Birth Of The Crafts-God

After an hour, Lucas departed the Vinis pawnshop building without any expression. The two Red Fangs' agents didn't go in with him to prevent suspicion, so they didn't know what had happened back there. Their mission was simply to keep an eye on Lucas just in case he got attacked again, and not to play the role of bodyguards who followed him into every nook and cranny.

However, staying inside a pawnshop with a somewhat sketchy history, based on their logs, was something worth looking into. As such, one of them walked into the store two minutes later, while the other one remained following after Lucas.

Lucas left the pawnshop's vicinity and returned to his store. This time around, he wanted to take a look at the other rewards he had received from the system two days ago.

Apart from the physical items that followed up, there were changes to the system after its level up. These changes weren't regarding the appearance of the system interface, but the functionality of the system.

The first was the fact that Lucas could now earn system coins from missions, and those coins could be exchanged for valuable items in the system shop.

The second was the new system ability Lucas had gained. The Host Protection Mechanism and the Host Retaliation Function were two system abilities he currently possessed, and both were very convenient in ensuring his safety within the store. On multiple occasions, they had saved his life and proved incredibly useful to him, and this made Lucas anticipate the new ability he had gained.

The third new function Lucas was looking forward to wasn't exactly a new one. It was the system shop, and had been available for a while. But lacking the currency used there -which was system coins- Lucas had ignored it. Now however, he had some coins in hand and also had a way to earn more, so Lucas was looking forward to it.

"So system, what's the new ability?"

Lucas asked after he walked into the store and settled on the seat opposite the checkout counter.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

"Introducing the Employee Hire Function. Host can now hire employees to oversee the business, giving the host more free time while still having the store in operation."

"...did you decide on this because I haven't been running the store properly?" Lucas narrowed his eyes.

"Being aware of your sins is a good first step towards success. Host has shown signs of being more responsible."

"..."

Lucas didn't argue back because in truth, the system was right. The store, according to it, was an important aspect towards his growth as the Crafts-God, even if Lucas didn't understand how so. For this reason, the system had constantly reminded him about it and distributed missions centred around the store's operations.

"Worry not, host. All system abilities have been programmed and can't be influenced by the system. They exist to benefit, and not hold back the host." The cold voice said, somewhat reassuring.

"Then what'sthe benefit of this new function?" Lucas retorted.

"Employees can receive the same status effect as the host within the store's area. At the same time, the host can reflect the abilities of the employees onto himself. Also, employees can function as external body parts of the host as you deem fit."

"Hold up, then that means..."

"Yes." The system confirmed Lucas' thoughts.

Lucas suddenly stared ahead into empty space, before smiling abruptly.

The features stated by the system might not seem like a big deal, but they were very important; as valuable as they could ever be.

The employees being able to use the system abilities in the store was a means of protection, and in some sense, added more security to Lucas' store. After all, what could be better than one immortal individual with the ability to utilise a portion of the enemy's strength? Naturally it was more of such individuals.

However, this wasn't what got Lucas' attention. It was the line 'host can reflect the abilities of the employees onto himself '. What ability did hyumans have that Lucas desired the most?

Stellar refinement.

Using this new system function, Lucas could copy the stellar refinement level of his employees and reflect it onto himself, enabling him to be able to use stellar energy in his vestige-smithing. There would no longer be a need for forbidden techniques, which had caused harm to Lucas, both physically and fiscally.

Holding back the urge to laugh out loud, Lucas checked decided to check out the system store.

[[ Warning: 100 federal coins required for entry.]]

The system interface popped up in front of Lucas.

"Hey, system. This warning wasn't here the last time." Lucas couldn't help but be astonished.

"The system had experienced a recent level up, as such some of the facilities of functions of the system has been upgraded. For instance, the -as the host calls it- 'tax' has been dropped from 75% to 60%. The system shop also experienced a new upgrade which the host might find interesting." The system said.

"But one hundred federal coins for entry alone, this is robbery."

"Would the host prefer to pay with system coins?"

Lucas turned quiet.

Pay with system coins? It might as well ask for his blood instead.

Even though the system had informed him that he could now earn system coins from missions, based on the fact he was rewarded a mere ten coins and also from what he knew about the system, Lucas could guess that the earning rate was abysmally low. It was no understatement to say that system coins were even more valuable to Lucas than one hundred federal coins.

"Whatever. Take the payment." Lucas snorted.

Thanks to his winnings riot at the Silver Fig Trade Convention, Lucas had earned a ton of cash. He also struck deals with some freelancers and agents, and even received repair deals. Federal coins were something Lucas was now abundant in, albeit he spent a few of them during his stay in the Central Prefecture district.

'That reminds me, it's almost time for these guys to come collect their vestiges. I'll wrap up the work after this.' Lucas thought.

After paying the fee, a beep sounded from the communicator on his wrist but Lucas ignored it. He already knew it was a transaction notification from his bank.

"Please head into the work-station." The system's voice sounded in his ears.

"The work-station?" Lucas was confused, but did as he was told.

Once there, he noticed something different. As the work-station was his go-to spot in the store, even more so than his room upstairs, Lucas was familiar with every single detail about it. He could even identify the spots with a speck of dust on them, and could even differentiate areas that were recently stepped on the most.

The strange detail Lucas spotted this time around was a door by the side. Atop the door was a name plate that read "System Store".