Max out daily currency conversion (1 Gold Coin -> 10 SC) whenever possible. Requires acquiring 1 Gold Coin daily.
Actively seek and complete System Tasks for supplementary income and potential direct rewards.
Develop a plausible cover story and begin subtly leveraging his knowledge to generate legitimate income – consulting, optimizing, finding inefficiencies others missed.
Accumulate 100 SC specifically for the Maternal Bloodline Awakening task.
Survive. Preferably without ending up back on the sofa permanently.
It was a tall order. But looking at Fang, feeling the crackle of nascent power within his own blood, Lloyd felt a surge of determination he hadn't known since his desperate, vengeance-fueled years in his first life. This time wasn't just about survival or revenge. It was about building something. Becoming something more.
And step one, apparently, was figuring out how to make a quick buck without raising too many alarms. The life of a secret, time-traveling, cosmically-empowered protagonist, he reflected wryly, involved a surprising amount of financial planning.
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The transition from the muted chaos of the Ferrum Estate's day to the heavy stillness of evening always felt abrupt within the confines of Lloyd and Rosa's shared suite. Outside, torches were being lit, guards changed shifts, the low murmur of servants preparing for night duties might drift faintly down the corridors. But inside? Silence. A thick, almost tangible silence layered over the low-grade hum of unresolved tension and the ever-present, cloying scent of lavender and citrus potpourri.
Lloyd Ferrum sat cross-legged on the dreaded sofa, eyes closed, attempting meditation. Or rather, attempting the frustrating, often futile process of cultivating Spirit Energy with his singularly unimpressive Spirit Core. He'd spent the better part of the afternoon reviewing Ken Park's meticulously gathered intelligence on Rubel's coerced witnesses, cross-referencing it with data gleaned from the dusty estate archives. The case against his uncle was solidifying nicely, the immediate crisis was handled, and the adrenaline subsided. But he needs to be prepared for the future.
Which left him with the gnawing, persistent problem: money. Or rather, the distinct lack thereof. Three System Coins. A balance so pathetic it was almost insulting. He needed one hundred fresh coins just to unlock his maternal bloodline. He needed thousands for upgrades. His brilliant plan to leverage his Earth knowledge into a consulting gig felt… nebulous. Too slow. Too many variables. What he needed was a product. Something tangible. Something profitable. Now.
Think, Lloyd, think, his internal monologue prodded, running parallel to his attempts to feel the faint trickle of ambient Spirit Energy in the air. Leverage Earth knowledge. What did Earth have that Riverio desperately needs?
His mind cycled through increasingly ridiculous options.
Antibiotics? Requires microbiology, fermentation vats, sterile conditions… yeah, no. Too complex, too likely to get him burned as a plague-spreading warlock.
Internal combustion engine? Metallurgy nightmare. Fuel refining? Forget it. He'd be lucky to build a steam engine that didn't explode, let alone miniaturize it for a carriage.
The Internet? He mentally snorted. Right. First, invent computers, fibre optics, global satellite networks, and maybe teach everyone binary. Simple.
Automated Pizzeria Drone Delivery Service? Okay, brain, now you're just being stupid. Stop it.
The sheer scale of the technological and magical disparity was overwhelming. Finding a simple, implementable, profitable idea felt impossible. His mind was a whirlwind of advanced concepts – quantum physics, genetic engineering, advanced materials science – utterly useless in a world that considered well-crafted steel a near-miracle and relied on carrier pigeons for urgent news.
Maybe I should just focus on getting stronger first, he conceded internally, frustration mounting. More power, more options. Which brought him back to the current, equally frustrating task: meditation. Trying to coax his sluggish single Spirit Core into absorbing ambient energy felt less like mindful cultivation and more like trying to inflate a car tire with a bicycle pump. A rusty bicycle pump. With a leak.
He focused, trying to replicate the techniques Master Arnold had patiently (and fruitlessly) explained in his first life. Feel the flow. Draw it in. Guide it to the core. Refine it. Easy for some, apparently. For him, it felt like trying to catch smoke with tweezers. He could sense the energy, a faint tingling static in the air, richer within the magically saturated walls of the estate than out in the common streets, but drawing it in? That was the bottleneck. His core felt… constipated. Reluctant. Stubbornly inefficient.
Across the room, shrouded in the deep shadows beyond the lamplight's reach, Rosa Siddik shifted slightly on the massive four-poster bed. She wasn't asleep. Her own cultivation session had concluded hours ago, her three efficient Spirit Cores humming contentedly, having absorbed and processed more energy in an hour than Lloyd likely managed in a week of dedicated effort.