It's worth noting that Gusion continued to improve during his remaining time in the Demon Slayer world.
Before leaving, he checked his attribute details:
[Pioneer 008, your base attributes (including title bonuses):]
Constitution: 34 (+1)
Strength: 31 (+1)
Agility: 31 (+1)
Spirit: 33 (+1)
Charisma: 6
Luck: 1
After weeks of training, his Strength and Agility broke the 30-point first-tier limit, which was why the system said he'd met three limit rewards.
Unfortunately, since all his attributes broke the limit, he was promoted to second-tier explorer without a promotion world, making his first-tier Arena title invalid.
So, his attributes dropped back to normal—Strength and Agility returned to 30. Truly a Schrodinger's limit.
Technically, he now only had two attributes above 30, which shouldn't qualify for skipping the promotion world, but since he'd reached the limits first, it wasn't a bug. With so many free points to spend, he'd soon be transformed.
[System] [Pioneer 008, you have unclaimed attribute limit rewards. Claim limit reward first?]
Inside the Enhancement Hall, Gusion accepted the prompt, choosing to claim the rewards before spending his free points.
[System] [Constitution limit reached—choose one of three enhancements:
A. Vitality: +5% max Health.
B. Unyielding: +5% stamina and health regeneration.
C. Toughness: +5% physical and magical resist.]
[System] [Chosen enhancement type will more likely appear in future upgrades.]
Gusion understood the mechanism. Constitution enhancements were: more health, more stamina/regen, or more resistance.
He felt his stamina and regen were already strong, and with the pendant's boost, extra health felt less useful. So he chose C, toughness.
He guessed the rewards were modest because he was still low-tier, more of a gradual improvement than a game-changer. Top-tier first-level explorers weren't defined by these upgrades.
After selecting, he felt his body being transformed. It started gentle, then became deeply painful.
Thankfully, the pain was brief.
[System] [Strength limit reached—choose one:
A. Brute Force: +1 to strength checks.
B. Unleashed: -5% control duration from control-type skills.
C. Ferocity: +5% physical attack damage (independent calculation).]
For Strength, Gusion quickly picked C—more damage. "If I kill them in one hit, I don't need to worry about checks or control," he thought.
[System] [Agility limit reached—choose one:
A. Quick Reflexes: +5% reaction speed.
B. Sprint: +5% movement speed.
C. Weak Point Break: 5% chance on attack to deal double damage.
Gusion thought A and B were plain and his movement and reflexes were already strong, so he picked C for a chance at massive damage against tough foes.
[System] [Spirit limit reached—choose one:
A. Meditation: +5% soul energy regeneration.
B. Tenacity: -5% effect from mental control.
C. Frequent Use: -5% soul energy cost for skills.
Gusion picked C again—reduced skill cost was more valuable than faster regen, which was only useful out of combat.
With all limit rewards claimed, he moved on to spending his free points, for which he already had a plan.
[System] [Using many attribute points at once will increase pain. Prepare yourself.]
Gusion wanted to split up the process but had already pressed confirm. The system only warned him, and then the enhancement began.
Pain shot through his soul, making his whole body convulse.
He didn't know how long it lasted, but eventually the Enhancement Hall spat him out. He twitched a few more times on the ground before sitting up, vowing to always split upgrades in the future.
But after the pain, the transformation left him joyful. He checked his stats again, wearing his new pendant.
[Pioneer 008, your base attributes (including gear and title bonuses):]
Constitution: 43 (+8+1)
Strength: 36 (+6)
Agility: 36 (+6)
Spirit: 37 (+5)
Charisma: 5 (-1)
Luck: 1
[]
Gusion stretched, feeling the changes in his body, grinning broadly.
Though only just promoted to second-tier, he believed his power was already top-class among his peers.
And the gains from this world were far from fully utilized—he still had around 110,000 End Coins, 25 Inheritance Crystals (small), and the Other Shore Demon bloodline, among other resources.
Apart from the Inheritance Crystals, he planned to sell the rest and use the cash to buy more suitable gear.
After changing clothes, Gusion headed to the marketplace.
Though advanced to second-tier, some of his loot was less useful at this level but was legendary for first-tiers, so he visited the first-tier market first.
In End Space, if you didn't want to spend time at a stall, you could consign items for sale.
There were display booths provided by End Space where you could set a price and leave items for sale. You could also set whether bargaining was allowed—buyers could submit offers via message, up to three times each to prevent spam.
A 3% commission was charged for sales, so most explorers preferred direct sales, but Gusion, being wealthy and lazy, didn't mind.
He listed the Seven Emotions Token at 30,000 End Coins, no haggling, to see if it would sell—a powerful item for any sizable first-tier team.
Next, he listed a black, long, thick item—a Godslayer Sniper Rifle from a Dead Man's Chest. A powerful ranged weapon for first or even second-tier explorers, he priced it at 25,000 coins.
Lastly, his old Giant's Heart amulet, a tank's best friend, at 8,000 coins, no bargaining.
With the low-tier gear sorted, Gusion proceeded to the upper-level second-tier market, found a free spot, and set up shop.
He only had two items for sale, but both were heavyweights: the legendary Other Shore Demon bloodline with two Blood Demon Art scrolls, and the Expert Combat Specialization Scroll.
After several worlds, Gusion understood that most low-tier explorers were not very skilled in combat, mainly because combat specialization scrolls were rare and expensive.
Most new explorers were broke, scraping by with basic scrolls to learn to fight. Advanced abilities were hard to get.
But to survive long-term, combat specialization had to improve.
There were three ways to improve in End Space:
Train yourself (slow progress, might not advance after several worlds).
Use Inheritance Crystals for rapid advancement—fast but extremely costly.
Use specialization scrolls—considered the most cost-effective method.
Using a combat specialization scroll instantly grants the corresponding level. For example, using an expert-level scroll raises you to expert, regardless of prior basic level (though you may start at the lower end of the expert scale).
Because of this, these scrolls were in high demand, almost always sold out.
First-tier explorers were still trying to survive, but second-tier ones started planning long-term. Gusion's scroll was sure to sell.
"Hey, bro, how much for that specialization scroll?" someone soon asked.
"Forty thousand," Gusion replied, immediately scaring off the burly, dark-faced man.
"That's too expensive—even if it's rare, it's just a combat scroll, not a main weapon. Can you go cheaper?"
"If you want a main weapon scroll, go find one then," Gusion replied coolly. Main weapon scrolls had more restrictions, but combat ones worked in any fight and were more versatile.