Leo looked into the shop and its expanded wares. The first part he spotted was in a new section labelled ‘Random’

Mystery Prize: 5000 SC

You will receive a random prize, ranging from an F-grade Essence Crystal to an Epic piece of equipment. The greater the prize, the lesser the chance of receiving it.

No purchase limit

Leo looked at his own SC, something he’d not really cared about lately and was instantly baffled.

Store Credits: 108,432

A ludicrous amount, even after giving a lot to other people for crafting items and their professions. He’d just killed so many enemies. Before he started putting all of his SC into the gacha system, Leo took a look at the other sections.

Inside the section labelled ‘Professions’ there were new additions to almost every single profession that was there before. Material packs with the E-grade tag, specialised crafting equipment that boosted the professions in question, E-grade Essence Crystals, and guidebooks for new recipes and inspirations.

It was all extensive and very in depth. The pages went on and on too, covering almost every single thing one could think of. Leo didn’t really want to spend the day looking through this stuff, it would make him feel a bit bad for not being able to use any of it.

There were no new additions to the general items tab, although the food rations were no longer rationed. They could be purchased an unlimited amount of times.

Bit late on that one system.

By now, the few people with the chef profession had been cooking some variation of cooked antling for weeks. They were very popular, and weren’t even charging very much SC for them. Most of the time it was just donations from people like Leo or Bjorn. Although the higher level they got, the less Leo felt he needed to eat. It became more of a pleasure thing.

In the weapons and armour section, Leo was hoping to see a proper mystery loot box again. Or even just a list of good stuff. He still missed his boots, but not enough to try and tangle with the bank guardian. It could keep them… for now.

Still need to find a key for that place, Leo mused, getting distracted. Or get strong enough to just break in and fuck it up. He smiled.

In this section, there were a few items of mention.

Advanced Weapon Token (Uncommon): 10,000 SC (limit: 2 Per Initiate)

An item that will upgrade a common rarity weapon bought from the store into an uncommon upgrade of it.

Advanced Armour Token: (Uncommon): 15,000 SC (Limit: 1 Per Initiate)

An item that will upgrade a piece of starting tutorial equipment to that of uncommon rarity. Does not work on any other items.

Dimensional Storage ring (Uncommon): 50,000 SC

A storage ring with increased capacity than the standard ring.

The items were useful for a lot of people, but they were also quite expensive. He fully believed that having as many credits as he had was quite rare, probably matched by people like Ruby and Cain. The ants he’d been killing over the past day had been giving him a fair amount of credits thanks to their higher level and the Queen was going to send more forces over the next few days, so it could just be in preparation.

At this point, Leo had replaced all of his starting equipment with other items, he had his new chest piece, pants from Lena, gloves from Lena and boots… also from Lena.

I’m a walking Lena advertisement. She’s incredible.

Who needed upgrade tokens when you had the tutorial’s best crafter? Not him.

The storage ring was interesting, but it didn’t say exactly how much extra storage it granted. For now, it was definitely the wisest thing to purchase. Holding himself back from just instantly purchasing it and halving his credits, Leo checked out the final section marked ‘Consumables’ and boy was it something.

Adrenal Surge Vial (Uncommon): 5000SC

A vial made from the adrenal gland of a darkstalker hound. When consumed, this vial grants the user a boost to all physical stats but will cause a heavy fatigue after.

Mind Expanding Tonic (Common): 8000SC

A tonic made from the lunar deer. When consumed, this item grants increased magical damage and reduced cooldown rate. When it runs out, all mana will be rapidly depleted. Use at your own risk.

Bloodheat Draught (Common): 4000SC

A vial made from a raging desert snake. When consumed, this vial grants increased aggression and pain tolerance. It also reduces fine control and decision making. Consume at your own risk.

Emergency Coagulant (Common): 2000SC

Rapidly stops bleeding and stabilises wounds when directly applied. Does not restore any lost vitality.

Following these strange, but interesting items, were potions he was overjoyed to see, although the price was a bit steep.

Health Potion (Common): 10000SC

A tonic of concentrated vital energy. When consumed, it will restore 1500 health points.

Mana Potion (Common): 7500SC

A potion containing pure diluted mana mixed with raw essence. When consumed, this potion will restore 1500 mana.

Stamina Potion (Common): 5000SC

A vial of concentrated stamina that will grant the consumer 1500 Stamina points.

Damn. Pricey as heck, but I can’t really pass these up.

That fight had told him one thing, well, two things actually. One; his resource management was absolutely awful, spending far too much too quickly. Some of that was due to his own skills requiring so much, and pacing himself would mean people got hurt. But the rest was just inexperience. It reminded him of the time in the trial tower, and what it tried to teach him when it came to endurance. Not a lot had really stuck.

Secondly, and pretty connected to the first, Leo lacked ways of restoring himself. If he had a couple of those stamina potions today, it would have taken longer, but he would have been able to defeat the entire swarm without the use of the dangerous and experimental Crownfall.

Coming to these realisations, Leo instantly bought two stamina potions, one health, and one mana potion. They all appeared within his storage ring.

Now, he had enough left to buy many more potions, but right now it wasn’t that pertinent. A thought of purchasing one of the adrenal vials crossed his mind, but in the end he passed for now. It would just sit in his ring for the rest of the tutorial, if he needed it in an emergency, he’d just purchase it and drink it.

That thought made him consider something, if people could buy these items when in combat or danger, then he had to expect that almost everyone could have an emergency heal or buff. Something to take note of, especially the Mind Expanding Tonic. Ruby with one of those would be a disaster waiting to happen.

System really knows how to spice things up.

People had wandered off, started cleaning up, or just began resting while they could. Leo suddenly felt very heavy on his feet and noticed his stamina and mana were going down at an alarming rate. His body was being drained forcing him to fall to one knee, breathing heavily.

Ashley was still next to him, almost hesitant to leave, so when he collapsed she took notice.

“Are you okay?” she asked with concern, placing a hand on him.

“You’re burning up! What’s happening?” She tried healing him but his health was still full.

“Think–” he struggled to continue. “Think it’s Amy’s spell wearing off.”

She relaxed as Leo fell onto his face, pretty much unconscious.

“Gods, you’re a handful,” Ashley muttered, picking Leo up easily by the back of his armour. She hoisted him along like she was carrying a dog by the collar, or a duffel bag. Looks of concern and questions asking the same were sent her way, but she just waved back happily.

Leo woke up after what felt like an eternity later, but felt completely rested. He stretched his arms above his head, wriggling in that delightful way one did when stretching. His arms hit the wall behind him and completely ruined his day.

He looked around, finding himself in Ashley’s office. She wasn’t here, as it was already morning of the next day. There were no sounds of danger and no rush to do anything, so Leo did what he was going to do before he collapsed.

Gamble.

Leo purchased his first mystery prize, promising himself that it was the only one he’d buy… for now.

A small chest appeared in his hands, completely plain and entirely non-interesting.

“This does not bode well,” Leo said, holding the chest up and looking around the outside. Nothing.

He sighed. The lid slowly opened and Leo was suddenly blinded by a bright white glow that filled the room and then some. Inside the chest was a vial of red liquid, and Leo’s eyes widened in surprise.

Health Potion (Common+)

A tonic of concentrated vital energy, infused with extra materials to boost regeneration. When consumed, it will restore 3000 health points.

“Holy shit what a result!”

If he considered value, then he got roughly 20000 worth of potion for just 5000 store credits.

“Oh no, this is bad.”

That addictive feeling of winning was rushing through him, telling him that one more chest wouldn’t hurt that much. After all, he’d already made his value back and then some, one more couldn't hurt. This one was basically free.

He bought another, opening it immediately and was utterly delighted when the glow was even bigger than before.

Inside the small chest was a crystal, pale purple and faintly glowing. It looked like it contained a lot of power but it was also reminiscent of the Essence Crystals. Just when he thought it might be a dud, he identified it.

Essence Crystal (D)

A crystal with incredible power of raw essence. Used in D-grade to unlock Essence skills.

Has many crafting and alchemical uses

“Oh wow, it’s D-grade,” Leo said as he held the item up. It didn’t really have a use right now, nor would it really be of use in D-grade… unless he unlocked another essence then. But what would it do for others who had already gotten theirs? It was strange.

Questions without answers, as per usual. A visit with Iskarion would be nice right about now, and every night he’d been expecting it. But it just hadn’t happened, no matter how hard he was pushed or how far he tried to go beyond his limits. He didn’t do so intentionally to meet the god again, just would have been a nice bonus.

Now, back to his gambling. Was it becoming a problem?

Two boxes, two wins. He could end his gambling with just using 10,000 Store Credits and be much better for it. Surely after winning twice, with the second being possibly more valuable than he even knew, then even if he got something less than ideal on one or two boxes, it would still be worth it. The crystal had to be valuable, even if useless for now.

So for just 5000 more, Leo could get another health potion, another crystal, or even some kind of epic gear. He still had enough to buy fourteen boxes, so another one would be fine.

Twenty minutes, and a collection of small brown boxes at his feet and Leo had his head in his hands. He had only twenty thousand store credits remaining, and all he had to show for it were E and F-grade crystals.

“Aaaaghh!” Leo cried into the air, throwing one of the boxes nearby at the wall hard enough to shatter it. Once it lost its item, it became unenchanted plain wood.

A little dragon came running in, excited to see him as she pounced. Leo let her tackle him to the ground full force, deserving of what was about to happen. She nestled into him with a giggle. It made him feel a little better.

Until the next notification came in.

Store updated!

You have purchased ten mystery prizes, and now have access to the super mystery prize.

Super Mystery Prize: 15000SC

You will receive a random prize, ranging from an F-grade Essence Crystal to an Epic piece of equipment. The greater the prize, the lesser the chance of receiving it.

This box has an increased chance to be a higher rarity prize.

No purchase limit

“You have to be fucking kidding me,” Leo groaned, closing his eyes in resignation.

“What have I told you about language in front of the little one?” Ashley said in a scolding tone. “What are all these boxes? …Are they mystery prizes?”

“Ughh, don’t mention them, please,” he pleaded from the floor.

“Gambling never pays off, Leo,” she said, shaking her head like a scolding mother.

“Please don’t lecture me, I beg you. I know I messed up.”

She laughed. “Eh, it’s only some kinda fake currency you get for killing stuff. I’m sure there will be chances for more.”

“Nah, I’m done with them, I got two good things and a bunch of hot garbage.” He hopped to his feet, keeping Ellie steady.

“How’s things out there? People okay?” he asked, changing the subject.

“It’s a bit shaky if I’m honest. Cecelia is doing her best, but all these attacks have people scared. A few people have already lost limbs. Amy’s doing her best to restore them, but it’s a slow process. If we had more healing crystals it would be better. Don’t suppose you have any charges left?”

Leo shook his head. “Used the last one in the Bastion.”

Ashley nodded. “Same.”

“Oh well, it’s giving Amy some good experience, apparently her profession wasn’t an organisation one like I’d been guessing, she took a healer profession.”

“Healer profession and Healer class?” Leo asked inquisitively. “How does that work?”

She shrugged. “Beats me. She’s quite secretive when it comes to sharing skills and stuff.”

“They are definitely sisters then.” Leo smiled sadly. When Ashley gave him a look to continue, he explained what had happened with the initial assault and Lena’s impressive thread water skill.

“Damn, Lena did that?” Ashley said, impressed.

“Yeah, do you know if she’s woken up yet? I’d like to talk to her. Apologise.”

She pulled her mouth to the side, pouting it in thought. “Not sure you need to apologise, but maybe seeing her would be good. Let her know how well she did, not how sorry you are.”

Leo nodded, but he was still feeling guilty for almost killing her. “I’ll try.”

“Where is she, anyway?” he asked as they walked.

“Still held up in the building that Bjorn got blasted through. She’s conscious but still resting.”

Passing through the camp, Leo took in the utter devastation once again now that most of the corpses of ants had been cleaned up. Ron was in a corner, dismantling them one by one, likely raising his own profession up as he skillfully pulled pieces from them like he’d been doing this his whole life. He looked up and gave Leo a nod. Leo returned it in kind.

A few passing thanks and kind words were expressed his way and Leo smiled as best he could, shaking hands and welcoming a few surprising hugs. Ellie was praised even more, getting so many head scratches Leo thought they would take all day to make it a small distance. He had to excuse himself and left Ellie to the attention of gracious fans.

Entering the building through the door and not the massive hole that was being patched by some of the builders, Leo approached Lena, who was speaking to Amy with a smile on her face.

Amy frowned at him for a second, but a hand from Lena made her stop and walked away, letting them talk.

He didn’t even know how to begin, but she was looking better.

“Heya,” she said, smiling warmly.