Considering that I was only sixty EXP away from my next level, that seemed like an incredibly generous offer.
“Hold on just a second, please,” I said to Hellman as I navigated through my [Menu].
I quickly found the pending notification asking me to choose my level 3 Alchemist skill. Swiftly, I clicked on the third grayed-out option. Even though I had no idea what it did, the ability to access a unique construction tree was simply too much to pass up.
[NEW SKILL ACQUIRED: ᛋᚹᛖᚾᛞᛋᛖᚾ]
Once more, the notification was a strange gray color, and the font was completely different. It felt as if whatever power Epsilon was drawing from was beginning to infect my System. Either way, that concerning change in my UI could wait until after my [Trade] with Hellman.
With that new skill accepted, I brought up Hellman’s request and hit the accept button.
[TRADE COMPLETED]
[QUEST COMPLETED, +1,000 EXP]
[LEVEL UP!]
[EXP TO NEXT LEVEL: 660]
[TOTAL CREDITS: 1,410₪]
My total number of credits had more than tripled with that trade, and I had reached level 4. I wondered what could be done with credits other than using them to buy stuff from other people.
Hellman quickly walked over to the Sarcophagus Starship. For a moment, he seemed lost in thought. In an instant, a large pile of extraneous items flashed into existence and crashed to the floor. Food, weapons, armor, and raw material landed on the ground.
The scene was strangely nostalgic to me, and my mind was filled with memories of the thousands of times I had emptied out my [Inventory] in video games to make extra room.
An instant later, the Sarcophagus Starship disappeared into Hellman’s [Inventory], and he clapped his hands together in satisfaction. I wondered how [Trade] worked specifically. Was there some [Ownership] system? If so, what benefits did you gain from owning something?
“All right,” Hellman said. “Now that the boring tasks are over, I can finally start working on the fun stuff.” He cracked his knuckles and stretched out his shoulders. “If you guys run into a Threshold Guardian, just send me a [Message]. I’ll be out there killing every monster I can see.”
Before I could think of a response, Hellman had sprinted out the door. I let out a sigh of relief and sat down on one of the two hundred seats located in the lecture hall. Every second he was there, the threat to my life grew. I was terrified that Liz would make some offhand comment and reveal that the Fifth Star Child had attacked me.
Once Hellman was gone, Liz gestured in annoyance and confusion before saying, “What the Hell was that!? Why did that guy look like a demon!?”
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
I looked over to Carlos and gestured for him to explain. He was better at communicating than me, and I had absolutely no interest in rehashing the events of the past few minutes. As Carlos began explaining, I sent him a message over the [Menu].
Vinzadir: Don’t tell them about Epsilon.
With that out of the way, I turned my attention back toward my Character Sheet. The hectic pace of the past thirty minutes had forced me to neglect my character advancement. My eyes scanned the top of my [Menu], and I saw my stats.
[YOU MAY ADD +2 TO YOUR STATS]
Figuring my [Mind] stats were high enough, I decided to add 2 to my [Speed] stat. I realized earlier that my accuracy with my laser pistol increased when my [Speed] increased, so that seemed like the best use of my limited resources at the time.
Name: Vinzadir
Class: Eldritch Alchemist
Level: 4
MDC: 20/20
SDC: 33/33
Body: 13
Fortitude: 14
Power: 13
Speed: 12
Mind: 17
Reason: 18
Perception: 15
Memory: 18
Spell Slots: (1) 4 / 5
Below the Character Sheet was the diagram visualizing my spell slots. There were five checkboxes next to a box that read [Level One], and one of them was filled in.
[YOU MAY TAKE 1 ADDITIONAL SPELL]
[YOU MAY UNLOCK 3 CONSTRUCTS]
[NEW SKILL AVAILABLE]
As the new textboxes popped up, I could feel the muscles in my body change. They didn’t change in size. It felt more like they were becoming much more efficient. For the first time in my life, I wanted to run around and test out my new body.
“Take the [Sleep] spell,” I whispered to not interrupt Carlos’s explanation.
[NEW SPELL UNLOCKED: SLEEP]
I quickly navigated over to the [Crafting] page and looked at the long line of templates that could be found in Tier I. There must have been sixty construct templates in that Tier alone, and several items had been added to the list. These new items were marked on a gray background. When I hovered over these items to read their descriptions, their descriptions were written in that same runic script from my new skill.
Before moving on to the “esoteric technology,” I flipped through Tier I and picked out two templates that I wanted for a little while. I unlocked the rifle and Starsteel chestplate from the [Crafting] page.
Alban Chestplate (Basic): This is the armor worn by the low-level recruits within the Alban military. The Alban Chestplate is far lighter than comparable Naskal armor, but it provides the same amount of protection. Any attack that strikes the Alban Chestplate is reduced by 5 MD. If that attack has the LASER or FIRE tag, it is reduced by 10 MD instead. 60 Starsteel.
Alban Chestplate (Basic) This is the armor worn by the low-level recruits within the Alban military. The Alban Chestplate is far lighter than comparable Naskal armor, but it provides the same amount of protection. Any attack that strikes the Alban Chestplate is reduced by 5 MD. If that attack has the LASER or FIRE tag, it is reduced by 10 MD instead. 60 Starsteel.
Laser Rifle: This is a basic laser rifle. Every battery pack holds 60 shots. Bolts from this gun deal 1 - 10 MD upon contact. 60 Starsteel.
Laser Rifle This is a basic laser rifle. Every battery pack holds 60 shots. Bolts from this gun deal 1 - 10 MD upon contact. 60 Starsteel.
With those constructs picked out, I navigated over to the [Skills] page. At the very bottom of that page was my newest skill, which was written in a language that I did not understand. Experience had shown me that the System could be trusted, so I decided to use the System to help me parse the runic descriptions written in front of me.