D.I.O

“Hahaha. This item isn’t that simple, customer.”

“It’s not simple?”

“Yes. Please tell me any amount of money. Name any number.”

“Uhm, one gold.”

“Of course, I don’t have one gold.”

“…”

Vessy turned the money pouch that had ‘Merlin’ written on it upside down and started shaking it. Nothing came out.

‘Is she making fun of me? Am I being pranked?’

Looking at Merlin squinting his eyes, Vessy laughed.

“Since there wasn’t anything deposited, nothing will come out. However, if you put one gold into the pouch….”

As Vessy said this, she put one gold into the pouch.

“Now, how much should I take out?”

“You’re not trying to show me how you can get ten gold from only one, right?”

“We don’t create such unbalanced items, foolish customer.”

While Merlin didn’t appreciate being called foolish, he couldn’t say anything negative to the sweetly smiling Vessy, so he decided to stay quiet and listen intently to her explanation. This just went to show the power of beauty. If beauty was a tiered ability in DIO, would it be considered S tier?

“Anyway, since you’ve put in one gold, you can only take out one gold, right?”

“No. Then it wouldn’t make sense to have something like a money pocket. State any amount of money below one gold.”

“You mean silver? Ten silver is one gold, so… four silver?”

“Very good, customer.”

Clink.

When Vessy turned the money pocket upside down, four silver pieces dropped out onto the table. Merlin felt as if the money pocket had only contained those four silver pieces from the start.

“Wait…”

“Yes, customer. It is exactly what you’re thinking. Using the money pocket, you can withdraw any amount below the current balance in your account whenever you desire. And that’s not all. If you don’t mind, are you Chinese?”

“What? No, I’m Korean.”

“Right. How much would you like for me to take out next, customer? This time, tell me in Won.”

“…Twenty-three thousand Won?”

“Please take a look and confirm the amount.”

Smiling, Vessy opened the money pocket for Merlin to put his hand into it. Following her lead, Merlin reached into the money pocket, and he retrieved two ten-thousand Won notes and three one-thousand Won notes.

“Wow!”

“Gouldian Bank always considers our customers first and foremost. Since the world of DIO deals with a multitude of universes, we understand that customers need various different types of currency. However, we are subject to the whims of currency exchange rates, so you must visit a bank for the most up-to-date exchange rates.”

Vessy then took the Won in Merlin’s hand and put it back into the money pocket. With little delay, she pulled out the one gold piece that she had placed in the pouch earlier. Merlin felt as if he was watching a magic show.

“What’s the convenience fee? The service charges?”

“There are no convenience fees or service charges, customer. We’re not a for-profit organization.”

“Since this is a game, I guess you don’t have to follow the same profit structures as real banks.”

“That’s right. However, to obtain a money pouch, there is one requirement.”

“And what is that?”

“You’ll have to deposit at least ten gold into the bank. This prevents just anyone from having a money pocket.”

As she said this, Vessy continued to smile alluringly. Her smile was essentially conveying the message, ‘You don’t have enough money, customer, so please gather some before you ask for a money pocket.’

“And there’s no charge for the money pocket, right? Wow, you guys really are akin to a non-profit organization.”

Merlin put 100 gold on the table.

“…”

“What’s wrong? Is there another requirement to deposit money into your bank…?”

Merlin had a puzzled expression as he saw Vessy momentarily stand motionless. After hearing his comment, Vessy shook her head and gave off an even more alluring smile.

“You’re rich. We love you, customer.”

“Huh?”

“I’ll deposit this right away.”

After replying, Vessy quickly moved her hands and gathered all the gold on the table. The term ‘100 gold’ was displayed on the side of the money pocket.

“This…”

“It lets you know how much you have in the bank, valued customer. Of course, no one other than you can see the number, and even if your money pocket is stolen or lost, others cannot access your money.”

“Oho, that’s good.”

With a satisfied grin, Merlin collected the money pocket before looking at the storage door. He soon picked up the containers of tyrannosaurus blood that he had set down on the floor.

“How does time pass in that storage room?”

“At the same rate as out here.”

In contrast to his inventory, foodstuff and other perishables could spoil in the storage room, so they shouldn’t be kept there.

“Then, I’ll see you after placing my things inside.”

After saying this, Merlin stepped into his storage room. It was fairly small, around a hundred square feet of space; the interior of the storage room reminded him of a metal shipping container. Also, there were no windows.

“Oomph.”

Merlin placed the tyrannosaurus blood containers in one corner of the storage room.

“I should organize my inventory first.”

Outside of the deer and clam meat, Merlin brought everything else out of his inventory. The first thing that caught his eye was a pile of iron ore and a pickaxe that he gained after finishing the Weapon Production test.

“There’s no use carrying these around. They’ll just be taking up space.”

He threw the items next to the tyrannosaurus blood containers and sifted through the rest of his belongings. Many of the items were things he acquired while completing his Transportation and Collection/Gathering tests. The largest item was the Kalib Great Clam’s shell. Merlin scraped off all the clam meat within the shell and placed various, relatively smaller clam shells within it.

“I don’t think I’ll need to carry around the turtle shell either… the pearls don’t weigh much, so it won’t be a bother carrying them around….”

The items he pulled out from his inventory were slowly piling up in his storage unit. Eventually, his inventory became much lighter. After finishing his organization, Merlin checked his inventory’s capacity.

“18.5 kilograms being used out of a hundred. Okay, that seems pretty good.”

Most of the 18.5 kilograms came from foodstuff and water, some precious stones, a qi core, various miscellaneous items, and some gold, as he had about 150 gold remaining after depositing the 100 gold with Vessy. Merlin felt that he had finished organizing his inventory, and so, after completing all this, he exited his storage unit through its door.

Click.

Once he stepped out, the door clicked closed and started to fold upon itself. The folding continued until the door completely disappeared. Having relieved himself from a bunch of heavy items, Merlin waved and walked toward Vessy with light steps. He tried to show his gratitude for her exemplary customer service, but Vessy had already moved on and was assisting another customer.

“Oh, I guess she’s busy.”

Since he didn’t have anything else to ask her, Merlin made his way out of the bank.

“Woah! Martial arts!”

“Ack! He’s able to utilize the properties of wind in his aura! It’s a Level 5 user!”

“Wow! I can’t even fathom how someone can pass the Level 5 test. I heard users have to fight one-on-one against a Nol that uses tai chi martial arts.”

“Ah, I’ve gone up against that Nol before. Its ability levels were lower than mine, but it had a much better understanding of tai chi martial arts than I did. I’ve been training in tai chi martial arts for over ten years! Though, it was mainly for health reasons rather than for fighting.”

Hearing the surrounding users commenting in admiration, Merlin saw a man flying about as he controlled the wind and air around him. The man wasn’t moving at a quick speed. He was probably going around 30 kilometers an hour, maybe? It was a little faster than the running speed of an average male adult. As a DIO user, Merlin didn’t feel that the man’s speed was anything special. However, what was special was the man’s ability to move about in any direction freely. If a user who specialized in speed were to acquire such a free-moving skill, then they would undoubtedly have the upper hand when dealing with their opponents.

“Wow, it seems there are all kinds of things that can be done in this world.”

As Merlin mumbled to himself, he started incorporating his internal force, which had reached max level, into his external Golden Core.

“Hmm, it seems my magic power is also full.”

/Your Enchant skill has reached rank 7!/

/You have acquired the title, ‘Beginner Enchanter!’/

/You have acquired the special skill, ‘Imbuing Spell!’/

With 20 tetra of magic power at his disposal, Merlin utilized 17 tetra to create and circulate his magic power system, allowing him to use his magic power. Merlin only had 20 tetra of magic power, and since he used enchantment on an external object, imbuing it with his magic power, Merlin had to ensure he maintained the magic power within the object. So, he had to create small magic systems within the objects. This type of magic system creation required a considerable level of skill.

“Hmm, the only magic spell I know is Ice Arrow. I should learn some other spells.”

Merlin fetched the magic book from his inventory and started reading it as he walked around the village. Although the streets were filled with people, Merlin didn’t have any problems navigating his way through the crowd while reading. This was because his senses had been greatly heightened after reaching Level 7 in his Golden Pill Immortal Technique. He wouldn’t bump into anyone even if he had his head down in his book.

“Hey, Hanma. You’re not going to head over to the conversion area?”

“I don’t have enough experience points, man. Let’s go there together after completing the Siege quest.”

“I guess we can do that. We have two hours left.”

“Right. I need to gain some experience points and finally trade this dumb hammer. I’m bumping into everything while carrying it around. It’s so frustrating, and it’s getting on my nerves.”

The speaker, Hanma, was shirtless and had rippling muscles. He looked to be in his twenties, and on his shoulders lay a hammer much larger than he was. Hanma was having a conversation with the man apparently named Adol, who was covered in silverish cloth armor.

Adol frowned. “Huh? If it’s cumbersome, why don’t you just store it in the bank?”

“Even though it’s cumbersome, it’s still pretty useful.”

Adol looked surprised when he heard this. “It’s useful? It doesn’t even have any magic properties, right?”

“Yeah, but it’s hefty and sturdy. One shot from this, and any enemy will lose their marbles.”

Merlin was interested in these two. He could feel their powerful aura, and he could tell instinctively that they were strong. Moreover, the person named Hanma was carrying such an overwhelmingly large and heavy item.

‘Hmm, they look formidable.’

Thinking thus far, Merlin tried using the appraise function on the oversized hammer.

/Your appraisal has failed! The user has set his items to be ‘Undisclosed!’/

“Ah, I guess I can’t appraise another user’s items without their consent.”

The effects that an item had and its value were considered private and part of the owner’s privacy. Obviously, people wouldn’t feel good if their things could be appraised by others at will. And so, the default setting for items was ‘Undisclosed.’ A user had to manually change this to ‘Disclose’ to allow others to appraise their belongings.

“Anyway, let’s go and finish up the Siege quest. How much time did you say we had left?”

“Two hours.”

“Ugh. Didn’t you say two hours a moment ago?”

Seeing Hanma complain and huff, Adol snorted.

“To be specific, it was two hours and ten minutes a while ago. Right now, we have two hours and five minutes remaining. I understand you’re excited with anticipation but try to be a bit more patient.”

“Hmph.”

As the two continued to converse, they naturally blended into the crowd. Merlin thought of following them, but he had soon lost interest in the two, so he continued walking ahead.

“Oh, I almost forgot. I need to feed our little Younghwi (Bright Spirit) some food.”

Younghwi was the name Merlin had given the Wicalein Ring spirit. At first, he’d considered the name Shining for the spirit because it emanated a glowing light, but he felt the name Shining was too distant and impersonal, so he decided on Younghwi.

“Let’s see. My internal energy level is at… eight points?”

Merlin was surprised at how little internal energy he had. While he didn’t possess a high internal energy ceiling, eight points meant that he only had four years of internal energy.

“What’s going on? I feel like half an hour has already passed since I last fed Younghwi, no?”

Despite Merlin’s surprise, it should have been obvious. Although his internal energy recovery rate had drastically increased once he reached Level 7 in his Golden Pill Immortal Technique, the technique was specialized in outputting large amounts of internal energy within a short period of time. It wasn’t ideal for regular and constant internal energy recovery. Furthermore, in the world of DIO, all users had physical bodies, so it was absurd to think that one’s body could operate like a machine without getting tired or exhausted. Merlin had pushed his body to its limits, so his exhaustion was catching up to him.

As an example, let’s say a track and field athlete starts running. After running ten kilometers, the athlete reaches his limit. He can’t run any longer even if he wanted to. Yet, what would happen if that athlete rested for an hour? Even though he had reached his limit earlier, after an hour of rest, he’d be able to run again. This was because he recovered his physical strength. If he pushed himself, he might be able to run another ten kilometers.

“Am I tired?”

Although it was possible for this athlete to run ten kilometers after an hour break and run another ten kilometers after another hour break, and then another, he would hit his limit and no longer be able to run. While he could recover his physical strength in an hour, his muscles and bones would need a greater amount of recovery time.

In Merlin’s case, his internal energy recovery rate at his peak condition was 16 points a minute. In terms of internal energy years, that would be eight years a minute. Since his maximum amount of internal energy was 20 years, technically, if he used up all his internal energy, he’d be able to fully recover in less than three minutes.

However, under the Golden Pill Immortal Technique, when an individual constantly recovered their internal energy, which was like gathering and circulating qi in other techniques, the internal energy recovery rate would decrease. Since Merlin had been feeding Younghwi whenever he had the chance, his internal energy recovery rate had fallen all the way down to 0.3 points per minute.

“I guess I’ll need to hold off on expending any internal energy for the time being. Should I just practice some magic?”

As he talked to himself, Merlin refocused on the magic book in his hands. It was the Seven Jewel’s introductory book. Merlin read the first few lines of the school of study’s description.

“There are seven stages within the Seven Jewel school of study. Technically, if one includes the Unknown stage and Zero Shining stage, there are nine levels in total.”

Once a practitioner in the Seven Jewels passed the initial stage, the magic circle on the practitioner’s body, which contained one’s magic power, would glow in a jade color. This represented that the practitioner reached the first stage. In the second stage, a practitioner’s magic circle would glow in an amethyst color. The third stage was represented by an emerald-green color. Once a practitioner reached the fourth and fifth stages, the magic circle would transform into a magic core. In some ways, the Seven Jewels magic development was similar to Merlin’s Golden Pill Immortal Technique.

“Flame.”

Merlin murmured a chant. Soon, the magic power residing in his magic circle on the back of his hand drew a line to his palm. The movement of his magic power followed the image Merlin had created in his mind.

However, the flame went out as soon as it lit up.