"First, let's take a look at your augments. You have new augments:

[The Ambivalence of Virtue and Sin]

Level: MAX

Virtue: Diligence

Put mana eyes, ears, and markings in places you have touched. When put in your own mana construct, you will have access to their sense of touch. Mana cost: 30 when placed, 5 Mana per minute when in use, and 1 per minute when not in use. Maximum of twenty eyes, and 10km radius before disconnection and dispersal. Keywords: Wiretap, Dismiss

Sin: Vainglory

Designate your mana construct as a second life. When your main body suffers a one-shot kill or when you say the keyword, the augment will teleport your main body into your mana construct and possibly save your life. However, you have to sacrifice half of your shield strength or suffer a penalty to mana regeneration. No mana cost. Keyword: Horcrux

Virtue: Charity

Your clone can access Gate points and your skills. Your signature is extended to thirty minutes. Mana's eyes will be able to see outside the visible light spectrum such as X-ray, infrared, and even sounds. With an additional 3 mana/minute, you can emit echolocation, X-ray vision, and infrared vision with your mana eyes. Keyword: Sonar

[LOCKED]

[LOCKED]

[LOCKED]

[LOCKED]

[LOCKED]

"So, I got an improved clone and infrared vision?" I pondered.

"Hm... the world turned grey. But it is still dark! This skill is bugged. It's like those fake goggles." My clones tested it out for me, willing to be guinea pigs, they used my new augments.

"Infrared vision still needs an infrared light source."

"What's the point then?" I tilted my head.

"Infrared vision means that your mana eyes can see outside of the visible light spectrum, but the light still needs to exist. If you sacrifice three mana/minute, you can see the difference."

"I see." One of my clones turned on the infrared vision. In the grey world I saw through my mana eyes, her figure emitted some kind of light. But when I turned it off, the world turned dark. She didn't emit any visible light.

"You can turn the infrared light on and off and direct its beam like a flashlight," Felicia added.

"This seems useful!"

"I'm afraid it will only be useful against humans. Most Anathema with more than two eyes have compound eyes and can also see in infrared and X-ray," Felicia informed us. "However, X-ray vision can pass through most solid objects, which will be useful when searching for them."

"Hah…" I sighed. These augments weren't as useful as I'd hoped. I guess I expected too much after the previous teleportation ability. But it said my clones could now use my skills. That means they could also use my dimensional storage and have access to gate points. They could buy their own ammunition. That would save me from micromanaging. "Shall we move on? What's next?"

"Sure. You unlocked a new spell in your grimoire."

[The Ambivalent Grimoire]

[Shadow Spell: Summon a shadow clone of yourself with 50% of your STR, AGI, DEX, and VIT. Mana cost: 50/cast. Duration: 5 Minutes + Spirit stats x 3 seconds. Automatic Augment applied]

[Mimic Spell: Change yourself or your magical construct to have a certain shape. Changing non-magical constructs may not change mass and can only have up to 50% volume difference. Mana cost: 40]

[Extend Spell: Extend all of your mana construct lifetime by expending 50 mana/10 minutes.]

[Locked]

[Locked]

[Locked]

[Locked]

"Ouch… well, it has some uses, maybe?" My clones voiced my disappointment aloud.

"This is an excellent spell. With this, your clones could fight longer! If it weren't for your signature refreshing the countdown, you would have trouble fighting a horde for this long, Black Lily," Felicia said.

"Well, I guess it's good." I nodded. "Let's go and find the nest."

"Okay! Ah! It seems our time has run out." Particles of light popped from my clones before they dispersed, leaving me alone with Felicia. A sudden gap of fear and loneliness filled me as I realized I was alone. I looked at the surroundings. It was bleak. Several houses could be seen in the distance, empty and abandoned.

"Let's rest," I muttered, summoning a clone and arming it with a naginata. Together, we checked the inside of one of the houses.

"This was a village left behind when the Anathema arrived on Earth. Some of the houses are still in livable condition."

"Yeah. Anathema only eats living things," I nodded. Living things included microbes, bacteria, and fungi. Without them, there was minimal decomposition happening in houses left behind during usurpation. That's how we were able to rush the frontier projects. A small rumble resounded from my stomach.

"I'm hungry…."

"I guess we have to open that food vault now. Do you want to cook, or do you want to eat ready-made food?"

"Which one is cheaper?"

"Raw food is cheaper overall, but you might not always have time to cook it. And it could still rot in your dimensional storage."

"I see. Then I guess I'll have bento lunchboxes."

"What drink would you like? How about a Human Lunch set? It has rice, cultured yakiniku meat, some salad, and 1 liter of water."

"Alright, I'll take that."

" Done. All will cost 104 points."

[Food Vault (Common) Unlocked!]

[-100 Points]

[Purchased: a lunchbox set!]

[-4 Points]

[Remaining Points: 7070 (7174 - 104)]

A black box teleported to my place. I had over seven thousand points now. A single low-level Anathema is usually worth 10 points. As long as I could kill one of them, my food would be secured for the day. My will to cook evaporated all at once. Cooking from raw materials could take hours. Moreover, we would still need spices. It would not be cost-effective to cook for a single person. I put my hands together in a prayer as i cast away any thought of cooking for myself. I could probably cook instant noodles and rice, but for something like bento lunchboxes, which I bought for 4 points, I couldn't even dream of cooking it without looking at the recipes and tools. I did appear on one or two cooking shows, so I am not a complete amateur.

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"So, Felicia. Have you determined where the nests are?" I finished my prayer and opened the lunchbox. It was filled with the lunchboxes I had ordered, just as Felicia said. However, something bugged me. I had seen this particular lunchbox in Eden.

"Felicia, I think I've seen this lunchbox sold for 10 credits in Eden," I said after the first bite. The taste was familiar.

"Of course. This one was made in Eden," Felicia replied nonchalantly.

"We made this?"

"Yes."

"I see," I nodded, finally understanding. "Do our goods sell well in Zenith?"

"I'm afraid not. Human goods are unaligned with mana. Some enchanters buy them for their materials, but that's all. Moreover, since humans have to import every material they need for their construction, the balance is still in negative."

"Even food?"

"Not everyone eats carbon-based food. Those that do prefer to grow it themselves for obvious reasons. Moreover, the cost of equipment and so forth is skyrocketing."

"I see." I stood up after finishing my meal. After putting the PET bottle in my inventory, I marched on.

"By the way, you should consider upgrading your dimensional storage. It's getting crowded."

"Hm? Is it already full?"

"No. Your things barely weigh 30kg. However, I recommend buying other items, such as portable homes, cars, or motorcycles, which can add to the weight."

"Wait, portable homes?"

"If you open the home and furniture vault we talked about before those Anathema attacked, there is a portable home worth about 300 points. Its dimensions are 3x3x2 meters with a bed, bathroom, and several purchasable add-ons if you desire. It will weigh just under a ton."

"That's cheap. My weapon is worth the same as a house?"

"The standard enchantments in the houses are only for water storage and a battery for lights. There are no more enchantments. The purchasable enchantments or add-ons include an underwater filter, air conditioner, air filter, visual camouflage, and many more."

"What do the standard enchantments do?"

"The standard enchantments include a mana converter for water and electricity. By using your mana, it can supply water—100 mana equals 100 liters. It's not the most efficient, but it is enough for a guardian to camp in the wild. The electricity enchantment is connected to two power sockets and also four lights inside the home. The walls are made of lightweight stainless steel. Nothing too sturdy against Anathema, I'm afraid."

"That sounds like a camper van."

"There is that variant too, available for 400 points if you open the vehicle vault. But I would recommend buying them separately. It's faster that way. You have dimensional storage, after all. I suggest getting a jeep or an off-road bike."

"I see. Let's find those nests first. Then, we can talk about dimensional storage upgrades and portable homes. I want to open the vaults first."

"Will you also open the vehicle vault?"

"Yes, please."

"Roger. Nyaa."

[Home and Furniture Vault (Common) Unlocked!]

[-100 Points]

[Vehicle Vault (Common) Unlocked!]

[-100 Points]

[Remaining Points: 6870 (7070-100-100)]

"I suggest borrowing a support drone to find the nest. Nyaa."

"A support drone? Borrow?"

"A support drone is a drone with sensors attached to measure Anathema's miasma. If you break it, it's 2000 points penalty. But if you return it in functional condition, it's free."

"That's incredibly useful."

"Some things are too valuable to put a price on. Defeating Anathema and saving Magical Girls is more important than capitalism," Felicia said. "So, Zenith has some things they let their MG borrow for free. It is known as 0 point purchase."

"Alright, let's borrow it."

[Purchased: Anathema Scanner Drone]

[0 Points]

The drone looked like a slightly oversized toy airplane and flew like one. Felicia was right; there's no way we could scour this whole area on our own. Even though we knew it was nearby, Anathema could hide underground or in unsuspecting houses.

"There you go. Here is the map of the area. The Anathema's miasma is concentrated here, so the nest is likely in this location. Please note that Anathema specializing in stealth could obscure these readings."

"The sensor isn't even that accurate to begin with. There are red circles here and there, each with varying shades of darker red."

"Yes. But nevertheless, this equipment has helped many. You could buy a more advanced one if you open the drone vault. Opening it costs 300 points, and buying a drone could range from 300 to more than a thousand points each. It's cost-inefficient."

"Why is it so expensive?"

"Drones are hard to meld with mana. Moreover, they could easily be destroyed by Anathema. These techs were usually placed in the Masterwork section."

"Clone 1 to 4, appear." I summoned my clones, and we spread out. Houses and fences were scattered here and there. After killing about fifty goblins, I found the curse seed on someone's lawn and destroyed it. The curse seed looked like a normal rock, but Felicia confirmed it was a curse seed.

[Defeated: Goblin x47]

[Reward: 470 Points]

[Destroyed: Curse seed]

[Reward: 100 Points]

[Remaining Points: 7440 (6870 + 470 + 100)]

"Hm?" I tilted my head at the system's response.

"What is it?"

"The system changed. Wasn't I supposed to get a quest? I believed a curse seed was worth more than 100 points."

"That was a quest. Since we're on radio silent protocol, our connection to the main server is cut, so we can't receive proper quests. Would you like to break the radio silent protocol? I think it would be safe to remove it. There are no anathemas specializing in sensors around us. Moreover, that curse seed was too small to spawn that trolleater. There should be more curse seeds around." Felicia explained that there are quests from Zenith and a standard bounty placed on Anathema. Since I was in radio silent protocol, I only had access to the standard bounty reward. What a bummer.

"No! If you remove the radio silent, others will know where I am, right?" I almost screamed. My reaction was over the top as the face of disappointment from Tanaka and Kageyama haunted me. Then I realized my blunder. "Sorry."

"Hm… You're acting like a fugitive, but you most likely are not. They should be grateful to you, right? You saved their lives. And for the equipment, if you ask every other guardian to donate 1000 points, Shirayuki would most likely be able to recuperate from their equipment loss."

"But…" Images of disappointment flashed through my mind. I betrayed Tanaka and Shirayuki Corp. Even if I had the points to replace Shirayuki's equipment, what am I going to tell Shining and Serene when I ask them to pick me up in this wasteland? "Never mind. Let's find the next curse seed."

"Roger. Caution, you are on your fourth mana cycle now. I suggest you take refuge in a safe place, either in one of the abandoned houses or by buying a house from a vault," Felicia said. I was alone now, and if my mana regeneration suddenly dropped, I would lose the war of attrition with the Anathema.

"Should I search for the curse seed, or should I rest?" I asked Felicia.

"It should be safe for you to search for a curse seed or two. In the worst-case scenario where another trolleater guards the curse seed, you could use your signature to kill it. But you'll need a place to hide afterward."

"Okay." I nodded. I used the toy airplane again to search the area, and a stronger reading appeared, about 10 kilometers away.

"Let's buy a vehicle…" I muttered. I am not tired, but walking was such a chore.

"Great! What vehicle would you like? I recommend this EV off-road motorcycle. It has a mana converter, so it can run on your mana."

"Hm… I've never trained myself on a bicycle. I don't know if I could ride a motorcycle."

"Your dexterity should help you balance yourself. A jeep is okay, but it's a bit big and fuel inefficient."

"How much is the gas?"

"A point for five liters."

"Buy the one that used gasoline. The one with a roof. I don't want to get soaked in the rain. Get the one with AC too." I rolled my eyes at Felicia. A jeep could hold 20 liters. That means four points for a whole day of operation. In the worst-case scenario, I could sleep in it. Why was she so stingy?

"Roger. The jeep comes with a fully enclosed door and collapsible roof. There won't be mosquitoes or flies in this world, but it should serve you well during hot days."

"The last mosquitoes and cockroaches on Earth are in Shangri-La's zoo or animal conservation," I answered Felicia's sarcasm.

[Purchased: Desert Strider Jeep]

[-140 Points]

[Remaining Points: 7300 (7440 - 140)]

A black jeep materialized in front of me. I then drove the jeep toward the Anathema incursion while summoning two clones. The clones took the back seat as I opened the roof. The vehicle tumbled and rocked back and forth as we traveled through the rugged terrain.

"I can't aim with this kind of rocking," Clone 2, who held the sniper rifle, complained.

"Should I drive slower?"

"No," said the clone with the shotgun.

"Yes," said the clone with the sniper rifle. They looked at each other incredulously. We were so indecisive... I mean... I was so indecisive.

"I'll drive slower," I decided. No one complained. They were normal clones, right? Did my augment give them personalities now?