The young man presented Bowen with a space ring with a capacity of 7 cubic meters. It could hold non-living things and was a golden ring with a small red stone that could fit the wearer. Bowen immediately placed Thorn Whisper inside the ring and handed it to Mason.
Mason knew the value of space rings. He felt immense joy wearing it. However, he still didn't realize how big 7 cubic meters was. It was larger than Bowen's space bracelet, but the important difference was that Bowen's space bracelet could hold living things, and time didn't pass within it. No other space attribute item in Grimesphere would match the grade of Bowen's space bracelet.
That's when Bowen heard an alarm ring in his head—an irritating sound that he had missed for the past 2 days.
TING TING TING TING TING….SYSTEM UPGRADE COMPLETED
Bowen jerked in shock due to the unexpected alarm.
"Sir, are you alright?" asked the young store owner with worry. Of course, he must take care of this VIP customer.
"Nope, not at all," said Bowen, smiling. But internally, he kept cursing the system for giving him a heart attack.
"Hey host, did you miss me?" said the system in its usual annoying voice.
"Hey, can't your entry be more subtle? And moreover, didn't you say that it would take 3 days for you to return?"
"I intentionally accelerated the process in fear you might turn into a corpse in my absence. But it seems like you are doing too well on your own, getting a new slave and all. I must take a rest for a week or two…"
"Wait, wait..!" Bowen said in a hurry. Only he knew how uncomfortable it was without the system.
"Fine, I admit it!" he said in annoyance.
system—----(silent)
"What? Aren't you going to mock me?" asked Bowen, confused by the system's silence.
"System upgrade to version xxxx01.1. Does Host want to take a look at the upgraded interface?" the system immediately changed the topic.
Bowen was already used to this.
"Then how much is the space ring?" Bowen asked, wanting to leave the store soon.
"That will be 1 large silver, sir… and with the discount—"
"Here's one large silver," said Bowen, throwing the coin and preparing to leave.
"Sir, sir, please wait, the discount of 40 percent—"
"No need for the discount. Just keep it. You can send the collar to this address," said Bowen, writing the candy store's address on a piece of paper.
Bowen hurriedly dragged Mason under the young store owner's surprised gaze.
[What happened? Wasn't he patiently talking with him just now.] the young man gazed the back of rushing Bowen oddly.
—------
Bowen immediately rented two rooms in the nearby tavern and left Mason in one of the rooms with food and alcohol.
He could now test everything that the upgraded system had to offer.
He comfortably sat on the bed after locking the room door. He even put up a 'do not disturb' sign outside.
As soon as he opened the system, what greeted him was the new black and gold system interface that resembled a game panel.
GREETINGS TO DIVINE REAPER was written in bold golden letters.
Bowen scrolled through the system, finding the upgrades one by one. He was excited to see the wonderful gifts that the system had brought along.
The first one was the EXPERIENCE BAR. Just like in a game, his status now contained the addition of an experience bar. It read 1 and 100 on each end of the rectangular bar respectively.
"System, explain this experience bar thingy to me."
"Yes, Host. Each time the Host kills a living organism in the non-reaper mode, the Host will gain a certain amount of experience points. Once the experience bar is full, you can upgrade your skills or stat points corresponding to the experience gained."
"WOW, cool," said Bowen excitedly, just like a kid. Until now, he didn't have any other way to upgrade his stats and skills other than completing missions or repeatedly training the skills. Now that he had this, he could easily decide his growth.
Secondly, the UPGRADE WAS IN GOD'S MALL.
He hadn't even used the 1st level of the God's Mall yet since he didn't require basic life activity books until now. Now that he had reached the second level, he was too excited to see what was in store. But before going there, he had to open the upgrade gift pack that the system had given him.
He was almost moved to tears even before opening it. The system was so stingy that it hadn't even given him the beginner's gift for free. Now he had received a gift; all the suffering he had endured all this time seemed to be answered.
Without wasting any more time, he clicked on the gift icon. After an eye-glaring glow, a square cardboard box of one foot levitated before him. The glow dimmed and disappeared once Bowen caught the box. It was nothing special, just a normal cardboard box. But Bowen knew that the things inside might not be so simple. Even his space bracelet and spirit pavilion were items that surpassed all the magic artifacts in Grimesphere.
Without worrying too much, he unsealed and opened the box. Inside was a neatly folded black set of robe along with a mask, both in adult sizes.
"System, did you send me the wrong size by chance?" asked Bowen.
"Don't blabber nonsense and quickly try it, Host. I had to stand in a long line to obtain it."
"Line?" Bowen inquire
System -----(silent)
"Whatever," Bowen shrugged.
He unfolded the plain hooded black robe and wore it. Suddenly, black smoke shrouded him, and his appearance changed. He was now 6.2 feet tall.
"What the fu**? This can help me grow?" shouted Bowen.
"Please don't act dumb, Host. It has only changed your appearance. With this, you will look like the adult version of Bowen. No one below S rank can see through your real identity. Moreover, it has one more function."
"One more?"
"Yes, quickly try the black mask. You will see for yourself."
Bowen examined the black mask with golden patterns on the left side. It looked more high-end compared to the robe.
He placed the mask on his face, and another red glow enveloped Bowen. His appearance changed again.
"OMG!!!! Now Bowen looks exactly like he does in Reaper mode—with the face of William, the thigh black t-shirt, sleek black pants, robe with golden embroidery, the golden chain pendant with a skeleton head, and the modern hairstyle."
"Don't be too happy. It's only a facade. You won't have the powers that you possess in our Reaper mode," Before bowen could become more excited the system threw water to wake him up from his daze.
Still, for Bowen, this was a huge development. How many times had he been looked down upon because he was a kid? At least now he could avoid humiliation. However, he must conceal his identity and powers until he can stand face to face with the powerful figures of this world.
At this time, Bowen didn't know that two mighty powerhouses were already nearing him, leading him toward his doom. If not for the Succubus Queen, he would have already left this world and returned to his employee in World's Edge. What's more, he would only gain more enemies in the future by killing his targets.