With a flash, the whitish energy gradually decreased until a single drop of purple-blackish energy remained which went from the beginning to the end of the pattern before restarting the trajectory, simply traveling in the pattern.
"And with this I have a single unit of energy in my space wanderer core." Said Lux with a small smile at the corner of his mouth, more than happy at everything that was currently happening. His goal in the short term would be to increase his energy to gain enough of it to inscribe the two only space wanderers spells released to the public for free.
The spells, gate creator and coordinate research were the two most important spells but also the most basic spells of the space wanderer's profession. Those two spells allowed one to find a celestial body's coordinates and open a gate on that location, allowing oneself and other professionalists to enter it.
Should the space wanderer wish to learn and master more types of spells, he would have no choice but to join an already formed organization with a proper background for the knowledge. It was a small but effective way for the guilds, sects and officials to control and recruit new awakeners.
[Shop Bound.]
[Please select a tier 1 size, 1 star resource and 1 star danger rated celestial body, free of charge.]
As Lux saw the bonus, he excitedly opened the star map, seeing a few dozen celestial bodies flashing blue which he could select. Those same celestial bodies were the closest to the Earth as he obviously didn't have enough strength to locate and master those further away.
Looking at the celestial bodies which slowly moved on the Star Map, Lux frowned for a moment before finally deciding on a specific star.
As he selected it, specific information appeared on his second system panel.
- Name: Proteus
- Size: Tier 1
- Gate level: 1 (0/1000)
- Activation cost: 10 energy/hour
- Time Remaining: Closed
- Environment level: 1 star
- Monster Danger level: 1 star
- Ressource level: 1 star
- Map: None
- Cost per hour: 50 Bym
As he looked at the specific information and saw that there was already a name, he understood that this specific celestial body had already been discovered by at least one space wanderer in the past. Having a name meant that a space wanderer had already opened a portal and had named the portal Proteus, naming the celestial body this way. As for whether the gate of another Space Wanderer was also open on this Celestial Body, it was none of his business.
His gate level represented the amount of energy it took to keep the gate activated all the while representing the size of the portal itself. The only way to increase the size of a gate was by sending energy into it by keeping it open, stabilizing the channel.
The current activation cost of 10 energy per hour was currently pretty cheap but as it would get farther and farther away as it drifted into space, the price would gradually rise until he could either not afford to keep the gate open anymore or wasn't worth it. Of course, he currently couldn't afford it and as such, the gate was currently closed. The time remaining information was a pretty detailed tellsign of when he wouldn't be able to afford it anymore.
Of course, the time remaining would vary if he increased his total space wanderer energy or if he increased the gate level.
Finally the danger and ressources level represented the amount of environmental danger, the monster danger and ressources amount one might find in this gate. This was overall useful information to possess.
Feeling his current energy which was almost completely emptied, he knew he would have to wait for a little while before being able to continue improving himself.
Some potions existed which could increase the recovery speed of one's own energy or directly replenish it. Unfortunately, such medicine was both expensive and unaffordable for common people like he currently was. After all, despite having such an amazing profession, he was still without much money.
Of course, in this world, there were various awakened groups such as academies that represented the various kingdoms, guilds, families and sects that recruited new awakeners, especially space wanderers. However, once one joined them and used their resources, they were pretty much bound to them for at least a couple of years if not for a lifetime, working for them.
"Yeah, I'm not in any rush. I'll take my time and considering my system, I should be able to create a Gate shop." Said Lux while he decided to start taking care of the house since it would be a large part of the shop in the future.
Gate shops were shops which were mostly held by various groups. The groups would guarantee the space wanderers enough resources while they would have to continue working to research new coordinates and keep the gates open for them.
Due to the difficulty in finding coordinates and the fact that they were ever moving in the vastness of the universe, gate shops could face the risk of closure at any time. The reason being that they distanced themselves from the celestial bodies and the space wanderer couldn't support enough energy to keep it open while not finding other coordinates to replace them.
As such, while gate shops were a popular and easy way to make money, the difficulty in guaranteeing a steady supply of open gates in the shop made it a troublesome matter for each investor.
Moreover, opening a gate shop wasn't a business without risk as a lot of compensation may be granted at any time. Since the gate could close at any moment due to the distance of the celestial body, professionals who entered the gates would thereby be exiled until the next time the celestial body got close enough and the Space Wanderer could reopen it.
While thinking of the various problems which may pop up, not that he was overly concerned considering that the system could accurately pinpoint the moment he wouldn't be able to continue supporting the gate, he walked downstairs.
Now that he had the idea, he obviously couldn't leave the building in disrepair.
Starting by cleaning up, he brought down every shelf and furniture of the first floor. Most of them, being vandalized by some customers or simply in disrepair after being left alone for so long.
Taking every piece of wood out of the store, leaving it on the side of the building, he continued, even taking down the counter of the shop which was pretty much unusable due to the mold. 'Really, how could you let the furniture get so bad.' Thought Lux as he shook his head at the previous body's owner who had left the shop in total disrepair.
Having emptied the shop, he walked back upstairs and took out a dilapidated but still working sub-communication talisman.
Sub-communicating talismans were one time uses as they would connect with the main talisman and couldn't connect to anything else.
Such talismans were made under the talisman maker profession, a profession which didn't have much combat uses but were still quite useful. This specific talisman had been given to his parents by the company they had bought the furniture from in case they wished to resell everything.
"Woodworking company inc. here, what may we do for you?" Asked a voice coming from the talisman as a member of the company answered on the other side.
At the same time, the piece of paper in his hand started burning, the remaining piece of paper represented the energy remaining in the talisman.
"Hello, I have many pieces of broken furniture to sell, are you available to come and get them?" He asked as he gave his address, the remaining communicating time getting smaller and smaller.
"Sure, we will be there within half an hour." Replied the voice as the communication was cut and the remaining energy of the talisman disappeared, burning it to ashes in an instant.
With the problem of the broken furniture solved, Lux walked back to the first floor of the shop. He would have to clean it properly, take off the paint and repaint it completely. 'I wonder if the system mall can deal with the refurbishment of the shop.' He wondered as he casually opened it and looked at the shop option.
[Profession Mall - Shop]
- Transforming the building into a level 1 gate shop: 1000 credits
- Strengthening the shop defenses to level 1: 500 credits
- Changing the ground floor's wood: 50 credits
- Changing the wall's wood: 75 credits
- Adding a lv.1 soundproofing effect: 276 credits
- Changing the paint of the ground floor: 65 credits
As he looked at the various options of the mall, he shook his head as he currently had no credit at all.
Using yet another talisman, this time to a decorative company as the original's parents had been filled with projects and had hoped to refurbish the store and add various decorations, he hired the company to come and change the paint and add some basic furniture such as a desk and some low stages which would be the gate's location. Further modifications would be made once he had enough credits.
Half an hour later, he gave the money he made by selling the broken furniture to the decorative company workers and they went to work while he went back upstairs, ready to restart his training.
Once again sitting crossed legged as this was how many did it in this world, he rested his back against the wall as he closed his eyes and filled the space wanderer pattern with energy.
In this way, Lux spent the following two weeks simply practicing and improving his first profession's energy. There wasn't much else to do as he had yet to learn the gate creation spell.