The crystal in his pocket signified a new path opening for him. A skill was rare. It was rare enough for Nikolai to avoid spending his Fate Points to get one. The moment he obtained the loot, he prepared himself for a long battle against the Kill Stealer.

It was either that Drake didn’t see the skill because Nikolai hid it before he broke the ice or that he was simply uninterested in a Common Skill.

Nikolai left the forest and went back to the city. He went straight to the fence and presented his loot. Seeing the transparent crystal, even Ash was surprised.

“Do you know what this is?” Ash asked. “It’s not something you should sell.”

“A skill, I know.” Nikolai smiled. “I have no use for it.”

“Your stats might be below the F-Rank, but this skill can save your life. Do you know of Elementals? This thing is even stronger than that!” Ash explained while tapping on the counter. “Unless you already have a skill, which I highly doubt, use this immediately!”

“Don’t you want to make a profit, Ash?” Nikolai chuckled. “This is not a proper way to do business.”

“I’m better off than swindling a small fry.” Ash waved his hand. “I don’t want you to go out there and die on your own.”

“That’s sweet.”

“You still have a few uses.” Ash leaned on the counter with a wide smile. “You’re my precious informant, after all.”

“And that’s a creepy smile. I still want to sell it.” Nikolai pushed the crystal forward. “It’s beneath my level.”

“Oi,” Ash massaged his temples. “Don’t be arrogant, kid. You gotta take what the heavens offer you.” Ash pointed with his index finger.

“Then take what the heavens offer you.” Nikolai gave Ash the crystal. “How much is it?”

“Sigh,” Ash appeared defeated. “The usual price for a common skill is twenty gold.”

“I’ll take that,” Nikolai agreed immediately. Ash looked at him with doubt before taking out twenty gold coins and handing them to Nikolai.

“Someone will swindle you one day,” Ash muttered, but Nikolai didn’t mind it. He knew the market price for skills, so he knew Ash didn’t con him.

“Give me one gold worth of ammunition. All of the enchanted ones too.”

“For your XR9?” Ash glanced at his gun and nodded. He took out small crates of different bullets. “I don’t have enchanted bullets, but I have a lot of elementals,” Ash said.

“A lot? I guess even fences have their bad days.” Nikolai smiled and took the crates, shoving them into his bag. “Do you have a magazine attachment?”

“A reloader?” Ash nodded. “I have an old one, but it still works.” He took out the square item from a shelf and gave it to Nikolai. This rectangular item slides over the base of his gun and reloads magazines on its own. “One gold.” Ash grinned.

“Just take it,” Nikolai threw the gold coin. “Prepare for Abani ruins. Get the best trap detectors there are before we set off. I’ll be back in a month or two.” Nikolai waved his hand as he walked out.

“What? Are you going somewhere?!” Ash peeked his head through the window and shouted with panic.

“Don’t worry. I’ll be back. I need to make some preparations before we try to cross Hyde.”

Nikolai left the fence and went toward the workshop. He found out that Sergio rented the house for him and moved in his stuff. Looking at the place, which he’ll have to leave now, Nikolai sighed.

‘You can never calculate everything.’

Nikolai thought he would need more time to hunt here and make money, but he lucked out and obtained the skill. This amount of money was just enough to rent a flying ship for his trip to get his first Legendary Skill.

It was only a matter of time before Galen and Julian come after him. He also needed to prepare for the final exams and then the Lost Garden.

‘It needs to be that skill.’ Nikolai smiled as he unlocked the workshop’s door. ‘The skill that favored the rich over the poor.’

It even earned the title of ‘Money Eater’ in his past life. But it was also the skill that allowed its owner to be called The Invincible Profligate.

‘If I obtain that skill, then Val’s trial will be easy to pass. After that,’ Nikolai walked through the door. ‘My Undead Army.’

Boom!

An explosion threw Nikolai out of the building as flames erupted from the workshop. The blast shook the ground and broke all of the windows. The sound was loud enough to shake the whole district, almost bringing the building down.

“Sergio!” Nikolai stood up and shouted as he rushed into the workshop. The place was a mess, and flames ate everything in its path. The fire originated from the work desk that Sergio concocted on. “Sergio!” Nikolai shouted again as he raised his bandana to cover his face.

“Cough, cough.”

Coughing came from beside the bed, and Nikolai hurried to help the alchemist sprawled on the ground. As he pulled the alchemist up, he found that his face and hair have caught some burns. As for his arms, they were full of burns.

“I fucking told you,” Nikolai pulled him outside as he lost his composure for the first time. “Don’t try any weird shit!”

“It… worked… cough!” Sergio muttered in Nikolai’s ears. “I did it, Bossman, I did it. I combined the fire and ice essence! The destruction was immense!”

“No shit, look at yourself.” Nikolai kicked the door opened and dropped the excited alchemist to the ground. “That’s what they do when they combine. They explode!”

“But I managed to make them stabilize!” Sergio said excitedly, his still burning and his face turning a bright red color in different places.

“You mean?” Nikolai paused. “Did you turn them into a usable item?”

“Yes! They’re stronger than ancient grenades!” Sergio said excitedly. “We can turn this into a profitable item!”

“Shut up!” Nikolai closed his mouth lest someone heard them. “Don’t tell anyone about this. We need to leave this place now.”

“What?” Sergio’s eyes darted everywhere. “Are we being watched?”

“If we were not before, then we are after that explosion. It’s time we leave the city.”

“To go where?” Sergio was confused as he watched Nikolai run into the rented house and take out his things. As he threw his bags over his shoulder and helped the alchemist up, Nikolai grinned.

“An adventure in the sky.”