Chapter 608: Alex’s Plans—Clearing Debt

With everyone looking at him with curious eyes, Alex reveals his next goal.

“It’s time... to replace my Spirit of Pluto set,” Alex states. “It has served me well, but weak effects like Sturdy, which just increase durability and decrease durability loss, won’t cut it anymore. There are gold items granting 5 stat points per effect. This was a nice ability to start out with and for long missions, but with Menchi’s success with her variant of Omnigel, [Omnigel-modified], durability is becoming less and less important. My Aura also makes my gear quite sturdy. Honestly, it’s a wasted effect, and every single item has it.”

“The set bonus is nice, but 5 SPR, CHA, and LUK are also not that great anymore. I can still keep the pieces I don’t use and then reequip them if I need the additional LUK, for example when opening chests. Since they are bound to me, I could only shard them anyway, and Purple items are not worth too many shards either,” he continues, calmly explaining his logic.

“Really... but your set was so nice, it won’t be you without your heavy plate armor,” Tereza says, smiling awkwardly.

“Not necessarily,” Benezia informs her. “He can modify his items so that, regardless of the initial item type, they’ll be similar to what he’s wearing now. It won’t change the stats, but it will slightly raise the defensive properties, so they’ll reduce more damage and lose less durability. Of course, at the cost of additional weight and maneuverability. It’s a little pricey for high-quality items, but he can maintain his combat style and combat tactics that way.”

I’ll keep that in mind.

“Time to get to work then!” Alex says. “Since Jewel’s Evolution is progressing, there’s no time for relaxing this time.”

“Right now?” Tereza asks, surprised.

“Yes,” Alex states, placing his hand on her shoulder. “Don’t worry, I’ll just do my thing first. Also, I brought you a gift. Here, another [Ben’s Knife]. If you don’t need it, just return it to me.”

“What a beauty...” Tereza mutters. “I’ll accept it only if you take this in return!”

She then forcefully initiates a trade, Alex seeing a Soul Crystal (Small) in the trade window, causing him to sigh.

“Fine...” Alex mutters.

It was supposed to be a gift... this feels more like an even trade now.

You received Soul Crystal (Small).

“I’ll enter the Realm as well,” Menchi states. “It’s been only a day, but the sooner I get back to my customers, the lower the risk that someone’s trying to push me out of the consumable market. Afterwards, I’ll cook more dishes; you need new ones as well, right, Alex?”

“Yes,” Alex replies. “Please stock them back up to 10 of each, at least. I also need more Medigel and Omnigel.”

“Let’s go... Jewel!” Alex yells, smiling confidently.

❤️

Alex and the others enter the Realm.

While Menchi and Benezia rush towards the market, Alex enters a room on the ground floor of the Player Tower to do a little bookkeeping first.

First things first.

As soon as he sits down, he writes a message to Samir.

[Alex: The debt is repaid.]

Almost immediately, he gets a reply.

[Samir: You surprise me... I’m a man of my word. As long as you stay silent and don’t brag or talk about our little issue, I’ll pretend I don’t know you. Congratulations, you got a new lease on life.]

Alex tightens his fist and mutters, “Arrogant motherfucking bastard... you think this is over? The next time I spot a seeker, I’ll murder the shit out of them... and you as well... should I ever have the displeasure of seeing your smug mug on a mission. Damn, I want to bash in your fucking face so much....”

That guy causes some serious anger issues in me.

No need to worry about this, Peasant, Soulmate. Once Princess Jewel has evolved... she’ll take care of everything. She guarantees it. Soulmate can just enjoy his time in the different worlds then and leave all the annoying things to her.

“That would be pretty boring. How about we work together instead? As partners? I don’t need you to do all the work, just do your part; that’s all I could ever ask,” Alex replies, the idea of getting babied by a spider not quite sitting right with him.

Princess Jewel accepts for now... just because she likes the word partner. ❤️

“Now... let’s go over our spoils, okay?” Alex continues, once again changing the topic.

❤️

Alex then goes over all of his spoils from the short, yet bountiful mission:

“Let’s start with the currencies. In total, we got... Soul Crystal (Small) x8, Soul Crystal (Medium) x3, Soul Crystal (Large), 10 Green items for sharding, 75 White items for sharding. Add to that 239,000 FC. Those 19 [Pure Paladin Token] gave us a nice boost at the end of the mission. But man, thanks to Benezia, we’ve got a ton of Soul Crystals and items to shard... this is insane.”

“Then the items I’ll probably save or use myself: [Leave Card], [Hlökk’s Divine Gloves (Remnant)], [Han Solo’s Action Boots], [Upgrade Token], [Illumi’s Transformation Needle] x3, [Joker of Death], [Kurta’s Sacred Artifact], and the mission item [Zeno’s Broken Promise].”

“Finally, the items I’ll have Benezia sell later: [Skillbook: Acrobatic Martial Arts Secrets], [Pure Paladin Squad Leader Cape].”

Incredible, Soulmate ❤️, but what about Soulmate’s expenses?

“Quite a lot... I paid 30,000 FC in treatment costs, 7 [Twice-Infused Wiggenweld Potion Variant], 2 [Exceptional Dish (Meatpaste Supreme)], a [Blood Essence], but most importantly, the insane [Death Duel Voucher].”

“Though,” Alex continues, “Menchi has a lot of resources and a bit of FC left. She’ll replenish our food supplies just like that. So the only important thing we truly lost is the voucher.”

“1337, show me my current status with all my gains!” Alex yells.

[Understood, Host.]

Alex Kerber: Lvl 9

HP: 478/478, MP: 448/448 AURA: 378/378, BP: 142/142

STR: 22 (+19), AGI: 22 (+4), PHY: 22 (+11), SNS: 22 (+2), CHA: 22 (+7), MNA: 22 (+11), INT: 22, SPR: 22 (+7), LUK: 22 (+8), NEN: 22 (+7)

Available Stat Points: 12

Followers: Menchi (Deep Purple) lvl 13 (75%), Benezia (Deep Purple) lvl 19 (75%)

Pets: Jewel (Gold) lvl 9

Innate Skills: Nen Prodigy lvl 6 (Genius Conjurer lvl 6, Basic Nen lvl 6, Advanced Nen lvl 6), Statistical OCD lvl MAX

Arcane Medieval Armory: Annihilation Grenade lvl 6, Sealion’s Icewing Embrace lvl 6, Mustrano’s Malice Mauler lvl 6 (Claw Proficiency/Poison Resistance) / Toxic Breakthrough lvl 6, Magorian’s Rage Arrow lvl 6, Thorian’s Domination lvl 6, Sea King’s Giant Plate Swimfin lvl 6, Grim Reaper’s Card of Destiny lvl 6

Free Skill Slots: 0/4, Free Basic Skill Slots: 0/8

Basic Skills: Basic Close Combat Prowess lvl 6, Basic Footwork lvl 6, Basic Endurance lvl 6, Basic Long-Range Combat Prowess lvl 6, Basic Eloquence lvl 6, Basic Concentration lvl 6, Basic Meditation lvl 6, Basic Mana Control lvl 6

Passive Skills: Alexandrian Royal Swordsmanship lvl 6, Imbuement Archery lvl 6

Active Skills: Black Magic (Fire-Blizzard-Thunder-Series) lvl 6, Sword Magic lvl 6, Kunrith’s Biotics lvl 6 (Warp, Stasis, Barrier, Throw, Pull, Reave), Arts (Tear, Teara, Aqua Bleed, Frost Edge, Hydro Cannon, Crystal Flood)

Fantasy Coins: 364,000 Soul Crystals: Small x21 Medium x6 Large: x2 Fantasy Shards: 130

Current Weapons: Magoroth’s Legacy R2 (Gold), Draining Meteor Sword R2 (Gold), Executioner's Blade R2 (Light Gold), Skullflame Shield R2 (Gold)

Current Equipment: Armor of Pluto (Purple), Visor of Pluto (Purple), Cuisses of Pluto (Purple), Gauntlets of Pluto (Purple), Sabatons of Pluto (Purple), Nimbus Cloak (Light Purple), Sacred Emerald Copper Earring (Purple), Noble Shirt+4 R2 (Light Purple), Drakul’s Vitality R2 (Deep Gold), Skitterguard Bracers (Light Purple), Cataclysmic Frost-Fire Ring (Deep Gold), Uzin’s Rage R2 (Light Black), Savant M R2 (Gold), Geth Waistguard (Deep Purple), Destiny Watch (Orbment) R2 (Light Gold), Shepard’s Promise R2 (Light Gold)

Recovery Items: Twice-Infused Wiggenweld Potion Variant x3 (Deep Blue), Infused Exceptional Dish: (Energizing Honey Dew) x10 (Deep Blue), Infused Exceptional Dish (Cherry Crusted Dinosaur Steak) x10 (Deep Blue), Exceptional Dish (Meatpaste Supreme) x8 (Blue)

Miscellaneous Items: Jack’s Spare Silvery Mask (Light Green), Double-Star Hunter License (Deep Gold), Butchering Knife (Deep Blue), Quintessence of Blood (Purple), Blood Essence x6 (Green), Brawler-Pistol (Light-Purple), Colossus Armor S (Deep Purple), Logic Arrest Tool (Deep Blue), Mobile Skill Station (Purple), Contract (Unused) x3, Seastone Dagger (Deep Purple), Leave Card (Light Gold), Upgrade Token (Light Gold), Illumi’s Transformation Needle x3 (Deep Purple), Joker of Death (Light Gold), Hlökk’s Divine Gloves (Remnant) (Deep Gold), Han Solo’s Action Boots (Deep Purple)

Marked for Trading/Selling/Gifting: Pure Paladin Squad Leader Cape (Deep Blue), Skillbook: Acrobatic Martial Arts Secrets (Purple)

Marked for Sharding: Green Item x10, White Item x 75

Special Items: Destiny Supporter Token (Purple), Zeno’s Broken Promise (Gold) Tsunade’s Scroll (Purple), Glimmerwhisk’s broken Runic Choker (locked) (Light Green), True Dream Ticket (Light Gold), Spectre License (Purple), Scapegoat-card (Deep Purple), World Governments Invitation (Light Gold), Leylin Farlier’s Bloodline Extraction Syringe (Deep Gold), Kurta’s Sacred Artifact (Light Black)

What a beautiful wall of text ❤️. Princess Jewel had to read with five eyes at the same time, but she only required one second to take in all the information.

“This is getting out of hand... I’ll have to sort out my inventory and status in the future. Still, since I always look at it, I know it by heart anyway,” Alex comments. “The changes are always relatively minor.”

“Let’s start with the stats...” Alex continues, slowly getting excited.

You have used 10 available stat points

All stats increased by 2

Princess Jewel pities Soulmate. All those precious stat points are used up, while Princess Jewel’s stats are raised automatically after each world, with each level up.

“You are a powerful pet, Jewel. Your stats, and even your HP and MP count, as well as your natural defense, are way superior to mine or those of any player. However, you can’t use any items. That is the one weakness you have,” Alex comments. “So, of course, your stats must be superior to compensate.”

❤️

Well... we have our privacy here. Might as well go all out, now that my stats have been increased.

Thinking for a second, Alex replies, “Let’s use a [Blood Essence] and roll the dice on our remaining chest and the special item from Killua.”

All stats increased by 6 for 1 hour

Alex then grabs both the Purple Chest from Silva and [Killua’s Harvest].

Let’s start with [Killua’s Harvest], then immediately the chest. Let’s roll it all at once!

You received Skillbook: Snake Awakens

You received Skillbook: Rhythm Echo

You received Skillbook: Shadow Step

You received Skillbook: True Zoldyck-Style Assassin Martial Arts

“Yes! Yeees!” Alex cheers, seeing four skillbooks in his hand. “Four Skillbooks!”

I need to take them out... three of them are not books, but scrolls... I guess that’s their style, huh?

Holding three formal, older scrolls and one thick, ancient-looking book in his hand, Alex can’t help but feel like a master who has just received an invaluable Martial Arts legacy.

Princess Jewel is confused. Soulmate should check out the skillbooks first.

“Let’s see... Shadow Step and Rhythm Echo are Deep Blue skills, Snake Awakens is Purple, and the True Zoldyck-Style one is Gold! It also implies that there is a normal version, probably one that’s just Purple,” Alex remarks, analysing the rarity of his skillbooks.

However, before he can look at them further, Alex feels a sudden sting in his chest, traveling all the way into his left hand, as if calling out to him.

Huh?

“Mustrano?” Alex wonders, conjuring his snake companion.

“Human... I sssssmell ssssomething delicioussss. I’ve got a sssstrong feeling... I can conssssume thisssss knowledge, take it all...!” the snake-like claw hisses, the eyes on Alex’s hand staring at the scrolls and book in his other hand. “But... I can feel... ssssstrong power... a large chance of failure.”

Princess Jewel suggests feeding the snek.

Soulmate does not have any skill slots available anyway, and since he uses weapons, it’s not a viable path to take right now. It would turn Soulmate even more into a hybrid user. When wielding weapons, it wouldn’t be of any help at all! Since FC are not that badly required, and Soulmate’s LUK is immense, she suggests feeding the snek.

Need to keep the snek useful.

“Why, thank you, little sssssssspider. Although... the little ssssspider hasssss gained weight. Ssssshe would make for a tasssssty and very filling meal.”

Immediately pissed off and fully triggered, Jewel jumps from Alex’s head and stabs her legs into Mustrano again and again, reducing his durability with every hit.

You have received 4 damage

You have received 3 damage

You have received 5 damage

“Ouch! Fuck my arm! Stop it!” Alex curses, his arm getting pierced by Jewel’s legs.

“Ssssstop, sssssinisssster sssspider. I take it back!” Mustrano apologizes at the same time, his voice full of regret.

“...”

Stopping, Jewel safely lands on the ground and scurries back onto Alex’s head

Princess Jewel is sorry....

Partially, at least....

“...”