“Blurrpp...”

One plate of tier 3 boar meat, two mouthfuls of tier 3 sardine, four eggs of tier 3 duck, one chunk of tier 3 venison leg meat, a few bites of tier 4 bear paw, three pieces of tier 4 mushrooms, a brain of tier 4 monkey.

Other than the first boar dish, Viers ate the rest raw.

Uegh… raw food… especially the brain was very disgusting… how many times I almost threw up? Need to find some way to make eating monsters for gaining life-force more bearable.

Viers was currently inside his realm of consciousness. Despite the disgusting aftertaste in his mouth, he was very pleased with his gains. The life-orb, his visual representation of how much life-force he had was slowly getting bigger.

Cooked food also gave life-force as long as the monster’s tier is high enough. Actually the amount of life-force I get from the feast wasn’t much, but it will have to do for the time being. If the circumstances allow, I don't need to eat them raw. In the future, I need to find an iron chef to cook all kinds of gourmet monster dishes for me.

But time’s up, at least I already ate the expensive ones. I must go, my window of opportunity is limited. Who knows when the Ghoul problem would be taken care of, the next five minutes? Ten? Or thirty minutes later? All unknown, so I got to move fast. Time to find and plunder an equipment shop!

He wiped his mouth and drank a lot of water, the waitress said this water was part of a tier 3 monster’s body, very refreshing on his throat. He donned his mask again before went out of the building.

Viers continued following the trail of destruction. Since he was in a shopping district, he didn't need to go far before finding an equipment shop. The shop was very big, people could see high-quality types of equipment on display from the outside street because the shop used glass rather than stone for the front wall.

Viers knew the glass was enchanted so it wasn't as brittle as it looks. Under normal circumstances, Viers couldn't force his way in but the Ghoul already did his job for him.

Mi scusi, don't mind if I do. This is not breaking and entering, this is just a stroll through broken glass.

After avoiding the sharp glass and minding his steps for sharp fragments, he was inside. His collector soul for expensive items was triggered. Various armors, weapons of all kinds, unusual accessories, were lined up neatly in front of him.

Noice! What should I take first? Naturally, the storage ring!

…Necklace or bracelet is fine too.

Viers immediately made a beeline where the accessories were put on display. He only made a quick search but no storage-type item was for sale.

Pity, oh well. I got no inventory ring so what I could bring with me was limited… weapons next! There must be a sword suitable for a water Path-seeker. Why sword? Pfft, MC use sword, that’s why! At least 95% of them.

Viers searched the thirty meters wide shop with a giddy heart. He found the sword area and the top of the line swords looked very luxurious and tempting for him. However, the high quality ones were inside a showcase, an enchanted showcase, which he couldn't break.

“Figures...”

I could try to break it but I doubt a level 0 like me would be capable of it. If I was the owner of this shop, I would at least put some protection so it won't be possible for a bunch of neophyte Path-seeker to steal my wares.

Grrr, that blue blade looks so tempting, the price is... nine hundred and thirty crystals? I don't even have one hundred! The dagger beside the sword is priced nine hundred crystals... won't be able to buy items with this quality in the foreseeable future.

“Welp, time to lower my standards.” All of the expensive ones had protection put on them so Viers browsed the cheaper displayed swords on the wall. Their prices were quite cheap but it was still above what he could afford.

Mmm!? This one is great!

Viers took an 80 cm double-edged straight sword with a glass-like blade. Viers chose it after he read the description. If dipped in water, the sword would absorb it and the user could release said water when they invoked their Arte.

A water element Path-seeker welcomed the availability of water.

Take Viers’s Water Slash Arte for example: When he used it, water magically appeared on his sword which increased his attack power. After the Arte was finished, most of the water was gone. They disappeared as magically as they appeared in the first place, only a few droplets remained on his sword afterwards.

If Viers used that same Arte on a dry desert, the attack power would be lowered. In contrast, if he was near a body of water, his attack power would increase.

Higher-level water element Path-seekers could produce water in a place without like Nakala did in the past but the feat was beyond Viers’s current capability, thus he felt the water container sword was perfect for him.

With water, I could let out a sword beam with Water Slash, like water Gets*ga Tenshou! This would give me some ranged attack options, not to mention almost all water Arte benefit if water exists nearby. Good sword, very suitable for me.

It was written in the description that the sword could absorb up to twenty liters of water. The more water it contained, the more durable and sharper the sword becomes! The sword was enchanted so the weight won't change, even with twenty liters of water… which should be around twenty kilograms, sweet!

Wait, now that think about it, when I changed to a Tomalica, did my weight change or remain the same? Did I become a Tomalica with the weight of a chubby human?

Mmm, I don't think my Tomalica form was heavy. The fish mom bit me and carried me to its lair like I was just a Tomalica with normal weight… Well, another thing I need to make certain in the future.

If it's true, then my transformation breaks the rule of shape-shifting, one’s mass cannot magically increased or decreased! But a certain ant certainly did though, how did he do it? I’m certain the answer is something-something quantum.

The sword had the price of a hundred and twenty Mana crystals, Viers happily took it with its sheath before looking for other things to be added to his equipment menu.

Wait! Whatever in display… they should have something more valuable inside! In the back! I must go there to take a look, onward!

Viers got a light bulb lit up inside his head then went through a door with the writing ‘No Entry - Staff Only’ which he utterly ignored. He went to the nearby rooms, one of them was an empty staff resting room and the room next to it was filled with boxes and other miscellaneous goods.

Unfortunately, he didn't find the storage room for high-quality items but he found the next best thing, the working area for a crafter. Like the restaurant, it seemed whoever was working here, was forced to abandon his or her work unfinished and went out of the room in a hurry. This room was filled with working tools, metal ores, and monster body parts.

Viers was certain he had made the right call investigating the inside of the shop when he saw what lies on top of the table. He felt the two objects were calling him, like two ownerless diamonds on an empty street calls on a man.

“Oh-ho-ho, come to me my pretties. Come to Papa, I promise I won't bite.”

He took two monster cores, one red and one blue with his hands and rubbed them on his cheeks. Monster cores didn't have the shape of a complete sphere, they vary in shapes and colors, which usually indicates their elemental affiliation. The red core was strawberry-shaped with the size of one, while the blue core had the shape of a mango with the corresponding size and weight.

Good, good, time to get you little beauties out of here. One should be from a fire monster while the other from a water monster, perfecto… muah, muah.

Viers gave each core a kiss before putting it inside his waist pouch, which was too small for an inventory for his opinion. However, it’s not like he could bring a backpack earlier, he was mobilized with the purpose of fighting with someone.

Now I know how B*tman felt… his utility belt must felt so small, so limited. With all the gadgets he had in his arsenal, he could only bring a few. Poor guy and poor me… where and when can I get a storage item? Well, it appears I wasn’t far enough in the Path yet. I’m not worried though, just gotta wring it from the cold, dead hand of my enemy somewhere in the road. The Path of Power is long…

The rest of the room was locked or there was nothing valuable for him to take so Viers made his way back to the front shop while rubbing his pouch with his hand. After his return, he surveyed the store and an item with a red glow in the knife area caught his attention.

Sidearm, a dagger! I want the one that could burn! I often need to set things on fire… like that corpse, or this crime scene, or for making a simple campfire. Fire is the mark of human civilization after all, at least on Earth.

It was a 20 cm dagger, the steel was red-colored and felt warm. Viers took the dagger and the sheath placed just below it, after reading the item description, he faintly smiled.

It said that the dagger could become as hot as lava depending on how much Victa the user put inside it. Cauterizes the wound so it would impede regeneration or healing, the sheath was specially made to contain it. The price is seventy Mana crystal… not mind-blowing great but the effect is simple and practical, I like it.

The dagger currently was as hot as Jacuzzi bathwater, he put it in its sheath and set his target on another item.

What’s next? Armor? Bracers, greaves, helmets, and the like? It would take too much time finding the right size. Gah, the plight of a fat person, how terrible… how about-

“Hey, you! What are you doing there?”

Viers looked behind him, four guards were looking at him from the outside street. Besides the captain, the other three were terrified when they saw his mask.

“That mask… you’re a cultist? Which one are you, Dumuzin? Yasterah? Teorph? Must be Dumuzin because his cult is the strongest here.” The captain, a man in his forties, spoke.

The hell? So if I don’t wear this mask they won’t know I’m a cultist? But if I don’t wear the mask, they would see my true face! What a dilemma.

“Pillaging shops? You must be a new member then, only the bottom feeder is desperate for crystals. Men, get help, there are warriors from the church nearby… I will keep him occupied.”

This one is not a civilian, a level 0 like me. Time to make a dramatic exit.

“Arte — Rapid Water Steps!”

Since the only way out was through the way he came -through the broken glass in the front- Viers dashed forward to the captain. Using his old sword, Viers clashed with the captain.

“Arte — Water Cuirass!”

The captain donned an armor made of water, but Viers had no intention of fighting him and getting bogged down. After the first contact, Viers chased the three fleeing men.

“No!” The captain’s heart sank.

Empowered with his Arte, he caught up with them in no time at all. Viers let out a savage grin then started to cut them up while the captain was desperately pursuing. He separated their limbs from their body but he didn’t kill them.

“If you don’t help them, they will die.” Viers made sure the captain heard him then he went on his way. Viers decided it was getting too risky to be out in the open so he made his way back to the safe house.

After a few minutes of sprinting, he slowed down a bit and looked at his back.

The captain didn’t pursue him.

Aaah, good guys… so much baggage and responsibility, so many weaknesses to exploit.