Chapter 125 - Market (1/2)

A/N: I apologise for today's tardiness. I was simply caught in by Kill la Kill. Here is the next chapter.

***

”Ah... that hurts like a bitch...”

Nik groaned as he finally came to be. His clothes stuck to him while the uncomfortable feeling of being covered in sweat— something that Nik hadn't felt for a long time— returned in ruthlessly vengeance while the cuffs stuck around his wrists and forearms were already deactivated, allowing him to stand up.

”Eh?”

Alongside the uncomfortable smell of sweat, Nik felt something off about his body. Immediately, he opened his stats window and as expected, the torturous pain had borne profits.

[

Name: Nik Faran

Age: 19

Affiliation: Incubus Society (Member)

Bloodline: Carnal Demon

STR: 3 --> 7

AGL: 5 --> 10

VIT: 4 --> 10

ENG: 11

CHM: 6 --> 10

LUK: 2

Stat Points— 0

***

3 Elemental Unit=1 System Energy (ENG)

]

[LUK] being non-updatable through orthodox methods, Nik firstly focused on his [CHM]. As a member of the Incubus Society, he needed to partner up with strong women to gain stats. His charm was his bread and butter and he immediately decided to bring the stat to the threshold of the two-digit number before focusing on his [VIT].

If Charm was needed to lure the opponent to the battleground then Vitality was his weapon to 'nail' the 'deal'. Even if Nik had confidence in going for a good few hours, he can never be too sure of what or who he might face. Not to mention, Vitality also increases his survivability by quite a large margin.

With an increase in his Vitality, he at least has some confidence to face an unknown environment. When it's too hot, his body will bear the heat, when it's too cold, his body will remain warm for quite a long time. The innate quality of his body is increased with the increase of Vitality.

Next, he decided to increase his [AGL] to increase his chances of retreating an undefeatable threat. Being a peace-loving guy, Nik would rather run away and nail the enemy's wife or daughters instead of fighting him head-on. Though despicable, Nik didn't mind such an attitude. Life is extremely precious. If he could keep his own life and his enemy's by taking his wife and daughters as a sacrifice, Nik reckoned that the aforementioned enemy might just express his gratitude towards him.

The remaining 4 points were invested in [STR] since Nik felt that a person can never be too strong. But even after all that, Nik didn't invest a single stat point in [ENG] since he practically nurtured the stat to two-digit state in a single adventure. Using precious stat points for that particular stat may not be advisable.

But still...

”It's hard walking this way...”

Nik muttered as he had to place each of his steps with conscious effort as he felt currents of raw and unbridled power coursing through his body.

”This will take some time.”

Nik teleported out of the Hall of Glory and started walking towards the building to its right strangely. Whenever he passed some experienced host, they would glance towards him with a knowing gaze before sighing and walking away.

As Nik stood in front of the Heroes' Guild Hall, the system construction that manages the guilds within the system, Nik simply connected his dialogue box with the special Faq section of the structure before he found himself knowledgeable about the matters of the guild, their benefits and disadvantages.

Sorting out the information, Nik took a moment before he started towards the Market Street once again.

Finding an empty spot near the beginning of the street, Nik took a step forward towards the empty location before a system window appeared describing the rental structure. Since Nik did not have many wares to sell, he simply rented an area for 30 SO/hour.

It was a daylight robbery, Nik thought, but he still rolled a heavy boulder over his heart and accepted the one-sided terms before a carpet appeared over the designated location alongside a simple stool to be used as the seating area.

Walking around, Nik sat on the somewhat comfy seat and connected his inventory with the rental location and immediately, the carpet was filled with items he wished to sell. They were placed in an orderly fashion with a tagged price of his choice. To be safe, Nik removed the restriction— Identification of products by everyone—, which will allow any passerby to check out his products.

[Energy Crystal Clay (W)] x1 for 500 SO.

[Fire Crystal (W)] x3 for 300 SO each.

And finally,

[Fire Eagle Art (Dark Green)] x1 for a whopping 5800 SO!

With his goods finally displayed, Nik sighed lightly before going through the information about guilds. Even though the System allows instant comprehension about such descriptive information, he still couldn't help but be cautious and rummage through the info once more for the sake of double-checking.

The advantages of guilds were many. Not to mention, Brian was in a similar position as him, so it would actually allow both of them to look out for each other, even if it is for survival's sake. But there were a few disadvantages that made Nik frown in his thoughts while he hesitated a little.

He was inexperienced in many matters outside the night activities and he knew it. For example, he wasn't a good tactician or an expert survivalist. With the guild, he could potentially cover his weaknesses and maybe, even learn the arts he is missing to become a better adventurer.

But the most obvious disadvantages were the distribution of System Origin and SP alongside him being somewhat restricted in the matters of the system. But that particular disadvantage was once again scaled down by the introduction of special Guild Shops that provided exclusive items that may as well become his true trump card in situations where he became absolutely helpless.

And then there was the matter of affiliation. If one joins a guild, their affiliation becomes clear to the other members of the guild. This meant that once someone other than Brian or Nik joined the Guild, both of them would be exposed.

Of course, that situation itself was quite unlikely. With how Brian has presented himself till now, he won't be committing such a blunder.

”Ah! My man! Can we get on some common grounds for the [Fire Eagle Art]?”