"You will get a total of 11,600C," Zaya said to him. "Can you share the scanner with me to send the money?"
"Okay, here." August opened his smartwatch and showed his scanner to Zaya.
Zaya quickly scanned it. "I've sent the money to you."
*Ting!* { Your account has been credited with 11,600C from 6754XXXX0985 }
"I have told you my name, but I haven't gotten yours."
"My name is August."
"So, August, can I have your Clik ID so I can add you as a friend?"
"S... sure," August stuttered. It was the first time a girl had asked for his Clik ID. His heart raced as he showed his ID to Zaya, who quickly noted it in her personal smartwatch.
"I've sent you a friend request."
*Ping!* { Zaya_02 has sent you a friend request: Confirm/Decline } He accepted the request, feeling a mix of excitement and nervousness.
"Thanks for accepting the friend request. If you need anything from the guild, you can contact me," Zaya suggested.
"Then I would like to know when the next exam for the alchemist will be held." August wanted to take the next exam for alchemists so he could get his official alchemist ID.
"The alchemist exam is every three months. The next one is in two weeks," Zaya said, recalling the schedule.
"Are you going to take it?" she asked curiously.
"Yeah," he confirmed.
"If you're going to take it, I can send you some notes about the exam. It will be held at the Sunrise City Alchemist Guild," she offered.
"Really? That would be great! Please send it to my Clik," August said, unable to hide his excitement.
"Then I'll be going." After chatting for a bit longer, August bid her farewell.
"See ya," Zaya said, waving her hand in the air.
****
After leaving the alchemist guild, August headed towards the association task center. With this much money, he could buy beast cores and exchange them for system points.
"Is it against the rules, system, to buy beast cores and exchange them for system points?" he asked the system.
[No, it's not against the system rules.]
[The system's sole purpose is to make the host stronger.]
"Understood," he confirmed.
After some time, he arrived at the association task center and bought rank 1 beast cores for 5000C. He specifically selected some ice element beast cores for Aurora.
On his way to the residence area, he sold the meat of the boar beast to a restaurant, which got him another 5000C.
He arrived at the hotel where he had rented a room. After confirming his identity, he got the key to the room, which was on the second floor of the building.
He arrived at the door of his room. With the key, he opened the door, which creaked open. The room was small, with a single bed and a faint smell of cleaning supplies.
He opened his beast space, letting Aurora out. She slithered out and climbed onto his shoulder. August then brought out an ice element beast core. Aurora's eyes glistened with excitement. She glanced at him and started to rub her head against his cheek.
"No need to look at me like that. I brought it out for you." August gave the beast core to her, and she gobbled it up in a second. She watched him with more eager eyes.
"Okay, okay, I'll give you more." August brought out more cores and gave them to her. She gobbled them up one by one. After the tenth one, she burped and didn't eat more.
He opened the beast space for her to enter and rest there to digest the cores.
He then approached the beast guardian statue. Even seeing it for the second time, he couldn't help but admire it. Its intricate carvings and the faint hum of power it emitted were mesmerizing.
"How do I bring a beast core here?"
[ You have to think of bringing the core here, and it has to be in the inventory, or it will not work ]
"Okay." He thought of bringing an ice element beast core, and a small white crystal like core appeared in his hand.
"Oh, it worked."
"Now, how do I give it to the statue?"
[ You have to be near the beast guardian statue and think of offering it ]
"Got it." He approached the statue and thought of offering the core. A notification appeared before him.
[ Do you wish to offer the ice element beast core to the beast guardian? Y/N ]
"Yes" After confirming it the core started to dissolve into particles and headed towards the statue. The statue released a burst of cold energy, engulfing the entire floating island. It started to snow, and the air grew crisp and refreshing.
[ Ding! Ice element boost has been applied to your beast space ]
[ Boost: (1) Ice element ]
[ Effects: Ice element beast growth by 50% ]
[ Duration: 24h ]
"So, it's a 50% boost. Can it be more than that?"
[ The higher the rank and quality of the core, the better the boost ]
It was good to know he could boost his pets' growth with beast cores. This way, his pets could grow quickly.
He closed his beast space and then opened his status.
______________
[Status]
Host Profile
Name: August
Age: 15
Mana Rank: 1 (middle)
Beast Space Level 1: 1/1 (1000 SP to upgrade)
SP: 220
Traits: Rune Body
Skills: Celestial Mana Circulation - 2%, Alchemy (I) - 50%, Butchery (I) - 10%
Inventory (15%), Inspect, Shop, Ability Extract, (locked)]
______________
"Whoa, my alchemy mastery reached 50%?" August couldn't help but be surprised.
"At this speed, I can purchase the second-tier knowledge quickly." He was eager to purchase the second-tier knowledge of alchemy.
'If I can buy butchery knowledge, why not see if I can buy other useful knowledge like swordsmanship?' Thinking about it, he called up the shop section and asked, "System, is there swordsmanship knowledge?"
[ Searching for swordsmanship knowledge…. ]
[ Found ]
[ Knowledge ]: [ Tier-I ]: [ Swordsmanship ] Price - 1000 SP.]
"Yes! There is knowledge about swordsmanship. I can learn it directly by purchasing the knowledge." August felt that with this, he could quickly catch up to the geniuses who had been trained from a young age.
"Hm, I have only 220 SP, which is why I bought the beast cores." He initially bought 300; now he had 289 cores left.
"System, I want to exchange the beast cores other than the ice element and the rank 2 ones for system points."
[ You have converted 280 rank 1 beast cores into system points ]
[ You got 3080 SP ]
He could buy the rune knowledge now, but he didn't need it at the moment when he could directly boost his strength with swordsmanship knowledge.
"Let's buy it."
[ Do you wish to purchase the Tier-I swordsmanship knowledge for 1000 SP? Y/N ]
"Yes. Ack!" August confirmed, then a surge of knowledge entered his head. He grimaced from the headache, flopping to the floor and clutching his head.
"Huff, huff." After the knowledge transfer was complete, he could finally take a breather from the pain.
Every time he bought knowledge, the system would make him roll on the floor because of the pain. "Can't you make the transfer less painful?"
[ To gain something, you have to be able to endure the pain that comes with it. ]
"When did you get so profound?" he asked in frustration.
[ From the beginning, but the host is so narrow-minded he couldn't grasp that. ]
"Sigh!" August sighed in defeat. He opened the technique section. "Let's purchase a sword combat technique."
"System, can you show me some of the best sword techniques that are 2300 SP?"
[On it.]
[Found.]
[Flash Sword ★]
[Shadow Dance ★]
[Earthshaker Strike ★]
[Mirror Slice ★]
[Blurred Blade ★]
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