As Alex clicked on the Physical option in the Buy category, a new set of items appeared for purchase.
True to its name, it centered around physical enchantments, mirroring the magic option. Interestingly, this category utilized system points (SP) instead of shop coins (SC).
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[Physical]
-Increase Strength: 20 SP
-Increase Stamina: 20 SP
-Increase Agility: 20 SP
-Increase Vitality: 30 SP
-Increase Health Regeneration: 45 SP
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"Arghh, I am short on SP! I cannot buy anything from here." Alex grumbled after observing the prices of the items. He didn't even have enough to test out a single option.
'Well, at least I can sell these cores to get some shop coins. The Skills option should have some new additions as well.'
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[The host has successfully sold 16 F rank monster cores.]
[Shop Coins: 10→250]
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"Now, let's buy that magic resistance skill and see what sort of E-rank skills the system shop has to offer."
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[Skills]
• F-rank skills: 50 SC
- Cook
- Meditate
- Minor Magic Resistance
• E-rank skills: 200 SC
- Berserker
- Bow Novice
- Hunter
- Insta-Move
- Minor Damage Mitigation
- Minor Pain Tolerance
- Spear Novice
- Stealth
- Survivalist
- Sword Novice
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Alex was amazed by all the new skills to choose from. One immediately caught his attention—the Sword Novice skill.
It was the perfect skill he had been hoping for and needed at the moment. Although he wanted to purchase more skills, he had to refrain from doing so.
He had just enough to buy one from each of the F-rank and E-rank skills. The others were enticing, but not exactly what he needed at the moment.
Sword Novice skill greatly complemented his Beginner Weapon Expert skill and promised to elevate his sword skills to the next level.
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[The host has acquired the F rank skill Minor Magic Resistance]
Skill: Minor Magic Resistance (Passive)
Rank: F
Description:
- Strengthens the user's capacity to acclimate to and withstand the impacts of various basic magic attacks to a certain degree
==============================
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[The host has acquired the E rank skill Sword Novice]
Skill: Sword Novice (Passive)
Rank: E
Description:
- Grants fundamental knowledge and proficiency in wielding and utilizing various swords.
- Can adapt to the usage of unfamiliar sword types
==============================
With the E-rank skill, as always, a plethora of information flooded into Alex's mind on how to wield different kinds of swords proficiently.
If the previous skill provided a general overview of handling and using various weapons, this skill was more specific, focusing on wielding and utilizing various types of swords.
Alex then spent the night refining the remaining five E-rank monster cores, further increasing his mana pool by another 30 MP.
He could have sold four of those cores in the system shop to buy one more skill, but he didn't find the need for another skill at the moment, so he left it for the future.
◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆
The next day, after his classes, he was eager to try out his new skills and immediately went to the Knight faculty's training center.
'Woah! This feels totally different from before.'
As he picked up a sword, he could feel something different after acquiring the new skill. The weight of the sword, the blade's length and build—he could faintly sense it all.
The way he picked it up and wielded it was different from before, just a single swing in the air felt distinct.
So began his daily training as usual, with today's main focus on sword training. After finishing his training and taking a refreshing shower, Alex sat in his room to review his two pending quests from the system.
'For the main quest, I have already hunted 9 out of the 15 E-rank monsters. There is still time for that.'
He thought as he gazed at another window displaying the progress of his side quest. He was not even halfway in completing that quest, and just a week remained for its deadline.
Only one spell of his had D-rank mastery,
'Hmm, now that Sherry already knows about it, I can again start to secretly practice my magic freely. But still, I can't because there is still this one problem.'
"Aurora, is there a chance someone might catch me again if I practice my magic in the backyard of the dorm?" Alex asked for reassurance.
"...Mmm, well, I can't be too sure either about this. The academy is equipped with surveillance throughout its premises. It's just that the range of those monitoring formations doesn't reach this place much."
Alex knew this fact, and as she earlier confirmed that the monitoring formation's range didn't reach this place, but it might not always be the case.
Uncalculated and unknown factors might occur. A prime example of this was Sherry finding this with her compass.
Someone similar might be alerted if he uses magic here, and this time it might not end well for him.
"Why are you asking this suddenly? If you are planning to use magic again here, I suggest not to."
"I know what you are thinking; the spells might garner unwanted attention here."
"Yes, using
"I know that is what I was thinking too. I can at least use
'I need to find a place sooner. Should I try renting a place outside the academy?'
"Now that I have some money, I'll just rent a place outside."
"No, you can't. You will leave me alone again!"
Alex decided to tell her his idea, but she was stubborn and immediately rejected it. He knew this might happen, so he had asked her only for a solution.
"You only tell me what to do. I am out of ideas."
"Just ask that girl for help. I am sure she will help you."