Chapter 96 Owner

"Purchase the Small Shop and create a tiny warehouse to hoard goods!" Liam ordered the Arcane System which resulted in a notification popping up in front of him.

[The Ownership certificate of the Small Shop can be purchased for 2000 Arcanium. Expanding the Small Shop to build a tiny warehouse costs an additional 500 Arcanium. Proceed with the purchase?]

"Yes! Open up the AI System of the Small Shop as well, and change its name to 'Early Birds'," Liam added after giving it some thought.

[The host has received the ownership certificate of the Small Shop 'Early Birds'. The tiny warehouse is being built.]

[The Host has become the owner of his own Small Shop. Achievement『Shop Owner』has been attained]

[+25 Arcanum have been rewarded!]

[AI of the Early Birds Shop has been installed. Please configure the AI according to your needs!]

Liam felt a pang in his heart when he realized that half of his hard-earned Arcanium had disappeared in the blink of an eye. It was a little sad, even though he had known about the shop's price.

Expanding the Small Shop any further would be a fruitless task. He didn't really have the necessary fortune to expand it further, either way.

Instead, he began to configure the Shop's AI. He connected the AI to the warehouse, gave it 500 Arcanium, and configured it in a way to display various specific, easily preservable materials and goods at the forefront. All of these had their prices below a certain threshold. The Shop's AI could take a look at all existing shops. After all, it was connected to the Arcane System.

That way, Liam started to hoard a bunch of materials, which were supposed to be useful in the future. He couldn't be certain how intelligent his purchase was but Liam could only hope for the best possible outcome.

Because of that, Liam purchased a few more things he might need in the near future.

[1x『Portable Smithy (A Rank)』has been purchased. 555 Arcanium have been deducted!

[1x 『Enchanted Forging Hammer(A Rank』has been purchased. 150 Arcanium have been deducted!

[1x『500 Black Tarthear Needles(D Rank)』has been purchased. 45 Arcanium have been deducted!]

[1x 『100 Lumina Needles (D Rank)』has been purchased. 50 Arcanium have been deducted!]

[1x 『Storage Rune(Lowest) 』has been purchased. 1000 Arcanium have been deducted!]

[Arcanium: 227.6]

Golden currents of light glimmered brightly as the goods he purchased materialized in front of him.

The portable smithy was stored in a small marble that would expand upon inserting Arcane Power into it, while the Enchanted Forging Hammer looked like just an ordinary forging hammer with a slightly larger head that was azure-colored.

Other than that, the needles were something Liam was already familiar with.

On the other hand, the Storage Rune was something Liam had never possessed in his life. He was quite astonished that it could be purchased in the Arcane Shop just like that.

The golden currents that began to shroud his right hand were, in fact, the Storage Runes. They were etched on the back of his right hand where they glowed dimly.

Liam felt a connection to the rune almost immediately and he accessed it by using some Arcane Power. An empty white space opened in his mind. He could store all kinds of items inside and retrieve them at will as well.

It was a lot faster than accessing the Small Shop and retrieving something.

Liam might not have gotten his hands on a proper weapon yet but once that would change, he would have to be ready to fight at any moment.

He wanted to seem unarmed at the first glance to unsuspecting opponents, just to be fully armed and ready to kill a quarter of a second later.

Liam could achieve this by purchasing a spatial ring, or a storage relic. However, they were pretty expensive and their value would deteriorate the more space he required.

It was not possible to naturally expand the size of storage relics. That meant he would have to purchase new spatial rings or storage relics whenever his storage space was fully used up.

That was something he could work on with the Storage Rune. It could be expanded with the use of the Arcane System. That was pretty helpful, and it was something Liam was looking forward to use the Storage Rune. After all, the realm he came from didn't have those kinds of runes. They originated from a different Realm, and Liam got to know them only because he had fought a few powerful Warriors from that realm in the past.

"If you have a thousand Arcanium to spare, purchase the Lowest-grade Storage Rune. It will form a small rune on the back of your right hand and connect you to an external space that allows you to store items. The storage space is rather small at first but with enough Arcanium, you can expand the space slowly over time.

It's more efficient than storage relics," Liam advised, glancing over to the girls who had been eyeing him curiously for a while now.

He had been playing around with the Storage Rune, testing a few things to make sure that he could secure his few possessions inside the Storage Rune's space.

"Ohhh" Felicia exclaimed, smiling slightly at Liam's explanation.

However, spending a thousand Arcanium for a small secret storage space was still a bit much to ask for. They might have enough Arcanium but they had to spend it wisely. After all, they had to increase their combat power to survive in the Arcane Apocalypse!

"Does that mean, you're done now and we can leave the Underground Tower…finally?" Felicia asked, her eyes glimmering with hope. It was about time to smell some fresh air, get back to the surface, and beat up some monsters!

Felicia didn't even notice that she was slowly adapting to the deadliness of the Arcane Apocalypse. Her mind had already accepted that she would have to face ferocious monsters on the surface, and that there was the possibility of her or her friends' death.

Liam, however, noticed it. He looked at Felicia and the other girls. Jennie seemed a little odd today, unsure whether she should be happy that they would leave the Underground Tower soon, or if it would be better for them to stay underground forever.

Olivia looked calm and composed. Reading her expression was a little difficult, so Liam didn't bother with it.

"If the three of you are done preparing everything, we can leave."