For a poignant moment, nothing happened. Then, almost reluctantly, suggestions were populated. There were lightning domains that specialised in damaging fortifications: earth domains that were resistant to lightning, and lots of similar examples. It was all technically what he asked for, but not what he was looking for, and he knew that probing the system further wouldn’t help. It had known from his questions what he had wanted it to display, and these were the best options it could come up with.
The brief flash of amusement he had felt while watching the avatar of his younger self sneak back was gone. This was a spanner in his plans.
The domain he had been planning to create, which was a fusing of his other abilities, apparently didn’t exist in a ready form, or else was going to require some creative thinking to establish. He needed to get more information or to revise his plan completely, which was something he wasn’t prepared to do. He shut his eyes so not to let the anger show.
Tom forced himself to breathe in deeply and consider everything rationally.
His knowledge of domains which he had incorporated into his plan had been clearly flawed. The question was, what could he do to fix that? He thought about Dimitri, and then looked at the door to his right.
Hopefully, there were sources of knowledge available in the champion’s lobby that could fix this. Everything he was interested in should be basic knowledge to the experts in the open section. Hopefully, one of those could help him. Failing that, Dimitri, and possibly his own elbow grease, would have to step up. If he spent sufficient time scouring the shop for all available domains, it was possible he would get a clue about what was happening.
He very much hoped that there was a simple solution to his problem. As it was, his plan to merge his different elemental spells and skills into a single domain, was dead on arrival. That fact would also screw his plans to get the maximum value out of the bonus granted by the title, for getting a fourth class.
He guessed those plans could be adjusted if a domain of everything was not possible.
For now, he had better things to focus on.
The last thing he wanted to do before seeing what was on the curated list was to baseline the cost of traits. He quickly brought up the traits he had purchased previously, and whistled at the price. It was expected, but still, seeing each of them costing hundreds of coins really highlighted both the opportunity and the danger associated with the Divine Champions’ trial.
On the plus side, buying a trait meant as little as a few months of fighting, but that was assuming everything went perfectly. More practically, they could be guaranteed. He would be able to actually acquire them. It would take a year, but, given that Everlyn hadn’t been able to source a suitable trait despite the resources of a hundred thousand people, having this option available at all was a boon. The fact that he could get a customized trait which was perfect for him if he put the work in was significant. Not that he was likely to bother, as an eighth of the Divine Affinity Fruit was probably more valuable.
While he had a plan of how to maximise coins while avoiding undue risk, he doubted he would be fighting regularly without a GOD’s shield, let alone winning every fight when he did so. Given how weak he was compared to the other two of DEUS’s champions, he expected to lose pretty consistently - at least, until he beefed up his skills.
Slightly annoyed at the thought of him being impotent, he focused on the curated list, and the text printed on the walls changed.
Slowly, he read through the list and then raised his eyebrows at how few items were included. There were only six in total.
* Trait: Spatial Storage – Cost 17 – Discount 96%
* Trait: Dimensional Body – Cost 95 – Discount 90%
* Divine Affinity Fruit – Cost 7000 – Discount 95%
* Skills Pack: Lightning Starter – Cost 9
* Skills Pack: Earth Starter – Cost 9
* Skill: Shadow Spear – Cost 12 – Discount – 30%
Before diving into the detail, he took a moment to think about what these entries implied.
Those first three, with their massive discounts screamed at him to buy them as soon as possible, even if such thoughts were impractical. Spatial Storage would allow him to purchase equipment directly from the shop, but, given that he didn’t want to waste valuable coins on physical items, he wasn’t sure if he would put it on his shopping list immediately. On the other hand, it would be useful in real life, which made him mentally push its value up slightly.
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The storage was interesting, but it was the Divine Affinity Fruit that caught his attention. His mind struggled to calculate what that implied price represented. It was a tier-eleven or twelve item, and, even with its massive discount, he felt that it was unobtainable. It would literally take him over two years with a perfect record, with every fight being without a GOD’s shield, to get it. Even if he managed to keep his spot for the next nine years, Tom was not sure he would ever win sufficient coins to afford it, especially since he would need to be spending them on boosting his strength just to stay in contention.
It hurt to do so, given how unattainable it was, but he couldn’t help but dive in and read what a tier-twelve natural treasure could do.
Consumable Treasure: Divine Affinity Fruit*.
This item improves every affinity of those who consume it.
* Improves the affinity of all minor affinities (less than forty) by 30
* Improves the affinity of all medium affinities (40 to 60) by 20
* Improves the affinity of all major affinities (60 to 80) by 10
* Improves the affinity of all blessed affinities (80 to 90) by 4
* Improves the affinity of all divine affinities (90+) by 2 (without exceeding 99)
Note: At the lower and upper point of the range the increase granted may be higher and lower respectively than expected due to smoothing. These values are a guide only. i.e. If your starting affinity is 39 a full fruit will raise you affinity by 28. At this increase will only be 27 not the 20 average of that tier.
* Can be purchased in segments of an eighth of the fruit. Note if an affinity is raised by a partial number a lower impact of the increase is expected than linear interpolation would suggest.
Tom absorbed the information, especially the note. While he doubted he would be able to afford a full fruit, he might manage to save up a sufficient amount for a half. That would boost his precognition impact by sixty percent and his lightning and earth spells by thirty percent, while the rest of his affinities would also get a similar gain. Basically, it was a permanent and significant increase to his magical abilities, which was something experience couldn’t buy. And, if he managed to crack the duels and bought the full fruit, the power of his precognition, instead of increasing by sixty percent, would jump by over five times.
That was the true value of the offering.
The whole thing was clearly the long-term carrot DEUS was dangling in front of him to encourage him to perform as strongly as he could. It might be manipulative, but he didn’t care. He was doing it, Tom swore to himself. He was going to get it.
The next item on the curated list that he studied was the second entry, and the only one he felt that was out of place.
Trait: Dimensional Body.
Tunes the body to dimensional energy, reducing the cost for portals and teleport-aligned abilities by 60%.
He could see how this fed into his long-term plans, and it was a powerful trait to add, but it felt strange to have it thrust into his face right now. Still, when he considered the teleport options he had possessed in his last life, having the frequency and potential range of them more than double would have been a huge boon.
As he currently lacked anything that could take advantage of a Dimensional Body, he decided to ignore it for now.
Finally, there was the other majorly discounted item.
Trait: Spatial Storage.
Provides four cubed meters of highly responsive spatial storage.
It was not a growth trait. But, given it started with so much, the starting volume that didn’t matter. For a trade caravan, the available space it added was not a lot, but for a warrior that would use it to keep weapons, trinkets and money, it had more than he needed. Four cubed metres was more storage than you could pack into a car without any passengers. It was more than enough for his personal consumption needs.
Before deciding what to do, he clicked on the spear skill.
Skill: Shadow Spear – Tier 3
Create a shadow spear that follows the trajectory of your own weapon within two centimetres and imparts 80% of the primary weapon’s damage.
Note: This can be delivered in three ways.
1. Granted immediately.
2. If spatial storage is available, as a skill stone.
3. If spatial storage is available and a relevant training trial is accessible, then it can be taken as a skill plan to be used within the trial.
Personalised Advice: If the skill is invested into the training trial you will have 45% chance of acquiring after 40 hours of training, 65% after 80 and 72% after 120 hours.
Tom stared at the note.
It explained exactly why the spatial storage was first on his list with the largest discount. It was needed for him to do this. Having only a seventy-two percent chance of acquiring it might have seemed like bad odds, but that was a risk he was willing to gain. Even if he failed to absorb some of the skills, which what that acquisition rate suggested would happen, that high of a percentage meant he could acquire three or four higher-tiered skills through his own effort each year. That would be absolutely massive when it came to advancing his title.
Smiling brightly, Tom rubbed his hands together.
He still needed to find out what the lobby was like, and whether it was a place that was worth investing time in. Short-term, until he learned the lay of the competition, so to speak, he had no choice but to spend time there, as he was in desperate need of more information about how the coming fights were going to play out.
He looked at the door, and knew that was his next step.