[Encountered valuable world resource. Exchange for Currency?]
Cassian did not know how to respond to that, was that a one of a time thing, or would other magical creatures offer similar options.
"And how much currency would I gain?" he asked cautiously, since he did not even know if the system would actually respond.
[Analyzing resource… Estimated Value: 17 Million Jewels]
"…"
Only then, did Cassian realize; he had no idea how much that money was worth, but surely; selling a dragon's corpse should bring in a pretty penny.
With no other means of comparison, he put the prompt to the side, and opened the system shop, trying to get n understanding of what that sum represented.
[Shop]
Categories:
- Skills
- Spells
- Noble Phantasms
- Bloodlines
- Fables/Tales
- Appearance
- Miscellaneous
Currency: 0
Ignoring the last four categories for the moment, since the truly interesting things were the first two.
Cassian tapped on the Noble Phantasms category, and in front of him appeared a long list that seemed to be nearly endless.
[Excalibur]
Price: 20 Million
[Gáe Bolg]
Price: 12 Million
[Gram]
Price: 20 Million
[Caliburn]
Price: 16 Million
[Unlimited Blade Works]
Price: 30 Million
[Gates of Babylon (Empty)]
Price: 100 Million
[Gates of Babylon (Full)]
Price: 1 Billion
…
Okay, from thinking he got quite a bit of money, Cassian was quickly and harshly brought back to the reality.
On the other hand, Noble Phantasms represented treasures, techniques, or other things that shaped the identity of any other Heroic Spirit, and he could simply buy them.
When he looked at it like this, then most prices seemed even relatively cheap, in comparison to what one might need to accomplish to gain access to such things normally.
The exception to this 'cheap' was the full [Gates of Babylon], though, even if it still made sense, when he thought back to what the King of Heroes had stored in there. Just EA and Enkidu were such overpowered Noble Phantasms that just having them, would stop practically anyone from messing with you.
Nevertheless, after getting over the fact that the 17 Million weren't too much, he still continued browsing through the hundreds of unique treasures, and eventually stopped on one of them.
[Switch On – Airgetlám]
Price: 13 Million
In the first moment it looked rather unassuming, though, unique in its own right. This Noble Phantasm was an arm prosthesis, but that wouldn't be enough to make that price appropriate.
Trying to recall anything about it, a very hazy memory, among those left untouched from the erasure, resurfaced.
'Bedivere's arm… and also… Excalibur.'
It seemed like a simply decision, but this time, Cassian wasn't entirely sure about it. There were two upsides for it; first, he would get an arm prosthesis, and would also gain another reliable weapon.
On the other side; it would require nearly all of the money he would receive from selling the dragon, leaving little to nothing left for possible skills, or anything else to get. There was also a small part inside of him that wanted to keep a part of Myriad as a trophy.
"System, how much would the 'Resource' be worth, without its head?"
[Estimated Value: 14 Million]
"Is it possible to simply leave the outer shell of the head, while selling the brain and what is left within?"
[Affirmative. Estimated Value: 15.5 Million]
That meant the head, even without the brain and all, was still 1.5 Million worth… Still, there was a need to prove his deeds… and what would be a better prove, than the head of the dragon?
"How much would it cost to also leave me with enough of its meat to not go hungry, for the next week, or two?"
[Calculating… Estimated Value: 15 Million]
That would be truly expensive two weeks…
Cassian waited for another twenty minutes, to hopefully gain something from the blood bath, before agreeing to the transaction.
[Exchange started…]
The next moment, the body of Myriad started glowing intensively for a couple seconds, before it all ended, with one last bright light.
Where the enormous dragon just lay, now only remained the head, and a huge pile of meat. Both, of which were currently on a giant red tarp.
"And how exactly am I supposed to carry all of this now…" Cassian looked at it, with an expression that was a mixture of unwillingness and slight regret.
Though, as if answering his unsaid request, the tarp suddenly began tying itself up, and then shrunk within seconds to the size of his cloth bag.
"Well, that is practical…"
[Exchange complete. Current Currency: 15 Million]
With the red tarp still in his hand, Cassian looked at it, for a moment, then looked at himself, and brought the tarp over to where his remaining things had been kept, all of which thankfully survived the confrontation.
When everything was in one spot, he walked over to the sea again, and went in, wanting to wash the remaining dragon blood off of his body. Durandal was kept close by, just in case something jumped out of the water.
About fifteen minutes, and a lot of scrubbing later, Cassian finally left the water again, and after picking up his partner, went back to his things.
On the way, he couldn't help, but take another look at the only reason for his survival. The next moment, though, his eyes nearly leaped out of their sockets.
"How- How is this possible?!"
Cassian stopped dead in his tracks, as he was looking at the edge of the sword. It was… chipped.
"How can an indestructible sword sustain any damage…"
This seemed to be something unfathomable, but then Cassian realized something; there had been two miracles that came from Durandal, but only one had been paid for, at least that was what he had thought.
The first one was the protective barrier, which had been 'paid' for with his spilled blood. The second, though, was the last attack on Myriad. He hadn't noticed any difference in himself, and didn't think about it much more, but now it dawned upon him.
Durandal had taken the toll of the Miracle. For some reason, the price he would've needed to pay, was instead transmitted to his partner, and now it had apparently lost its defining feature; the indestructibility.
With a sunken expression, he looked at it once more, before closing his eyes, "Please, forgive me my weakness. I will grow stronger, and find a way to make you whole again."
When he reopened his eyes again, there was a new shimmer to them; determination.
After he made his mind up, Cassian continued towards his stuff, and finally got dressed again. It was also then that he found out for the first time, how inconvenient it actually was to only have a single arm.
This experience just made it clear; he would buy the Noble Phantasm that had picked his interest.
Opening the shop again, he immediately went for the NP category, and selected it.
[Chosen merchandise will reduce your Currency to 2 Million. Proceed?]
"Yes."
[Transaction accepted. Proceeding with exchange…]
[Removing Currency…]
[...merchandise received.]
In front of Cassian, a small pouch appeared, levitating in the air. He looked at it for a moment in amusement, before reaching for it and clumsily opening the string.
Inside, were two small items; a card, and what looked like… a small compass, with a note on it.
Taking out the card first, it was exactly what Cassian thought it was; a small card with a picture of an arm prosthesis.
Doing the same he did with the prior cards, it soon dissolved into bright white fragments, before they materialized on his right arm, or what was left of it.
The next instant, a metallic, finely-crafted, silver arm, that could've just as well been part of a knight's armor, was applied from his shoulder downward.
Cassian looked at it with slightly conflicted feelings, but eventually tried moving his fingers, and to his earnest surprise; it worked.
He had not spent a lot of time, without his right arm, but having a new one, still felt like such a relieve that this was most likely the happiest he had been, since his transmigration.
After nearly drowning in the feeling of ecstasy, his mind went back to the other item in that pouch. This time, he purposefully used his new arm. It was still somewhat unfamiliar, but he would get there.
Pulling out the compass, Cassian first looked at the back of it, where the note was on.
"A bonus for the very first purchase. This compass will always lead to the main character of the respective world."
With a small grin appearing on his face, he couldn't help it, "Well that will certainly make the next step a lot more easy…"
Turning the compass around, he noticed the needle pointing in what would normally be northeast. That would be the direction he would head in, as early as possible the next morning.
For now, though, he only wanted to set a small camp, and finally settle in for the day.
Not even bothering to care about anything like a hut, or even a cave, Cassian just went to gather some firewood, while Durandal was still fastened on his belt.
Thirty minutes later, he finally had enough to last him until the next day, and therefore went back to his two bags.
Arranging the branches in a circular pattern, and getting a few stones from the surroundings, he soon managed to make an adequate campfire, though, without the fire…
Thinking about his options, he eventually drew Durandal from his belt, and angled it to reflect the sun, hoping it'd be enough to kindle a small fire.
'Sorry partner, but survival comes first…' Cassian thought, slightly ashamed to already reduce his savior to a mere mirror, for the moment.
A few tries later, it finally worked, and he did everything he could to keep the flame steady, with it slowly growing stronger, before it engulfed nearly the entire pit he had prepared.
The blonde young man was satisfied. Next, he took out some of the meat, and looked at Durandal for a moment, before averting his gaze again.
Rather than degrading his holy sword any more, he simply opened the shop window again, this time going for the miscellaneous section. About two minutes later, and 10.000 jewels poorer, a few utensils appeared before him, in another small pouch.
In the pouch, there was a medium-sized hunting knife, and some spiky rods that were advertised as non-flammable, how good they were was to be seen.
Cutting the meat into smaller pieces, Cassian then proceed on putting them on the ends of the rods, before putting them into the sand in a way they would still be above the fire.
And then, he waited.
While waiting for his food, his curiosity took the better of him, and he directed his attention back to the still open shop window, before changing the category to 'Skills'.
Cassian was momentarily overwhelmed by the sheer number of skills that presented themselves before him. After all, most heroic spirits had one or two noble phantasms, at most, but skills, it was rare for most to have less than two, if not even three.
His eyes scanned over the nearly endless list of skills, reading their names, and what they promised to do, and also… their prices.
While they were far cheaper than Noble Phantasms, that was once again, only in relation to the masses.
There were skills that were as cheap as 'merely' a few hundred thousand jewels, and others went as high as 10 million. Though, those definitely sounded great, and in due time, Cassian would be glad to own one or two, of these expensive ones.
There was a pattern, he noticed; he needed money. A lot of it, if he wanted to get as far as he would like. Therefore, as soon as he reached the mainland, or whatever was beyond the sea right now, he would need to find a job that would pay some serious money.