Chương 108: Chapter 113: The Price of Knowledge

Exiting the training hall, I breathed the fresh breeze outside. It was one of the things I liked about this place, the air. It was fresher than anything I had ever felt on Earth. It seemed there was no pollution here, and for someone living in New York, well, the difference was stark. I walked the dirt path to the merchant again. Now people were going to and fro, some of my group and some of the ones that stood here by their own volition. I still had to verify if they accepted that contract or not.

I wouldn't put it past some to get scammed like that, but there were too many new faces around to think that all of them got the short end of the stick. In any case, that was not my problem. Still, I stopped Sara as she was passing near me, going somewhere.

"Hey, do you know where Alya is? Even better, can you tell her to go to the training hall if you see her? I still have to explore this place and I don't know where everyone is staying." She looked at me for a second, then looked down, not meeting my eyes.

"I'll tell her, but probably everyone is at the shop, or at the common rooms, that building over there." She finished while pointing at a squat and long building at the end of the street.

"Thanks." As she was about to go my curse pulsed lightly, so I stopped her.

"Sara, are you ok? I know recently we didn't talk that much, but if you need something just ask."

"Oh yes, thank you… I will." Then she left me with that and went her way. What was going on with her? Later. I made for the merchant shop. As soon as I opened the doors the sound of people shouting and screaming assaulted me. What was going on now? I saw Marcus at the counter. In between all the mess he was an island of tranquility. The man was perusing the shop while completely ignoring the others around him. I put a hand on his shoulder, and he turned his head in my direction.

"Hey!" I shouted near his ear over all the chaos.

"What is going on?"

"They discovered they got scammed out of all their points!" he shouted. Ah, then the situation made sense. Again, not my problem.

"Marcus! Before buying any more skills, I discovered that we can only have ten, and you can't swap them, so be careful! If you see the others tell them the same!" He nodded at me, a grimace on his face. I hoped I wasn't too late. Fuck, I got swept up by my deal with the blue alien and didn't think about alerting my group to the news. But I hadn't spent that much time with Vix, and we talked about waiting before going on a shopping spree. Well, that was that. I hoped they didn't mess things up.

I put my hand on the counter too and the System shop opened in front of me. I wanted to see options, possibilities. After all the talk with Vix I had a clearer idea of what to look out for, but who knew what was available. So I started to check, inputting search parameters about manuals, about magic, how to cast spells for beginners, about aura, curses, resistance skills, basic multiversal knowledge, about skill sets, about anything that Vix told me about and more. At one point the clamor stopped.

Guards came in and restored a semblance of order. I stayed, bought a pen and paper, and jotted down skill names, weapons, manuals, magic items, descriptions, prices, anything. It took me probably a couple of hours, and I still felt like I had just scratched the surface of the many possibilities ahead of me. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. Vix was right. There were so many things you could need that it could lead you to decision paralysis.

Too many choices, especially when you started to factor in magic items too. They could synergize very well with any kind of build. But from what I saw from Vix, you had to make a skill central to your build, not an item. But what if the item was armor, and you wanted to become a juggernaut? Or a bow for an archer? At least I saw some really good possibilities for myself.

There were some skills in particular that would help bridge my own skills together, like Aura-Casting and Aura Channeling, that allowed one to cast or reroute spells, respectively, with aura instead of mana, or Hexweaving, that allowed hexes and curses to be woven directly into other arcane constructs, aka other spells and aura too. There were many more: Aura Sigilcraft, Hexfield Formation, Arcane Pressure Weaving, Aura of Binding, Living Curse Aura, Malefic Conduit…

All of them did something to allow me to cast spells with aura instead of mana, or allowed me to weave hexes into my spells or into my aura. In the end I realized one thing. I could do most of what I was doing right now by myself with enough time and practice. I got offered an evolution for Arcane Bullet to include a small hex already, and my aura was already cursed. I just never found a way to weaponize that, but looking at some skill descriptions, I think I could manage that on my own.

No, this decision was too important to just take willy-nilly. I would have to train a bit more, and then sleep on it. I wanted the most optimal choice, and for that I would have to try my hand at spellcasting, real spellcasting. I perused the shop a bit more, finding books on how mana worked and how to take the first steps as a mage initiate. Then I added books on aura fundamentals and another on curses. The total came out at a hefty twelve thousand points and change. I accepted the transaction.

A stack of books appeared on the counter. Fuck. My. Life. The six books I bought were so thick that they reached my chest. What the fuck did I just buy? I checked the shop again, this time for a spatial storage, like the one Vix had, and I found it. ──────────── [Spatial Soul Storage - Basic] – 34. 000. 000 TP A private dimension separated from space and time, opened directly in your soul, impossible to steal from. Effect: Allows the user to store and retrieve small objects at will. ──────────── Yeah, no.

I couldn't afford that, maybe never in the Tutorial. What was wrong with that price? I tried to find a cursed version, but no such luck. But I found something usable anyway. A satchel. ──────────── [Satchel of the Adventurer] – 25. 000 TP A satchel enchanted to contain more than its dimensions would allow, useful for any aspiring adventurer. Effect: Reduces the weight of any stored item. ──────────── This was serviceable.

I saw spatial bracelets, spatial rings, earrings, and more enchanted jewelry, but those cost between two hundred thousand to a few million points. I could afford some, but for now this was going to work better for me. Still, spending basically all of the money I gathered by killing monsters on books and a bag was crazy. I finalized my choice. A leather satchel, dark brown and quite small, appeared on the counter. I opened it and started putting the books inside.

As I fitted my hand in it, I could not feel the bottom, so I let the books fall inside. A book that should not have fit in a satchel of that size, it shouldn't even have been able to enter it. As the book fell there was no sound. The sensation was strange. It was like I could feel what was stored inside. By the last book I tried to retrieve the one on the fundamentals of casting, and my hand brushed it. I just knew it was the right one. Then I took it out, and yes, it was that.

I put it back in and closed it with the buckle. Then I used the strap at the back to tie it to my belt. After thinking about it I removed my grimoire and the cursed mace, placing them both in there. Then I adjusted it to my lower back. There, much better. I could feel its weight, but for the items it contained it was quite little compared to the real one. It wasn't in the way at all.

After a moment I got a change of clothes too, something simple, but anything was better that the tattered stuff I was wearing right now. I put everything in my satchel, and with my new acquisition I went out in search of my teammates, especially Rhea. If there was someone who could help me study those books, it was her, and I valued Quinn's input for choosing my next skills. More than anything, I had to share what I learned with them. Then we would need to plan the path forward.