Chapter 39 | The Trading Centre
Alicar had to wait a few hours for his new funds to settle in his bank account, allowing him to pay his debt and buy some items, but until then, he still wanted to look at what he could buy with his future fortune.
He arrived in front of a decent-looking staff on a display, its wooden surface polished to a faint sheen, the panel beneath it showing everything one might need to know.
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[Staff of Weak Elements]
[Tier: 0]
[Rank: E]
[Description: A weak staff crafted from several E-Rank elemental cores. +3 Spirit.]
[Price: $10,000]
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"Affordable," Alicar noted, his eyes scanning the description with mild interest. "Though as they said, that thing’s weak as hell, even for a Tier-0 item."
He moved on to the next display, which featured a robe made from the hides of forest creatures.
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[Vine Bear Robe]
[Tier: 0]
[Rank: F]
[Description: A simple robe crafted from the hide of Vine Bears found in the Initial Stage. Provides minimal protection against physical attacks and offers slight resistance to elemental damage. +2 Constitution.]
[Price: $8,000]
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These were indeed simply for any Tier-0 awakener having to head deeper into the Initial Stage for their advancement task, basic equipment that would barely make a difference in a real fight.
Alicar kept looking, ignoring everything that came his way as he moved from display to display, his eyes scanning each item with growing disinterest, until he finally found something he wanted.
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[Small Storage Ring]
[Tier: 0]
[Rank: D]
[Description: Able to store up to three kilograms (6.6 lbs) of corpses, materials and other similar things inside.]
[Price: $30,000]
---
This was the weakest possible storage ring that the awakener association had available, a basic piece of equipment that barely qualified as magical.
In contrast to other rings which had actual spatial spaces in them or even had slots for specific items, this one worked depending on the weight of the items, a crude and inefficient system.
But it was still incredibly expensive compared to the rest of the items, though nothing much when compared to Tier-1 items that could cost hundreds of thousands.
Even if he had it back in the secret realm, Alicar wouldn’t have been able to carry the Sun Beast corpse, as the creature’s weight far exceeded the ring’s meager capacity.
"Well, I don’t even have the money yet, so why bother," he sighed, his shoulders slumping with mild frustration.
Alicar checked his phone, and indeed, his balance remained the same, he was still in debt, though not for much longer.
[Current Balance: -$27,993]
The fact he was able to repay his entire debt and even make profit from this single excursion in the Initial Stage was enough to make him understand the riches awakeners could acquire, the wealth that awaited those who had the strength to claim it.
Alicar returned to his home afterward to rest, as it had indeed been a while, and he could actually sleep on a real bed now, a luxury he had taken for granted before.
He ate the last cup of noodles he had in his drawer, savoring the taste as the warm broth filled his empty stomach.
’Even if I get rich, these things really did help me out,’ Alicar smiled faintly, a hint of nostalgia in his eyes. ’I guess I’ll eat some from time to time, for old times’ sake.’
It was already pretty late, fairly close to midnight, so Alicar was ready to go to sleep at this point, his body aching for rest after the long day.
But before then, he still decided to check out the forum in case anything of interest appeared, his curiosity getting the better of him.
The top post with several thousand replies was the following, a thread that had clearly sparked a massive discussion among the awakener community:
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[So, new awakeners, how did the Initial Stage go? Was it how you expected? Was it easier? Was it worse?]
- Kind of difficult at the start, but after I got used to my class, it became a piece of cake!
- You must have a strong class then, I awakened as a base Warrior, not that useful but I managed in around 5 days.
- Completing the Initial Stage in 5 days with a basic class is a feat, kid, keep going!
---
Alicar kept reading, moving from one post to another of people explaining their experiences, each one offering a glimpse into the diverse journeys of awakeners from across the world, until finally, he landed on one that caught his attention.
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[What the hell was that shockwave on the first day? Did anyone hear it or feel it? I was in Human Base #2.]
- I was in Human Base #14 and I heard it, it was terrifying, everyone was panicking!
- Our base commander told us that it was nothing to worry about and that the association would take care of it, and seems like they did, nothing else happened afterward.
- Human base #7 here, indeed, seems like it was felt across the entire Initial Stage, felt like they were hiding something from us.
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But then the conversation ended with one last message, one from an awakener with a Tier-4 label next to his name, meaning one that was at least Level 75, one of the few awakeners that had accessed the Fourth Layer and had a lot of authority.
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- Stop worrying about pointless things, that was nothing, anyone who keeps speaking about this will receive a penalty.
---
And then he closed the thread, stopping anyone else from commenting, silencing the discussion with a single message.
’How strange,’ Alicar thought, his brow furrowed with suspicion.
Did they really not want anyone to know about the Sun Temple? To the point that even a Tier-4 awakener, who should be far beyond the Initial Stage’s level of concern, paid attention to it and actively silenced discussion?
Regardless, without realizing it, midnight finally struck, and the moment it did, a familiar chime echoed in his mind.
Ding!
[+2 Evolution Points.]
"Oh?" Alicar’s eyebrows raised in surprise. "First time I see this panel appear at a specific time."
That meant that his Evolution Points reset every time at midnight, not when he went to sleep as he had previously assumed.
But then, a weird question appeared in Alicar’s mind: why did he only gain one instance of Evolution Points in the secret realm when time passed twice as fast there?
Time passed twice as fast in the secret realm, so it should have been that he gained evolution points every 12 hours instead of every day if it was based on his internal clock.
Or perhaps the gains didn’t correspond to how time flows on Earth, but simply how it does in the location where he was currently, a rule that seemed arbitrary and confusing.
Regardless, Alicar felt satisfied to see his EP climb once more, even if he knew the amount wasn’t nearly enough to make a real difference.
’...Only 502 more to go, I guess,’ he thought, a sigh escaping his lips.
He closed the forum and placed his phone on the nightstand, his mind already planning for the days ahead.
Tomorrow would be a new day, a chance to figure out how to earn more Evolution Points and complete his advancement tasks.
For now, sleep was what he needed most.