Chapter 137: An unexpected gain
After a long bath, Ian felt his mind clear, the absurd thoughts that had plagued him washed away with the grime of the road.
Lying back on the large, soft bed in Khal Drogo's manse, he logged into the system interface to review the day's harvest.
He began clicking through the messages in his inbox one by one.
[Main Quest 1: 'Lord' complete. Reward: 20 Points, 5000 Gold Dragons]
[Successfully entered the Small Council. Primary Achievement Unlocked: 'The Road to Power — A Noble Calling']
[Reward: 3 Skill Points, 5 Points, 1 Basic Skill Scroll of your choice]
[Successfully became the Hand of the King. Intermediate Achievement Unlocked: 'The Road to Power — Second Only to One']
[Reward: 20 Points, 1 Skill Upgrade Scroll (This scroll can upgrade any skill below Legendary by one level)]
*Damn.* Seeing this, Ian's heart skipped a beat.
Two achievements? This was a truly unexpected boon. He had been pleased enough at the thought that Viserys's appointment might trigger an achievement, but he never imagined it would be an intermediate-level one.
Based on the naming convention, the high-level achievement on this path had to be 'Become King.' If his plans continued to unfold smoothly, he might even be able to unlock it in the near future.
Scrolling down, he saw another familiar term in the next message.
[B-level Highlight Operation achieved. Reward: 10 Points]
"Highlight Operation? Again?" Ian paused, then mentally summoned the auxiliary AI. "Annie, what exactly does 'Highlight Operation' evaluate? Why have I never seen it before?"
"'Highlight Operation' is a comprehensive evaluation of a player's performance during an entire stage," the AI replied.
"And what defines a stage?"
"Each main quest is considered one stage."
"So, this is my overall rating for the period between completing the first blood-pact mission and today? And it's only a B?" Ian frowned, unconvinced.
"Correct," Annie affirmed coolly. "'Highlight Operation' is divided into four tiers. The rewards are 1 point for D-level, 5 points for C-level, 10 points for B-level, and 50 points for A-level."
"Hmph." Ian gently touched his forehead. Seeing the steep curve of the rewards, he finally understood. An A-level performance was something the developers dangled in front of players, but the difficulty was likely set so high that no one was ever meant to actually achieve it.
Letting the matter go, Ian moved on, checking his updated character information.
[Ian]
Strength: 32
Agility: 27
Spirit: 13
Skills: Basic Etiquette, Basic Common Tongue (Reading/Writing), Advanced Swordsmanship, Advanced Horsemanship, Intermediate Lancing, Novice Skinchanging
Attribute Points: 0
Skill Points: 8
Points: 100
Items: Basic Skill Scroll (Choice), Skill Upgrade Scroll
Seeing he had 8 skill points, and remembering the harsh lesson he'd learned in King's Landing, Ian finally abandoned the foolish hope that his personal martial prowess was irrelevant. He spent 4 skill points to upgrade his swordsmanship to the Master level. He had nearly maxed out his proficiency at the Advanced level over the past two months anyway, so the upgrade would yield an immediate and tangible improvement.
That left him with 4 skill points. He only needed two more to upgrade skinchanging to the intermediate level, so he had more than enough.
As for the Skill Upgrade Scroll, its true value lay in its ability to raise a Master-level skill to Legendary. Since he currently had no skills at the Master level, using it now would be a complete waste.
"Wait," Ian thought. He called out to the AI again, his voice eager. "Annie, can the Skill Upgrade Scroll be used on NPCs?"
If he could use this scroll on Cass, could he elevate him to a swordsman of legendary rank?
"No," the AI stated flatly. "NPCs are natives of this world, not androids like players. The system cannot modify their attributes or skills."
"What a shame," Ian muttered, the burst of excitement deflating.
If it were possible, Cass armed with a Valyrian steel sword might have been able to single-handedly eliminate the entire Soda Pirates crew, the team the player Ander Poole belonged to. After all, the most skilled combatants Ian had encountered so far were only at the Master level. The power of a Legendary-skilled warrior was difficult to even imagine.
After confirming the scroll's limitations, Ian closed his information panel and opened the points mall. With his total points now at a hundred, he had finally qualified to preview the third-tier shop.
[Third-Tier Mall]
[Gold Coin Box (Contains 2,000 Gold Dragons): 10 Points]
[Gold Coin Box (Contains 10,000 Gold Dragons): 20 Points]
As expected, the price of gold had dropped again, and the discount was staggering compared to the first two tiers. Still, it held no attraction for Ian at the moment. He scrolled down and saw that the selection of goods was far more extensive than before.
[Valyrian Steel Dagger: 5 Points]
[Valyrian Steel Shortsword: 10 Points]
[Valyrian Steel Knight's Sword: 20 Points]
[Valyrian Steel Bastard Sword: 30 Points]
[Valyrian Steel Greatsword: 50 Points]
[Valyrian Steel Plate Armor: 200 Points]
[Qohorik Black Goat Enchanted Plate Armor (The pinnacle of human enchanting craftsmanship, second only to Valyrian steel. Hardness over 800HV, fracture toughness of 600 kJ/m². No weapon short of Valyrian steel can breach its defense): 10 Points]
[S-Rank NPC (Your Choice, Regional): 30 Points]
[Basic Skill Scroll (Choice): 30 Points]
The items here were far more tempting. Valyrian steel weapons, the enchanted armor, and even an S-rank NPC were all within a certain degree of affordability.
As he continued scrolling, Ian discovered something new. In addition to the fixed items, the third-tier mall also featured four random slots that refreshed on the first day of each month.
This month's offerings were:
[A Grimoire from Asshai (Written in the Asshai'i tongue. Who knows what secrets it holds?): 5 Points]
[Obsidian Shard, Crackling with Magic (The product of an ancient ritual, its purpose unknown): 5 Points]
[A Jar of Weirwood Paste (A paste made by the Children of the Forest from weirwood seeds and other unknown ingredients. Can permanently increase Spirit by one point and awaken any latent greenseer talent in the user's blood): 30 Points]
[The Remains of a Deep One (It is said to be helpful for empowering the magic of the Drowned God): 30 Points]
Ian ignored the other options. The weirwood paste had seized his full attention.
His entire long-term plan had no provisions for a journey north of the Wall. This meant that if he wanted to acquire the 'Greenseer' skill before leveling 'Skinchanging' to the Master rank, this was his one and only opportunity.
Holding his breath, Ian tentatively clicked the purchase button, hoping to see the unlock conditions for the third-tier mall. He prayed that it wouldn't require him to spend another hundred points in the second-tier shop.
For once, some god must have answered his prayer. The developers hadn't repeated the unlock requirements from the previous tier, instead opting for a more straightforward approach.
A prompt box appeared on the screen:
[Conditions to unlock the Third-Tier Mall: Spend 100 Points in the Second-Tier Mall, OR pay a one-time fee of 100 Points to unlock.]
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