After confirming everything, Alex Volff clenches his fist in the air and lets out a big laugh as he can't contain his joy. He now possess an E-ranked skill despite being only a F-ranked Defender. He can't access the E-ranked store right now, but according to the UDA database, the price of E-ranked skill books ranges from 1,000 credits to 10,000 credits. Seeing that the {Energy Manipulation} skill is the most expensive of F-ranked skills, its E-ranked skill book price must be in the higher range. This is an even bigger gain than the 1,500 credits he received as a reward for his first achievement.

Alex spends the rest of the day getting more familiar with his evolved skill. The power he gains in his normal mana-enhanced state is still the same as his mana pool hasn't grown at all. But, Alex's increased familiarity with his spiritual control makes it possible for him to retain 100% of his mana after releasing the normal mana-enhanced state. He can also hold the normal mana-enhanced state for around 20 minutes now, which means he can enter a fight in his normal mana-enhanced state, hence increasing his hunting speed.

The biggest upgrade to the normal-mana enhanced state is the fact that he can control how much mana to use now. After experimenting, Alex finds out that using 40 points of mana is enough to gain the same power as before. That left him enough mana to use 2 {Energy Arrows} even in his normal mana-enhanced state.

Of course, the biggest gain is his new focused mana-enhanced state. The power he can exert in this new state is several times greater than the normal mana-enhanced state. Alex estimated that his current strength is enough to easily sweep through even F-rank 3-star creatures. And, this is a move that can get stronger as he evolves further. His current physical strength limited how much mana his muscles can handle. But, as he evolves further, his physical strength will increase, which means his muscles will be able to handle more mana, increasing the power of the focused mana-enhanced state.

The {Energy Manipulation} skill is now an E-ranked skill. E-ranked skills are skills for E-ranked Defenders to deal with E-ranked creatures. With this skill in his possession, Alex thinks that he should be able to quickly sweep through the F-rank and quickly increase his rank to become E-ranked Defender.

This means, his previous plan of slowly increasing his power and gathering credits needs to change. But, he also can't show his rank-up speed to the outside world as it will raise suspicion. Alex knows that he possess something that other Defenders do not have. Possessing some unique secret will always carry certain dangers. Alex is not a fool that will announce this secret to everyone. He can't even show it to the UDA. While the UDA has done an incredible job managing the Defenders and advancing Earth's civilization, it is still composed of many different individuals. Who knows if there is a vile person inside the UDA that would put his life in danger if this secret is out.

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Alex also needs new equipment if he is going to face stronger creatures. His {Beginner Wooden Sword}, {Beginner Leather Shirt}, and {Beginner Trousers} won't cut it anymore as he faces stronger creatures. With the 1,500 credits he just got, this will not be an issue. Alex opens up the store using his computer in the personal space and starts browsing for new equipment.

After looking around, Alex decides to get four new equipment.

{Black-steel Katana}

{Katana made from black-steel, the hardest F-ranked material. Capable of cutting through even some low level E-ranked materials. Cost: 500 credits}

{Iron Leather Shirt}

{A shirt made from the leather of Iron Rhinoceros, the toughest F-ranked leather material. It has the toughness of an iron, and the flexibility of a normal leather. Cost: 400 credits}

{Iron Leather Trousers}

{Trousers made from the leather of Iron Rhinoceros, the toughest F-ranked leather material. It has the toughness of an iron, and the flexibility of a normal leather. Cost: 400 credits}

{Iron Leather Boots}

{Boots made from the leather of Iron Rhinoceros, the toughest F-ranked leather material. It has the toughness of an iron, and the flexibility of a normal leather. Cost: 300 credits}

Those four equipment would cost him 1,600 credits. Which means his 1,534 credits are not enough to buy all four of them. But, thankfully there are the shops in Beginner Town that sell equipment with cheaper price.

These shops are owned by those Defenders that have no talent for fighting. After exploring the Realm of Defenders, they realized that they would just waste their life if they continue hunting creatures. Hence, they decided to instead earn credits by producing equipment. Every equipment at the system store has their blueprint also available at 3-5 times the equipment price. But, the raw materials can be bought at 50-60% the finished product's price. So, by selling at 85%-90% of the system store's price they can still make nice profit and slowly recoup their initial investment.

This is also welcomed by other Defenders as they can get equipment cheaper and can save some credits. It's just not everything can be produced by Defenders. Things like skill books and special items like the {Evolution Potion} needs to be bought from the system store.

Alex decides to go to Beginner Town to look for those equipment he wants to buy. He changes his clothes to his beginner outfit and enters the transporter capsule in his personal space.

"Fay, send me to Beginner Town," Alex commands Fay through the [Magic Chip].

"Okay, transporting to Beginner Town," Fay replies.

A white light shines from the capsule and Alex Volff disappears from inside the transporter capsule.