'New leader?' Lukas pondered as he looked out at the goblins.
Because the previous Goblin Lord had been a fat, money-hoarding piece of shit, none of them seemed all that smart. It wasn't entirely their fault, but Lukas honestly thought the Spigon was their best shot at a leader.
[The Leader has to be of the same race. Be nice, one of them may surprise you.]
'Of course,' Lukas lamented.
In that case, he decided there was only one way to decide the new leader: a tournament.
Whoever proved themselves the strongest would get to become the new leader.
[Strange... but ok. You cannot access the Divine Army interface until a Leader has been appointed, though.]
Lukas nodded his understanding, already realizing that would be the case. Even if he would have to wait just a little longer, it would be crucial to have the best leader available.
Besides, there was something else he wanted to check out real quick.
Well, two somethings. However, one of them was currently scowling at the goblins, probably trying to think of the worst training routine imaginable.
Therefore, he brought up the [Infinite Wealth System].
[Infinite Wealth System]
Name: Lukas Haecillion
Rank: Apprentice Merchant
Current Income Rate: 0 gold a day
Gold: 0
Shops: 1
•—Shop Items—•
[These are items you can sell from the store. The first number indicates how many are in storage, and the second number indicates how much gold the system expects you to sell them for. Note: a shrewd tongue can sell the item for more gold, while a stupid one would sell it for less. The amount listed is just a benchmark, and if you can't hit it, that is shameful.]
–Pile of Shit: 7 Units; 5 Gold
–Upgrade to unlock more
•—Orders—•
[New order received!]
[Order: Sell 7 Piles of Shit]
[Reward: Choice of 3 new shop items]
The more he read, the more Lukas's face grew sour.
'How the actual fuck am I supposed to sell literal shit? Like really?
And then this stupid ass system says I have a shop?'
Giving an exaggerated look around the goblin camp, he screamed internally, 'Where is this shop, huh?!'
[You are the shop. And I'm not stupid. If you can't even sell shit, what are you going to do after unlocking divine items? Get scammed for everything you own?]
Lukas didn't have a response for that. He supposed that there was some truth there—that he never had to strike a bargain with something like a real god before.
Even his little bout with Physsus wasn't a complete success. Otherwise, he would have an op class right now.
That thought prompted Lukas to continue going down the interface, as there was one more block of information left.
This one was miles long and labeled [Personal Shop]. After a few seconds, Lukas realized it had filters, which was a good thing because otherwise he'd literally spend the next 30 days exploring the shop.
'Filter for class tokens,' Lukas thought, hoping his gamble paid off.
[Personal Shop] –> [Tokens] –> [Class Tokens]
–FFF ~ B: 1,000,000 gold
–D ~ AA: 10,000,000 gold
–B ~ S: 100,000,000,000 gold
–A ~ SS: 100,000,000,000,000 gold
-A ~ SSS: 100,000,000,000,000,000 gold
...
"What the fuck?" Lukas gasped, far too appalled by that cost to notice the surprised glances of goblins.
'How much gold even is that? Like a fucking hundred sextillion?' Lukas thought, more so to himself than the system.
[It is 100 quadrillion, sir. To be honest, it shouldn't take you that long to get there. A few centuries at most]
'A few centuries...' making sure he wasn't remembering incorrectly, Lukas scrolled back up to the pile of shit. As he remembered... 'I'm supposed to sell these at 5 gold a piece! This costs like... 20 quadrillion of them!'
[Impressive math, sir. However, you forgot that this system levels you up, allowing you to sell more and different items as well as opening up new shops, having more stock, employees, etc. To compare the price of a midgame item to your early game revenue isn't optimal]
'Yeah I suppose so, but still...'
"Hey Ygroa, you gonna come train or just sit there mumbling your divine wisdom?" A loud, commanding voice tore him from the predicament.
Alara.
Yes, he was supposed to train alongside the goblins.
As he watched her twirling a club in her right hand with a cruel look of expectation on her face, Lukas regretted everything.
'Lovely.'
...
'She's a fucking monster!'
Lukas slammed into the ground once again, his entire body bruised after an hour of 'training.'
Looking around, he saw that most of the goblins didn't fare much better. Except for a group of 8 goblins—which he noticed included Pokey—they all shared the same disgruntled expression as Lukas.
However, they continued the grueling training nonetheless. Lukas knew he had to get stronger, much stronger. Quitting wasn't an option; failing wasn't an option.
Every time he stood up despite being bruised and weathered, the other goblins followed suit. If their god was going to receive such punishment in the pursuit of strength, what kind of followers would they be if they just quit?
Alara watched as all of the weaklings rose once again, quietly admiring their constitution. Although she knew better than to outwardly praise them, she still held their valiance in high regard.
Holding her club outward, she simply said, "Again."
Lukas and the goblins gulped but readied their own weapons.
Sweat poured down Lukas's face as he gripped his sword's hilt. By now, he felt like he definitely should've at least gotten a hit in.
"Come at me!" she yelled before assuming her battle stance, spreading her legs just wide enough to create ultimate balance.
Raising her free arm as a sort of shield, Alara kept the club raised behind her. Even though he wasn't a fighter, Lukas knew that the stance was perfect in both terms of offense and defense, at least against them.
Not only did it allow her to easily maneuver between strikes and parry anything she couldn't simply evade, but her swings came down with full force. With her legs spread the way they were, every strike from her club utilized the entire body.
Because of this, even a horde of goblins plus Lukas didn't stand much of a chance.
They charged, most of the goblins screaming some kind of war cry. Alara quickly silenced them, delivering swift and precise blows with her club.
In just a few minutes, they were all knocked to the ground for the 10th time in a row. The only ones left standing were Lukas and the group of 8 goblins, who were sparring by themselves.
Although he had never fought before, Lukas was smart.
He knew how to read people and study their movements. More than that, he could tell when a tactic like rushing forward blindly wasn't working. Getting hit by a club over and over wouldn't make him some kind of hero, nor would it make him stronger.
It would simply make him stupid. Brave, but stupid.
So instead he watched her every movement, taking in how she created fluid movements and effortlessly flowed through an army of dozens of goblins.
Shuffle.
Alara's eyes widened for just a second as she watched him assume the exact stance she was using. Although her surprise was shut away just as fast, Lukas's smile showed that he saw it.
Offering a small laugh, she said, "Good. Maybe someone here isn't entirely useless."
Then she disappeared from his sight.
'What the–' Lukas could barely begin a thought before he felt a sharp pain in the back of his neck.
Falling face-first into the ground, Lukas's mouth became filled with the taste of sand. His eyes watering, he tried to spit it out. But the pain had traveled down from his neck and into his stomach, making just breathing a pain.
The sand collected in his mouth and slowly hardened from the saliva. Its taste was far worse than bitter, but there was nothing he could do to make it better.
Black spots decorated his vision as he lay in a fetal position, clutching his neck with his left hand. The goblins surrounded him, screaming things he couldn't quite make out.
'What the fuck was that...' Lukas thought.
Then he realized that the pain was going away just as fast as it came.
Quickly spitting out the sand, he turned to Alara and spat, "What the hell was that?!"
Her face was bright red, kneeling right next to him and holding out her hands. Green light spilled from her hands and traveled toward him. Every time the light touched him, he felt a little better, like she was healing him.
"S-sorry. I got a little carried away," she muttered.
After a few seconds, Lukas found he could do nothing but laugh now. For the last hour, this girl had been some kind of Terminator. Now, she looked like some kind of princess with all the healing and blushing.
"H-hey! Don't laugh at me!" she yelled, pausing her healing momentarily.
The pain quickly shut Lukas up, though there was still a grin he couldn't get off of his face.
For how tough she had seemed, there was apparently this soft and pleasant side too. One that apologized for hurting him and tried to make it better.
A side that was currently leaning in, right next to his face, whispering, "Don't tell the goblins this."
'W-what!!'
'Is she going to kiss me or something!'
Alara paused for just a moment, a moment that was killing Lukas. She was far too hot for this!
Sighing, she slightly rubbed her scarf before continuing, "I've never trained anyone before."