No one knew what Corazon had said to Luo.
But from that day on, Corazon's attitude toward Luo clearly changed. Luo, however, still acted as indifferent as ever.
At the beginning of the month, the System Shop finally refreshed.
Abel eagerly clicked in to take a look. Aside from [Red Heart], which was always listed first, four new items had appeared.
Item: [Aurora Slash] (Purple) Skill Item Description: Concentrate your will, spirit, and perception, then channel them into your sword. This is a sword technique of tremendous power. Effect: Unleash an arc-shaped slash of aurora-colored sword energy to attack enemies from a distance. Price: 2,800 Trade Points (crossed out) Limited-time start-of-month flash sale: 200 Trade Points! Quantity: 1 Time limit: 23 hours, 59 minutes P.S. Damn, you lucky son of a bitch!
Item: [Asura Mark] (Purple) Single-use consumable Description: A stone imbued with some kind of mysterious power. Effect: Can enhance and upgrade certain types of skills. Price: 1,000 Trade Points Quantity: 1 P.S. Don't complain about the price. If you do, take the next exit on the left!
Item: [Green Arrow Chewing Gum] (White) Single-use consumable Description: Fresh breath, with Green Arrow~ Effect: Freshens your breath and slightly increases mental resistance while active. Price: 5 Trade Points Quantity: 10 P.S. How much did they pay you for the ad? I'll offer ten times that for Stride!
Item: [Snap Fire Oil] (White) Single-use consumable Description: A bizarre item created by some inexplicable person. Effect: Apply it to your hands, then snap your fingers to light a little flame at your fingertips. Price: 30 Trade Points Quantity: 1 bottle P.S. Wow, what boy could ever say no to something this cool?! Buy it, buy it!
After looking through the newly refreshed items, Abel was stunned.
It wasn't particularly surprising for a purple-quality item to appear as the start-of-month flash sale.
But a purple-quality item had appeared among the regular items, too. That was a wonderful surprise!
The price, though, was painfully steep.
Without a second thought, he bought the skill [Aurora Slash] and used it. It was an absolute must-buy!
It had originally cost 2,800 Trade Points, but now it was only 200. Only a fool wouldn't buy it.
Then he found himself hesitating.
Was [Asura Mark] really worth buying?
He only had two skills at the moment. If he bought it and it couldn't do anything, it would just gather dust in storage for now.
It wouldn't be a waste, exactly, but buying it would leave him right back where he started. He couldn't help feeling reluctant.
"Damn it, I'm going for it!"
After thinking it over for a long while, Abel decided to take a chance.
After all, a purple-quality item this rare might not show up again for a long time.
So he bought it outright.
His Trading Points instantly dropped from four digits to just 70.
A sense of urgency immediately welled up inside him.
Then he tried using [Asura Mark] at once. As it turned out, his luck was neither good nor bad.
He couldn't use [Asura Mark] on [Magic Card Modification], but he could use it to enhance the newly acquired [Aurora Slash].
The enhanced [Aurora Slash] instantly became [Asura Aurora Slash]!
Skill: [Asura Aurora Slash] (Orange) Level: LV1 Cost: Spirit, Stamina Requirement: Sword or blade weapon Effect: Unleash a massive, intersecting arc of aurora sword energy to slash enemies from a distance. The attack has a degree of penetration and can be charged. While charging, spirit and stamina are rapidly consumed, greatly increasing the size and travel distance of the slash once released.
This was the first time Abel had ever seen an orange-quality skill.
In one word: powerful!
Those thousand-plus Trade Points hadn't gone to waste. It was worth it.
Under normal circumstances, he might not have been able to buy it even for 5,000.
Most importantly, he finally had a reliable way to attack.
Eager to try it out, Abel immediately closed the System Shop, let Baby-5 know he was leaving, and headed out of the junkyard.
After spending this time together, he and Luo had begun to fit into the Donquixote Family and had earned a certain level of trust. As long as they didn't try to escape, they could go wherever they wanted.
So Abel easily made his way to an uninhabited forest on the outskirts of the island.
He slowly gripped the long sword at his waist, then drew it with a sharp motion.
The next moment, he activated Asura Aurora Slash!
An arc-shaped slash about two meters long, like two brilliant crescent moons woven together, burst forward!
Tree after tree crashed to the ground.
The cut surfaces were perfectly smooth, with traces of aurora-colored light still lingering on them.
The sword energy didn't dissipate until it had traveled about fifteen meters.
Abel was very satisfied with its power.
After all, the skill was only LV1. And right now, he relied entirely on the skill's effects to produce this kind of power. If he himself were strong enough, the damage he could cause would surely be far greater.
"The stamina cost is pretty high, though. With my current stamina, I can probably only use it three times in a row."
"I'll rest for a bit, then test how powerful it is when charged."
After a while, Abel's stamina had recovered. He took the same stance as before, but instead of releasing the slash immediately, he held it back.
Beautiful, multicolored aurora began to envelop him, ethereal and mysterious.
But after charging for only a few seconds, his spirit and stamina were rapidly drained, forcing him to release the attack!
A low hum rang out.
The aurora slash was twice as large as before. It cleaved through the ground and surged into the sea.
This time, it traveled more than thirty meters before finally disappearing.
Thump.
Abel didn't even get to see where the attack ended before plopping down on the ground. He was exhausted, nearly drained, and his face had gone pale.
But his eyes were bright, and a moment later he let out a carefree laugh.
He still couldn't unleash anything close to the skill's full power, but it was easy to imagine that as he grew stronger day by day, he'd be able to cleave a mountain in two with a single slash!
"Train. I've got to start training as soon as possible!"
Abel took out a pack of [N95 Filtered Cigarettes] and contentedly lit one.
His mind, which had been muddled by the strain on his spirit, immediately cleared, and he felt a little better.
Using these as a recovery item would be a joke.
But having one at a critical moment still felt pretty good.
So when he finished one cigarette, he lit another.
Only after smoking three in a row did he shake his head, get up, and prepare to head back.
As for the scene, he had no intention of cleaning it up.
There was no realistic way to keep a skill like this secret if he used it in battle, unless he never used it at all.
So he might as well reveal it at the right moment and give himself another bargaining chip.
After all, the sooner he became an officer, the sooner he could use the family's resources to benefit himself.
Before you continue