‘Wait! In any setting? Does that mean I won't be able to fight people or form meaningful connections? No, this cannot stand! I will use it for every possible advantage I can to get out of this situation, and then it is going bye-bye. Gone. Locked away by Opportunist, never to be seen again.’
It turns out the achievements might get more and more out of hand the higher in the evolution chart they are. The original Most Pathetic achievement was already unhinged, seeing as people would treat him as if he had a mental disorder, but this "not being taken seriously in any setting" was a great curse. How can he ever have sexy times with a lady if she thinks of him as her pathetic little brother? How can he ever find a fitting opponent to fight when they look down on him and refuse to fight him? NO! Unacceptable!
“Don’t worry, little Samuel; everything is going to be alright. A big sister is coming to help you, and afterward she is going to take good care of you. I am so sorry for being rude and hard on you. I know now that it was not your fault that you were thrown into this mess. I am sorry. Please forgive me?”
The effects were instantaneous! How can someone change this fast without some divine intervention? ‘Oh my god! This is a 180-degree turn in behavior. These achievements are so dangerous that any single one of them is enough to fully alter the behavior, perception, and thoughts of other people. I need to be very careful with what achievements I unlock, as I only have three locks from the Opportunist. One wrong step, and I might be fucked!’
Time continued to pass with Samuel playing injured, and soon 30 minutes went by. Walking calmly in through the iron doors was a woman wearing an opaque veil, dressed in simple, baggy robes. Her posture was immaculate, and the air she emitted was one of elegance and beauty, akin to a swan or a peacock. The voice leaving her lips was mature and calm, seemingly with the person behind it having witnessed the vicissitudes of life.
“I was told my adoptee was injured and I needed to come as soon as possible. What seems to be the problem?”
“Lady White, thank you for coming on such short notice. This person is Samuel; you know his reason for being here, so I will skip past this part. I suspect that the person who manipulated him to pass through the spatial tear used some nefarious method on Samuel’s soul, causing a backlash that injured it. This was corroborated by the two medics from the Church of Ashtalltahk, who found nothing wrong with his mind or body. One look at the boy is enough evidence to decide he is not fine, meaning the problem has to be with his soul.”
“Why did you have to give me such an in-depth explanation? Is time not of the essence?”
“Of course it is Lady White; I meant no offense. I was just trying to justify calling you here, lest you grow annoyed. By all means, if you can, please heal his injuries.
“Depending on the level of his injury, this might take a long time. You can leave us for now.”
“Understood, Lady White. Please call me upon his recovery; I would like to properly apologize and say good-bye to him before you leave.”
Lady White nodded before she proceeded to place a blanket-like object, which floated down to wrap around Samuel’s entire body. The carpet lit up with a myriad of runes covering the entire surface, presumably also inside the carpet. Samuel’s body was quickly drenched in a light similar to the one distributed by the system, merely lacking in quality. As that happened, he received a sudden notification from the system, slightly startling him.
Ding!
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[Detecting external soul healing cast upon your body. Disabling the system distributed healing in return for system points. Tabulating…]
The rapid healing of his still-damaged soul immediately vanished, leaving only the weak effect of Lady White’s carpet. This was the least of Samuel’s concerns, however. ‘Syste points! I have system points! Can I buy cool weapons or techniques with them? Maybe it is possible to rid myself of more locks?’
Ding!
[Locks cannot be removed by system points.]
[The system shop has now opened and welcomes you any time!]
Slightly disappointed, but not really, Samuel proceeded to open the new page on his system interface, which still expanded to cover his entire vision when he wished to view it. This had to be changed sooner rather than later, as it was majorly inconvenient.
[Welcome to the System Shop! Use points to exchange for whatever catches your fancy within the store. There is a limitation of three purchases made every day. This limitation will change as your cultivation increases.]
[System points: 10.000]
[Knowledge]
[Clothes]
[Weapons/Armors]
[Other equipment]
[Talismans and formations]
[Specialized runes]
[Techniques]
[Abilities (for certain dungeons)]
[Laws (locked)]
[Other sections will be unlocked at higher cultivation stages.]
‘There are so many pages and so many powerful things here. There is even a law section! Even though it’s locked, it will surely be ridiculous when I reach a level high enough to open it. Let me check out the most important sections first before I focus on recovering fully.
[Knowledge]
[General knowledge of the Lokola empire: 10 points]
[Intricate knowledge of the Lokola empire: 100 points]
[Omniscient knowledge of the Lokola empire: 1,000 points]
[General knowledge of the Shattered Realm: 100 points]
[Intricate knowledge of the Shattered Realm: 1,000 points]
[Omniscient knowledge of the Shattered Realm: 10,000 points]
[Unlock more options once you embark upon your cultivation journey.]
Samuel’s eyes lit up at the thought of obtaining omniscient knowledge of the Shattered Realm, as it would be incredibly helpful to him. Both because of the need for information and also because it would be good for posturing. The problem was that he didn’t have nearly enough points. He would be left with zero points if he did this. Not only that, but the points seemed precious as well, and not like something he can just get for free every day. No! He could not just squander them; he needed to be frugal with his points!
[Techniques]
[Cultivation techniques]
[Attack techniques]
[Movement techniques]
[Defense techniques]
[Other techniques]
Not really interested in wasting his points on something worthless, he decided to check out the defense techniques first. After all, what is more important than his life? He can obtain other things as long as he keeps his life. If he went ahead and bought only attack techniques, he would have no one to blame for dying.
[Defense techniques]
[Malataincacha protection: 10,000 system points]
[Unlock more options once you embark upon your cultivation journey.]
‘What, there is only one technique? And it is for exactly 10,000 points! This feels like a scam, to be honest.’
[Malataincacha protection: the godly defense cast by using the scattered remains of Malataincacha to protect yourself. Malataincacha was infinitely close to REDACTED, but perished in his final ordeal before being dissipated back into building blocks. However, as he was too powerful, the building blocks refused to submit to those who were unworthy, making them now float aimlessly in search of those worthy of submitting them. This technique will make you capable of sensing these building blocks, with the rest of the process relying on you yourself.]
[Requirements: strong body (no human body will be capable of withstanding it), iron will (your mind will break if not strong enough), and robust soul (the connection between body and soul needs to be sufficiently strong to avoid separation).]
[Warning: This is a technique to be used at your own discretion and might cause irreparable damage to yourself and your future if not done correctly. Take this into consideration when deciding whether to practice it or not.]
‘Shiny things go boom!’
Without sparing it even half a thought, Samuel mindlessly bought the technique, going against what he said earlier and the deliberate warning issued by the system. Was this a good idea? Probably not. Was it already done? Unfortunately, yes. Life is life, and Samuel is Samuel. He is and will forever, because of this, remain stupid.
[Congratulations, I guess!? You have received the technique of Malataincacha protection. Imprinting the technique into your mind now.]