Amon was back in the basement but while everyone sorted out their loot, he headed into his team’s room. Inside, there were no beds. They all slept on the floor.
If they were lucky, they might find some cloth but that was the extent to which it could go. Feeling soreness all over his body, he sat down on the floor and leaned against the wall.
".... The difference between a regular human and an awakened one is pretty huge..." he said out loud as he recalled Mike’s incredible speed. He couldn’t harm the spider but he could easily dodge it’s attacks.
’That steel spider was an FF rank too, one rank lower than Mike.’ he thought as he recalled the ranks.
From bottom to the top, it went with FFF, FF, F, E, E+, D, D+..... A+, S, SS, SSS.
A few minutes later, he watched Mike and Becky walked into the room with eight corpses of those blood hounds along with a mana core that belonged to the spider.
Mana cores were extremely valuable as their energy could be extracted to power various things. But since their whole group was stuck in a yellow zone that was filled with danger and barely had people, they could only sell the cores through the market.
Amon didn’t know much about the market as only awakened ones had access to it through their systems. But even with this, he knew that items could be sold for coins and these coins were the common currency in the market. In a way, it could be called the universal currency among the awakened.
"How much will the Steel Spider Core sell for?" Amon asked as he looked up at Mike, who shrugged.
"It depends on the buyer and the market prices. It’s different every day. Last time we hunted a Steel spider, I sold it’s core for 120 coins." he said and Amon nodded.
Coin was the universal currency among the awakened. It could be gained by completing quests and selling items directly to the system instead of trading with people.
Mike saw Amon open his palm as he looked at him. Without saying a word, he tossed the core towards Amon who caught it smoothly.
The moment he made contact with it, he got a message.
[Would you like to dissolve the core into Stream points?]
Amon thought for a few seconds before frowning, ’How much will I get though?’
Unfortunately, the system gave him no answer.
As he was thinking about what to do next, he heard Becky say, "The price has gone down. It’s selling for 90 on average but if we wish to sell it quick, we would have to go even lower. Maybe 80 to 85."
Amon looked at his coins. Thanks to Ajumma’s generosity, he had managed to save up 47 coins. Seeing the coins, he suddendly looked up at Mike as if he had realized something.
"How much is a health potion?!"
Becky looked at him and went back to her system to check. A few seconds later, she said, "An FFF rank Health Potion costs 20 coins."
Hearing this, Amon couldn’t stop himself from smiling. He wasn’t an awakened yet so he couldn’t use his coins but that was just temporary. He had a feeling that the system would help him awaken sooner or later.
"I see... Mike, can I keep this? I’ll pay you back in the future."
Mike looked surprised at first but immediately nodded, "Sure. There’s no need to pay me back though. We have so many Blood Hound corpses so we won’t have to worry about food or coins for a while."
"Thanks." Amon said as he took him up on the offer before he stuffed the core in his pocket and lay down on the floor. Soon, he drifted off to sleep.
By the time he woke up, the room was empty. Without a proper way of checking time, Amon didn’t bother looking around. All he cared about was privacy at the moment. He had already made plans for his future, a way to use his skills to get stronger. Only when he was strong, would he have the luxury of protecting his girls.
After all, this was a world where strength ruled. It wasn’t rare sight to see men and women leaving their partners to serve someone strong. In return, they would get to live a better life.
Feeling both excited and nervous, he pulled out the Steel Spider core from his pocket and immediately used the system’s help to dissolve it.
[Steel Spider Core has been dissolved into 150 Stream Points!]
[Congratulations on Accumulating 100 Stream Points!!]
[Rewards: Awakening]
[Please choose your awakening option.]
<Assassin>
<Warrior>
<Mage>
<Tank>
<Marksman>
[Special Options]
<Steel Knight>
<Humanoid Spider>
<Steel Spider>
[Assassin]
Stat Effectiveness: +10% Agility, +10% Dexterity
Skills Unlocked: Stealth, Sneak Attack
[Warrior]
Stat Effectiveness: +5% All Stats
Skills Unlocked: None
[Mage]
Stat Effectiveness: +10% Mana, +10% Magic
Skills Unlocked: Mana Breathing, Random Beginner Spell
[Tank]
Stat Effectiveness: +10% Vitality, +10% Defense
Skills Unlocked: Taunt, Thick Skin
[Marksman]
Stat Effectiveness: +10% Dexterity, +10% Strength
Skills Unlocked: Piercing Shot
[Steel Knight]
Stat Effectiveness: +20% Defence, +10% Strength, +10% Vitality
Skills Unlocked: Steel Armor, Knight’s Charge
Special: When wearing Armor, the item’s defense and durability are increased by 20%.
[Humanoid Spider]
Stat Effectiveness: +20% Strength, +20% Agility
Skills Unlocked: Steel Silk, Silk Master
Special: Clothes Woven by the Humanoid Spider will have +20% effectiveness.
[Steel Spider]
Stat Effectiveness: +200% All Stats
Skills Unlocked: Steel Silk, Silk Master, Steel Carapace, Hive Mind
Special: Lose all sense of humanity, become a monster.
Amon directly rejected the last one before he took a look at his shop. There were different classes but every one of them were locked.
’Looks like the first step will depend solely on me.’ he thought as he went through all the options once again and picked Humanoid Spider.
Not even a moment had passed since he clicked on his choice when he lost consciousness. His skin burned away and slowly, a silvery metallic layer grew over his exposed muscles.
Once one looked closer, it wasn’t just a simple layer. It had extremely thin strands that weaved over his body, replicating and replacing his skin. Minute holes began to open up on the skin randomly as thin strands of silk shot out.
In just five minutes, the silk that had shot out formed a thin cocoon around him.
Mike and Becky ran back into their bunker and went straight to their room with a small oil lamp. The night time was over and darkness had descended, the scariest thing in everyone’s eyes. Staying outside for more than a minute was as good as saying goodbye to one’s life.
Once they walked in, they saw a large cocoon lying in a corner. It shook slightly at first but a few seconds later, a hand tore through the thick layer of silk.
No, the silk tore itself as it made way for the hand.