Pay to Win

Drew and Kull were at a loss of words as a battle of unfathomable difficulties seemed to be taking place in the workshop in front of them... or at least a difficult battle for the Enchanter.

They waited patiently for a while but Drew quickly decided that this wasn't gonna end any time soon.

"Hey! Is this place open?" He yelled behind the blue counter.

The yelling immediately stopped, but clanking could still be heard from inside. It only took a few minutes more before a thin and frail-looking woman walked in from a deeper room in the workshop.

"Greetings, customers," The woman said in an old and polite voice.

"How may I help you?"

Drew was about to speak, but Kull raised his hand for his silence.

"Hmm," He grunted in thought.

He snapped his fingers and a barely noticeable flash of light appeared in front of the woman's eyes. A look of understanding quickly came to her eyes as she gave them a warm smile.

"Paying customers. My favorite type of client," She said, giving a small wave towards Kull.

"What is it you need, dear?" She said while looking at Drew.

"Um... Do you have any premade enchanted items? It would be good if they were rare or uncommon, I don't need anything higher,"

"Oh... I thought you were here to purchase something of a higher caliber,"

"But yes, I do indeed have many items of rare and uncommon rarity,"

"Please have a look,"

The woman raised her hand and made a low whistle, and doing so seemed to activate some effect on the counter as panels flipped open revealing a large number of magical items.

"This is a lot... even more than Jazzy's," He muttered as he stared at the rows upon rows of items.

'But there are no items with a white or black aura... Seems like that is something unique to Jazzy,' He thought sadly.

'System, Is there any way that you could find the items here that would provide the most energy for you?'

[Scanning]

A blue light appeared once more and Drew watched it scan the items on the counter at a rapid speed before returning to Drew's body.

[Confirmed]

[How much energy are you wanting to attain for the system?]

'Hmm... As much as possible,' He answered silently.

[...]

[Then the host should purchase the following items...]

The system listed off a seemingly random list of magical gear that Drew purchased immediately after being listed.

'5 Items in total. All of them are Rare and each of them is worth 200 energy points,'

"That will be a total of 180 gold coins in total," The lady said with a confused look.

"But I do wish to warn you... these items do not have any synergy together whatsoever. If I hadn't known that you were capable, I would have guessed that you were purchasing these at random,"

"Er..."

"Personal," Kull interrupted while putting his hand on Drew's shoulder.

"Understood, Hand of Rike," She said with a light bow.

Kull snapped his fingers and a bag containing the coins required for the items appeared on the table in front of the old woman.

She picked up the bag and her eyes glowed blue for a moment before she nodded to the two of them and bidden them a fair well.

"I'm sorry I spent most of your funds..." Drew said as they walked back to the Night Market.

"Hmm," Kull grunted before a scroll appeared in Drew's vision once more.

'As I have said before, I am honored to help my Kin grow stronger,' The words wrote, almost in a sense of pride.

'How long will it take you to absorb the items and increase your power?'

"Good question..."

'System?' Drew asked.

[Calculating...]

[100 seconds will be required to absorb the items and if the user wishes, I can send you to the meadow immediately so that we may upgrade the system]

'Good. Do so, Please,'

"It won't take me long," Drew replied to Kull.

"Almost two minutes at most,"

"But it would be best to do it in private, if possible,"

"I haven't heard of anyone being able to destroy magical items in a matter of seconds before,"

'That is true. Your unique ability seems to be similar to Curse Breaking Magic if I had to make a guess. Though that's just a shot in the dark. I honestly haven't heard of anyone with your capabilities before, except for the Witch Hunter Knights of Newcourt perhaps,"

"Witch Hunters... Interesting,"

Drew followed behind Kull, making small talk on the way, but heard a large sudden explosion come from the Guild Hall in which they had just left.

"Eralt... Rike... Leave," Kull grunted as he quickened his pace.

'Looks like the local powerhouse has made his presence known,' Drew thought as he kept up with Kull who was 'Walking' at Drew's sprinting speed.

---

Back in the Guild Hall, unbeknownst to Drew and Kull, a familiar old man with blazing green eyes and a gray-skinned Dwarf met each other's gaze.

The people of the Guild were terrified after seeing someone break through walls of stone with no effort, and some even passed out in fright.

"Old Man!" The Dwarf Yelled in a voice that seethed with Wrath.

The old man just smiled his crooked smile before straightening up once more.

"You must tell me who dares kill a brother of Rike!" The Dwarf commanded.

As the dust cleared, the Dwarf's armor began to reveal itself. He wore robes of nobility with a crest on his chest that was a bladed fist. He wore full plate that made no sound as he began his path of carnage towards Masondriss. His eyes were a bright red and his hair was long and back. The only word that would come to mind when one sees a Dwarf such as this would be 'Warrior'.

"You know I don't do that for free, Eralt," Masondriss cackled.

After the old man's words, Eralt Rike drew closer and his face was a portrait of hatred incarnate.

"Name your price, Devil!"

"You know I don't do that anymore... But a price I shall set,"

"You must grant one man absolute protection. You will know the man when you see him and no matter what happens you must not take a strike against him... in fact, you must lend aid to this man as long as it is an acceptable range,"

"Done!" The Dwarf spat.

"Easy enough then..." Masondriss laughed as he cracked his knuckles.

"But first, the riff-raff," He said ominously as his eyes grew brighter than an emerald gem.

"Greater Modify Memory!" A voice like thunder rattled the Hall. It was unlike that of a conniving old man... it sounded evil. Pure evil.

Masondriss swiped his hands through the air at the crowd of people watching in fear and shock, and a wave of almost invisible green energy surged through them.

As the energy hit every single person in the Hall other than Eralt, they collapsed on the spot as their minds were put to rest.

"An Earthquake struck this tunnel," He said confidently.

"And the face of Masondriss was never seen and his voice never heard, for he is just a rumor, whispered and unconfirmed,"

He dusted his hands off with a satisfied expression on his face before turning back to the pale and angry Brother of Rike.

"Clock of Death," The demonic voice echoed out once more.

Masondriss's eyes turned white and his veins throbbed black as the ticking of a clock filled the Hall.

"Hmm... Interesting," The old man croaked.

"Binding Pact!"

A green thread exited the man's crooked finger and shot forwards towards Eralt at a lightning speed. The Dwarf stood still as the thread shot into his body and took hold of his soul, binding him to his word forever.

"Gill was a fool," The old man muttered.

"He didn't mind his business and that cost him his life,"

"Do not dare call my brother a fool!" Eralt yelled, spit flying from his mouth.

"But the man who killed him is who you seek..."

"The holder of the blade that took his life is a Half-Giant Hero known as Silent End, or also known as Kull Gorewalker,"

"That bastard, he shall pay with his life!" Eralt swore.

"But the man who took his soul... is a different person altogether,"

Eralt perked up at Masondriss's words, and for just a moment his anger faltered.

"His name is Drew Pence, A Child of Oleander, The Goddess of Death,"

"He sent your brother's soul to The Plane of The Lost. He has been cursed to spend the next thousand years searching for an exit that is always near but never close enough to leave,"

"He's... Impossible... He's a Monster!" Eralt yelled in disbelief and rage.

"But the thing that is most intriguing... is that this man is the one that you have sworn to never raise a blade to,"

"And that promise... is binding when made with me," Masondriss crazily smiled.

"You cursed beast! I shall end your poor existence once and for all!" Eralt yelled, raising twin daggers that appeared from his own shadow.

"I'm sorry... a deals a deal, and I'm not one to die so easily,"

A flash of green light flooded the hall once more, and when it dissipated, Masondriss was gone.

---

After leaving the Guild Hall, Kull and Drew found themselves in Black Street once more.

"Will we need to go to the surface to gain privacy?" Drew asked the Half-Giant.

"Hmm," Kull grunted with a shake of his head.

They walked for a short while until they found themselves in the labyrinth of tunnels that lay beneath the city.

"Hmm," Kull grunted as he motioned around him.

"Yes... I suppose I haven't seen anyone in the same tunnel that I have been in,"

"So this will work,"

'System, absorb the 5 new magical items that I acquired,"

[Confirmed]

One after another, the glowing magical items dissipated into a faint blue light that was absorbed into Drew's body and disappeared without a trace.

After the final item fully dissolved, the system gave out a string of notifications.

[The user has reached system level 4! You have gained 1 system upgrade point as a reward!]

[The user has reached system level 5! You have gained 2 system upgrade points as a reward!]

[The user has reached the current system tier limit. You have unlocked new options in the system upgrade screen. You have gained an advanced system upgrade point that can be spent on these new options]

[Commencing Upgrade Sequence!]

And with that, the world turned black once more.