"Blood?" His mind reeled. He thought he was injured, so he immediately took off his clothes to look at himself in the mirror in the center of his room.
It was difficult to stand up, but when he reached the mirror, he was stunned.
On his chest, right where his heart was, there was a strange concentration of blood inside, darkening the entire area.
It looked as if... his heart had exploded.
"The Death of the Bandit..."
One of the forms of punishment used by the Lockward Family crossed his mind.
It was a skill used to punish bandits and extract information from them. It was usually used on organs that wouldn't kill you immediately and, obviously, on people who needed to be punished, but this time it had been used on him, and on his heart!
"When did this happen?" His mind descended into chaos.
It must have been during the awakening ceremony, right when he was reincarnated, because that way the memories of the body could reach him without the presence of another soul. If that's the case, was he killed just now?
'The Death of the Bandit is used by...' He remembered the family branch to which that God of Earthly Beasts belonged; they were specialists in using it.
'Was it them?'
As he was in a state of confusion, his door suddenly rang and opened.
"Louis. Your father has come to see you." A thunderous voice shook him from his core, startling him.
The man who had just entered was 2 meters tall, with highly robust and polished muscles, the most perfect physique in terms of musculature and power. Each step he took seemed to resonate throughout the world, like thunder and lightning constantly striking.
He was one of the most powerful men, respected even by other gods. He was a man of tremendous power.
Louis tried to hide the wound on his chest, but his father frowned when he saw the blood on the floor.
'Blood from the heart?' He raised his head and looked at Louis, then frowned. 'Traces of a deadly attack.' His body disappeared, and, like a bolt of lightning, he appeared in front of Louis, removing the hand that was covering his chest without him noticing.
"The Death of the Bandit..." His eyes suddenly flashed as if lightning had crossed through them, and he struck Louis' chest, then moved his hand upward.
The blood that had been concentrated in that spot immediately began to rise up Louis' body, and some blood came out of his mouth, another part through his pores.
Soon, all the blood was gathered in a ball before the God of Thunder.
"There are no traces..." He frowned. For a few seconds, he remained silent.
After that, he shrugged and threw the blood on the ground. Then he turned around.
"It doesn't matter, you're useless anyway." He seemed to mutter so that he wouldn't be heard, but given the proximity between the two, Louis could hear his words clearly.
"Louis, get ready and come see me in the Hall of Thunder. We've decided on your future. You have 30 minutes." With that, just as he had come, the God of Thunder disappeared.
Louis was stunned, but he looked at his heart once more and... there was no more blood there. He even felt better than ever.
'...A god. I've met a god.' That was what he thought.
Although he had memories of his father in his mind, it was the first time he had witnessed the power of such a being. Not only had he healed him instantly, but he had also alleviated all discomfort from his body simply by touching him.
'Is this what they call 'Divinity'? I wonder if I will be able to have it in the future... I awakened a class, after all. Even though they called it useless. How could being the God of Money be useless? I wish I had been one before...' He sighed.
"Oh, right, the system." Realizing that he hadn't checked the system, he quickly looked in its direction.
[Welcome to Lasterion, Louis Lockward, Host of the God of Money System]
[You have awakened the SSS Rank Class: God of Money. Make sure your actions from now on are worthy of the title.]
[God Level Class]
| God of Money.
| SSS Rank.
| Your actions generate money, and your achievements are bathed in it. Your money gives you power, and your strength grants you divinity.
| Ability: Create Missions with your actions. These missions generate System Coins based on their difficulty. Each completed Mission grants you System Coins, which you can exchange for real money, items, or anything else in the world, including Power.
| Every 10 System Coins earned through Created Missions grants you 1 Stat Point.
| Every 100 System Coins spent grants you 1 Stat Point.
Louis was stunned. 'I can create missions?' he thought.
'And on top of that, I can earn Stat Points by completing these missions...'
As far as he could remember, part of the strengthening of this world was based on stat points.
There were magicians, swordsmen, martial artists, and armamentalist.
Each of them has its own peculiarities and differences, and they are all different paths, but they are centered on the idea that the way to become stronger is through Statistics. Increasing them will increase your power.
When he thought of them, his statistics appeared in front of him, as if he had called them.
[Louis Lockward Status Window]
| Race: Human son of God [Level 1]
| Class: God of Money [SSS]
[Statistics]
HP: 100/100.
Mana: 34/34.
| Strength: 5.
| Vitality: 5.
| Endurance: 5
| Agility: 5.
| Intelligence: 10.
| Perception (Innate): 100.
'Level 1... And such low stats. No wonder this guy has a reputation for being the weakest among the children of God. Undoubtedly, these stats are worth it.' Louis smiled mockingly at himself and decided not to think about it.
Now he had a Class that could strengthen him at every step, while also enriching him.
As he was deep in thought about the many possibilities for using it and creating those "missions," his mind wandered for almost 10 minutes.
Until his mind remembered his father's words: "You have 30 minutes..."
He shuddered. "Shit, it's true. I don't have time."
He quickly moved to take a shower, but then a system window popped up in front of him again.
[Mission: Enlist in less than 30 minutes.]
| By order of your father, the God of Thunder, you must enlist in less than 30 minutes.
| The first 10 Missions will receive a 1000% bonus.
| Previous reward: 1 System Coin.
| New reward: 10 System Coins.
| Time remaining: 19:50.
| Failing the mission could result in punishment from the God of Thunder, and the system will not grant you the reward.
'Huh? Such a simple mission? And already 10 coins? That's already a point...' He smiled broadly. 'So, this is what it means to create missions...' Without thinking, he went to enlist.
The place where he lived was prominent and had many things he would have liked to see, but he ignored most of them to complete his mission on time.
Ten minutes later.
[Congratulations. You have completed your first mission.]
[10 System Coins have been credited]
"Hehe. Good. It looks like this has begun."
Excited, he checked to see if he had any available stat points, then opened the system store, curious to see what he could buy with coins.
The first thing that happened was a system announcement:
[1 System Coin is equivalent to 1 God Coin or 100 million Human Coins.]
'100 million. According to inherited memories, 100 million Human Coins, which are called Jens, are a large amount of money in the outside world.'
But he decided to ignore the money and looked at the store as it was.
But then...
Something got in his way once again.
[To enter the Path of God and ascend in the world, you must purchase the Path Pass.
The system will be configured according to your choice. However, please note that you can change your choice later, provided you are willing to pay a fee.
It will not affect your strengthening or your understanding of the chosen Path, as you can travel all of them, because you are not bound to any of them. Your only tie is Money.]
[Four Paths]
| Path of the Magician: 2 secondary paths.
| Path of the Swordsman: 2 secondary paths.
| Path of the Martial Artist: 2 secondary paths.
| Path of the Armamentalist: Single path.
[Choose wisely, your first choice will be free.]
Louis frowned, and his expression fell a little because he was deep in thought.
'...Destined Paths. I heard that every person was bound to one from the moment they awoke. If you're a wizard, you can't be anything else because that depends on your awakened ability.' He remembered his older brothers, who were bound to one of these, and it seemed normal to him.
Even his father was.
'Being the God of Thunder,' he emphasized.
But he... according to this, he wasn't.
'It makes sense, in a way. My father's class is God of Thunder, so from its name alone, he was bound to that form of magic and strength. While my class doesn't bind me to any of the paths, it binds me to money. And money is versatile, being whatever one wants it to be.'
He was surprised, and now that he stopped to think about it... If he took full advantage of this, wouldn't he become ridiculously powerful, even becoming a great eminence on par with his father?
Besides, wouldn't he be able to take revenge on those two bastards then?
He had been shot in the back and betrayed for five years. How could he not want revenge? Besides, he would like to show that traitor that his life was now much better.
'Too bad the fantasy didn't hit me while I was there. I would have enjoyed seeing their expressions.' Despite thinking this, he knew he didn't have time to think about nonsense.
First, he had to get stronger, then take revenge.
Besides, a bastard had attacked him today and practically killed him, which meant he had enemies here. There were other targets too, and powerful enough to do it without anyone noticing, even in a public place.
But for now, he must go to his father.
He looked once more at the choice of paths and decided not to decide for now. This is not an easy decision. The Destined Paths are the beginning of his strengthening. When he is calmer, he will review it.
Then he turned to leave.
But the system reappeared before him.
[Mission issued: Face your Father, the God of Thunder]
| Your father has something important to tell you. You must go and listen to everything he has to say without flinching.
| The first 10 Missions will receive a 1000% bonus.
| Previous reward: 10 System Coins.
| New reward: 100 System Coins.
| Failing the mission could result in punishment from the Thunder God, and the rewards mentioned above will not be awarded.
| Good luck.