26 Gold Rank
"What did you just do?!?" Torc was livid. Although they weren't very close, Torc had traveled with Ray for a few weeks now.
William knew he had to choose his words carefully, as Torc could probably kill him, or at least report to the Guild. "You didn't notice because you were busy fighting the Wind Wolf, but he tried to kill me multiple times!" William recounted the events from the last few minutes.
Torc didn't realize that Ray had the Wind Element the entire time. If this was the case, Ray could have limited their injuries multiple times during the fight.
"I'm sorry for accusing you so quickly. I will still report this to the Guild, but Ray was in the wrong for attacking you first. There shouldn't be any trouble for you, but it's best if you join me in case there is a misunderstanding."
William nodded. He looked at Holt, who seemed a bit nervous. "What about you? Do you want to kill me as well?"
Holt began to sweat, "Uh..no I have nothing to do with him!" If William killed Ray so easily, Holt knew there was no chance for him. 'Damn, this kid has been hiding his strength. He might even be able to fight Torc!'
"Okay good. Since we are down a member, it might be a good idea for us to go back. I don't want to waste any potions fighting."
The other two agreed, so they traveled back to the village. On the way, William killed half a dozen Liffox to boost his Potential Points, while Torc stored them in his Space Ring.
William thought of something. "Torc, how expensive was your Space Ring?"
"Oh it's not too expensive, I spent 100 Gold Coins for this one but it has a lot of storage. The cheaper Space Rings go for around 20 to 50 Gold Coins."
"Only?!?" William felt extremely poor. Counting the money he earned from the Potion Master, Will had 82 Gold Coins. He found a Space Ring in the Inner Ring of the Livingwood Forest, but he had no one trustworthy enough that could open it.
Wait, the Guild Master might help me. he realized.
Torc laughed. He was beginning to like this kid. "We're here now. Good hunting today, and congratulations on our upcoming promotions to Gold-Rank. I hope to hunt with you again in the future."
William walked with Torc for a while longer before parting ways at the Guild Hall entrance. Torc said he would turn in his Quest later as it wasn't pertinent and he had other things to do. Torc gave some Wind Wolf teeth and claws to William before leaving.
"You're back already? And you've successfully killed the Wind Wolf? Well done." Jenny acted surprised at William's achievement, but she knew he would be successful after their meeting with the Guild Master.
She took William's Guild License and upgraded it to Gold-Rank, then handed over ten Gold Coins as a Quest Reward. "To reach Platinum Rank, you will need to visit a Main Guild Hall, the closest is in Blue Moon City. Once there, they will administer a Rankup Test whenever you are ready. I recommend waiting until you can defeat a peak Foundation Establishment Realm Cultivator first."
-Completed a Quest: +1 Potential Point
William also took this chance to sell his other Wind Wolf materials, trading four claws and two fur for a total of six Gold. William only needed one Gold and two Silver to reach 100 total Gold Coins, which would upgrade his Moneybags title.
William checked his backpack for more items, but didn't find anything of value. Torc kept the Liffox corpses and the other Wind Wolves, so William would need to ask for something else. He whispered to Jenny, "I have something to show the Guild Master, could you help me keep it a secret?"
Jenny looked over, "He's not here right now. What do you need?"
"I need a trustworthy person who can crack the array on a Space Ring."
"Hmm..I think I know someone. Is this ring valuable?"
"I don't know."
"Follow me." Jenny walked to the back room and opened the door for him to follow. Once inside, William pulled out the Space Ring in question.
Jenny raised her eyebrows. "Where did you find this?"
"It was in the Livingwood Forest next to a corpse. He must have died a few days ago. Is the ring valuable?"
"It's worth around a thousand Gold Coins, and was probably made by a Space Mage given the craftsmanship. The Space inside should be relatively large, and there might be valuable items inside. Some of which could place you in danger." Jenny took a moment to think, "I can have you meet someone in Blue Moon City since you are going there anyway. Look for Array Master Fowley, he won't betray you with the backing of the Guild Master."
"Okay, I'll be sure to visit him." William responded.
"Since you're here and completed your Quest, I'll ask that you start recharging the protection array tonight if you still have available Mana. It will allow you to leave the village much sooner."
William forgot about the array and was depressed. Four hours a night was a long time wasted. What a terrible punishment.
"Sure, I'll go now." he followed Jenny down the stairwell a few sublevels toward the center of the village's protection array. While walking, William refocused his mind to look at the System upgrades from before.
System, open the Companion Beast Menu.
———
COMPANION BEAST:
Hatch Existing Egg: (1)
-Mythical Rat Snake: 100PP
Befriend Living Beast: (0)
-No Beasts Available
*One time note: The Host can only befriend beasts who are weaker than the Host and willing.
———
Mythical Rat Snake..I would hatch it right now, but I don't have enough points. It will probably be very expensive to maintain also, so I will hold off until another time.
The array was in front of Jenny at this moment and William looked towards the center where a giant Mana stone was placed, acting as a battery. Before leaving, Jenny showed Will how to fuel the stone with Mana, which only required him to place his hand on the stone and output pure Mana of any Element.
William put almost all his Mana into the stone within an hour, but noticed Fire Mana was much more effective, possibly because of its higher Affinity.
With three hours remaining and almost no Mana, William looked to the System's Talent Shop while deciding which to purchase. He currently has 23 Potential Points, which was enough to buy four random talents or two focused categories.
The choice was simple. Use points to make points by upgrading his Manamatus title.
System, I'd like to purchase a Random Magic Talent.
--Order Received--
--SPINNING TALENTS--
--Talent Purchased: Earth Affinity
-Earth Element Acquired: +1 Potential Point
--Upgraded Title: +20 Potential Points
-Manamatus (Rare --> Epic): You are a rare individual with a talent for three kinds of magic that appeared before you started cultivating. All magic you use will be 30% more powerful. Maximum Mana increased by 50.
-Unlocked your first Epic Title: +25 Potential Points
The System messages flooded William's screen. He read through each of them with wide eyes. Epic Title and 46 Potential Points, just for buying a new Magic Talent. Is this cheating? Nah..
He opened the talent shop again to check the pricing. After purchasing the first magic talent, the price of a random magic talent was doubled from 10 to 20. So I can't just use it infinitely if I have a lot of points, this makes sense.
