In her room, after the maids had cleaned her up, Selene was left alone as Merly headed to the kitchen to fetch something for her to eat. The moment the door closed behind her, Selene approached her desk, where the pendant and the four soul essences lay. She stared at the pendant, frowning in concentration.
"I wish I had an analysis skill," she grumbled. "Then I'd know if this is a relic or just a charm."
Sighing, she turned her attention to the soul essences, picking one up and rolling it between her fingers. She didn't know much about them, only that they represented fragments of a person's soul, refined by unholy flames. The thought of what that made her shiver. Thorn's soul had basically been turned into these. If Thorn were to reincarnate, she'd be born without a right arm, Selene thought. She felt a pang of guilt. I have to find a way to give it back to her before she leaves.
As she pondered what to do, Selene glanced around the room, wondering where she could hide the soul essences. That was when she remembered her status interface from earlier, that there was a panel labeled "Inventory."
"Inventory," she called out.
The silence that followed was shameful, and suddenly she coughed awkwardly. The next thing she knew, there was this purple vortex thingy right there in the air. She screeched and fell backward onto the floor as her heart began to beat furiously, staring at the space twisting in front of her. Once the initial shock started to wear off, curiosity overcame her fear. Cautiously, she got up and approached it.
Gingerly, she extended her finger toward the vortex. When nothing happened, she pressed her entire hand inside, then quickly pulled it back. After a few more moments of hesitation, Selene leaned forward and stuck her head through the vortex.
Her breath caught in her throat at what she saw.
Inside, it was like space: a dark, open area with stars and space dust clouds, the soft glowing of other galaxies. It was beautiful and huge, an almost dreamlike place. She spent a few minutes just looking at it before pulling her head back out.
Selene then picked up one of the soul essences and tossed it into the vortex. She quickly opened her status interface and navigated to the inventory section, smiling when she saw the soul essence safely stored there. However, she was surprised to see that two other items were already in her inventory: a staff and a dress.
Ah, right. In the game, when a child awakened their class, they were given beginner weapons and armor, she recalled.
Her curiosity piqued; she clicked on the dress. Two options appeared: Equip and Take Out. Below that, there was additional information, including its durability and armor protection. She clicked on Equip without much afterthought.
In an instant, her clothes vanished and a new garment took over. She looked down and gasped.
It was black, of course, with long sleeves and a couple of slashes from waist to ankle, which was hooded over her face and cast shadows on her skin; the tunic itself smoldered with an aura of black smoke. Selene ran over to the large mirror in one corner, and when she saw what she was wearing, words were impossible to speak.
Her sea-blue hair had darkened to an indigo hue, her face looking eerie-too eerie. If someone chanced upon her in that state, they'd faint out of fear.
"No, no, no," she muttered frantically, clicking on her previous clothes in the inventory and equipping them once again. A deep sigh of great relief swept over her as the black dress disappeared and her regular clothes reappeared.
After calming herself, Selene turned her attention to the staff. At a click on it, more detailed information appeared in a pop-up:
[Unholy Flamecaster's Staff]
Durability: 100/100
Type: Magic Staff
Attribute: Dark magic
Effect: Allows caster to channel dark magic without harm. Increases the damage output of unholy spells by 20%.
Cooldown Reduction: 10%
Selene let out a small cheer, happy to know that she wouldn't have to worry about the unholy flames harming her anymore when she cast them. That was one less thing to stress over.
Finally, she clicked on the soul essence in her inventory, and instantly, a window showing its description popped out:
[Soul Essence]
Type: Crafting Material
Uses: Can be used to craft weapons, potions, and elixirs.
Note: An important ingredient in advanced crafting. In particular, magical and alchemical creations rely on this ingredient. Very rare.
Selene's eyes widened. Weapons? Potions? Elixirs? This could be really useful, but now she also knew that she needed to figure out how to collect soul essences in the future.
As Selene was finally done with the inventory she then cast a glance at the two remaining panels: one was Equipment, and the other was Store. The equipment panel didn't raise her interest that much for now, but the store did catch her eye. She clicked it without hesitation, and what appeared before her left her shocked.
It was eerily similar to the in-game store where one could purchase gold and diamonds to make important choices, yet this one still looked like an online shopping website. On top, there was a search tab; beside it, a space showing zero that looked like it was supposed to indicate how much money she had. On the screen's left-hand side, a column listed the following categories: Food, Equipment, Clothes, Cosmetics, Tools, Books, Hatchables, and Bank.
Curious, she clicked on Bank. Four icons came up below that: Deposit, Withdrawal, Loan, Sell.
Selene's eyes went wide, and a slow grin spread across her face. "Jackpot," she mouthed to herself. This was her cheat code. She held the little victory in for a moment before clicking the Sell option. A box appeared on screen with, Add item to be sold.
She looked around her room and caught sight of the peach pendant. For a moment, she thought of selling it but immediately changed her mind, as that was definitely not a good idea. She went to her dresser, opening one drawer full of Selene's old jewelry; she picked out a simple silver bracelet,elegant yet not too flashy, with a simple etching of flowers going around its circumference.
"This will have to do," she muttered, placing it in the box. The bracelet disappeared, and a new message appeared on the screen: Confirm Sale or Cancel. After a moment's deliberation, she clicked on Confirm.
When it sold for two big gold coins, her jaw dropped. Selene just stared at the screen, totally shocked. "What in the world was in that bracelet for it to be that expensive?" she asked out loud.
Thanks to the game, she knew that this world's currency was:
10 small copper coins = 1 large copper coin
10 large copper coins = 1 small silver coin
10 small silver coins = 1 large silver coin
10 large silver coins = 1 small gold coin
10 small gold coins = 1 large gold coin
10 large gold coins = 1 small platinum coin
10 small platinum coins = 1 large platinum coin
The price of such a bracelet had taken her aback, and suddenly she realized that to Selene, born into the ducal house, waited upon hand and foot, probably never had anything inexpensive. Of course not, she sighed, her parents wouldn't give her something 'cheap.'
Shrugging off her surprise, Selene decided to browse a bit more. Clicking the Food section, her eyes almost popped out of her head. On the list were close to all types of food imaginable: Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Indian, Mexican, Italian, fast food, etc. She was excited as she realized the store was connected not only to this world but also to Earth.
Tears welled in her eyes. "Last night I was craving Supreme Sweet Chicken," she whispered, "and I thought I'd never be able to eat it again." She clicked onto the search bar immediately, and there popped up a digital keyboard in front of her. Typing Supreme Sweet Chicken, she grinned as several results popped out.
Elated, she clicked the first result and was just about to throw it into her shopping cart when suddenly the door burst open. Merly literally scared her half to death as she rushed into the room. In panic, Selene quickly closed the interface, her heart racing. Merly, none the wiser about what had just transpired, pushed a serving cart into the room.
"Here's some cookies and milk for you, Young Miss," Merly said with a smile.
Selene pouted but didn't grumble. She sat at her mini dining table and started to eat. Munching the cookies, she grumbled in her mind to keep herself from fixating about the fried chicken later.
Such plans were, however, foiled when later that evening, the Duke invited her to the dining room to join him for dinner. It was a formal affair, and she didn't get a chance to sneak in her long-awaited meal from the store.
By bedtime, she was utterly full, her cravings for Supreme Sweet Chicken forgotten.