Chapter 5: Chapter 5
'I am an idiot.'
'Every settlement requires a lot of water resources for almost everything. Be it agriculture, fishing, transport, or even drinking.'
'I mean there are a lot of needs where water is required.'
'If I follow downstream, I would definitely find some kind of settlement near to it.'
[That is true. You are indeed a dumb host.]
"Hey, you can't say that."
[I am stating a fact. Is it wrong to do that?]
Alex's mouth twitched when he heard that.
Cough!
"It's considered rude to point out like that. Didn't your creator teach you that?"
[Hmm, I guess there are some guidelines about that but they aren't much use as I could only converse with you. Moreover in this world where morality isn't considered, such rules can be discarded unless you encounter someone stronger than you. ]
When Alex heard the system's answer, he could only sigh and move forward.
It indeed is true. This world is ruled by strength, not morality or virtues like that. What the stronger person says or do is the rule.
The only reason the world didn't fall into chaos is that there are some that respect the virtues, though their highest priority is strength.
Alex continued his hunt and started following the river downstream. His wish is that he would soon reach some sort of a settlement as soon as possible. He was quite bored living with himself and a mechanical voice.
---
Fifteen days soon passed. Alex followed the same routine as he hid for the past two months.
[Ding!]
'Huh! What happened now?'
[System has now upgraded to version 2.0]
[System feature SHOP is now available.]
[1000 system shop points are rewarded to the host as a bonus.]
[Random skill card is rewarded for the host. You can check the system inventory for it.]
"System, you upgraded?"
[Yes Host.]
"Doesn't it take time?"
[Now for a simple upgrade version like this.]
"Simple upgrade? I wasted hundreds of beast cores for a simple upgrade."
Alex felt furious when the system said this was a simple upgrade. He fed the system a lot of beast cores and beast bodies for this upgrade and this is only a simple one.
"If a simple upgrade took that many resources, then what would it take for a major upgrade?"
[Don't be angry, host. Have heard about nature's balance or equilibrium?]
"More or less I heard about something like that."
[I, the system, am not of this world. As I enter, something has to leave this world. I need to maintain balance while helping you or else nature will and it won't be as simple as taking away beast cores.]
"Does it really cost that much?"
[This is like a deposit for compensation. With the matter of beast cores, you were compensated fairly for that. Check the notifications first.]
"Oh," Alex quickly calmed down.
Alex quickly checked the notifications he ignored before. When he saw them he was surprised. The system has now a shop feature and he was given a free 1000 shop points.
Shop points are the currency required to buy items from the system shop.
He then quickly proceeded to see what are available in the shop. He was disappointed to see that most of them are greyed out as they have exorbitant prices.
Even from the non-greyed items, he can only use potions, Basic and low-level Arts or techniques.
"System why is everything so costly I think most of these could be obtained in towns or cities."
[You are correct in that aspect. Most of them are available but not all. One thing you have to know is that few of these you can't use as they require Mana or Aura, which you lack.]
"System, it looks as if you are purposefully mocking me. You already know that and yet I get options to buy them. Why?"
Alex felt almost crying out when he saw the items that are available in the shop.
[I'm not mocking you. These are what is available for anyone I would have bonded with.]
"Oh."
Hearing the reason Alex's heart soothed.
[Host you missed a notification.]
"Huh"
When Alex checked, he did miss a notification as he got immersed in the shop option when he saw it.
'A random skill card?'
"System, what is this skill inside?"
[It is random, my dumb host.]
"Oye, I know that but what if it is something I can't use?"
[It depends on your luck.]
"Wait can I sell it?"
[No, it is soul bound to you.]
Sighs!
'I could have at least sold for a decent amount if I couldn't use it.'
[Do you want to use it?]
'If it is useful, it would be best to use it now.'
"Yes please."
[Random skill card used.]
[Generating a random skill.]
[Appraisal skill obtained.]
[Do you want to extract and integrate the skill?]
'Appraisal? Is it the skill used to know about items?'
'I think so. If so, it would be most useful to discern genuine from fake items but the problem is will I be able to use it?'
'Let's see if it is useful or not.'
"Proceed."
[Extracting and Integrating the skill into the host...]
[Success.]
[You can now appraise an item depending on your level.]
--
Appraisal: One of the most sought skills across the world. This helps to identify the genuine status of the item. Further, it can also be used to identify the status of the item. To identify durability, ingredients used, or skills it has.
The only requirement to use this skill is any type of energy. Whether it comes from you or some other non-living source, it doesn't matter.
The energy required depends on how much data you wanted to know.
--
'Shit it needs energy, probably Mana is what is required, or is there other types of energy?'
'It doesn't matter as I can't utilize mana, I can't use it properly.'
'The only way is to use the other source of energy from the description. Where should I find that?'
'Does it mean beast core or something else entirely?'
'Forget it, I can't use it in this forest anyway. Wait can I use it on living beings?'
'It only said items, huh.'
"System..."
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone