"Another 100 energy points!"
Smith stared at the updated system notification with a faint grin. But unlike before, he wasn't in a rush to exchange for ninjutsu this time.
With just one hundred energy points, his options were pretty limited anyway.
As for the coveted Sharingan? He'd need several thousand energy points before he could even consider that. It wasn't worth checking for now.
Then there was the Wood Release. He could trade 100 energy points for a couple of low-tier C or D-rank Wood Release techniques—but what use would that be? He already had a few practical low-level techniques under his belt, ones that were flexible enough for both offense and defense. For the moment, that was sufficient.
Better to save his points.
Just then, something caught his eye.
"Hmm? It says a mysterious shop has opened... let's check it out."
Still, Smith had a feeling in his gut—this could be another trap, like those shady lottery systems where you poured in energy points only to get junk in return.
"Open the Secret Shop," Smith commanded.
A glowing, virtual double-layered shelf materialized before him. His eyes widened as he looked over the items placed neatly on display.
Flying Thunder God Technique: 50,000 energy points
Wood Style: Woodman Technique: 10,000 energy points
Mangekyō Sharingan (Susanoo): 30,000 energy points
Multiple Shadow Clone Technique: 5,000 energy points
Illusion: Art of Shackles: 800 energy points
Spiritualism Technique: 800 energy points
There were eight items in total. Was this the so-called mystery shop?
So... it's just a selection of rare and powerful skills? A bit anticlimactic.
Still, there was one improvement compared to the usual raffle-style store—everything here could be bought directly. No chance involved. That was at least something.
However, Smith quickly noticed that some of these items overlapped with those already found in the regular system shop. So what made this place so special?
Just as he was puzzling over that question, his eyes landed on a line of glowing text at the top of the shop's interface:
"Please draw your exclusive discount!"
What?!
A discount?! Smith's eyes sparkled.
He clicked without hesitation.
A virtual spinning wheel appeared in front of him, divided into several segments—Free, 10% off, 20% off, 50% off, and Original Price. The pointer whirled at dizzying speed.
"Come on, free! FREE! FREEEE!" Smith shouted internally, staring at the wheel like he could bend its fate with sheer willpower.
The pointer began to slow, passing over 20% off, then 10% off... finally creeping toward Free.
"Just a little more…!"
But to his dismay, the pointer clicked into place just short of the free slot—landing firmly on "90% off" (or "one fold," as the system worded it).
Ding!
Immediately, the original prices of the shop items were slashed before his eyes:
Flying Thunder God Technique: 5,000 energy points
Wood Style: Woodman Technique: 1,000 energy points
Mangekyō Sharingan (Susanoo): 3,000 energy points
Multiple Shadow Clone Technique: 500 energy points
Illusion: Art of Shackles: 80 energy points
Spiritualism Technique: 80 energy points
Smith stared at the price tags and nearly jumped out of his chair.
"What the hell?!"
His voice came out louder than expected, earning startled glances from the students around him.
"Smith, is something wrong?" Sun Shuyu, his homeroom teacher, asked curiously while adjusting her glasses.
He flinched. "Ah, no! Just a mosquito bite," he mumbled awkwardly.
Everyone chuckled and turned away, but Smith was already back to staring at the shop.
A 90% discount!
This was massive. Practically everything had become ten times cheaper!
But just as quickly as the excitement came, frustration followed.
Even with the discount, most of the powerful skills were still out of his reach.
He only had 100 energy points. The only two things he could afford now were:
Illusion: Art of Shackles
Spiritualism Technique
Both now cost 80 energy points, and he could only choose one.
"Why is it always like this?!" Smith groaned.
Why couldn't the system be generous for once and give him just a bit more energy? Even an extra 60 points would've let him buy both!
As he pouted, he noticed another line of text beneath the discount:
"Discount valid for: 14 days, 13 hours, 57 minutes."
"Wait, what?! I've got two weeks?!"
Hope flared in Smith's chest. That meant he had time to earn more energy points before the offer expired. If he played it smart, he could come back and claim the stronger techniques later.
But for now, he still had to choose between the two he could afford.
"The Art of Shackles… I already have the Kaguya illusion technique, which is much stronger than this. No point wasting energy there."
"But the Spiritualism Technique…"
Smith paused, deep in thought.
Originally, he had dismissed summoning techniques, thinking they were useless without a strong spirit beast—like a tailed beast—to summon.
But then it struck him.
"Wait… who says I need tailed beasts?"
He grinned.
The world outside was teeming with monsters right now. With the Spiritualism Technique, he could go out, hunt down a powerful monster, and sign it as his own spiritual beast!
That was way more useful than another illusion.
Without hesitation, Smith exchanged his 80 energy points.
---
[Exchange successful: Spiritualism Technique acquired.]
[Gift: Spiritualism Scroll received.]
[Note: Each scroll can bind one spiritual beast. Additional scrolls cost 20 energy points each.]
A purchase link for scrolls popped up.
Smith blinked. "Wait… I have to buy extra scrolls separately?!"
He felt like he had been conned.
Badly.
His grand vision of creating a massive army of monsters, each under his command, now looked like a budget plan gone wrong.
Just summoning five beasts would cost another 100 energy points in scrolls alone.
"I knew it was too good to be true," Smith muttered. "You can never trust a black-hearted system vendor…"
---
"Smith, what are you daydreaming about?"
A voice broke into his thoughts. It was Wei Lin, nudging him from the seat beside him.
Smith blinked and looked up.
"Huh? Are we back at school?"
Wei Lin nodded. "Yeah, we just arrived."
Sure enough, their group had returned from training and was now filtering back into the classrooms.
Smith followed the rest into the auxiliary class.
Sun Shuyu walked in shortly after and stood at the front with a proud smile.
"First of all, congratulations to all of you," she said warmly. "Today, you took your first step toward becoming real mutants."
"It doesn't matter whether you were scared or brave on the battlefield. What matters is that each of you stood your ground and faced a real monster."
Her eyes swept over the class, filled with emotion.
"I hope you remember how it felt—because this will become your new normal."
She paused, then adjusted her glasses again.
"Also, there are two students who deserve special recognition today."
The class quieted.
"The first is Yan Yue. Her use of the basic water ability was clean, controlled, and highly effective."
Pah pah pah pah!
Applause broke out. Yan Yue, seated in the front row, smiled modestly.
"The second is Smith."
Sun Shuyu's gaze landed on Smith, who sat near the back, by the window.
"Some of you may not realize this, but Smith and a few others proved today that the Wood Element is not a useless ability. It can be used for defense just as effectively as Earth techniques."
The room stirred with murmurs. Clearly, many hadn't expected that.
Smith scratched his head, feeling a bit embarrassed but also proud.
"But don't get too comfortable yet," Sun Shuyu continued, her tone turning serious.
"One more practical training session remains. After that—starting the day after tomorrow—you'll begin working with the academy's executive department on live missions to hunt monsters."
The classroom fell silent.
The real challenge was only just beginning.