I finished off the last bite of my third hot dog and washed it down with a massive gulp of cola before letting out a long, contented sigh.
Then, I bought another cola.
Because why not?
Taking a slow sip from the second can, I directed my attention back to the glowing Epic Magic Token sitting in my inventory.
The consumable was a literal blank check for any spell up to the Epic grade.
Out of pure habit, I leaned back in my wooden chair and stared at the ceiling. "So, what do you recommend?"
-Ding!
{Advisory: Decide for yourself this time.
Analyze your previous battles, pinpoint what you were lacking, and make the purchase accordingly.
I should not be deciding every upgrade for you.}
Well. That actually hit pretty close to home.
For the most part, I had been blindly following the System’s build guides since my first major purchase.
My extra Affinities and the Eyes of Relevance were all its ideas. I definitely didn’t regret buying them, but that really wasn’t the point. I needed to be the one steering my own progression.
Hell, I had barely even browsed the actual store.
So, with a quick thought, I pulled up the Shop’s interface.
The glowing blue home page was populated with a massive, scrolling list of categories: Magic, Skills, Items, Enchantments, Talismans, Summons, Bloodlines... the list just kept going.
But my eyebrow shot up at one particular category.
[Wait... Bloodlines?]
I had read enough cultivation novels to know exactly what kind of overpowered nonsense that category was capable of.
Mentally tapping on it, the interface instantly expanded with a seemingly never-ending list.
Lesser Orcish Bloodline (Common)
Description: Increase in muscle density and natural pain tolerance. Grants a boost to base physical strength and recovery.
Notes* Alters skin pigmentation to a faint olive hue. Does not increase mana capacity.
Price: 5000 Credits
-------------------------
Swift-Step Lupine (Uncommon)
Description: Enhances fast-twitch muscle fibers in the legs, granting a passive boost to sprint speed and agility.
Notes*
Price: 15,500 Credits
-------------------------
Deepwater Naga - Minor (Uncommon)
Description: Grants the ability to extract oxygen from fresh water and slightly increases natural cold resistance.
Notes* Prolonged exposure to extreme heat or arid environments will cause mild physical fatigue and skin irritation.
Price: 22,500 Credits
-------------------------
Astral-Touched Human (Rare)
Description: Allow a smoother flow of mana and a slight increase in spell-casting speed.
Notes* The host’s veins will faintly glow blue when actively channeling mana. Does not grant any new elemental affinities.
Price: 76,000 Credits
I scrolled through a few more pages, watching the prices steadily climb into the hundreds of thousands.
Even the weak ones were expensive, and a lot of them came with physical mutations I really didn’t want to deal with right now. I already had glowing violet eyes popping up randomly; I didn’t need green skin or glowing veins on top of that.
So, I filtered the bloodlines to the highest grades possible, that being the Legendary and Unquantifiable, just to see.
And holy shit, I saw.
Nine Heavens Celestial Dragon (Legendary)
Description: Grants absolute dominion over the classical affinities and total suppression over all lesser draconic species.
Host gains scales harder than divine iron, boundless physical stamina, and the ability to shatter spatial boundaries with raw strength. A massive boost to MP Capacit, a Dragonic core and body.
Notes* Host must consume the core of a living True Dragon to complete the integration. Requires reshaping of the Host’s very being.
Price: 500,000,000 Credits
-------------------------
Immaculate Golden Lotus Incarnation (Legendary)
Description:
Grants absolute immunity to all physical poisons, soul-targeting magic, and natural aging.
Notes* Host loses the ability to bleed. Severed limbs will bloom into golden lotus flowers and instantly regenerate into fresh tissue.
Price: 750,000,000 Credits
-------------------------
World-Forge Titan (Unquantifiable)
Description: Infuses the host with the primordial spark of creation.
The host can shape planetary bodies with their thoughts, forge living weapons from starlight, and exist in the vacuum of space indefinitely.
Notes* Host’s resting body temperature will naturally vaporize nearby life. Recommended to relocate to an uninhabited solar system post-purchase.
Price: Quest acquisition only.
I just stared at the glowing blue screen for a long, quiet minute.
Five hundred million credits. I currently had a bit more than 300.
Plus, needing to hunt down a True Dragon or relocate to an empty solar system just to exist sounded like an absolute logistical nightmare.
But as I scrolled down, past the localized deities and cosmic horrors, I came across two entries that actually made me pause.
Spirit King (Legendary)
Description: Grants complete, instinctive control over one chosen affinity (Exception: Time).
The chosen affinity will bypass standard casting rules and move entirely according to the host’s subconscious will.
The host ceases to be a biological entity, permanently transforming into a pure magical construct.
Grants massive increases to MP capacity and regeneration rate.
Provides complete immunity to biological poisons, mortal diseases, and physical curses.
Grants partial immortality and rapid, mana-fueled healing.
Notes* Mana Circuits are reconstructed into Spirit Circuits, and the heart is replaced by a Spirit Core.
The only way to kill the host is complete, instantaneous physical annihilation or their MP reaching exactly zero.
Grants absolute royal authority over all lesser spirits and spirit-born species.
Price: 50,000,000 Credits
-------------------------
Fairy King (Legendary)
Description: Grants unrestricted access to and an instinctive understanding of Primordial Runes.
Bestows natural flight and absolute control over all branches of Fairy Magic.
Grants biological immortality and a massive permanent increase to both base MP capacity and regeneration rate.
Notes* Mana Circuits are reconstructed into Fairy Circuits, and the heart is replaced by a Fairy Core.
Grants absolute royal authority over all species and subspecies of fairies.
The host will never age or succumb to natural decay, but can still be killed by external lethal force.
Price: 48,000,000 Credits
I stared at the glowing blue text, my eyes completely locked on the notes section for the two Legendary bloodlines.
[Wait a second,] I thought, my pulse doing a weird little skip as I reread the Spirit King’s description. [My mana regeneration is mathematically infinite. My MP pool literally cannot reach zero.]
If I somehow got my hands on the Spirit King bloodline, the only way I could actually die would be if someone completely vaporized my entire existence in a single, instantaneous hit. Anything less, and my infinite mana would just stitch my body right back together.
Not to mention the absolute, instinctive control over a chosen affinity it granted. If I picked my Infinity and became the Spirit King of Infinity or whatever... wouldn’t I be able to actually control it?
[Huh. Imagine that...] I tilted my head back, letting my imagination run completely wild for a second. [I would be nothing short of a god..]
And the Fairy King? Instinctive understanding of Primordial Runes sounded like the exact kind of absolute cheat code that could make me damn near invincible.
I was completely lost in my own delusions of godhood when the System unceremoniously snapped me back to reality.
-Ding!
{I highly recommend that you stay away from Bloodlines until we have consulted with the Goddess of Heroes regarding your Infinity.
I have no reliable way to predict how your Infinity would react to a foreign genetic injection. It may hyper-evolve the bloodline, similar to how it evolved Nom-Nom two full stages from a Wyvern into a Greater Dragon.
Or, it could do something significantly worse.}
And my delusions of invincibility popped like a cheap balloon.
"You just love ruining my fun, don’t you?" I sighed, shaking my head.
-Ding!
{However, that does not mean you cannot plan ahead. You may add them to your list of ’Suggested Rewards’.
As long as you do not attempt to integrate the bloodlines without proper preparation, it poses no immediate threat.}
"Well then, mark them both as suggested rewards," I said, instantly perking back up. "For appropriate quests, obviously."
-Ding!
{Bloodlines: Spirit King and Fairy King have been marked as Suggested Rewards.}
"Cool," I murmured, taking another long sip of my cola.
With my future godhood safely bookmarked, I closed out the Bloodline tab entirely and finally opened the ’Magic’ category.
And the interface shifted, instantly populating a massive grid of elemental and conceptual affinities.
I didn’t bother browsing. I just focused on the search bar up top and mentally typed the four letters that spelled out my strongest affinity: Time.
Before I even finished the word, the chime resounded in my head.
-Ding!
{Time Magic and associated skills can only be acquired via designated quests or System Credits.}
"Dude!" I threw my hands up in the air, glaring at the floating blue screen.