Ethan moved on his way to the auction house, planning to grab so gear for his rogue alt. Just as he was about to start browsing, a ssage popped up from Skyblade.
Skyblade: "Ethan, you're finally online! Where are you?"
Ethan quickly replied, "At ho. Don't worry, I'm fine. I got stuck in a special zone, locked out of everything."
He figured it was because he'd entered that unique map, which had cut off all his systems. External calls couldn't get through either, so Leo and the others must have thought he'd gone AWOL. As soon as he teleported back, his comms lit up with dozens of missed calls.
Skyblade: "Oh, by the way, while you were gone, we took down Marcus Skeiner!"
Ethan raised an eyebrow. "Oh? How'd that go?"
Skyblade eagerly launched into the story, and Ethan couldn't help but laugh. atball's curse had been absolutely brutal.
"Anyway," Ethan said, "gather the crew and et at the guild hall later. I've got a bunch of high-tier skill books to hand out."
"Got it."
With that, Ethan headed to the auction house to pick up so gear for his rogue. After equipping the alt, he checked the auction house's earnings over the past few days. The total ca to a whopping 900 gold coins. That was the combined inco from all three auction houses in the major cities.
The auction houses were now fully operational, and items listed in one could be purchased from any of the three. Once a buyer made a purchase, the system would automatically mail the item to them. Of course, this seamless integration only worked for auction houses under the sa franchise. Independent shops couldn't share inventory, but the profits from all the shops could be managed from any of their terminals.
Ethan's shops were thriving. In just three or four days, the net profit had soared to over 3,000 gold coins. Employee wages were automatically calculated and paid by the system based on the contracts signed during hiring. Even the city lord of Harmony City took his cut without Ethan needing to lift a finger. Running a business in the ga was far simpler than in real life.
After wrapping up his tasks, Ethan pulled out the reinforcent stones he'd just bought and imdiately upgraded his Blazing Necklace to 30. His stats got a nice boost, and feeling confident, he decided to go all out. He returned to the auction house, bought a stack of reinforcent stones, and upgraded all the gear he'd bought for his rogue to 30 as well.
The gear he'd picked up for the rogue was a mix of Common Iron and Silver-tier items, all suitable for levels 17 to 18. He didn't care much about the stats—if it was cheap and available, he grabbed it. And when it ca to reinforcent, he didn't hold back. With his resources, he could afford to go all in.
Reinforcing gear to 30 multiplied its base attack or defense by ten, then added the original stats. Even the most diocre piece of equipnt could beco a top-tier item with that kind of upgrade.
Once the rogue was fully geared, Ethan expanded its inventory and stocked it up with potions and supplies. He made sure the alt had everything his main character had, just in case.
Then, a thought struck him. What if he gave the rogue the Wishbound Relic? The relic's description read: Drops on death, cannot be traded, cannot be stored, cannot be destroyed. But the rogue's unique trait was that it didn't drop items on death. If the rogue held the relic, it would essentially bind the item to the alt, making it impossible to lose. That would free Ethan from the fear of losing the relic if he died.
Once the rogue's cooldown period was over, he'd find a safe spot to test the theory.
If this worked, it would be a ga-changer.
After gearing up his rogue alt and setting it to idle, Ethan made his way to the guild hall. By the ti he arrived, the crew was already there waiting for him: Slashblade, Skyblade, SeraphWarrior, and atball.
Without a word, Ethan pulled out a stack of skill books and tossed them onto the table with a flourish.
"Go ahead, pick what you want!"
The four of them stared at the pile of skill books on the table. Even though they were seasoned players who'd seen their fair share of rare loot, their eyes widened in shock.
The advanced warrior skills alone were enough to make anyone drool: [Embodint of the Titans], [Blade Storm], [Powerful Counter], [Wrath Control], [Explosive Lightning], and more. It was practically a warrior's dream co true.
Skyblade couldn't help himself. He imdiately grabbed [Embodint of the Titans] and, before anyone could say a word, slapped the book in his hands, causing it to dissolve into a shimring mist as he absorbed the skill.
"…Leo, what the hell?" SeraphWarrior glared at him, clearly annoyed.
"What?" Skyblade asked, genuinely confused.
"What do you an, what? Do you even know how much [Embodint of the Titans] is worth? With a skill like that, we could've gotten a professional warrior to sign a contract and work for us! And you just learned it? Are you serious? Ever since you beca the main tank, you've been acting like so uncultured bull!"
Skyblade's face turned red, but before he could retort, SeraphWarrior snatched up three paladin skill books: [Seraph], [Vengeful Wrath], and [Advanced: Crusade (Vengeful Wrath)]. With a quick motion, he absorbed all three in one go.
SeraphWarrior didn't stop there. He continued to berate Skyblade, who was now visibly fuming, especially after the "uncultured bull" comnt. To make matters worse, SeraphWarrior then grabbed two more skill books, each as valuable as [Embodint of the Titans], including an advanced version of [Vengeful Wrath]. Advanced skills were several tis more expensive than their basic counterparts.
"You… you… shaless!" Skyblade stamred, his voice trembling with anger.
Even Ethan raised an eyebrow. Since when had SeraphWarrior beco so… bold?
Slashblade, anwhile, was trying hard not to laugh, his hand covering his mouth as he stifled a chuckle. "Leo, I can't bla him for calling you out. You're learning a DPS skill as a tank? That's… that's just low."
As he spoke, Slashblade picked up [Hymn of the Divine] and absorbed it without hesitation.
Skyblade was left speechless, his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water.
atball, who had been quite, stepped forward and picked up [Void Portal]. He turned to Skyblade, opened his mouth as if to say sothing, but Skyblade cut him off.
"Don't you start! You're the last person who should be talking. You're always the one pulling aggro! You guys are all heartless. You don't know how to manage your threat, and when you pull aggro, you bla the tank. Is it so wrong for to grab a damage skill to increase my threat generation?"
atball shrugged nonchalantly. "If I pull aggro, isn't it the tank's fault? I'm just doing my job—outputting damage. Can't help it if I'm too good."
Skyblade glared at him. "Fine! You win!"
In a fit of frustration, Skyblade grabbed every warrior skill book left on the table: [Powerful Counter], [Wrath Control], [Explosive Lightning], and more. He absorbed them all in one go, not caring about the consequences.
The others, not wanting to be left out, quickly followed suit. They grabbed whatever skill books they could find for their respective classes—warlock, paladin, priest—and absorbed them without a second thought.
Ethan watched the chaos unfold, shaking his head. By the ti everything settled, the table was nearly empty. The skill books for warriors, warlocks, paladins, and priests were almost entirely gone.
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