9 9. Shopping Spree
"Shop?"
This was the last option that had remained locked until now. With no hesitation, Hunter navigated to the main menu and tapped on it.
[Creating Catalog…]
[Adjusting Currency…]
[Removing Items…]
[Adding Items…]
A flurry of ongoing processes crowded Hunter's gaze on the page. But he patiently waited, ignoring Kavius's shocked eyes, and Brownie who stared at his untouched shoulder.
[Shop Ready!]
[Note: Shop tokens determine the number of times the host can access the shop]
As soon as the confirmation came, a list of categories appeared on the page.
[Magic]
[Cultivation]
[Weapons]
[Miscellaneous]
"What's Cultivation?" Hunter exclaimed, glancing at Kavius for answers. "Growing crops?"
Kavius blinked dumbly and approached him. Careful, he reached forward his hand and touched Hunter's forehead. "Thank the Holy Heroes! No fever is good… I don't think he'll be delirious for too long."
"..."
"I'm perfectly alright, Kavius."
[New Kavius Favorability: 4/5]
'It reduced?' Hunter stared at his brother. 'Can't be helped with him...'
"Tell me, what's Cultivation?"
Kavius finally eased his tense muscles and settled down, crossing his legs. "Just like how we call it magic, sorcery, or wizardry in Mythia, people call it Cultivation in the continent of Culvaria. It's somewhat different from what we practice, and their culture is different too, but it's all based around Aura."
"What's Aura?"
"..."
Kavius sighed, his head dropping wearily. "I sometimes forget you don't remember anything. Aura is the law, the foundation, the wellspring of all Magic, Hunter. It's in nature all around, and a select few who can create Aura from within their bodies can wield it, conjuring magic."
Hunter hummed, staring at the book as he tapped on the Magic category.
[Sword Battle Magic]
[Traditional Battle Magic]
[Miscellaneous Magic]
Quickly, Hunter tapped on the Sword Battle Magic, having recently wielded the blade. A long list of various types of magical arts, styles, and moves immediately appeared before him, each with a small description, the requirements to use it, and the price. It all seemed to be appearing in increasing order.
[Fire Style Sword Arts: Enhance your sword arts by combining each strike with fire.
Affinity - Fire (Best suited for users of fire elements)
Limitations: Rain, Water attacks
Requirement: Strength 5+, Agility 2+, Aura Sense 1+
Cost: 15 Gold Coins]
Hunter's eyes bulged out when he looked at the damn price. 'Gold?!' Even the world's currency wasn't in gold. Where the hell was he going to get that? And this was the lowest-tiered sword magic.
He gulped and, just to check, turned the page.
[Black Blade Mountain Destroyer - Lay ruin to mountains with a single strike.
Affinity - Darkness
Limitations - Ascended Ranked Defense, Nightmare Ranked Defense, Annihilator Class Beast, Transcended Core Ranked Defense
Requirement: Strength 70+, Agility 30+, Endurance 70+, Aura Sense 20+
Cost: 120,000 Gold Coins / 120 Diamond Crystals / 1 Resurrected Beast Core / 1 Celestial Stone]
'What in heavens' name is this price and requirement?' If his eyes bulged out before, he felt his heart skip a few beats this time. And what even were Resurrected Beast Core and Celestial Stone?
He dared not turn the page any further and went to look at the Traditional Battle Magic. His finger shivered a bit as he did so.
[Lightning ball - A minor spell to shock them all.
Affinity - Fire, Lightning
Limitations - Underwater, Strong Wind
Requirement: Strength 2+, Agility 2+, Dexterity 3+, Aura Sense 1+]
Cost: 10 Gold Coins]
Seeing the price, Hunter felt it was on par with the sword magic attack. But he could discern its uselessness since he was neither a wizard nor did he know how to perform magic. However, he could identify his affinity by looking at the list of abilities—fire, darkness, and possibly soul.
As for the second item, he simply averted his gaze upon seeing the hefty price of 25 Gold Coins. Dubbed "Blades of Wind," it required a natural affinity with the air element, a trait he sorely lacked. Furthermore, it demanded 2 or more Aura Senses, whereas he languished at a mere 0.8, the lowest of all attributes.
"How does one go about increasin' their magic? This Aura?" Hunter asked his brother again.
Kavius was munching on forest fruits by now. "Forget it, we can't. The Kelib bloodline is the last of ancient Berserkers. We're known to possess extremely low Aura manipulation abilities. We're instead best known for our endlessly increasing physical strength, the mythical Berserker state, and the finest armor and weapons."
Hunter nodded at that, and agreed since he did feel his physical body was too strong. But now, as a Half-Demon with the magical book's aid, things were different for him.
"But still, how does one get better at magic?"
Kavius finished the apple and squatted beside Hunter. He began to draw on the sand, "Folks who can wield the Aura possess what we call Aura Heart. The Law of Transfer says that to do magic, you need a minimum ratio of three to one—three parts Aura from your body and one from nature, not counting the Aura Centers scattered across the land."
Hunter wanted to ask about what that Aura Center was, but already feeling overwhelmed with new information, he chose to take baby steps.
"An Aura user climbs ranks—Initiate, Ordinary, Awakened, Master—based on this law, boosting efficiency. By practice and control, one can improve, reducing the ratio to two-to-one or one-to-one, even one-hundredth to one, but only the Gods and Immortals achieve that purity. Their breath alone can manipulate Aura."
There was so much to learn that Hunter scratched his head. He seriously felt the need to get a notebook. But for now, he decided to make peace with what he had. 'Can I better myself without the use of this magic book?'
He did wonder, but when he had a tool to make things easier, he didn't dare kick it away.
He skipped the Cultivation category since that was an entirely different branch of magic from what it seemed. As for the Miscellaneous category, it was filled with minor magic spells such as starting a fire, cleaning dishes, clothes, or other household, daily life-related magic. The prices were high, however, and Hunter considered them a luxury.
He focused on Weapons and, as expected, found countless swords, spears, maces, staffs, and wands, costing as low as five silver coins and going as high as dozens of Diamond Crystals.
'This…' Of course, his eye twitched when he saw guns there. But all of them looked old-fashioned for his standards. The low-cost ones were nothing but antique firearms in his eyes, but the highest ones were called "Magic Guns," and that piqued his interest.
Sadly, the cost written under them instantly humbled him.
Quickly, to douse his sorrow, he tapped on Miscellaneous.
[Lifestyle]
[Travel]
[Food]
"Oh!" He didn't feel sad anymore and quickly opened the first option—Lifestyle.
[Trashman Jacket Hoodie: 5 Gold Coins
Trashman Winter Pants: 1 Gold Coin
Trashman Leather Boots: 3 Gold Coins
Leather Pouches: 2 Gold Coins
Cowboy Hat: 8 Gold Coins
.
.
Tampon: 1 Gold Coin
Saddle: 9 Gold Coins
Bathing Soap 5 Pieces: 1 Gold Coin
.
.
Condom: 5 Gold Coins
Trampoline: 45 Gold Coins
BDSM Starter Kit: 690 Gold Coins
Microwave: 1,900 Gold Coins
Refrigerator: 2,500 Gold Coins
Jacuzzi Tub: 4,000 Gold Coins…]
It seemed to have about anything one could imagine in their lifetime. From clothes to the unspeakable horrors of the bedroom. Although the prices became absurd the further pages he turned, he felt somewhat satisfied with the first few options.
Although his heart told him to choose the Cowboy Hat, he tapped on the Trashman Jacket Hoodie in the end since he could only wear the uniform, and the hoodie could hide some of his face.
[Purchase Request: No Funds]
[Turn gold and silver in storage into coins? Y/N]
'I can do that?' Hunter didn't wait and touched Y.
[Conversion Complete: Low-Grade Gold 900 Grams = 30 Gold Coins.
Silver 718 Kilograms = 7180 Silver Coins (50 Silver Coins = 1 Gold Coin)]
'What kinda darn conversion rate is this?!' Hunter raged in his heart. He had hoped at least the silver would make him rich, but it used a hundred grams of silver to make one coin. It was daylight robbery.
"What's with the book?" Kavius became annoyed and suddenly barked.
"Shhh…" Hunter shushed him and pitifully watched his money dwindle.
[Purchase Complete!]
[Remaining Balance: 168 Gold Coins]
Thud!
"What the!" Kavius jumped away in fright as a heavy piece of cloth appeared out of nowhere and landed on Hunter's lap. "What magic is this?!"
Hunter waved the book at him, "You wanna eat something nice? Maybe some good ol' meat?"
"We can?" Kavius's eyes lit up just from the thought. "But how?"
Hunter smirked and looked back into the book. But first, he also bought a set of leather pouches to store some items and then moved on to the Travel section. As expected, he found no horses or such living beings.
Instead, there were countless carriages, carts, stagecoaches of varying luxury, and even boats. What left him further restless were the wooden three-masted warships near the end of the pages and the lone steamship with a 'magical' tag on it. There were also airships, but they were all too large and expensive, with prices starting from a hundred thousand alone.
'Those ships better be gold plated.'
Finally, with a heavy heart, he moved on to the Food section.
[Dried edible leaves pack - 1 Silver Coin
Unprocessed rice pack - 50 Silver Coins
All-purpose flour pack - 1 Gold Coin
Processed Rice pack - 1 Gold Coin
Pepper 10 grams - 5 Gold Coins
Raw Chicken Breasts 2 Pieces - 10 Gold Coins
.
.
.
Roasted Chicken Breasts 2 Piece - 15 Gold Coins
Smoked Barbecue Beef 2 Slices - 20 Gold Coins
Fried Chicken - 20 Gold Coins
Coffee 10 grams - 50 Gold Coins
Cigar - 90 Gold Coins
.
.
.
Viagra - 100 Gold Coins
Caviar - 1030 Gold Coins
Top Shelf Whiskey - 5000 Coins]
Hunter wiped the sweat off his forehead. Other than the leaves, nothing was cheap. But still, since he could only use the shop once for now, he decided to splurge a little.
[Purchase Complete!]
[Purchase Complete!]
One by one, items tumbled around him. A saddle and an extra pair of leather boots for Kavius, as his current ones were too primitive. Next, he procured fine apples and bananas for Brownie, and at last, he bought Roasted Chicken Breasts and Smoked Barbecue Beef, accompanied by a side of poached eggs and baked beans—truly, this was a feast.
[Remaining Balance: 69 Gold Coins]
However, Hunter still hesitated to end his purchase spree, his gaze lingering on the Sword Battle Magic category. His eyes were fixed on the Fire Style Sword Arts, contemplating its potential usefulness.
'Too bad. I ain't got enough Aura Sense... Hold on now, wait a sec!'
[Purchase Complete!]
________________________
A/N: The book got vetted. So don't forget to vote and review.
