Investing In My Crippled Wife Every Return Makes Me Stronger Chapter 239
Shopping [4][ … words ]
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[ … words ]
“Let’s look around a bit more first,” Ethea spoke up. “There might be something better.”
“Good idea.” Soren nodded. “No harm in checking everything before deciding.”
“Then, I’ll go and take a look at the A-rank section,” Ryan said and left the two alone again.
With that, they continued walking, moving from display to display. Soren kept using Advanced Appraisal on every spear they passed, no matter how ordinary it looked or how unremarkable its description sounded. He knew from stories and movies that the most valuable treasures often hid in plain sight, disguised as common items waiting for the right person to recognize their worth.
Most of the spears turned out to be exactly as they appeared, with modest effects but no hidden potential. A few were overpriced for what they offered, and one was so poorly balanced that Ethea actually laughed when Soren shared its ridiculous effect called ’Unstable Edge’, which randomly shifted the spear’s weight between the shaft and the blade mid-swing, making it impossible to aim consistently.
Soren guessed it must have been a failed product, or he just didn’t know how to make use of it.
Half an hour passed like that.
They finished inspecting the remaining spears and managed to find three more viable options. Two of them were A-rank while the other was B-rank. After contemplating for a bit, Soren decided to buy the Skyfrost Spear and one of the A-rank spears. It was the best choice among the three, not only because of its effects but also due to its potential to evolve into an S-rank artifact.
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Nightfrost
Rank: A
Type: Elemental Weapon (Ice / Darkness)
[Description]: A rare spear forged from Abyss Silver and Glacial Core Stone. Created by a master smith who sought to fuse darkness and freezing energy into a single vessel, its blade radiates a bitter chill while swallowing surrounding light.
[Current Effects:]
– Chilling Void: Each strike embeds a layer of biting cold into the wound, slowing natural regeneration. The effect stacks, and with enough accumulated frost, the target’s ability to heal can be frozen entirely.
– Umbral Veil: The blade absorbs light around the tip, making the trajectory of strikes difficult for enemies to track in combat.
– Glacial Chasm: Unleashes a wave of dark freezing energy that coats the ground in black ice, dealing continuous ice damage and blinding targets trapped within the area.
– Shadowbound: The spear passively absorbs trace amounts of shadow mana from its surroundings, using it to reinforce the shaft and sharpen the blade over time.
[True Worth: ] A rare dual-element weapon that balances ice and darkness without diluting either. Its self-maintaining properties make it a reliable companion for long journeys and extended battles.
[Potential: With enough exposure to combat and a steady supply of high-purity Ice and Darkness mana, the weapon may gradually resonate with its wielder. If that bond deepens over time, it might awaken a Weapon Spirit (Ego) and evolve into an S-rank artifact.]
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He didn’t know how long it would take, but since there were no S-rank artifacts to buy, this was the closest thing to one he could get his hands on and control.
Because S-rank artifacts were rare and extremely expensive. The majority of them were already monopolized by higher-rank Hunters, powerful guilds, or institutions like the Bureau itself. They rarely appeared on the open market, and when they did, it was mostly through auctions in the upper districts of major cities, not in places like Kalmira.
They were too small and remote to attract that kind of merchandise. Even if there were, they already had their owners.
The reason for that was simple.
Unlike lower-rank artifacts, every S-rank artifact possessed a will of its own. Or more precisely, to become an S-rank, an artifact had to awaken a fully conscious Weapon Spirit.
A Weapon Spirit was, as its name suggested, a spirit that lived inside an artifact. Just like humans or other races had their souls living in their bodies, these spirits resided within their vessels.
According to Ethea, a Weapon Spirit could manifest in many ways. Some were nothing more than voices echoing directly in the wielder’s mind, offering guidance or warnings when needed. Others took on visible forms, appearing as spectral beasts, their vessels’ shapes, or even humanoid figures. A few were said to be so developed that they could hold full conversations, with their own memories, preferences, and tempers, acting less like tools and more like companions.
Furthermore, there were generally two ways a weapon spirit came into existence.
The first was through long-term cultivation. It was a living consciousness born naturally over time from years of intense resonance between the weapon, its wielder, and the continuous flow of mana passing through both. A spirit formed this way was deeply loyal, tailored entirely to its creator’s soul and fighting style.
The second was through natural awakening. Some artifacts simply developed a spirit on their own, without the influence of a master. Because they possessed an established identity from the moment they gained awareness, they were notoriously difficult to control. They chose their masters based on their own unknown criteria, and an arrogant spirit would readily reject an unworthy wielder, refusing to channel its power or actively draining its user’s mana in defiance.
That was why Nightfrost was the ideal choice. It had not yet awakened a spirit of its own, which meant there was still time. If Soren nurtured it properly, fed it the mana it needed, and fought beside it through the battles ahead, the Weapon Spirit that eventually emerged would be loyal to him.
’All the time spent to find it was definitely worth it. But the price…’
[50,000,000 Credits]
It was ten times more than the Skyfrost Spear. Even with the discount and everything he had saved up, this single purchase would cost all of his available funds.
’I think we should sell things first.’
He had more than enough mana crystals, potions, and items he got from the Sunless Emperor. There were also items his father-in-law gave them the other day. He had set them aside for a moment like this. But now that the moment was here, he found himself unwilling to reach for them.
’…Urgh.’
