I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Divine Crystals? I hadn't even thought about them until now. I clicked over to that category, and holy shit, the items available were mind-blowing.
The first thing that caught my eye was a Dragon Egg for 100 Divine Crystals.
A freaking dragon egg! Was this for real?
It had to be.
This world was insane. But I only had 1000 Divine Crystals, so I needed to be smart about this.
There were only a couple of other items listed, probably because the Midas Shop was still at Level 1. But what was there was incredible:
- Valkyrie [500 Divine Crystals]: I could literally summon a Valkyrie to protect me. Talk about a game-changer. I wanted to summon her right away, but I knew I had to be patient. This wasn't the place for it.
- Wind Element [100 Divine Crystals]
- Earth Element [100 Divine Crystals]
In this world, magic existed, but those who could wield elemental powers were considered truly gifted. Most people used mana to enhance their physical abilities and skills, but elemental magic was the purest form. And now, I could awaken these elements just by buying them.
I snatched up the Wind and Earth Elements without a second thought. A prompt appeared: "[Do you want to buy the Earth and Wind Elements for 200 Divine Crystals?]" I hit "Yes" immediately, bracing myself for pain, but thankfully, there was none.
Now, back to skills. I focused on the lower-ranked ones, sticking to C and B ranks. Even low-rank skills could be incredibly useful if used right. I scrolled through the list, looking for the right ones.
I spent over half an hour scrolling through my options, my mind racing with possibilities, before finally settling on two new skills. The first one I picked was:
[B: Void Focus: Lvl 1]
Effect: This skill lets you enter a state of pure, emotionless concentration for 5 seconds. It's like hitting the pause button on all distractions and honing in on what's truly important.
Cooldown: 10 minutes.
This skill could be a game-changer, especially when I'm surrounded by enemies who want nothing more than to see me gone. In this world, danger lurks around every corner, so having a moment of clarity could mean the difference between life and death.
The second skill I chose was:
[C: Gale Step: Lvl 1]
Effect: For 5 seconds, this skill boosts movement speed by 40% and lets you ignore friction. It's like having the wind at my back, pushing me forward with incredible speed.
Cooldown: 1 minute.
With these two skills, I felt ready to take on whatever challenges came my way. I could have picked more, but my Shop Level restricted me to just four skills in my inventory. I decided to keep one slot empty, just in case I needed to add something new on the fly.
Finally, I took a moment to check out my status:
Midas Shop Lvl 1
- Strength: Lvl 1 [0/100]
- Speed: Lvl 1 [0/100]
- Stamina: Lvl 1 [0/100]
- Mana: Lvl 1 [0/100]
- Vision: Lvl 1 [0/100]
- Affinity: [Earth Grade 1: 0/1000]; [Wind Grade 1: 0/1000]
- Skills: [SSS: Chronos Eyes Lvl 1]; [B: Void Focus Lvl 1]; [C: Gale Step Lvl 1]
Now I understood why I had so many Skill Books. Leveling up my aptitudes was going to take a lot of resources. As for my skills, it seemed like I couldn't level them up manually just yet. Maybe using them frequently would do the trick.
I decided to start using my Skill Books right away. With so many at my disposal, there was no point in being stingy. After applying a bunch of them, my status looked like this:
Midas Shop Lvl 1
- Strength: Lvl 4 [0/1000]
- Speed: Lvl 4 [0/1000]
- Stamina: Lvl 4 [0/1000]
- Mana: Lvl 4 [0/1000]
- Vision: Lvl 4 [0/1000]
- Affinity: [Earth Grade 2: 0/2000]; [Wind Grade 2: 0/2000]
- Skills: [SSS: Chronos Eyes Lvl 1]; [B: Void Focus Lvl 1]; [C: Gale Step Lvl 1]
Skill Books: 92,700.
Unfortunately, I couldn't raise my levels any further because my Midas Shop was still at Level 1. There were restrictions in place, probably for my own good, because I was already feeling overwhelmed and exhausted.
With my skills and stats all set, it was finally time to check out the weapons. I found a quiet corner to browse in peace and immediately dove into the Platinum Coins Category. I had a cool 100 million coins to spend, but even with that much, the prices were steep. These weren't your average items; they all had a special shine to them, a clear sign that they were anything but ordinary.
I headed straight to the weapons category. The stuff in this shop was incredible, unlike anything you'd find in this world. I felt a rush of excitement, like a kid playing an RPG for the first time, but I quickly reminded myself to stay focused. This wasn't a game, and my situation was far from fun and games.
I decided against getting a sword. I had no clue how to swing one, so it would probably do me more harm than good. A knife, on the other hand, was simple and effective. I scrolled through the options until I found the perfect one:
[Whisper Fang: Killing with this blade makes no noises. 1000 Platinum Coins.]
It was perfect—deadly and discreet. I hit the buy button, and a shimmering light later, the knife materialized in my hand. It was a thing of beauty, with a beautifully crafted handle and a silver-white blade that gleamed with a sharp, deadly edge. The reflection of my blue eyes in the blade made it feel like it was made just for me. Even the highest nobles would envy a weapon like this.
I tucked the knife away and continued browsing. There were pieces of armored clothing made from sturdy skins and all sorts of other amazing items. It was insane how much stuff was available. I lost track of time as I scrolled through the options, and before I knew it, exhaustion hit me like a brick wall. I let out a tired sigh and closed the shop interface.
"Hey, what's your name, boy?" The old man from earlier asked, snapping me out of my thoughts.
I usually don't give out my name to strangers, but this old man had helped me, and he seemed genuinely concerned. So, I decided to trust him with my name—at least, the name I went by in this world.
"Soren," I replied.
"I'm Gilbert. You're quite young. How did you end up here?" He asked, his eyes searching mine.
I gave him a wary look. "I think I'm not the youngest one here," I said, deflecting his question.
Gilbert chuckled, not at all offended. "I apologize. It's just that I feel like I've seen you somewhere before. Are you perhaps of noble birth?"
His words hit me like a punch to the gut. Noble birth... Memories flooded back, memories from exactly three months ago.
"You aren't my son. Get out of here."
"I am sorry, Soren…"
"You aren't worthy of the House Starfrost."
I could feel my fingers clenching unconsciously, the pain of those memories still fresh. I didn't answer Gilbert, just turned my face away, lost in the whirlwind of emotions those memories brought back.