To the side of the "Shop" screen, there was also another screen. This one had a rectangle near the tap, labeled "Inventory". Underneath, the screen was made of a row of larger rectangles. Each rectangle had a square near the front, which contained an image, with the object's name being shown to the right of the square. Additionally, at the far right of the rectangle, there was another square. This one showed a number.
[Basic-Tier Rattaclaw Crystals] [16]
[Intermediate-Tier Scordana Crystal] [1]
[Intermediate-Tier Palewalker Crystal] [1]
[Advanced-Tier Death Bat Crystal] [1]
Quinn raised an eyebrow at that last one.
'When did I get an Advanced-TierBeast Crystal?' He thought. 'Was it when I was that Bloodsucker?'
Quinn could only really remember Ian, but it was the only explanation.
'Was he carryingit when I killed him, and it somehow got transferred to my System?' He thought.
The second screen also allowed him to select an item just by thinking of doing so. First, he chose the Basic-Tier Rattaclaw Crystals.
Instantly, all the items on the first screen vanished, and a new message appeared at the top.
[No Items can be made with these Beast Crystals.]
Quinn then thought about selecting the Intermediate-Tier Scordana Crystal. When he did, a small set of items had appeared, but they were still grayed out. Just like before, a System message appeared at the top.
[1/3 Intermediate-Tier Beast Crystals required to create this item.]
Seeing the message, Quinn now realized why the items were all grayed out. Much like creating actual Beast Gear, these items all required multiple Beast Crystals. Discovering this, Quinn internally sighed.
'Well, at least I don't have to worry about Credits for this thing, then.' He thought. It seemed that his System's Shop wasn't like Tsukuru's after all. Quinn then selected the other Intermediate-Tier Beast Crystal. The one he had received from Tsukuru. As he did, the screen changed slightly. While it still showed all the items selected the Scordana Crystal had, one new item had appeared. And it was the one that wasn't grayed out.
[Intermediate-Tier Paleneedle Rapier
1/1 Intermediate-Tier Palewalker Crystals required to create this item.
+5 Strength
+4 Agility
Active Skill:
Leech Drain: When stabbing a target with the blade, it will drain a small sliver of health from the target, causing you to regain 5% of your Max HP. Once activated, the Skill cannot be used again until 10 seconds have passed. ]
It was then that another System message appeared, and the voice of the annoying man could be heard in his head.
[Would you like to create the Intermediate-Tier Paleneedle Rapier?]
Quinn thought for a moment. His gaze then snapped up to Vorden and Tsukuru. If it was just Tsukuru with him, he might have created it. He could just explain it away, as Tsukuru knew about his System. However, Vorden was a different story.
'No.' Quinn thought finally. He then moved on, selecting the Advanced-Tier Beast Crystal.
The Shop screen changed again. This time it only showed one item. Like everything in the Shop aside from the "Paleneedle Rapier" it was grayed out. Instead of showing a weapon or piece of armor, it showed a ring.
[Basic Vampire Ring
1/10 Advanced-Tier Death Bat Crystals
Effect: Allows a Vampire to remain in the sun for 3 Hours without suffering the detrimental effects of being in direct sunlight. ]
Reading the item's description, Quinn's eyes widened. It was a fantastic discovery. While Quinn had been planning to create an outfit to completely block out the sun, there was this ring in his System's Shop that had the same effect. The only problem was that he needed ten of these "Deathbat" Beast Crystals. Meaning he would need to kill nine Advanced-Tier Beasts. Quinn thought back to how he had almost died fighting the Scordana. And that was only Intermediate-Tier. There was no way he was even going to attempt fighting an Advanced-Tier Beast the way he was now.
Additionally, Beasts, especially those of the higher tiers, lived on specific planets. That meant that if Quinn wanted to kill ten of these "Death Bats" to create the ring, he would have to come back here at some point.
Quinn then looked up at the other two.
"Uh, guys?" He asked. Instantly, the two boys halted in their mock fight, and turned to him. "Quick question: What color planet are we on right now?" Quinn hadn't had time to register the color of the Portal as Peter had pushed him through. Especially since the Portal was behind him at the time.
Vorden and Tsukuru exchanged looks, before looking back at Quinn.
"Red." They both replied in unison.
Hearing this, Quinn's heart skipped a beat.
'Yeah, that's not happening.' He thought. 'There's no way I'm willingly jumping back through a Red Portal just for a damned ring. I think I'll just settle for the suit.'
Quinn then thought about "de-selecting" the Advanced-Tier Crystal. As he did, the Shop's screen reverted back to how it was when he had first opened the screen. As he spent a few minutes exploring the Shop, he soon realized something. Most of the items could be separated into two categories. The first was items that only required a certain amount of crystals, regardless of what they came from. As long as they met a specific criteria, such as them all being Intermediate-Tier, that was all that mattered.
The second category was items that required specific Crystals, such as the Paleneedle Rapier and the Vampire Ring. All in all, the System Shop was a good find.
***
Back across the room, Vorden and Tsukuru had decided that they had fought long enough to "test" the effectiveness of the Metal Slime Spawn as a weapon. Rather than walking back towards their spot across from Quinn, they decided to simply sit down where they were. As the two sat down, the dagger in Vorden's hand began to change. It started melting back down into liquid metal metal.
Seeing this, Vorden twisted his arm so his palm was facing his face. The liquid metal began to blorp and congeal. Soon the original form of the Metal Slime Spawn appeared in his open palm. The creature then jumped out of his hand, before landing on the ground in front of Tsukuru.
As Tsukuru sat there, Vorden saw him flick up his finger. Seeing the gesture, Vorden raised an eyebrow in confusion. It seemed rather strange. A moment later, Tsukuru began staring intensely at the empty air in front of him. He then began poking it in seemingly random locations. It was then that Vorden realized what he was doing.
'He must be messing with that…'System' thing.' Vorden thought.
"What'cha doing?" Vorden asked in a casual tone.
Tsukuru glanced up from the "empty air", and looked at Vorden.
"Oh, I'm checking my System Shop." He replied, speaking as though he was talking about the weather. "Sometimes when I Level Up, new items become available." He then glanced away. "Of course, the System never seems to notify me, so I just have to look every once in a while."
Vorden remained silent for a moment, processing Tsukuru's statement.
"I…see." He replied finally. "Anything good?"
Tsukuru shrugged his shoulders in response.
"There's a handful of Beast Gear, and a few Beast Weapons." He replied, he then turned his gaze back to the System screen.
On the screen, there were seven new items available in the shop. They appeared right below the four types of potions. Of the seven items, the first four were Beast Gear.
The first new item was the strangest piece of "Armor" Tsukuru had ever seen. While technically being a "helmet", it just looked like a giant horseshoe crab was sitting on someone's head. It had its "legs"curved downwards and latching around the sides of the person's heads, while its "abdomen" was folded downwards to protect the back of the person's head.
[Basic-Tier Dunespire Helmet
Beast Armor
A piece of Basic-Tier Beast Gear forged using Glathrium and the Beast Crystals of the Basic-Tier Dunespire Crab.
+3 Defense
Cost: 1 Gold Coin]
Below it, the second item looked similar. It looked like a pair of gauntlets made out of an insect's exoskeleton that was made up of an overlaying series of long plates.
[Basic-Tier Black Centipede Gauntlets
Beast Weapon
A set of Basic-Tier Beast Weapons forged using Glathrium and the Beast Crystals of the Basic-Tier Black Centipede.
+3 Strength
+1 Defense
Cost: 1 Gold Coin]
The third item actually looked normal. It was a pair of black boots. However, on either side, just above where his ankles would be, there was a piece of silver metal, curving backwards. They seemed to perfectly imitate the tusks of a boar.
[Basic-Tier Blade-Tusk Boots
Beast Gear
A set of Basic-Tier Beast Gear forged using Glathrium and the Beast Crystals of the Basic-Tier Blade-Tusk Boar.
+3 Agility
+1 Defense
Cost: 1 Gold Coin]