Chapter 80: New customer, heading back. "Can I come with you? I’d like to check out your products and buy some of that bread." "Sure." The walk back to Sin City passed quickly. Kelyss proved to be an engaging conversationalist; she didn’t turn the conversations into awkward ones.. Sin City’s familiar mood welcomed them as they passed through the gates. "There," Noah pointed toward his shop’s modest storefront. "The Idle Shop." Kelyss studied the simple wooden sign with a curious gaze. "Understated. I like that. Most shops around here try way too hard to grab attention by adding some figure of a beautiful succubus or things like that." Inside, Noah’s shelves displayed their usual stock. Moon pulsed with gentle energy from its corner position, adding ambience that enhanced the atmosphere of the small shop. "Wow," Kelyss took a deep breath in. "The air is so refreshing here, it feels really good." Noah smiled, his eyes landing on Moon. Kelyss’ eyes immediately drew to the iced tea. "What are those?" "Iced tea," Noah replied, watching her reaction. "Increases mana reserves and regeneration by thirty percent for ten minutes." Her expression shifted from curiosity to genuine excitement. "Mana enhancement? That’s... that’s exactly what I need for longer hunting sessions." "Twenty golden coins," Noah said, noting how her enthusiasm didn’t waver at the price point. "And the bread?" "Ten golden coins per loaf. I won’t change my price now." Kelyss reached for her coin pouch without hesitation. "One of each, please." "Right away," He responded, making his way to the shelves. The transaction proceeded smoothly Noah wrapped the bread carefully while Kelyss examined the iced tea bottle with obvious appreciation. "This is beautiful," she murmured, holding the glass bottle up to catch the light. "The liquid actually glows, and it looks so beautiful. I can already tell that it’s going to taste amazing, just by looking at it." "Well...you are not wrong. My customers always praise this iced tea’s taste. My products don’t just have good effects, but they also have good taste." He smiled. Kelyss activated her storage ring, depositing both purchases into whatever dimensional space the storage ring contained. "Priceless treasures," she said with satisfaction. "These are going straight into secure storage until I need them." "Thank you for your business," Noah replied with genuine appreciation. "Feel free to return anytime. I open up every day, there is a limit to buying, and it’s one per person, and it usually runs out fast. So make sure you come either early or this late, like today, but coming late doesn’t guarantee anything, as I might not be there." "Oh, I will," Kelyss assured him, already heading toward the door. "This won’t be my last visit. You will probably see me here tomorrow, and I will try to come early morning before my hunt." Noah’s smile twitched. "Well...don’t come too early..." Noah gave her his opening times, and Kelyss nodded, making a mental note. As the door closed behind her, Noah checked his status. — Host: Noah Carter Age: 28 Shops: 1 Daily Revenue: $5,000 Current Assets: $94,300.64 Shop Points: 2160 Attributes: Strength: 20, Vitality: 4, Intelligence: 7, Agility: 20 Skills: Swordsmanship(Level 5), Mana Control (Level 4), Cooking (Level 2), Programming (Level 2), Finance (Level 1), Surviving on Ramen (Level 3), Gaming (Level 1) — [Auto-IceTea ] Level: 2 Production Rate: 1 Iced Tea every hour Max Stock: 24 Progress: 57/100 — [Auto-Baker] Level: 2 Production Rate: 2 Loaves every hour Max Stock: 24 Progress: 33/100 — Noah’s eyes moved across the familiar numbers with growing satisfaction. "My shop points are climbing steadily toward the 5000 threshold. Daily revenue is maintaining solid growth. And my current assets are approaching six figures once again...life is good." Then he reached the attributes section. His mouth fell open. What the hell? Strength: 20. Agility: 20. The numbers flashed across his retina. Just hours ago, both attributes had been sitting at pathetic single digits. Now they had reached twenty, a number so high he was shocked by it. System, what the hell is going on? Why did I gain so many attributes out of nowhere? [Host, your Swordsmanship skill has levelled up to Level 5, which means you have crossed a milestone that allowed you to become a novice swordsman. Despite your inability to control aura, you still possess the physical strength and skill set of a novice swordsman.] The explanation suddenly made sense. Damn... I thought my strikes had gotten more powerful and faster purely because of my improved technique. Turns out, it’s also thanks to the significant increase in my speed and strength. Level 5 wasn’t just another incremental improvement; it was a threshold that transformed his physical capabilities by a large margin. So that’s why the beetle fights felt so different. I wasn’t just getting better technique, I was getting stronger. Literally stronger. Noah suddenly realised that he could have most likely dodged the attack from the second beetle while he had protected Kelyss. He was so used to his low agility that he didn’t bother moving when it was so close to him, and focused on defence. With my agility, I could’ve probably dodged that. His body felt more coordinated, more responsive, like someone had upgraded his entire operating system overnight. "Wait..." he said aloud, a thought emerging from the revelations of the system. "Does that mean when I level up my Mana Control skill to Level 5, my Intelligence will also skyrocket to 20?" 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢 [That is indeed correct, host. Once you level it up, your mana capacity will also increase substantially, just like your Strength and Agility did.] 20 Intelligence points...that would be good. The storage ring would finally respond to his touch. Basic spells would become accessible. I’m one level away from becoming a novice mage. Noah stared at his reflection in the shop’s window. The scrawny programmer who’d dodged debt collectors had evolved into something he would have never expected. And I’m not even close to finished growing. Looking at his incredibly high stats, another thought emerged once again. "My strength is so high...why do I still look the same? Shouldn’t I get some bigger muscles, toned abs and all that kind of stuff?" [No host. Whilst your strength has increased, it has nothing to do with your strength or agility. For the things you’ve mentioned, you need another attribute, Charisma, that attribute is currently locked for you. You can unlock it once you reach a higher store level.]