Even if he thought that rest was something reserved for the dead, he didn't actually want to die. Thus, he let exhaustion take over and ended up sleeping for a few hours.
When he opened his eyes once again, Liam was still tired and his entire body was sore and ached horribly after fighting the entire day before but his mind was clear which was everything he needed right now.
He took a look at his status panel and read through it as if he would see something unexpected.
⌈—-◈Entity Details◈∙—-⌉
[Liam Wandel]
[Halfling] [Devil/Human]
[Rank: Circleless]
[Soultrait:『Devil's Eyes』]
[Arcanium: 153.9]
———-◈Stats◈-———
[Vitality: (G+)]
[Strength: (F)]
[Agility: (F)]
[Stamina: (F-)]
[Arcane Power: (E)]
[Will: (F-)]
⌊___________________⌋
'Looks like the notifications about my Strength and Stamina were not wrong. My Arcanium is also pretty high now.'
Before he fell asleep, Liam had seen two notifications about an increase in his Strength and Agility stat. But he had been so drained and exhausted that he wasn't sure if he had actually seen it or something his brain had conjured up before darkness consumed him.
Thus, it was great to see that his stats were actually increasing quite a bit. Within a day, most of his stats had increased by an entire rank without the need to use Arcanium to directly increase them. He had used the Fortune's Liquor which hadn't been a waste of precious Arcanium but a good investment in resources that increased his stats drastically.
The Fortune's Liquor had been a limited item and something that could only be purchased once. Furthermore, it was already sold out by now, which Liam figured out by taking a look at the Arcane Shop.
There were a few things he got to know by taking a look at the Arcane Shop after a few hours of sleep. This included the appearance of a few temporary shops that had been created by others.
Liam couldn't see the name of the shop owners since they were anonymous but he could browse through the goods that were sold in the shop, which gave him a rough understanding of the races that were in control of their own temporary shops.
'The Elves and Dwarves are trying to make it big…those fucking scammers…' Liam couldn't help but scoff when he saw the price for potions and enchanted wood weapons that could be purchased in two shops, followed by the ordinary iron weapons, leather armor and other armaments that could be purchased in the other temporary shops.
Their prices were cheaper than their counterparts that could be purchased in the Arcane Shop, but they were still exorbitantly priced in Liam's opinion. In the Overworld, the body parts of the Meheks he killed were more than enough to purchase a whole set of potions and an ordinary iron sword. However, the Arcanium he earned by killing them was not even enough to purchase two potions, let alone a potion set in addition to a weapon!
'Well, I cannot really consider it expensive since the Arcanium earned from killing others is merely a bonus. I could still sell the monster corpses in the Arcane Shop if I had a shop and a customer who was willing to pay the price for the bodies.' Liam thought in frustration. He understood that the times had changed and that the supply and demand for certain things would change according to the needs.
Right now, everyone was in dire need of weapons, other armaments, and potions. It was only obvious that the Dwarves and Elves would focus on producing what others wanted and that they would sell it for a high enough price to make it worth their efforts.
It was already a huge investment to pay 1000 Arcanium to become the temporary shop owner of the Lowest-ranked Shop, for merely five days at that. The materials required to concoct potions and produce the weapons and armaments were not available for free, nor were the utensils required to concoct, enchant and forge.
'Looks like I'm a delusional hypocrite,' Liam thought with a faint smile on his lips. He couldn't help but change his perspective of the given situation and re-evaluate his view of the present and future.
Time was Arcanium and it looked like the Elves and Dwarves had prepared themselves to invest a lot to make sure that they would receive a head-start.
It was not possible for Liam to see the sales report of the temporary shops but he was pretty sure that the Elves and Dwarves were making bank!
'So should I sit around trying to sense the Arcane Power in the surroundings, or should I worry now?' Liam asked himself before he shrugged as if that was enough of an answer.
His body was in need of a little bit more rest. Thus, he closed his eyes and tried to feel the Arcane Power in his surrounding area.
Since Haltan was the only intersection between the Nine Realms, it was a place that received the influx of Arcane Power prevalent in all Nine Realms. It was supposed to be a place abundant of Arcane Power but Liam could barely sense any.
That made it quite difficult for him to even think about increasing his Arcane Power naturally without the use of Arcanium or treasures that would permanently increase his Arcane Power.
'Haltan had been hibernating for eons…I should have expected that…' Liam grumbled to himself before he opened his eyes once again.
Increasing his Arcane Power while resting was not possible anymore. However, going to sleep was not a feasible option either. He didn't want to waste his precious time sleeping if he was already fully awake and not the slightest bit tired, or so he was trying to tell himself.
His mind was wide awake and the only issue was his sore body. But that was something he could cope with.
Not feeling like wasting his time doing something useless, he took a look through the dimly illuminated gymnasium. Many had fallen asleep but the majority of natives were on the verge of going insane. Liam shouldn't be worried about their sanity, however, in the long run it might actually turn into a nuisance since insane people could easily turn into maniacs that were willing to kill mindlessly.
Furthermore, it was only a matter of time before someone would notice that killing each other might actually be a decent idea, considering that the gains are a big stash of Arcanium!
Liam didn't want to worry about that right now but he had to take all options into consideration in order to ensure that as many natives as possible would survive.
After finding out about the path the Dwarves and Elves chose to sweep through the Arcane Apocalypse, Liam couldn't help but change his approach as well.
He wanted to save up his Arcanium and purchase something more expensive at first, but he realized now that saving up his Arcanium might actually lead to a worse result.
Consistently investing Arcanium should give him better results given that he may actually earn much more from killing more opponents and protecting more Natives than sitting on his small pile of Arcanium.
Liam had already saved up 150 Arcanium, which meant that he could make a rather big investment in himself.
'The steel battle-axe needs to be replaced but I also want to increase my stats a little bit more. Being sore and all is a nuisance if I want to go out and pull more natives inside the gymnasium…' Liam was in a small dilemma as conflicting thoughts kept bombarding him.
He didn't really like thinking too much since overthinking would inevitably lead to mistakes. At least, that was how it had been for him all the time. His first decisions were often better solutions to problems than those he came up with from overthinking.
Liam had experienced this very often, showing him quite clearly that his instincts would usually help him find a quick and long-lasting alternative that led to a better outcome. Thus, Liam began to scroll through the Elven and Dwarven shops before he turned over to the Arcane Shop where he found something that attracted his interest.
[『Dracoli Cookie』–Circleless Food/Medicine(E- Rank)–
Description: Eating the Dracoli Cookie will fill the body with vigor and life. Minor injuries and ailments may be cured by eating Dracoli Cookies.
Remark: Dracoli Cookies are considered the most common delicacy in the Dragonheart Empire.]
The cost of a single Dracoli Cookie was 0.5 Arcanium, which was quite a lot for something as ordinary as a cookie.
However, something written in the description caught Liam's eye and he purchased a bunch of them.
[7x『Dracoli Cookie(E- Rank)』have been purchased. 3.5 Arcanium have been deducted!]
Seven cookies materialized in Liam's hand as his Arcanium was reduced to just above 150, but he didn't really mind that.
It was necessary to eat something and receive the bare minimum nutrition in order to keep fighting. Paying 3.5 Arcanium for snacks was not actually worth it, but he was pretty sure that it was not a bad deal if in return his soreness and minor injuries would heal.
He guessed that the Dracoli Cookies would fill his stomach for the day since they were full of vigor and life. With that in mind, he finished them one after another before he waited patiently.
A few minutes passed in the blink of an eye until Liam felt that something within his body was changing. A sudden influx of vigor threatened to tear him into pieces as he staggered back, reeling from the after effects of the vitality that was unleashed inside him all of a sudden. The sensation was several times more intense than he expected and his eyes widened in slight astonishment.
His body tensed up and the wound on his chest began to heal, causing a tingling sensation to spread around the area of the wound. Following that, his entire body began to itch which lasted for a few minutes before the overflowing vitality seemed to have calmed down a little. He threw his head back and inhaled lungfuls of air as he forced his mind and body to adjust to the sensation.
'Has my vision improved?' He wondered in astonishment, nearly blurting his doubt out loud. It didn't really make sense that he was suddenly able to see better, but that was actually what happened.
'Did I not realize that I was injured before? That…my entire body was covered with minor injuries?' Liam had a hard time accepting that, however, the reality was different. It took him a few minutes in which he thought hard about what had actually happened before an expression of enlightenment spread all over his face.
"The Awakening!" He nearly shouted out loud as realization struck him hard. His Soultrait Awakening, the awakening that had been initiated and finished in an instant was actually the culprit.
Liam felt as if a deadweight had suddenly been lifted off his chest and the soreness that had spread all over his body was not troubling him anymore either. He felt great, much better than expected.
And that too just from eating a few cookies! The investment was certainly worth it even though Liam had actually expected something else to happen.
'It actually increased!' Liam thought as he glanced at a new notification that had popped up in the corner of his field of vision.
[The Host's Vitality increased.]
The increase in his Vitality was not as surprising as the minor wounds that had tormented his body. He didn't even know that the wounds existed, in the first place. That was already surprising enough for Liam, which grew into an even bigger surprise since an investment of 3.5 Arcanium tended to the wounds through the vigor and life that was spreading through his entire body.
'Now it makes much more sense why the Arcane System valued my combat prowess four times higher the moment my Soultrait awakening was completed. I'm actually stronger than before but was unable to make use of my entire strength…that's interesting!'
Liam had yet to invest the remaining 150 Arcanium in his possession and he was already satisfied with his purchases. The System's evaluation of his combat prowess shouldn't have changed a lot but the strength flowing through him made him feel like the Liam from ten minutes ago was a weakling!
'With the right equipment, Elite Ratatuo shouldn't be much of an issue anymore…'
Now that his body was full of vigor and his stats didn't make him feel like he was at the bottom of the foot chain, Liam's only unsolved issue was the choice of equipment.
He could purchase some accessories that had been enchanted with specific spells, get his hands on a storage item rather than a way to increase his combat prowess through external means, or he could purchase a new weapon. Something that would go well with his extraordinary control of Arcane Power would be perfect since it would make things much easier for him until the customized mission would end.
After Liam spent some time reconsidering different combat styles that may or may not be suitable for the given situation he came to a decision.
'Be a great investment and return a profit of more than 500% to me!' He spoke in his mind as he finished the deal by purchasing three different things from the Arcane System and spending the remaining 150 Arcanium.
This left him with a mere 0.4 Arcanium but a hopefully great investment!
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GOT IT