POV: Zane
I talked to Welf about everything I wanted, and he was deep in thought. He stayed silent for several seconds while he considered my request. I knew Welf didn't forge magic swords, so I didn't ask for one, but even so, he seemed unsure whether to accept the request.
Honestly, I didn't ask for that much.
My requests were: a katana for Zoro, Akame, and Aizen; a large two-handed sword for Berserker; and better armor.
My other characters don't use swords, so I'll buy some skills to help them. I need to buy some fire magic skills for Natsu and various magic skills for Frieren.
In the end, all the clones will receive the skills, but I'm buying specific ones with certain characters in mind.
"So you want a sword like this, a large two-handed sword, and better armor than that?" he asked, pointing at me. "But this sword... forging something like it could be interesting."
"So, are you accepting the request? How much will it cost?"
"You gave me way more money than necessary. From the way you talked, I thought you were going to ask for ten to twenty swords and suits of armor. It's fine, no need to give me more."
"Are you sure? I can pay more if you want."
"It's fine. Can you come back in three days? It takes a bit of time to prepare everything."
"Sure, no problem."
I chatted a bit more with Welf before saying goodbye. I left his shop and ducked into an alley, where I changed into my usual walking-around appearance—long blond hair and gray eyes.
After changing my appearance and stepping out of the alley, I heard a child say, "Mom, didn't that guy have short black hair? How did he do that?" The kid peeked into the alley but saw no one.
She assumed I was the same person.
And she was right.
But her mother didn't believe her, and I smiled.
I kept walking toward the tower to visit the Hephaestus Familia shops again.
Even after giving Welf 500,000 Valis, I still had nearly 5 million left, since renting my house wasn't expensive and I didn't spend much on food.
Even though I'd already requested Welf, I thought about it a little more and decided it'd be worth buying one of those magic swords.
It would cost a lot, but I was confident I'd find a way to make money soon. My inventory was full of magic stones and items—I just needed to figure out how to sell them.
I arrived at the Hephaestus Familia shop, and the same woman greeted me. As soon as she saw me, she looked a bit impatient, but I didn't care. I started telling her about the kind of sword I wanted.
A katana, just like the one I asked Welf to make, but a magic sword.
The woman thought for a bit and said they didn't have a sword like that in stock, so I asked how much it would cost to commission one. How much would they charge?
"Three million."
When I heard the price, a sharp pain hit my chest.
"Is there any way to lower that? How about two million?"
"Three million. That's the lowest it gets," she said, still staring at me with a smile. She was doing this on purpose. I'm sure she can offer a better price.
She probably thought I couldn't afford it. Or maybe she thought I was rich and dumb.
"You guarantee the sword will be top quality, right?"
"Who do you think we are? Of course, it'll be high quality. Are you trying to insult me?"
"No, of course not. Alright, alright, I'll pay the three million. But it better be the best sword in the world. That price is so ridiculous, I feel like dying."
"..." The woman said nothing and just smiled.
"I'll be back with the money soon." Since it was a large amount, I decided not to pull it from my inventory right there. I left the tower, went to a secluded spot, and disabled the NeuroLink skill.
Back at home, I withdrew the money and placed it into a bag. It was easy to get the exact amount since the system would "spit out" however much I asked for.
"Three million… That hurts."
I feel broke now.
I put the bag into my inventory with no problem, reactivated NeuroLink, and took control of Clone 16's body. I pulled the bag back out and returned to the shop.
I tossed the money onto the counter. "I might be doing something stupid, but here it is. When will the sword be ready?"
"Come back in four to five days."
"Five days? Alright then."
The woman didn't seem very happy with how I talked to her, but I didn't care.
I was pissed about having to spend so much money.
Even back in my old world, spending a lot of money always made me angry. "Money is important, you know?"
I deactivated NeuroLink and contacted Clone 16. "Go back to the dungeon."
"Yes, master," he replied.
Back at home, I opened the system to start buying some skills.
"I'll focus on magic skills."
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Luckily, I only needed to buy a skill once for all of my clones to receive it. "The problem is, I'm on a tight budget since I focused heavily on the 'Clones' skill."
I only had 39 points left to spend.
"Is the skill 'Mana Control' really necessary to use magic? I'll test this. First, I'll buy a magic skill and see if I can use it."
I browsed the skill list for something cheap.
To my surprise, the magic skills weren't separated into individual spells.
I thought there would be skills like "Fireball", "Fire Arrows", "Explosion", etc. But that's not how it worked. There were only skills like "Fire Magic", "Water Magic", and so on.
There was even Gravity and Space magic, but those were way too expensive for my current budget.
"Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, Nature, Darkness, and Light magic cost 10 points each. They're the basic RPG elements. Magics like Space and Gravity start at 20 points and go up from there."
I had already planned to get Fire Magic for Natsu and various magic for Frieren. "Hmm… I guess I'll start with Fire Magic, right?"
Fire magic is usually focused on damage, so it's a good choice.
[ You've acquired the skill "Fire Magic LV1" ]
[ All clones have received the skill "Fire Magic LV1" ]
After buying the skill, I decided to test it right here at home.
"How do I do this?"
I don't think I need to say the magic attack name.
"Would just imagining it work?"
I imagined a fireball in my hand, and then…
Nothing happened.
So I said, "Fireball."
Still nothing.
"Looks like I do need to buy the 'Mana Control' skill… Damn it."
I sighed and bought it.
[ You've acquired the skill "Mana Control" ]
[ All clones have received the skill "Mana Control" ]
The skill had no level. I expected it to have one.
Usually, skills like that have levels, and the higher it is, the better your magic control.
"It probably applies to the magic skills. The higher the level of 'Fire Magic,' the better my control will be."
Alright, time to test again.
Without saying anything, I imagined a fireball in my hand.
And this time, a small fireball immediately appeared. It didn't give off heat. "So this is magic," I whispered, my eyes gleaming as I moved my hand.
The fireball disappeared after a moment.
"It's weak."
But the important thing is—it worked.
'I've bought the "Fire Magic" skill. You can all use fire magic now. Use it a lot and level it up.' I told my clones. The higher their skill level, the higher mine becomes.
[ Fire Magic?! I'm going back to the dungeon right now! ]
I heard Natsu's voice in my head.
What the—was that his subconscious?
I laughed and took control of his eyes.
Natsu was sprinting through the city, drawing a lot of attention. When he reached the dungeon, he immediately started casting fire magic. His attacks were weak at first—that's all he could manage at level one.
But within a short time, the skill leveled up, and his magic became stronger.
Natsu was laughing like a maniac as he burned monsters to death on the first and second floors.
All the adventurers who saw him freaking out like that were horrified.
It was hilarious.
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Next chapters: Chapter 28 - I have a mission for you. Fang Yuan. / Chapter 29 - Acting. / Chapter 30 - Find the killers.