worked in places where there were shadows.
The second skill was [Bone Armor] as the name suggests, the skill transformed bones into armor, the flaw was that the skill had a high mana cost, and the durability and defense completely depended on the bones used.
The last skill was called [Chaos Bugs], it was a passive regeneration skill that also had no mana cost, the skill made the user harbor the Chaos Bugs.
It was a passive type skill that aided regeneration, according to the vague description, the user became a host for the [Chaos Bugs] and these in return helped heal their wounds, but how they did it was a total mystery to Adolf. .
'In the end, it only matters to survive, right?' With that resolve, Adolf selected the Chaos Bugs skill.
[Congratulations on learning the skill (Chaos Bugs)]
[You have obtained the title of heretic]
- - - - - - -
[Chaos Bugs (Unique) (Unranked-Level: 1)]: Chaos bugs originate from the abyss, their origins are mysterious, and there is no record of how or when they were born. Like their birthplace, the Chaos Bugs are considered heresy. Chaos Bugs will be hostile to anything but the user.
*To heal wounds, [Chaos Bugs] will use the user's muscle mass as a medium.
*The amount of muscle mass used is proportional to the wound.
*Health increases by 30 points
[Attachment Skill
*Weak points like brain and heart will no longer be a weakness while the ability is active.
*Muscle loss will increase dramatically while the skill is active.
*No matter how severe the wound is, unless the user's body is completely destroyed, the user will not die while the skill is active.
Duration: 1 minute.
Cooling: 72 hours.
- - - - - - -
'I see, so the [Chaos Bugs] will use my muscle mass as a means to heal the wounds they inflicted on me, with that in mind I can assume that if they inflict a wound on me that causes me to lose a limb they will. use the rest of his body to regenerate my arm.
But there are still doubts, if they cut my arm off, can I put it back on? What is the limit of this healing? I sincerely hoped that I would never discover the answers to my questions.
Surprise and happiness welled up uncontrollably from Adolf, this skill was simply much greater than he originally thought, in the skill shop they don't give you a detailed description of the skill but they give you a vague and general explanation of the skill, or they explain to you the cost or the cooldown that's why when Adolf chose the skill [Chaos Bugs] it was a gamble he didn't think it would come out in such a magnificent way also the attached skill [Imperishable Body] was pretty good and that's still short.
- - - - - - -
[Name: Adolf De'Ath]
Race: Human
Title: Heretic
Class: Black Mage
Strength: 6 / Speed 9 / Stamina 5 / Health 43 / Mana 9 / Regeneration 20
Active Skills: [Shadow Cloak] [Minor Blind] [Raise Undead].
Passive Skills: [Chaos Bugs]
- - - - - - -
'Wait... Heretic? Did I get that title because chaos bugs are considered heresy? Even if it is so, I still don't understand why they gave me that title or why I had insulted or cursed some God, but it's not that I lack desire... well, better to see what effects it produces on me'.
- - - - - -
[Title: Heretic]
You have observed and approached the path of heresy.
*Your stats naturally grow 2x faster
*Heresy related skills grow 2x faster
*Any paths related to divinity or holiness have been permanently closed
*It is impossible for the user to learn any hability related to divinity or holiness
- - - - - - -
Adolf's eyes widened in disbelief as he read more. The increase in the speed of growth of heresy related stats and skills, now he could get double the results with the same effects, this also made him think that if as his title of "heretic" there will be other titles that increase speed of growth, on the other hand there is the permanent closure for abilities and classes related to the holy or the divine, this could be bad if it was not because his class is a black mage and it is not focused or related to the divine or the divine. saint, it would rather be correct to say that it is quite the opposite.
'Now the only thing that worries me is water and food, to drink something I can even drink my urine if I fall into a dead end, I'll only do that if I can't find water, for food I don't have many ideas honestly, I can I can easily go 5 days without eating but I can't go 3 days without drinking water.
If that happened, it would be certain death in a place like this, as I wouldn't have the energy to move and my muscles wouldn't function properly due to the imbalance between the ratios of electrolytes and minerals in my body.'
Although Adolf was not afraid of being hurt, he is not a big fan of it either, besides the pain would not be a small thing either, if the blows with some force from behind are already painful, what would happen with the cuts, stab wounds and internal wounds ? Adolf didn't even want to think about it.
In the end, Adolf decided that it was better to explore at night than during the day for obvious reasons. He raised his slightly trembling body and began to investigate the area where he was.
The more he looked around him, the more Adolf became fascinated with the structure and layout of the city, along with the ambience of it, making it seem like he was in a multi-million dollar Hollywood movie. The moonlight illuminating the city with his dim light, Adolf felt comforted that he didn't have to walk in total darkness and although the light was quite dim it was better than nothing.
'Nothing, huh?' Adolf could only sigh as he had no results during his search, naturally Adolf did not have high hopes from the beginning but it still left a bad taste in his mouth, the only good thing was that in all this time he was searching he did it with the shadow activation skill cloak, he could at least increase his mana points and not just waste time with a nearly useless quest.
A few hours passed and between breaks Adolf managed to search a large number of houses, although he could not find anything good, he managed to find a burned and battered iron pipe that although it was not very good was better than being unarmed, at least now he could defend himself from a goblin if he were face to face, in addition to the fact that Adolf, silly as he may seem, feels safe with a burned and battered iron pipe, he feels safer having the iron pipe than if he didn't.
'What's that?' he thought to himself as he looked at a structure in the distance and compared to the other structures, this one is relatively complete. Adolf activated his shadow cloak ability as he walked as stealthily as possible towards the structure, when he was about ten meters away from him he could see that the structure was made of stone and only the roof had collapsed along with part of the second floor.
After finding a safe place to watch the house, Adolf disabled the Cloak of Shadows ability to save mana.
Adolf remained hidden observing the structure to see if there was something or someone in that place. After an hour of observing, Adolf found nothing strange, so he moved closer, activating his shadow cloak ability just in case, as he got closer he could see a sign or well, what was once one, was now burned and it was a complete mystery what was engraved on it.
Upon entering the structure Adolf realized that it was in good condition compared to the other structures, although it was burned it was still standing and from the dust that was all over the place Adolf deduced that no one had entered in a long time, that was something good. for him.
With each step Adolf took, he could hear the wood creak slightly, checking the first floor he found nothing useful or interesting so he quickly went to the second floor, there he found an old threadbare thick leather coat that he put on immediately, at least it could give him some defense and some warmth in the cold night, other than that he didn't find anything significant, just some things like broken furniture and burnt clothes, nothing that could be useful to him.
As he walked through the first floor he heard something strange, compared to the usual creaking, this sound was something else...hollow, it sounded like stepping on an empty box, he could hear that there was a space below. Adolf crouched down and with his hand he began to tap gently on the ground to see where the hole began and ended. After about thirty minutes, Adolf finished marking the hollow space, the space consisted of one meter long and two meters wide.
Adolf, instead of breaking the boards, carefully began to remove them, since if the space was deep enough it could serve as a hiding place during the day. After removing the boards, Adolf could see that the hole was approximately one meter and fifty centimeters deep, Adolf decided to jump in and, even if he suffered an injury from some trap, he could be healed by the chaos insects.
As he jumped he could see a small compartment with some effort he managed to remove the lid and there he saw it, a spear in fairly good condition and a book.
Adolf guessed that this must be a hiding place where the owner kept his valuables, honestly Adolf not only won a safe place to sleep but he also won a better weapon and four books that he still didn't know what they were for.
'Damn, my head hurts, I'm having trouble thinking straight, and I feel fatigued. From now on I have to get used to sleeping during the day and being awake at night, even if it takes time, it will help me in the long run' Adolf felt sleepy and when he saw that the sun had almost risen, he began to rest. it was a good time to sleep, he carefully put the boards back in place from the inside and then proceeded to lie down to try to fall asleep.
An uncomfortable moan escaped Adolf's mouth as he rubbed his eyes. The sun had already risen but it was still very low and apparently Adolf only slept for a few hours, he didn't feel physically fatigued so he assumed the tiredness was mental, too much had happened in such a short time, it was too shocking to process, honestly it was a miracle that Adolf did not collapse from stress.
'I can't sleep and I don't feel tired...Instead of wasting precious minutes doing nothing, I'd better try to see what these four books are about. Also the spear and the books look in very good condition, even if they were protected by the secret compartment there is no way they would be in such excellent condition.' Suspiciously, Adolf set out to examine all the newly obtained items to see if he could find the reason behind his good condition.
- - - - - - -
[Guardian Knight's Halberd]
Type: Weapon
Quality: Normal (High)
Damage: 200
Durability: 849/1000
[Description]: A halberd used in ancient times by the recruits of the knights of >< who faithfully served the Sovereign of ><. It is completely unknown how this object has survived the test of time.
- - - - - - -
'Even if I don't know how to use it, it's better than having no weapons and having to face some danger with my bare hands.'
- - - - - - -
[Arms Lord]
Type: Skill Book
Quality: Unknown
[Description]: One of the main skills belonging to the Sovereign of ><. It is completely unknown how this object managed to get to a place like this.
- - - - - - -
'Skill book? How the hell do I learn this? but there is still something that calls my attention even more, and that is the 'Sovereign of> <' since it seems that this was his city '.
Adolf's eyes widened with surprise and curiosity wanting to know more about the Sovereign of ><.
In the end he opened the skill book and a message appeared in front of him.
[Detected user trying to learn a skill using a skill book]
[Does the user want to learn said skill?]
[Yes/No]
Naturally Adolf selected yes and suddenly the book shimmered slightly, the next thing Adolf noticed was that the book was gone and in its place was a pale blue dagger shaped object with white accents, it was two inches long and two inches wide across, its shape was cross-like and carefully crafted.
Adolf raised an intrigued eyebrow at the sight of the dagger but his doubts were cleared in the next instant.
[To learn the skill [Lord of Arms], the user must stick the artifact containing said skill into his heart]
'Stick the artifact containing the ability into my heart?'
Consciously or unconsciously Adolf directed his gaze to the dagger in his hands and his expression soured, frowning he looked with complicated eyes at the dagger that could grant him an ability, he had several doubts of having to stick something in his heart.
'Well, it's not like it's the weirdest thing I've ever done...' .
With that thought in mind, Adolf took one last look at the dagger with a quick movement and without hesitation the dagger stabbed into his chest, but contrary to his expectations there was no blood and he did not suffer the slightest damage, Adolf could only watch with a frown. curious how the dagger stuck in his chest turned into liquid before entering completely in your body.
Suddenly Adolf felt a wave of heat run through his entire body, he began to sweat profusely from every pore of his body, his clothes quickly soaked with sweat while he could only pant and wait for everything to pass, just as the heat came and went. filled his body receded and disappeared without a trace, it was as if it had never existed in the first place.
[The skill [Lord of Arms] has been obtained]
[You have gained great understanding and mastery over a large number of weapons]
[The compression and dominance of the [Warrior] class have been found to be higher than that of the current class]
[Does the user wish to discard and abandon the [Black Magician] class to obtain the [Warrior] class instead?]
[***Caveat***]
[If the user wishes to leave his current class to change to another class, his talent will be used to make the change]
Adolf read everything with surprise since he didn't imagine that changing classes was possible, but when he got to the part where his talent would be used to make the change his expression soured, then he truly knew the meaning of " there is no free". food in the world.
Although it's tempting to change classes, the price to pay is just too high, plus there's some reason why I got [Black Mage] as my starting class, so I guess it's the class with the most compatibility with me, so it would be quite stupid to throw it overboard, there's also the matter that there's no guarantee I'll have talent for the [Warrior] class, that's too big of a gamble that I'll only lose out on.'
Adolf did not think twice before rejecting the proposal to change classes, and although he could not deny that it was truly tempting, it carried too many risks, not only would he lose an unknown amount of talent, but he could also lose his current abilities and so on. not win some new in return, in short, only a crazy person would do something like that, or someone really desperate.
At last Adolf fell asleep again as his mind wandered.