Chapter 3 - The Ultimate Merchant System

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵...𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴?

I stared at the new window in confusion.

[Upgrade the Interface?]

A smaller window with the options [Yes] and [No] stared back at me.

To my knowledge, there were no records of an "upgrade window" for Advancers. The only way for an Advancer to improve was to fight monsters, level up their Skills, and gain Stats.

I briefly considered the possibility that someone was tampering with my menus, but quickly discarded that idea. Class powers came directly from the Shard, after all, and there wasn't a known way to interfere with it like this.

𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘶𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘥𝘰𝘹 𝘮𝘺 𝘈𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘳, 𝘐 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦.

Assuming this window wasn't another error or a trick of some kind, I began to seriously consider what it was offering me.

My first instinct was to choose [No], since 1000 coins was all the money I had at the moment. Draining all my savings with a single button without knowing exactly what I was getting out of it was a pretty dumb decision. If an unexpected expense showed up when I had no savings, I'd be done for. Besides, I might be able to upgrade at a later time.

𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘮, 𝘴𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 [𝘕𝘰] 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘭 𝘪𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘯 "𝘶𝘱𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘦" 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘐 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘢𝘮.

After coming to that conclusion, I took a deep breath, and tapped [Yes].

[1000 coins have been accepted.]

[Commencing upgrade.]

My menus suddenly flickered wildly for several seconds, before vanishing completely. My heart seemed to stop as a rush of panic coursed through my body. Several more seconds passed as I held my breath anxiously. And then, a notification appeared.

[Ultimate Merchant Interface successfully upgraded to Lv. 1]

Letting out a sigh of relief, I hurriedly opened up my character summary.

___

[Character Summary]

Name: Kalion

Age: 23

Class: [Merchant Lv. 1]

Health: 10/10

Mana: 50/50

Stats: [Strength Lv. 1], [Agility Lv. 3], [Constitution Lv. 1], [Intelligence Lv. 5], [Arcana Lv. 2], [Spirit Lv. 5]

Unique Skills: [Eye of Appraisal], [Jack of All Trades], [Item Stacking], [Inventory]

Active Skills: None

Passive Skills: [Tireless Will Lv. 1]

___

My eyes widened in shock as I saw all the changes made to my summary.

𝘔𝘺 𝘊𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘴...𝘔𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘵?

I felt a little betrayed and relieved at the same time. After four years of expensive suffering and a literal coma, the Shard turned me into a professional salesman? But, at the same time...

𝘐 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘐 𝘥𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘐 𝘥𝘰. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘞𝘖𝘜𝘓𝘋 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘯 [𝘌𝘺𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘈𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘭], 𝘩𝘶𝘩...

I kept scanning through my summary until I got to the Unique Skills section.

[𝘑𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘛𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘴], [𝘐𝘵𝘦𝘮 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨], 𝘢𝘯𝘥 [𝘐𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺]?

Curiosity filled my head as I tapped on the new Skills to view their descriptions.

___

[Unique Skill: Jack of All Trades

Description: Allows the user to learn and use any Skill.]

[Unique Skill: Item Stacking

Description: Allows the user to store duplicates of an item as a single item. The user may take from and add to stacked items freely.]

[Unique Skill: Inventory

Description: Allows the user to open the Inventory subspace in any location. The size of the subspace increases with the Interface's upgrade level.]

___

I sat there frozen after reading the Skill descriptions, a powerful mix of disbelief and adrenaline flooding my body.

𝘞𝘩𝘢-𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵? 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴... 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧...

In shock, I reread the descriptions again and again, unable to believe the Skills I had acquired from just 1000 coins. I grabbed my lockbox, which had fallen to the floor during the upgrade process, and looked inside. It was completely empty.

A thought came to mind, and I scrolled to the bottom of my character summary. Just as I suspected, a new section had been added.

___

[Current Upgrade Progress:]

- 0/5000 coins

- ???

___

𝘈𝘭𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘢 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘱 𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦.

Ignoring how awful that [0/5000] looked, I took a few deep breaths to calm myself down, and assessed all this new information.

The best thing to do right now was to test these new Skills, and figure out what they all did. I cautiously double checked [Jack of All Trades], half worried it might vanish before my eyes.

𝘐𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘴, 𝘐 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘚𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵.

Sifting through my thoughts, I recalled the lectures regarding Class fundamentals from the Academy.

Advancers were normally limited to learning Skills that matched their Class. Swordsman had to learn sword Skills, Mages had to learn magic Skills, and so on. Although it was possible for Advancers to pick up Skills unrelated to their Class, the more incompatible the Skills were, the harder it became to learn and utilize them.

However, with this Unique Skill at my disposal, I could learn whatever Skills I wanted. Just the idea of stockpiling Skills for potential synergies made my heart pound in anticipation.

𝘜𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺, 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘺 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘐 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘮𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢 𝘷𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬. 𝘐 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘮𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘚𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘴, 𝘴𝘰 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘸...

The only way to learn Skills was to either create them yourself through constant practice and experimentation, or by having someone teach you. I was in no condition to put myself through any kind of training, teacher or not.

I took another deep breath to calm down, and turned my attention to [Item Stacking] and [Inventory]. I carefully read their descriptions again, and then glanced over to my kitchen.

...𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘰.

I made my way over to my cupboards, and pulled out two ceramic bowls.

𝘍𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵, 𝘭𝘦𝘵'𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 [𝘐𝘵𝘦𝘮 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨] 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘥𝘰.

Setting them down on my table, I took a deep breath, and slowly pushed them together. As the two bowls touched, a notification window appeared.

[Activate Item Stacking?]

𝘍𝘪𝘨𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴. 𝘖𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦, 𝘺𝘦𝘴.

I allowed the Skill to activate, and the two bowls immediately fused together, leaving a single ceramic bowl in their place. A new, smaller window appeared above it.

[Simple Bowl x2]

I took a step back in disbelief.

𝘉𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥, 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘥.

A wild idea came to mind, and a grin formed on my face. I started grabbing all the remaining bowls in my cupboard, along with my cups, plates, and utensils, and dumped them on my table. Once I had everything, I started stacking them all together.

It's a good thing my cottage was rather far from any other residences. With how much noise I was making, I would have probably gotten some complaints.

When I finally ran out of kitchenware, I checked all the stack windows.

[Simple Bowl x4]

[Simple Plate x4]

[Simple Cup x4]

[Simple Spoon x4]

[Simple Fork x4]

[Simple Knife x4]

[Would you like to combine the stacked items into sets?]

I read the new notification with a puzzled look, and answered yes.

All the items on my table suddenly fused together to form a single pile composed of one of each item, neatly arranged.

[Simple Table Setting x4]

My eyes widened in surprise. I figured the Skill would be useful for organizing large quantities of items, but I would have never guessed it could do this.

I touched the new "set", as the system had called them, and it immediately split apart into four separate sets. A sense of pride filled my mind as continued to experiment with the strange ability.

I spent the next few minutes messing around with [Item Stacking], creating and breaking apart stacks. Unique Skills couldn't level up, so my experimentation was just for my own benefit.

𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦, 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺. 𝘉𝘶𝘵, 𝘪𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘚𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦. 𝘐'𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘐'𝘥 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵.

Another feature I noticed was that as I combined items into stacks, the overall weight of the physical item never changed. This meant I could potentially stack hundreds upon hundreds of the same item, and carry the entire stack with no issues.

𝘈𝘭𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘝𝘌𝘙𝘠 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘚𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘱 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘋𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘴.

Dungeon parties were usually comprised of 4 Advancers plus an extra who acted as a porter for the whole group. This position was typically filled by a normal person, as the porter didn't need to participate in any of the fights. Instead, their job was to carry all the coins, equipment, and items found in the Dungeon, as well as any extra supplies to be brought inside.

Once the expedition was over, the porter received a share of the loot like all the other members, albeit at a lower rate than the rest of the group. Still, it was a rather lucrative job for non-Advancers who didn't mind the extra risk.

𝘖𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘈𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧.

There was an unfortunate stigma among Advancers regarding this job. Since the porter position was mostly filled by average people, Advancers who applied for them were basically broadcasting they were either too weak or too scared to fight monsters.

As a result, most Advancers tended to look down on other Advancers who acted as porters. It wasn't a big enough issue to warrant interference from the Organization, but the subtle discrimination was usually enough to discourage all but the most desperate.

𝘖𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦, 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬. 𝘐'𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘋𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘰𝘯 𝘗𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯, 𝘐'𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘵. 𝘈 𝘫𝘰𝘣 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘫𝘰𝘣, 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭.

I double checked the upgrade requirements listed at the bottom of my character summary.

___

[Materials Required for Next Upgrade:]

- 5000 coins

- ???

___

5000 coins were required to upgrade the [Interface] to the next level.

𝘚𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺, 𝘔𝘳. 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘊𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘪𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸.

I didn't know what the missing item was, but considering how I discovered the upgrade system in the first place, I'm sure I'd figure it out eventually. I grimaced in recollection as I brought my hand up to my face.

𝘏𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘸𝘢𝘺.

I looked at the last of my new Skills, [Inventory]. The description stated I could open it anywhere, but it didn't specify how to do that.

I knew that Advancer Skills were activated in one of two ways: either saying the name of the Skill out loud, or by performing a certain action. To activate [Eye of Appraisal], I had to consciously focus on an object. For [Item Stacking], I had to try to put items together. The action I needed to perform always seemed to be something really simple and intuitive, paired with a desire to activate the ability.

I took a deep breath and cleared my mind for a moment. Then, reaching out my hand, I instinctively swiped down with two fingers, mentally picturing a subspace opening.

I was rewarded with a swirling, black vortex forming in midair. The spiral of energy was very reminiscent of the Shard's mana storm. To my surprise, another notification appeared.

[Would you like to set this as the Skill's activation prompt?]

𝘞𝘢𝘪𝘵, 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵?

Making a mental note of this feature, I said yes, and began examining the created subspace.

Owning a subspace was an incredibly rare and expensive privilege, typically reserved for wealthy and powerful Advancers. Just creating subspaces required the services of Mage-Type Advancers with Spatial Attribute Skills, a ridiculously uncommon category of abilities that demanded a very high level of expertise and natural aptitude.

On top of that, these created subspaces needed to be constantly recharged, or else they would collapse in on themselves, destroying everything inside them, and rupturing the flow of mana around them.

I grabbed my kitchenware from my table and tried putting them inside the subspace. As soon as they touched the floating vortex, they disappeared, and a new window appeared.

[Inventory List:

- Simple Table Setting x4]

With a mental command, I closed the [Inventory], and the status window stayed the same. I opened it back up and reached inside the subspace, picturing the items I had just stored inside. I felt my hand close around something. My heart started pounding as I pulled the object out.

It was the [Simple Table Setting x4].

𝘉𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥, 𝘪𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦...

The fact I could open the [Inventory] anywhere I wished was both invaluable and strange. Subspaces normally had to be connected to an existing storage item, such as a backpack or box, which limited the size of items that could be stored. The actual capacity of the subspace could be manipulated, but items still had to fit into the physical opening.

However, with my [Inventory]...

I experimented waving my hand left and right, and the [Inventory] vortex widened and shrunk in response. Exactly what I thought would happen.

𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴...

My only real limitation, then, was the subspace's capacity, basically the opposite problem of regular subspaces. But according to the [Interface], I could alter that as well.

[Description: Allows the user to open the Inventory subspace in any location. The size of the subspace increases with the Interface's upgrade level.]

𝘐𝘧 𝘐 𝘶𝘱𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 [𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦], 𝘮𝘺 [𝘐𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺] 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘣𝘪𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘳.

Anticipation rushed through my body, and a grin formed on my face. I closed the [Inventory], and checked my clock.

[9:15 pm]

Apparently, I had been messing around with my Skills for the whole evening. I wasn't aware of just how tired I was until now, and I stumbled over to my bedroom, fighting against the fatigue. I could feel my mana veins aching from the time I spent messing around with my abilities.

I collapsed on my bed and sighed in satisfaction. It had been a pretty eventful few hours, and I had learned everything I could for the time being. My mind buzzed with ideas and plans for the future as I felt my eyelids growing heavy.

𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬. 𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘋𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘴.

5000 coins was a hefty sum to put together, but once I could start getting permits, I was confident I could amass that in no time. This final week was my chance to keep practicing my Skills until I knew everything I could do with them. And, of course, make as much money as possible along the way.

Satisfied with my plan, I shut my eyes, and let my mind drift way.