The blue glare dimmed, leaving Leo panting in the shadowy alcove. His vision swirled with dark spots as his Mana crashed down from 50 to 1. The intense migraine returned, sharper this time, but he ignored the pain in his temples.
He opened his hands.
In his left hand sat the original Low-Grade Energy Crystal. In his right hand sat an identical twin. Both held the exact same crystalline geometry, the same icy temperature, and the same dense aura of concentrated magic.
System Error: Manual skill override detected.
Skill Executed: Material Replication.
Item Duplicated: Low-Grade Energy Crystal.
Leo let out a quiet breath he had been holding. It worked. The System did not flag the crystal as magical gear because it was classified purely as an unchanted raw energy resource.
Now came the critical moment: closing the loop.
Leo held one of the crystals tightly in his palm and willed the System to absorb it.
Absorb Low-Grade Energy Crystal.
Restored 50 Mana.
Mana: 50 out of 50.
A powerful surge of cool, refreshing energy washed through his chest, instantly wiping away his migraine and restoring his mental clarity. His Mana bar was completely full again.
He looked at his hands. He still had one Low-Grade Energy Crystal remaining in his right palm, and his Mana was back at max capacity.
"The net cost of the duplication was zero," Leo realized, his eyes shining in the dark. "I spent 49 Mana to copy the crystal, and the duplicated crystal gave me 50 Mana back. I am gaining 1 free Mana and 1 free crystal per cycle."
He didn't waste another second. He focused his mind, channelled 49 Mana into the remaining crystal, and forced the skill to trigger again.
Manual Skill Overclocking.
Material Replication.
Sapphire light flashed in the alcove.
Item Duplicated: Low-Grade Energy Crystal.
Mana Drained: 49 out of 50.
He immediately absorbed the newly created crystal.
Restored 50 Mana.
Mana: 50 out of 50.
He repeated the process.
Flash of light. 49 Mana drained. Duplicate created.
Absorb crystal. 50 Mana restored.
Flash of light. 49 Mana drained. Duplicate created.
Absorb crystal. 50 Mana restored.
By the fifth repetition, Leo's hands were moving with fluid, practiced speed. The System's manual override warning popped up after every cast, but because he was instantly refilling his Mana pool with the duplicated crystals, the System could not enforce the 24-hour lock out.
Instead of absorbing every single crystal he made, he began setting every second crystal aside on the dirt floor beside him.
One crystal on the ground.
Two crystals on the ground.
Five crystals on the ground.
Ten crystals on the ground.
Ten Low-Grade Energy Crystals sat glowing softly in the dark dirt, representing 500 System Credits. It had taken him less than three minutes to produce them out of thin air.
Time remaining until Second Wave: 4 hours and 48 minutes.
"If I sell these ten crystals to the System Shop right now," Leo calculated, "I get 500 credits. With 500 credits, I can buy a High-Grade Energy Crystal or permanent attribute points."
He picked up five of the duplicated crystals, stuffed them into his hoodie pocket, and walked back out toward the glowing monolith in the center of the camp.
The plaza around the monolith was getting rowdier. Groups were forming under self-proclaimed leaders, mostly athletic people or those who had rolled offensive Iron-Tier skills. Marcus, the man with the heavy iron mace from earlier, was standing on a stone ledge shouting to a crowd of fifty people.
"We need a unified front!" Marcus roared, swinging his mace. "If you don't have a weapon, you stay in the back! Anyone who wants protection from my squad gives us twenty percent of their wave rewards!"
People were arguing, desperate and afraid. Most were willing to agree just to survive the incoming monster horde.
Leo walked past the crowd quietly, reaching the far side of the stone monolith. He accessed the sell menu and transferred five Low-Grade Energy Crystals into the system interface.
Five Low-Grade Energy Crystals sold.
Gained 250 System Credits.
Current Credit Balance: 250 Credits.
The System Shop updated his balance instantly.
Leo opened the Attributes tab in the shop. Most Initiates didn't even know this tab existed yet because attribute points were extremely expensive in the early game.
Free Attribute Point. Price: 100 Credits each.
Leo stared at the screen.
In the Tutorial, leveling up by killing monsters gave a small stat boost, but buying stat points directly from the shop allowed unlimited scaling as long as you had the credits.
Purchase Confirmed: 2 Free Attribute Points.
200 Credits deducted.
Two glowing silver lights emerged from the monolith and sank directly into Leo's chest.
You have acquired 2 Free Attribute Points.
Leo opened his status pane and allocated both points immediately into Intelligence.
Intelligence increased from 12 to 14.
Maximum Mana increased from 50 to 60.
Leo felt a subtle shift in his mind, as if a layer of fog had been cleared from his thoughts. His mental processing speed felt faster, sharper, and his internal Mana reservoir expanded.
With a max Mana capacity of 60, his manual skill cost of 49 Mana was no longer draining him to absolute zero. He would have 11 Mana left over after every single replication cycle, giving him a safety cushion against physical exhaustion.
"Now," Leo whispered, looking at his remaining 50 credits and the five extra energy crystals sitting back in his hidden cave nook. "Let's see what weapons the shop has for someone with infinite funding."
He opened the Weapons tab and filtered by Rare tier.