Chapter 21: Shopping Spree
Uhtred cursed under his breath, rubbing his temples in utter disbelief as he tried to console himself over his loss.
"There’s no point dwelling on it. It wasn’t my choice to use it in the first place," he muttered. Though from the woeful expression on his face, it clearly left a bitter taste in his mouth. One million tokens for a single healing effect was a scale of wealth he couldn’t even fathom yet.
However, as Uhtred scrolled further through the contents of the multiversal store, the lingering bitterness was completely forgotten.
"What the hell?" he whispered, his eyes widening. "There is some seriously ridiculous stuff in here."
Suddenly, he felt like a kid staring through the window of a candy store. Even though the prices of the high-tier items were well into the millions, completely beyond his current means, the sheer absurdity of what was available didn’t diminish his glee.
Navigating through the various multiversal shops, he spotted a "World Box" that apparently contained a pocket dimension the size of an entire planet inside of it.
In another shop, there was an item listed as a "Time Dilator," priced deep into the hundreds of millions of tokens.
Further down, he scrolled past listings for a Cosmic Essence Battery... a Star Cannon... a Void Essence Blade — mighty weapons whose descriptions explicitly detailed their capacity to crack open a planet.
The staggering catalog made Uhtred realize just how advanced some of these integrated civilizations truly were, and exactly why the System granted a newly integrated world a five-year buffer period to develop before joining the grand multiverse fully.
The thought caused Uhtred to let out a quiet sigh, bringing him crashing back down from his giddy high.
All of this is way too far into the future, he mused wryly. With a measly three hundred tokens, I can’t even dream of touching something that scales to a planet.
He focused his attention back to the top of the interface, finding a highly intuitive sorting function that worked exactly like a modern online shopping filter. He set the parameters, sorting the listings by price and capping the maximum limit at exactly 300 multiversal tokens.
Initially, he assumed the lower bracket would contain nothing of real value, especially after being bombarded by weapons that cost more than Earth’s combined historical currencies.
But to his surprise, the filter displayed an almost uncountable number of items within his budget. These were all real, beneficial tools that could immediately give him a leg up in his current survival situation.
His eyes were instantly drawn to a series of items listed under the core System tab rather than the integrated races’ shops.
[System Store Listing: Low Grade Inspect Lens]
[Price: 2 Multiversal Tokens]
[Description: A multi-use item worn over the eye. Enables the identification of objects, items, and entities lower-leveled than the user]
Right next to it was the next step up.
[System Store Listing: Middle Grade Inspect Lens]
[Price: 4 Multiversal Tokens]
[Description: Functions identically to the low grade lens, but expands identification parameters to include targets of the exact same level as the user]
Then, a tier above that, sat the highest variation of the mechanical apparatus.
[System Store Listing: High Grade Inspect Lens]
[Price: 10 Multiversal Tokens]
[Description: Functions identically to the previous lenses, but expands identification parameters up to a maximum of two levels above the user. Includes a passive concealment feature that prevents targets from sensing the inspection unless they are at least five levels above the wearer]
Uhtred weighed the options. A ten-token price tag was a massive jump compared to the low and middle grade models, but the hidden safety feature made it vastly superior.
The low grade model only worked on weaker targets who couldn’t fight back anyway, but using a standard middle grade lens on a higher-level entity would immediately trigger an instinctual response, alerting them to the user’s prying eyes.
Yet, as Uhtred looked at the mechanical lenses, his gaze drifted lower, locking onto a different modification that cost a whopping 50 multiversal tokens.
[System Store Listing: Biological Modification Inspect Skill (Basic Grade)]
[Price: 50 Multiversal Tokens]
[Description: A permanent biological alteration to the optical nerves, granting the intrinsic ’Inspect’ skill. Allows the user to scan targets up to 5 levels above them without triggering an instinctual awareness response. Can identify targets up to 10 levels above the user, though entities in this higher bracket may detect the skill depending on their Perception attribute]
Uhtred paused, carefully calculating the expenditure. Fifty tokens was a substantial chunk of his wealth, leaving him with only 250, but he knew the long-term utility of an intrinsic skill far outweighed a fragile, external lens.
The cheaper, physical versions were functionally useless to the current him anyway. He was already fighting monsters higher than his own level. If he relied on a basic lens, it wouldn’t even register a threat before the threat killed him.
Of course, even the basic modification inspect skill wasn’t the highest available. There was still a middle and a high grade version that could read entities 20 and 50 levels above the user, but he saw no immediate practical use for them yet.
Uhtred selected the basic grade modification, keeping it in his virtual cart while he continued browsing.
By the time he finished his shopping spree, Uhtred had rigorously filtered his choices. He had seen countless items that triggered a strong desire to buy, but after forcing himself to evaluate his situation objectively, he separated his wants from his actual survival needs. He needed to conserve his tokens, considering he had no steady method of generating a reliable income yet.
Ultimately, his final selection comprised of four highly specific items:
First, the permanent Inspect Skill biological modification for 50 tokens.
Second, a Multiversal Language Translator pendant, which he secured for a meager 5 tokens.
Third, a well-built weapon. He had filtered through thousands of martial options before settling on a massive, solid battle-axe forged from a material listed as ’Star Metal.’
