“Bullshit!”
Elias was rolling wildly on the carpet like a dying fish.
He gritted his teeth so hard the veins on his forehead bulged, forcing a retort through the gaps in his teeth.
“Don't I... still have... two hundred gold crowns?!”
“Hah!”
In his mind, Old Ed let out a cold sneer.
“You call two hundred gold crowns money?!”
The old man was ruthlessly rubbing salt in Elias’s wounds.
“In the eyes of a commoner, two hundred gold crowns could indeed let you live it up in a suite at the Golden Rose Hotel for a few months.”
“But in the supernatural world?”
“You can’t even buy a piece of junk defensive gear with a hint of spiritual fluctuation for that amount!”
“What use is that pittance?!”
Elias was drenched in cold sweat from the pain, his vision blurring.
But even though he was in a pathetic state due to the physical agony, he absolutely could not back down verbally.
Losing to an old geezer like Edmond who had seen so little of the world would be a disgrace!
“I still have... hiss... fifty-four soul coins, don't I?!”
“Oh, give it a rest!”
Old Ed rolled his eyes in an exaggerated fashion.
“The actual exchange value of those things on the black market is five hundred and forty gold crowns at most!”
“Besides, other than hiring a messenger at a spirit world station to run errands, what else can you do with soul coins?”
The old man mocked:
“Oh! I get it!”
“You’re not thinking of saying that when you’re in danger, you’ll spend money to summon that infernal demon to fight for you, are you?”
Elias was so pained he didn't even have the strength to roll his eyes.
That was indeed his ultimate trump card.
“Summoning that big guy is worth a little bit of money,” Old Ed snorted.
“But you can’t exactly have him rob Nox Bank for you, can you?”
“Even if you robbed it, you wouldn’t be able to spend the money!”
Elias’s whole body was twitching violently.
While enduring the swelling agony of his flesh, he was momentarily stunned by the new term that popped out of the old man’s mouth.
“What... the hell... is... Nox Bank?”
Elias clenched his back teeth tightly.
He had already bitten his lip until it bled.
Words tainted with the scent of blood were forced out one by one.
“That is the largest financial hub of the supernatural world.”
Old Ed casually shared a secret that ordinary transcendents could never touch.
“It’s a place specifically for transcendents to store their money.”
“Of course, you can also store soul coins there.”
“Normally, you can hire a spirit world messenger to help you withdraw money from there.”
“Provided, of course, that you’re alive to earn that much money.”
Elias had no mental capacity to worry about some supernatural bank right now.
“You... wait... a bit... before the lecture!”
He managed to send a weak protest through his mind.
“How long... is this damn pain... going to last?!”
He felt like he was about to drop dead from the agony on the spot!
“Usually, about five minutes.”
Old Ed’s tone became slightly more serious.
“Don’t be ungrateful, kid.”
“This is actually a good thing.”
“Essentially, the massive spirituality you just gained from that ‘new formula’ potion is strengthening your physical body.”
“It’ll make you a bit more durable.”
“...”
Elias fell completely silent.
He didn't answer the old man.
His only thought now was praying that he could quickly endure this lethal bodily ache.
...
Five minutes.
Three hundred seconds.
To Elias, it felt longer than working overtime for a month straight in his previous life.
Finally.
The swelling pain that felt like a tide about to swallow him whole began to slowly recede.
“Phew—”
Elias suddenly exhaled a long breath of turbid air.
He struggled to climb up from the floor, drenched in sweat.
The cold sweat made his clothes stick to him in a clammy, uncomfortable way.
But at the same time.
Elias was surprised to feel a sense of fullness being transmitted from every inch of his flesh!
Power!
Pure physical power!
He tried moving his shoulders.
“Rippp—”
The heartbreaking sound of tearing fabric rang out clearly in the quiet room.
Elias looked down.
Well.
His clothes were simply too tight.
In the current era of the Kingdom of Velen.
Men were accustomed to wearing shirts and vests, topped with a well-tailored suit or trench coat.
These clothes were cut to fit the body closely.
And now.
Elias realized in despair that the shirt and vest he was wearing were stretched to their limit!
Of course.
It wasn't because his height had changed in any ridiculous way.
Rather, his physique had undergone a world-shaking transformation!
Tugging at the collar that was nearly choking him, he hurried into the bathroom attached to the hotel room.
The moment he pushed the door open.
Elias decisively operated within his mind, cutting off the mental connection with Old Ed as if hanging up an annoying prank call.
What a joke.
He couldn't exactly live-stream a bath to an old ghost inside his head, could he?
After finishing his wash.
Elias looked into the fogged-up half-length mirror in the bathroom.
Was this really the same slightly thin lighthouse keeper from before?!
He instantly felt he was one step closer to becoming Captain America.
The Elias in the mirror.
His body had shed its original immaturity and frailty.
His lines had become sharp and defined.
His shoulders were broad, and his chest muscles were full.
The neat eight-pack abs were deeply set into his lean waist and abdomen.
None of the muscles had that stiff, rigid look cultivated in a gym; instead, they exuded a beauty full of explosive power!
He was incredibly lean and strong!
“Holy crap...”
Elias couldn't help but reach out to touch his hard abs before putting on a loose bathrobe.
Only after making sure he was wrapped up tightly.
Did he re-establish the connection in his mind with the forcibly muted Old Ed.
“Finished washing?”
The old man had been holding it in for a long time; as soon as the connection was made, he couldn't help but speak.
“Finished.”
Elias walked to the bedside and sat down, feeling the seemingly inexhaustible strength within his body.
“So there really is a difference in the quality of potions?”
“I was in that much pain just because it was a new formula?”
“Of course!”
Old Ed snorted irritably.
“Why else do you think potion recipes are standardized?”
“It’s precisely because they are standardized that there’s a difference in quality.”
“Otherwise, how do you think that child Aaron was able to smoothly promote to Scale Two at only twelve years old?!”
“The kind of pain you just endured...”
“Do you think a pampered little brat like him could have stood it?”
The old man explained this bloody class divide with a hint of jealousy.
“They are high nobility!”
“A true old money family!”
“In a family with such deep roots, the top-tier alchemists they patronize prepare the promotion potions for their descendants personally...”
“The quality, the purity, the gentleness—who knows how many times better it is than the potent new formula you drank!”
“When they drink a potion to promote, it’s as easy and pleasant as having afternoon tea!”
Wasn't this the classic difference between a pay-to-win player and a free-to-play beast of burden?!
Hearing this.
Elias couldn't help but curse inwardly:
“Damn the old society!”
However, Old Ed didn't want to discuss class issues too much right now.
Using a complex tone, the old man cautiously threw out the question he was currently most concerned about and most afraid of.
“So...”
“Tell me.”
“This time for your Scale Two promotion, how many new spells did you get?”
Old Ed asked curiously.
Actually, before asking this question, the old man had repeatedly prepared himself mentally.
Even though he knew very well that he might very likely have a mental breakdown because of the answer he was about to hear.
He just couldn't help but ask out of curiosity!
Hearing this question.
Elias didn't answer immediately.
He reached out to rub his brow.
“I was about to ask you.”
Speaking of this, Elias seemed to suddenly remember the harrowing experience in the sea of rationality just now.
He frowned, his tone carrying a bit of a complaint:
“Every time I obtain spells from the Origin Web, my brain goes through a severe headache.”
“Is that normal?”
“A headache?”
Old Ed was stunned for a moment.
He seemed completely caught off guard by Elias suddenly dragging the conversation in this inexplicable direction.
“That shouldn't be right.”
The old man’s voice was full of pure confusion and bewilderment.
“Obtaining knowledge bestowed by a deity is a wonderful experience of soul sublimation.”
“In my memory, I’ve never had any kind of headache.”
Old Ed paused, deciding to set this question aside for now.
“Forget about the headache for a second!”
The old man pressed urgently.
“Tell me first, how many spells did you get this time?!”
If Elias had fewer than last time, it would at least show that he was indeed just a lucky God-favored one.
But if...
He didn't dare think about it!
Elias sat on the edge of the bed, his expression perfectly natural.
He spoke as if it were a matter of course:
“The same as last time.”
“Nine.”
“...”
Inside his mind.
Silence fell.
Elias could truly feel the suffocating silence on the other side.
He even wondered if the old man had been so shocked that his soul had directly dissipated.
But Old Ed didn't make him wait too long.
As if suddenly realizing something, the old man roared with gritted teeth:
“No wonder you have a damn headache!!!”
“You deserve it!”
“Forcing nine spells from the Origin Web all at once, you should have a headache!”
“You deserve it!!!”
Rate on N.U.
