Departing for the Land of Opportunity
The next day, Danilo woke up early. His body felt heavy. He looked to the side and found his sisters sleeping. They had all ended up sleeping together in the living room. It had been years since the last time they had done that. Back then, they were probably around thirteen, just entering adolescence.
The smell of breakfast filled the room, and his stomach growled. Last night, they had talked until late, managing to calm themselves down. They had begun to make plans. Today, they would sell half of their items and, with the crystals, evolve.
Even though they had terrible talents, they had one advantage: luck. And if they managed things well, they could trade the sacred weapons and abilities they had in abundance for the ones they truly needed.
Yesterday, he gave the Fireball book to his sister, the one with a fire talent, and she had been thrilled. During the conversation, he had also checked the panel, reading the title he had acquired, and was stunned.
Title: Assassin
Growth. One hour of killing intent lingers one meter around the user. Causes fear. Weakens enemies. For every hundred kills, the range increases by one meter. For every thousand kills, the killing intent's power doubles.
They had been excited after Danilo explained the advantage of this ability. That one hour of intent was a mental attack.
As for the silver chest, he decided to give it to his mother again. Though he wanted to open it himself, it was more practical if she did. Her luck was undeniable.
And when she opened it—
A Light Scepter. Silver. Increases intelligence by 50. Increases sacred power by 50%. Summons a shield of light when the user is attacked.
Skill Book: Resurrection B. Can resurrect anyone who died less than one hour ago. Cooldown: one day.
Skill Book: Speed of Light A. Increases the user's speed by 400%.
His mother tried to learn the Resurrection book but failed, since there was a limit to how many skills a person could learn in the first stage.
So Augusta learned it, thanks to her beast-tamer talent, ensuring their safety.
Danilo himself learned Speed of Light, since he was the family's attacker. His mother replaced her scepter with the new one and handed the old one to Maria, the eldest of the quadruplets.
He got up from the mattress, trying to make as little noise as possible so as not to wake his sisters. He walked into the kitchen and sat at the counter.
"How are you feeling?" his mother asked gently.
Since yesterday, she had felt bad for him. It broke her heart to see the burden her son carried—something she, as a mother, wanted to stop, but couldn't.
"I'm fine. What time do we enter the Divine Domain?"
"At ten o'clock. But before that…"
She walked over to him, and suddenly, a golden slip of paper appeared in her hands. She handed it to him.
"The opportunity," he said, breathing heavily as he saw the paper. Even though he already knew that he was the most likely one in the family to use it, he couldn't stop himself from feeling moved.
"Yes," his mother said softly. "Out of all of us, you understand best what's happening. I don't know where this opportunity will lead, but you're the most suited. And with your new sword and the Sacred Shield healing skill you learned, you'll be safer. And with that new ability that boosts your speed—no one is better than you to go to this place."
By around nine o'clock, everyone was gathered. The plan was to enter the Divine Domain at ten. So, at nine, Danilo would go into the Land of Opportunity. If he got something good, they would use it to strengthen themselves. If not, then it would simply be fate.
They sat together at the dining table, each in their place.
"What do you think? What do you think the Land of Opportunity will be like?" Fátima asked, her eyes shining with excitement.
"I just hope it has lots of chef skill books," Maria answered. "Especially alchemy, because I don't even know where to start."
"Based on the stories, it should be some kind of vault belonging to a supreme being who decided to be generous with the newbies of the Divine Domain. Probably a place where you just run and grab whatever shows up in front of you. Pure luck. I believe there will be spiritual crystals, but I won't touch those. I'll go for powerful weapons and skill books. The stronger, the better—because our talents are garbage."
"Hey!" their mother smacked him lightly on the back of the head.
"Watch your mouth."
"Our talents may be bad, but in the end, talents are just passive abilities we're born with. We can make up for them with stronger passives. That's why, before anything else, we need to empty our shop warehouse—because I'll be sending everything I grab straight there. We need to sell it all."
He then pulled everything out of the warehouse, listed it for sale, and freed up space. They had agreed on fair prices yesterday, but after the urgency caused by the Zacarias group, Danilo decided to turn cold-hearted and doubled the prices.
Sacred Healing, D — 10,000 level 1 crystals.
Sacred Barrier, D — 10,000 level 1 crystals.
Blessing of Speed, D — 10,000 level 1 crystals.
Blessing of Strength, D — 10,000 level 1 crystals.
Purification, C — 15,000 level 1 crystals.
Aura of Lightness, D — 10,000 level 1 crystals.
Aura of Weakness, C — 15,000 level 1 crystals.
Sacred Fire, C — 15,000 level 1 crystals.
Common Sacred Scepter — 3,000 level 1 crystals.
Common Sacred Cloak — 3,000 level 1 crystals.
Everyone stared at the prices, dumbfounded—and embarrassed.
"Isn't that too expensive?" Augusta asked.
"For now, yes. But think about it long term. Imagine a month from now, when people are level 5 or higher, looking back at these prices. 10,000 spiritual crystals equals 5,000 level 2 crystals, 3,333 level 3 crystals, 2,500 level 4 crystals, and 2,000 level 5 crystals. The idea that this is expensive only exists because we're at the start. People will keep hunting monsters and evolving—nobody will fall behind."
"There will also be rich people who'll buy spiritual crystals with real money. There'll be plenty of them to sell and exchange."
"Then why don't we sell for money?" Maria asked, confused. "We'd have a lot of cash."
"Never do that," he said seriously. "First, as long as we're weak, no one must ever know that the Five Treasures Trading Group belongs to us.
"After any commercial transaction, people's eyes will be on us, and they'll want to know our secret. Selling for money leaves trails, and those trails will lead back to us. I don't need to tell you what will happen if they find out it's us while we're still weak.
"Second, the rich already have money—and in this new world, spiritual crystals are the new currency. Whoever controls more crystals will be the strongest. What they'll do is create channels to buy crystals, then get stronger and hoard them. In the end, they'll remain the most powerful. And unlike before, they won't just have political and economic power—they'll also have physical power.
"I think the evolution of the Divine Domain increases longevity. Now imagine: rich, powerful, and nearly immortal… Everyone will realize this in silence."
"We need to get stronger quietly. Even if things look bad for us, don't forget: Mother has the luck talent, Chaotic Heart. Even if it's class F, it's basically class S, thanks to her incredible item drops. She also has the Sacred Sword ability, which is basically a class A talent. And let's not forget Speed of Light."
"We might not compare to the chosen protagonists out there—but if we manage things well, the Chicana family will stand at the top of the world."
"Well, ladies and gentlemen, it's time for me to go," he said, standing and holding the golden slip. "I'd tell you to wish me luck, but I already know I'll have it. So, start the clock for 10 minutes. If God wills—and He will—after 10 minutes, our lives will change. Just like our destinies."
Then he tore the paper—
—and vanished.