Chapter 111: Buying New Talent

His Talent Shop had been busier lately. Talents from people he’d become friends with—or from those who hated him—appeared one after another.

Lord Shoaff’s Soul Talent, for example, a C-Rank talent that was 50% off. He hated that guy with a passion.

But it wasn’t the only one. He currently had nine talents at 50% off, including Spirit Talents and Soul Talents. Some were low-rank, others mid-rank, and one was high-rank.

He wasn’t interested in the F-rank ones. He already had enough of those, and it was time to look for better options to invest his money wisely. Especially now that he has to start leveling up to see if his strength remains consistent in each loop.

’I’ll need soul talents. If I can buy two more, everything will fall into place.’

’With two C-Ranks and one B-Rank, I’d grow as fast as an A-Rank.’

So, when he opened his system, he scrolled until he found his brother Kael’s talent.

[]

| Soul Talent – Rank B – "Bloody Spear."

| "Bloody Spear": This is Kael Zachary’s Talent.

| Concept: Necromancer.

| "Bloody Spear" Effect: You gain an unbreakable weapon that consumes energy at an accelerated rate; if you’re not careful, it could consume your blood.

| "Blood Soldier" Effect: When you kill beasts with the Bloody Spear, you can raise them as monsters made of blood. They retain some of their powers. They have a lifespan of weeks or months, depending on their strength.

| Cost: 50,000 ME.

| 50% Effect: Kael Zachary’s hatred for you is so intense that you receive a 50% discount when purchasing any of his talents.

| Final Cost: 25,000 ME.

[]

Zaid didn’t have to think twice before clicking the "Buy" button.

[Congratulations! You have purchased a copy of Kael Zachary’s Rank B Soul Talent, "Blood Spear."]

Since it was a Soul Talent, it was immediately added to his slots. There was no physical change, but all the information about the talent was transmitted from the system to his mind.

He summoned the Bloody Spear to try to wield it. He realized it was drawing on his own energy to sustain itself—it was a double-edged sword. However, as soon as he touched it, he also noticed just how impressive its effect was.

Although it wasn’t reflected in his stats, holding it gave him a significant boost in strength, agility, and stamina.

’How incredible,’ he thought.

He studied it a little more. He made several swings and got used to the weapon. It was much better than his daggers.

’Too bad I can’t use it all the time,’ he sighed.

Although he could summon his Blood Soldiers whenever he had them.

Zaid put it away and turned his attention back to the available Talents.

He looked first at Lord Shoaff’s Rank C Talent.

[]

| Soul Talent – Rank C – "The Mark of the Silent Assassin."

| "The Mark of the Silent Assassin": This is Shoaff’s Talent.

| Concept: It may be impossible to develop one.

| Effect: When activated, you can mark anyone with energy that is difficult to track at low or medium level. You can sense that energy no matter where they are.

| Cost: 10,000 ME.

| 50% Effect: Shoaff’s hatred for you is so intense that you receive a 50% discount when purchasing any of his talents.

| Final Cost: 5,000 ME.

[]

’It looks like an interesting talent—it’s useful—but... is that all it does? No wonder you had to run away like a coward to try to grow through cursed rituals...’

He shook his head and closed the talent window. He asked himself: Is it worth spending 50 stat points on that talent? His answer was simple: No.

He switched over and looked at Luke Shawn’s talent; from the name alone, it seemed interesting.

[]

| Soul Talent – Rank C – "Corpse Illusionist."

| "Corpse Illusionist": This is Luke Shawn’s talent.

| Concept: To be developed into Rank A.

| "Optical Illusion" Effect: If people or beasts die around you, you can impersonate any of them by swapping your current position with that of the corpse, within a 500-meter radius.

| "The Dead" Effect: You can feign death by stopping your circulation and breathing for up to seven days. Use this wisely; it consumes life energy.

| Cost: 10,000 ME.

| 50% Effect: Luke Shawn’s hatred for you is so intense that you receive a 50% discount when purchasing any of his talents.

| Final Cost: 5,000 ME.

[]

’It has the possibility to develop Concept and produces interesting effects. I like it.’

[Buy]

Zaid bought it right away. A congratulatory message popped up, but he didn’t care. He mentally checked the contents and how to use it.

Then he confirmed that he had three talents in his slots and smiled.

[Soul Talent]

Scavenger: Rank C.

Bloody Spear: Rank B.

Corpse Illusionist: Rank C.

[]

’A Rank C talent yields 10 PE for each beast, regardless of its rank. A Rank B talent yields 20. All three combined give me 40 PE for each beast killed—the same as a Rank A talent! This is getting interesting.’

’And three talents also yield three units of ME.’

Three!

Killing a Rank F beast wouldn’t give him 10—it would give him 30.

A Rank C one would give him 3,000!

It’s the glory of having multiple Talents, even though obtaining them is truly difficult. Only one in a hundred million is born with two Soul Talents... One in a billion is born with three.

Although that only applies to killing beasts. Beasts you might find dead or that your companions kill only grant you what Scavenger can absorb.

But it’s still important.

Zaid finally checked how much ME he had left.

[ME: 25,600.]

’I still need to find a C- or B-Rank Spirit Talent that will give me a ultimate ability, but I don’t need to save them up. If my plans go well, I should be able to get enough ME soon. Especially if I get stronger.’

Currently, his stats are hovering around E-Rank; he still has a long way to go before he can safely kill D- or C-Rank beasts without relying so heavily on Valia.

’I need to invest them in stats.’ He decided.

He looked at his stats and took a moment to decide.

He saw all his stats as good, but Intelligence and Strength played a crucial role, based on what he’d observed. Intelligence not only increased magical damage—if he had magic, which he doesn’t—but also increased his overall power.

Your energy—the source of your power—increases the more Intelligence you have.

Strength, on the other hand, increases physical damage. That’s also very necessary.

He began distributing the points quickly, until he was left with 600 ME, his reserve.

[Stats Window]

| Strength: 150

| Agility: 100

| Vitality: 110

| Intelligence: 116

[]

’All right. I think with these stats, I’ll be able to hold my own against Rank D beasts. And thanks to my Rank S Talent, even Rank C ones might not pose much of a problem.’

He knew, however, that he was still far from being able to take on Rank B beasts. Even with Valia’s help, that dream remained a distant one.

’It doesn’t matter. I’m sure I’ll be there soon,’ he told himself as he got up from the couch to go out for a while. He had something important to do.

-

"Zaid, you’re here." Scarlett opened the door for him. She looked just as disheveled as ever. Her beautiful hair was dirty and greasy. So was her face. "Sorry I look like this—I was testing some potions." She smiled sheepishly.

Zaid turned his head toward her. "Look like this?"

"Yes, I mean... Look at me."

"Isn’t that normal for you?" Zaid ignored the social niceties—or whether his words might hurt a woman—and went inside his house.

Scarlett blinked a couple of times as she remembered that he had always seen her like this. A deep reddish blush spread across her beautiful cheeks. The embarrassment hit her even harder than before.

She even lowered her face and deliberately kept her distance from him. "What do you need?" she asked, after having him sit down on the living room sofa.

Zaid turned toward her. "Why are you standing so far away?" he asked, puzzled.

"I’m dirty—I haven’t even taken a bath. I was using some herbs and fell into a cauldron and... ah..." Her face was suddenly lifted by Zaid’s hand.

"Hasn’t anyone ever told you that you have a spellbinding beauty, Scarlett? Just like your name, you’re pure fire," he exclaimed, swallowing whatever embarrassment he might have felt at saying those words.

Scarlett was speechless. Her beautiful crimson eyes stared intently at him. Although she looked disheveled, that was part of her charm. Those half-neat clothes, while concealing everything they were meant to hide, revealed just enough for a young man like Zaid to imagine a thousand things—and then another thousand.

Her every movement sent ripples through Zaid’s inexperienced body and mind. It was a terrible situation. He couldn’t understand how she didn’t notice.

’She could be a little cleaner, though...’ he thought, though he didn’t say it.

"Huh? R-really?" Although she stuttered and got nervous, she didn’t back away. On the contrary, she moved a little closer.

Zaid noticed. His nerves got the better of him, and he immediately stepped back.

He thought he heard a spark fly from the girl’s mouth, but he ignored it and sat back down.

"I’m here because I need your help with something." He forced those words out despite his embarrassment.