Chapter 10
Upon leaving the time-accelerated pocket dimension, Keith returned to his home, which still needed furnishing. He sent Adeiv a message, then took a relaxing shower until he sensed someone at the front door, and judging by the mana flow within their body, Keith knew who it was. Quickly getting dressed, Keith rushed over and opened the door.
Adeiv gave Keith a curt nod, asking, “May I come in?”
“Of course,” Keith stepped to the side, his eyes honing in on the briefcase in Adeiv’s hand.
Entering the house, Adeiv walked up to the nearby dining table and gently placed the briefcase down. Removing the latches, he opened the container, revealing two rows of gray cubes embedded in twelve slots. Keith recognized them as Pocket Dimensions.
Arriving at Adeiv’s side, Keith’s heartbeat quickened. “Is this what I think it is?”
“Indeed,” Adeiv rubbed a hand alongside the edge of the case. “Twelve mythic grade Pocket Dimensions. Everything you purchased is inside.”
Keith was astonished. “I tried to buy mythic grade Pocket Dimensions before, but nobody sold them.”
“That’s understandable. They’re a strategic resource. Logistics has always been a nightmare, so all the mythic grade Pocket Dimensions ended up in the hands of the military and top businesses,” Adeiv explained.
“Oh,” Keith listened half-heartedly, his hand reaching for one of the cubes. He struggled to imagine how many items were inside. The time-accelerated pocket dimension Frisk used was merely epic grade, yet it still took a few minutes to walk from one end to another. How much larger would the mythic grade version be?
“These Pocket Dimensions were a gift to you from the suppliers,” Adeiv sighed emotionally. “Keep in mind that mythic grade Pocket Dimensions only drop from level 400+ Rift Bosses, and the drop chance is abysmal. Even after hundreds of years, there’s less than 10,000 in circulation.”
“How generous,” Keith commented, his mind turning as he inspected the sleek cube in his hand. Although he’d collected a few Pocket Dimensions in the past, new functions never appeared. Maybe the mythic grade version would be enough. Before that, though, he’d need to remove what was inside.
Stepping to an open area, Keith activated the Pocket Dimension, causing a blue portal in the shape of a door to appear before him. Sporting a goofy grin, Keith stepped inside and stood face to face with a wall.
“Huh?” Keith was confused until he saw a packaging label and realized he was looking at boxes of goods stacked from the floor to the ceiling. To his left and right was a narrow path. Choosing the left, he shuffled sideways until he came across an intersection where he could see the other side of the Pocket Dimension in the distance.
Keith gasped.
There had to be over ten thousand containers, each with space-shrinking technology. Keith wanted to pop one open to see what was inside, yet he found the task impossible with how little space he had to maneuver.
Feeling helpless, Keith summoned his Collection Grimoire, his heart banging against his chest. Taking a deep breath, he called out, “Collect!”
Determining authority…
Authority confirmed. The user holds ownership rights of the items intended to be stored.
After the familiar notification appeared, the thousands of containers simultaneously shrunk to a third of their size and hovered in the air. Their lids flipped open as item after item flew out and shot over.
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Keith watched, mesmerized, as thousands of items poured into the Collection Grimoire. Thousands became tens of thousands, and tens of thousands became millions.
Through their connection, the feeling the Collection Grimoire sent Keith at this moment was like when he ate a delicious meal after being famished for weeks. While Keith had sensed simple impulses from his innate gift before, it was never this intense or complex.
Curious, Keith wanted to investigate when he suddenly felt the world spin around him. Having expected this, Keith sat down just as an unprecedented wave of sensory information assaulted his brain.
Oh slim-
Before he could react, he fell unconscious.
A few minutes later, Adeiv entered the Pocket Dimension, wondering what Keith was doing. With the dimension now empty, he easily spotted Keith in the distance, slumped over near a hovering grimoire.
“Keith?” Adeiv called out probingly. Seeing no response, Adeiv sprinted over and placed a finger on Keith’s neck to feel his pulse. Relieved by what he found, Adeiv rested Keith’s head against the ground and scrutinized him for any injuries. Finding the situation bizarre, he frowned and wondered what to do.
Moments later, just when Adeiv wanted to carry Keith outside and call a doctor, Keith groaned, his eyelids fluttering. Adeiv relaxed and waited patiently as Keith slowly came to.
“Ugh,” Keith reached for his head only to smack himself in the face.
While amusing to Adeiv, the collision jolted Keith awake, giving him enough clarity to remain still and adapt to his increased stats.
“Are you okay?” Adeiv inquired when Keith did nothing.
Keith winced. “Why are you shouting?!”
“I wasn’t,” Adeiv answered, his response causing Keith great discomfort.
At this point, a light went off in Adeiv’s mind, and his voice dropped to a whisper, “Sensory overload?”
“Yeah,” Keith nodded with a helpless smile. “The ones I had in the past weren’t nearly this bad.”
“You’ve had them before?” Adeiv was surprised to hear that. Generally, a person experiences sensory overload at most once or twice in their lifetime. Any more than that was uncommon.
“This is the fourth time,” Keith answered as he meticulously moved his limbs back and forth. Once he grew comfortable, he switched to a sitting position before eventually standing up. A few stretches later, he was back to normal.
Adeiv glanced around the empty Pocket Dimension, then to the floating grimoire. “Is that your innate gift? It ate up everything?”
“Collected,” Keith corrected. “And yes, it's called the Collection Grimoire, and it gives me various bonuses depending on what it stores.”
Adeiv’s face lit up, and suggested, “You could make some decent money transporting things around.”
Keith shook his head. “Won’t work. It costs gold to withdraw anything.”
“Figures,” Adeiv sighed, knowing that it was never easy.
Keith waved his hand and unsummoned the Collection Grimoire. Even though he desperately wanted to look at his stats, he decided to wait until he collected everything first. Walking to the exit, Keith shuddered at the possibility of experiencing another wave of sensory overload.
It’s kinda like growth pains, Keith inwardly joked.
After asking, Adeiv joined Keith as the Collection Grimoire devoured another Pocket Dimension worth of goods and was awed by the sight. However, midway through the collection process, Adeiv noticed Keith leaning to the side and quickly held him by the shoulder. Thankfully, the sensory overload wasn’t nearly as bad this time, and Keith recovered in moments.
Over the next ten collection processes, the sensory overload assaulting Keith grew weaker and weaker. By the end, he adapted in seconds. To be honest, Keith felt he was getting pretty good at adjusting to his improved senses.
Upon closing the last Pocket Dimension, Adeiv looked at the Collection Grimoire enviously. “Does it have a storage limit?”
“I don’t think so,” Keith shrugged.
Adeiv sighed. “Too bad it costs gold to withdraw items.”
Keith chuckled, knowing what Adeiv was thinking about. The man was strangely interested in logistics and everything that went with it.
Approaching the front door, Keith was about to send Adeiv off when he recalled that he had also purchased a few sets of ancient grade equipment, so he asked Adeiv where it was.
“It should be ready tomorrow,” Adeiv answered, explaining how there weren’t enough blacksmiths who could forge ancient grade gear to meet the market’s demand, resulting in delays.
“Ah.” Keith felt disappointed, as he had hoped to go hunting today. Oh well, he could wait.
Once Adeiv left, Keith returned to his room and collapsed atop his bed, his head buried in his pillow. Keith was still for a moment before the anticipation to check his stats overwhelmed him so much that he started squirming, accompanied by muffled laughter. When the moment passed, he flipped over, and with a single thought, his status appeared.
[Keith Walker]
Level: 570
Age: 24
Titles: Mana Lifeform, Mythic Adventurer, +18 others
Health: 260,500 -> 345,000
Mana: 501,100 -> 951,000
Strength: 6,059 -> 9,510
Agility: 6,257 -> 9,712
Intelligence: 11,083 -> 14,481
Vitality: 6,965 -> 10,367
Endurance: 7,024 -> 10,229
Skills: Sensory Link, Mind Enhancement, +256 others