After returning to his room, Charles immediately entered his system space to review his recent gains.
Opening the artifact panel, he saw that the icon for the Crimson Gourd had lit up.
Ding! Would you like to activate the Crimson Gourd artifact?
Yes!
As the Crimson Gourd was activated, Charles received its information.
Crimson Gourd – Strength Level: 0
Effect: Record and Seal Word Command
The Crimson Gourd, when paired with the Seven Star Sword, records the opponent's verbal tics on the sword. Once the opponent says the recorded word, the Crimson Gourd can seal them.
Just like the previous artifacts, the Crimson Gourd could be enhanced through Ninja Orbs, unlocking rune slots.
Using 3,000 Reincarnation Stones could condense a special rune for embedding. Each artifact could hold up to three runes, with different effects depending on the combination.
Looking at the three artifacts—Golden Canopy Rope, Seven Star Sword, and Crimson Gourd—Charles finally completed the set.
Previously, only the Golden Canopy Rope and Seven Star Sword were available, but without the Crimson Gourd, the final sealing step couldn't be performed, limiting their usefulness.
Though the Golden Canopy Rope could bind and reveal words, and the Seven Star Sword could record and sever them, sealing wasn't possible.
Now that the full set was gathered, Charles could utilize the combo in its full power.
Knowing that his next major opponent was Hela, it could come in handy.
Charles then checked his current resources: Ninja Orbs: 10,650, and Reincarnation Stones: 25,510.
Looking at the Golden Canopy Rope, which had already been strengthened to level 20, Charles saw the options to strengthen it once, ten times, or a hundred times.
He chose the hundred-time option without hesitation.
The Golden Canopy Rope's level quickly rose: 30, 35, 40...
Ding! Golden Canopy Rope level increased to 40. One rune slot unlocked.
Ding! Golden Canopy Rope level increased to 60. One rune slot unlocked.
After spending 10,000 Ninja Orbs, Charles had maxed the Golden Canopy Rope at level 70, unlocking the remaining two rune slots.
Curious about how long his now maxed-out Golden Canopy Rope could restrain Hela, Charles smiled, remembering that even at level 20, it had managed to hold Thor for a few seconds.
He then began extracting runes.
Ding! Would you like to use 3,000 Reincarnation Stones to randomly condense a rune?
Yes!
After a flash of light, a rune appeared.
Rune Attribute: Durability
Charles shook his head. This attribute would be better suited for the Seven Star Sword or the Crimson Gourd.
He proceeded to condense the second rune.
Bind: Embedding this rune grants the ability to seal the enemy's inner power.
Seeing this attribute, Charles smiled broadly. This was perfect for either the Golden Canopy Rope or the Crimson Gourd.
He continued condensing the third rune.
Sharpness: Embedding this rune enhances the sharpness of the artifact, allowing it to cut through most materials.
This one wasn't a match for the Golden Canopy Rope, but Charles figured it would be great for the Seven Star Sword.
Finally, the fourth rune was extracted.
Spatial Travel: Embedding this rune grants the ability to traverse through space.
This attribute made Charles nod in satisfaction. Embedding it into the Golden Canopy Rope would make its attacks even more unpredictable, perfect for ambushes.
Charles had spent 12,000 Reincarnation Stones to obtain these four runes, and each was useful in its own way.
The only downside was that he now had too few Ninja Orbs to enhance and embed runes into the remaining two artifacts, the Seven Star Sword and the Crimson Gourd.
Charles embedded the two runes, Bind and Spatial Travel, into the Golden Canopy Rope, enhancing its capabilities.
Looking at his three artifacts, he felt confident that they would give Hela a big surprise.
After confirming the artifact setup, Charles's attention shifted to his gold balance—112,800 coins. Recalling the Reality Stone that could be used for recharge, Charles exited the system space.
He removed the Reality Stone from the Infinity Gauntlet and placed it in his left palm.
Ding! Rechargeable item detected. Would you like to recharge?
Without hesitation, Charles chose to recharge.
After all, recharging wouldn't cause the stone to disappear, and the ability would still remain functional, though it could only be used for recharge once per year.
It seemed like a worthwhile trade-off.
As Charles confirmed his choice, a suction force emerged from his palm. However, unlike devouring other items entirely, this absorbed the energy within the Reality Stone instead.
Ding! Recharge successful, earned 6,480 coins!
Ding! Recharge successful, earned 6,480 coins!
...
This process repeated until Charles received 49 rounds of 6,480 coins, totaling 317,520 coins.
The Reality Stone remained just as brilliant. After placing it back into the Infinity Gauntlet, he donned the glove again.
…
Elsewhere-
In the dimension connected to the Reality Stone, the energy from the Reality Law Dimension was entirely depleted due to the system.
The law energy that once enveloped the dimension would take a full year to regenerate and re-coat the dimension's singularity.
…
Charles glanced at the Infinity Gauntlet, now equipped with two Infinity Stones. This gauntlet was a powerful weapon, and he was using the stones far more effectively than Malekith.
What intrigued him most was the Reality Stone's ability to turn the intangible into reality and vice versa.
It could turn an enemy's attack into nothing or transform imagined things into real entities—a terrifying power.
He eyed the gauntlet, which was still missing four stones, and then immediately re-entered the system space.
As soon as Charles entered the system, the notification rang again.
Ding! Obtained purchase rights for the summoning beast: Isobu (Three-Tails)!
Ding! Ninja recruitment pool updated!
Ding! Outfit shop added!
The new notifications shifted his attention.
Charles was particularly pleased with the Three-Tails purchase rights. Having another tailed beast at his command would be useful, especially when the time came to merge the beasts into the Ten-Tails.
With the Gedo Statue as a shell, it would still need to be filled with all the tailed beasts.
Since acquiring the Space Stone, Charles hadn't traveled to other planets to plant a Divine Tree yet, precisely because he still couldn't form the tree without all the beasts.
As for the updated ninja recruitment pool, Charles was curious to see which S-rank and A-rank ninjas would appear this time.
The third notification about the outfit shop didn't pique his interest as much, and he decided to check it later. He didn't have high expectations for it.