The pre-dawn chill by the secluded pond felt less like a damp inconvenience and more like the aftermath of a contained explosion. The air still thrummed with the residual energy of Fang's transformation and the imprinting of the Thousand Chirp Strike. Lloyd rested a hand on the wolf-spirit's shoulder, feeling the low-level vibration beneath the storm-cloud fur, the quiet hum of contained lightning. Fang stood beside him, a magnificent, terrifying fusion of predatory grace and elemental power, his golden eyes surveying the misty landscape with an unnerving, ancient intelligence.
Lightning Spirit, Lloyd mused again, the implications still settling. Shadow affinity dormant. Question marks… What secrets was this creature hiding? What potential lay buried beneath the surface, waiting for the right key – or perhaps, the right amount of System Coins? The possibilities were both exhilarating and daunting. For now, though, having a manifested ability, a powerful offensive tool like the Thousand Chirp Strike, felt like a monumental leap forward. He wasn't just a guy with a surprisingly tough wolf anymore; he was bonded to a nascent force of nature armed with lightning claws.
He mentally dismissed the lingering System interface, the glow fading from his vision. Three coins left. Practically broke in the cosmic superpower economy. He needed more. Much more. Upgrading Fang to Ascension, let alone Transcend, would require thousands of coins. Buying Void Powers, upgrading his own hidden Steel and Fire abilities… the shopping list in his head was already miles long and terrifyingly expensive.
Just as the familiar sense of being cosmically underfunded began to settle in, a new notification flickered into existence, precise and informative.
[New Primary Goal Detected!]
[Task: Awaken Latent Maternal Bloodline]
[Description: User possesses dormant Void Power potential inherited from the maternal lineage (Austin Family). System analysis indicates potential for unique synergies with paternal Ferrum abilities and Spirit affinity. Awakening requires significant energy infusion.]
[Objective: Accumulate 100 System Coins (SC) specifically designated for Bloodline Awakening Ritual.]
[Note: These 100 SC must be acquired after the initiation of this task. Existing balance (3 SC) not applicable.]
Lloyd stared. Maternal bloodline? His mother, Milody Austin. He knew her family possessed Void abilities, respectable ones tied to sonic manipulation and sensory enhancement, but nothing overtly powerful or widely renowned like the Ferrum line's (supposed) Iron powers. Dormant potential? Unique synergies? Another hidden layer? Gods, how much had he missed in his first life?
But the requirement… One hundred System Coins. Specifically for this. His meager three coins wouldn't even count. He needed to earn a fresh hundred.
Before the wave of 'how the hell am I supposed to do that?' could fully hit him, another notification popped up, detailing a new, permanent System function.
[System Function Unlocked: Currency Conversion Protocol]
[Mechanism: User may now convert standard Riverio currency into System Coins.]
[Daily Limit: Maximum conversion equivalent to 10 System Coins (SC) per 24-hour cycle.]
[Exchange Rates:]
* [1000 Bronze Coins = 1 SC]
* [10 Silver Coins = 1 SC]
* [1 Gold Coin = 10 SC]
[Conversion Ratios: 100 Bronze = 1 Silver | 100 Silver = 1 Gold]
[Summary: User can acquire a maximum of 10 SC per day by converting 1 Gold Coin OR 100 Silver Coins OR 10,000 Bronze Coins.]
Lloyd's brain, the eighty-year-old part accustomed to navigating complex financial systems (albeit Earth ones involving stocks, bonds, and the occasional dubious cryptocurrency), immediately started crunching numbers.
One Gold Coin equals Ten System Coins. Daily limit: Ten System Coins. Okay, simple enough. Acquire one Gold Coin per day, feed it to the System, max out the conversion. Easy peasy… except…
My allowance, the nineteen-year-old part of his brain helpfully supplied, accompanied by a wave of remembered adolescent frustration. My pathetic, barely-covers-new-gloves-and-maybe-a-book allowance.
How much was it again? He dredged up the memory. Fifteen Gold Coins. Per month. Deposited discreetly into an account managed by the estate bursar. Enough to maintain appearances, buy necessities, perhaps indulge in a minor extravagance without needing to constantly petition his father. But hardly a fortune, especially by Arch Duke heir standards.
He did a quick mental calculation. Fifteen Gold per month. That meant he could max out the 10 SC daily conversion for… one and a half days per month? Pitiful. If he relied solely on his allowance, converting one Gold Coin daily whenever he could, it would take him… ten days of conversion spread across months just to get the 100 SC needed for the Awakening task. Forget about accumulating the thousands needed for upgrades.
This is ridiculous, he thought, scowling. I have the cosmic equivalent of Amazon Prime for superpowers, and I'm stuck using pocket money like a teenager saving up for a concert ticket.