Jake appeared in his mansion and didn’t hesitate to head to his lab to avoid conversations with both Vesperia and Meira. He felt drained from all the socialization and just wanted to unwind by himself.

Entering the lab, Jake took a seat on a chair and took out the item Villy had given him. The energy he had felt when he received it was similar, but it was only now he realized why. Because it was something he had seen before.

[Fragment of Akashic Awakening (Ancient)] – Infuse into a piece of equipment to attempt to awaken or amplify the Records within, upgrading the item to a maximum of ancient rarity. If the item is already of ancient rarity, it will try to amplify existing effects through awakened Records. Overall effects may be unpredictable. WARNING: Touching directly upon the Records of an item may make others related to the associated Records aware. As this is only the fragment of a token, chances of success are reduced based on the level requirement wished by the user. The lower the level requirement, the higher the chances.

Requirements: C-grade

Or at least very close to something he had seen before. It was practically identical to the item he had bought from Sultan around the time he first came to Haven, but this was only a fragment and not a true token. Jake wondered where the hell Villy had gotten such an item and why he had just popped in and handed it to him, but on second thought, why would he want to waste brainpower questioning a chaotic snake god over a good thing?

The last time he had gotten the token, he had used it to upgrade the rarity and level requirement of his boots, and seeing this second fragment of a token, Jake already knew what to do with it.

It was time to make his boots even better boots.

Compared to most other items that were hard to use, this type of item did not have any input from the user or even allowed Jake to affect the process. However, Jake wasn’t really worried. He felt like he was generally a lucky person, and the item said that it had a higher rate of success the lower the level requirement. Considering Jake just wanted a C-grade item with a level requirement of 200, it should be feasible.

And feasible it was. Jake took off the boots and used the fragment on them. His two worn leather boots easily absorbed the special energy released, and Jake instantly felt the change in their aura. Appearance-wise, they still looked like shit, but the description had been upgraded.

[Boots of the Wandering Alchemist (Epic)] – Boots once offered to an alchemist before setting out on a journey to experience the world outside at the behest of his master. Despite being made of simple leather, the Records of the ancient alchemist have left a deep mark on this item, allowing it to transcend many ranks. Further amplified by a Token of Akashic Awakening, these Records are now more prominent than ever, heightening their effects, although only a fraction remains displayed. Enchantments: +125 Endurance, +100 Agility, +75 Perception. Reduces stamina expenditure from all movement-related skills by a moderate amount. Increases sensitivity towards earthbound plants and natural treasures. Requirements: Lvl 125+ in any humanoid race

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[Boots of the Wandering Alchemist (Ancient)] – Boots once offered to an alchemist before setting out on a journey to experience the world outside at the behest of his master. Despite being made of simple leather, the Records of the ancient alchemist have left a deep mark on this item, allowing it to transcend many ranks. With every awakening, the Records within grow in power, the item improving in tandem to reflect its growth, even if many secrets within still elude you. Enchantments: +350 Endurance, +250 Agility, +200 Perception. Reduces energy expenditure from all movement-related skills by a moderate amount. Increases sensitivity towards earthbound plants and natural treasures. Requirements: Lvl 200+ in any humanoid race

Jake grinned at the description. It was very much the same item as before, with everything just getting improved. More stats across the board, with the most interesting new addition being to the movement-related skills enchantment getting better. No longer did it only reduce stamina consumption, but all energy expenditure. A damn nice upgrade for sure.

He put on the new boots and quickly sent Irin a message that she could scratch looking for any crafters or items to upgrade his boots. He also decided to make an agreement to go shopping in approximately a full day. All to give Jake some alone time.

Also known as alchemy time.

--

Jake spent the next day working on poisons and attempting to improve his craft after reaching C-grade. During his crafting, he felt like his control had increased more than expected, something he wrote off as from the ritual and the upgraded core manipulation skill. As with most things, there were overlaps in competencies, so he benefitted in other areas when he improved in one.

He didn’t craft many toxins during this time but was just practicing for the actual crafting session he planned on having after he was done shopping for Nevermore and was just waiting for the big announcement ceremony.

Considering everyone he planned on going with was pretty much ready for Nevermore, they would likely go shortly after the announcement. Villy had even hinted at it maybe being an idea to bring the Sword Saint, Sylphie, and Fallen King to the ceremony. In part to introduce them as his party members and in part for political reasons. Jake was still a bit undecided on this point and would just leave it up to the people in question.

As for inviting his parents… yeah, no way. Villy already heavily discouraged it, and Jake agreed with his points. They were simply too weak, and Jake did not want to drag them into a world they did not belong to. He had worried about them potentially becoming targets, but Villy had shot that down as a possibility.

This was one of the few cases where the reputation of the Malefic Viper came in handy. People would not believe his Chosen would give two shits about his own parents, thus making them useless to weaponize against him. On the other hand, people also wouldn’t kill them as they feared Jake could see it as a slight to his honor. Finally, considering they were defended by the Court of Shadows, it just made it doubly bad to fuck with them for no reason.

Jake did plan on having family attend in the form of his brother. As a Judge of the Court of Shadows, he was already a person of note, and Jake being close with his brother also wouldn’t be viewed as weird. Again due to the shitty reputation of the Viper. That Jake respected family who had shown they were powerful was only natural, while a disgust of weaklings was expected – even if they had given birth to him.

Anyway, back on the topic of shopping, Jake had already made plans with Irin to meet up after a full day had passed, and she had sent him a reminder or two. By now, she clearly knew him enough to be aware he would potentially attempt to skip it – something he totally wouldn’t do – so she guilt-tripped him into going.

Jake had resigned himself to just go, especially as Irin promised she had some good spots picked out for them to visit. Cloak, bow, and necklace were the pieces of equipment they planned on addressing that day, with his second ring and, finally, his gloves saved for last. Jake still wanted to visit the Loot Tower of the Malefic Viper, but that was something he could always do alone.

The succubus came over right on the dot as he spotted her walking out of the gateway in the entrance area of the mansion. She had gone to the effort of changing her clothes and setting her hair while Jake still had soot from going a bit too wild with his Alchemical Flame on a mushroom. Luckily for Jake, he had no sense of shame when it came to his appearance and quickly went over to begin operation shopping trip part two.

“Quite something yesterday,” Irin smiled as Jake turned the corner. “I had quite a few people showing interest after we left yesterday, including quite a few superiors who were practically shitting themselves at a high-ranking member of the Azureflight visiting the headquarters to apologize to me in person.”

“Sorry for the trouble,” Jake said apologetically, seeing how that could have been anoy-

“Are you kidding me? It was one the greatest moments of my life,” Irin beamed. “All of my colleagues stared in awe, an A-grade from the Azureflight bowing to me and giving a sincere apology… I loved every second of it. The only thing that would have made it better was if he had actually gone down on his knees. I can only imagine it getting even better after the ceremony once everyone learns who you are.”

Jake was momentarily lost for words as he saw her so happy. Especially when she talked about the guy kneeling… she was practically salivating at the thought.

And I thought succubi being sadistic was just a harmful stereotype… Jake questioned himself.

Then again, should it come as a surprise? Irin did like talking about leather shops, and she did recommend that one place the time he went shopping with Meira… yeah, he decided not to think too much about it.

“Glad to hear that at least one of us can have a good time from getting hounded by people wanting to kiss our asses,” Jake shook his head.

“If you pulled down your pants during the ceremony and mooned the room, people would gladly form a line,” Irin smiled before teasingly adding on. “And I would do my best to get in front.”

She looked at him with a raised eyebrow for a few seconds before Jake sighed. “Let’s just get going?”

“You’re no fun, but sure,” Irin grinned, satisfied as she took out her token. “Want to look for a cloak, bow, or necklace upgrade first?”

Jake thought for a second and decided to have the best for last. The same as how he used to eat all his vegetables first, he would do the shitty cloak before any of the others.

Irin nodded at his answer as she infused energy into the gateway, and off they went.

Shopping was a great success.

To skip over all the boring details, Irin had managed to do the impossible. She had managed to find a robe that wasn’t shit, and one Jake could actually see himself using for quite a while. The cloak itself was black as night and was incredibly light yet durable. The properties were, as always, where the real greatness was at.

[Midnight Shadow Cloak (Ancient)] – A cloak created from the essence of an unknown creature dwelling in the realm of shadows. Incredibly durable to all kinds of attacks. Allows the wearer to meld into the shadows when they stand still or move slowly, masking their presence and all of their actions, including energies. Improved further if already dwelling in the shadows. When worn within the realm of shadows, the cloak will passively absorb energy to repair itself or assist the user during their travel through the darkness.

Requirements: level 200+ in any humanoid race. Must have touched upon the realm of shadows.

The most interesting thing about this cloak was definitely the requirement to even use it. The requirement to have touched upon the realm of shadows was something Jake had never seen before and made him wonder even more about that weird place. Jake could only use this item due to his Eternal Shadow skill, and he knew that actually connecting with this realm of shadow wasn’t easy and was most often only done by people following Umbra. Why it was even on sale at the Order was a mystery.

It was also interesting it had no enchantments section, but Jake had the seller explain that was due to the peculiar nature of the cloak. From what Jake could understand, the descriptions of items were sometimes just a bit inconsistent, especially with items like this, and as the seller began to list off some of the endless reasons why they could vary, he honestly didn’t really bother questioning it more. The effects themselves were great, as it was effectively a cloak that functioned as a cloaking device, almost phasing Jake out of existence when he stood still and infused energy into it. It was bloody awesome, and the merchant who had it also seemed oddly relieved at getting rid of it. Surprisingly cheap too.

Next up was the necklace. See, with this, Jake had expected it to be hard as it was already at legendary rarity. Apparently, Jake didn’t know jack shit about this kind of thing. Upgrading a Soulbound legendary item like his Heart of the Alchemist turned out to be a lot easier than he had expected, though a lot more expensive too. But luckily, it was quite a known process, especially as it wasn’t that big of an upgrade.

[Heart of the Alchemist (Legendary)] – Once merely proof you were a prodigy, now even more, as you have shown you have the heart of an alchemist. An ornate creation of high craftsmanship made of metal attuned to the space-affinity, holding a Space Heart Gem in place. Innate power still dwells within the Records of the necklace yet to be uncovered. Allows the user to store items in a medium-sized pocket dimension found within the gem. Due to the nature of the gemstone used, living, non-sentient entities can be stored without harmful side effects in temporal suspension. Allows the user to directly deposit beneficial products into their own bodies with a slightly improved effect (can only be used once an hour). Enchantments: Alchemist’s Spatial Storage. Innate Consumption. +700 Wisdom, +600 Willpower, +500 Intelligence. Requirements: Soulbound

200 more Wisdom, 150 more Willpower, and 100 more Intelligence was all Jake got out of spending what Irin called more than most late-stage C-grades had in funds. Jake did agree the price tag was big, but honestly, he didn’t care much about money anymore. He had spent most of his life before the system obsessing over numbers on a computer screen going up, while now he only cared about the numbers on his status screen going up.

Their final stop was at a bowyer whom Jake showed his currently mostly broken bow. The man they met ended up calling his master, who called two other people who all wanted to study it. Apparently, system-given items like this were very interesting to crafters due to the enchants and how they worked. Apparently, the system did “perfect” enchantments, unlike most crafters, pretty much making every system-given item into a piece worth studying.

This did also mean they would not be able to upgrade it then and there, but Irin assured him these four bowyers were some of the best in the business. It took some convincing, but Jake ultimately agreed and let them study the bow and work on integrating it into an upgrade. They did not get an exact timeframe, but they claimed it wouldn’t take super long as they just had to “copy” the blueprint of the enchantment before they could begin looking into recrafting it. Later that day, they said they would inform Jake and Irin.

This left the human and the succubus with quite a bit of free time.

As they walked down the street, they looked for a place to relax while they waited for the bowyer to report back with how things had gone, Jake finding it too much to stay around in case the big lion men failed the upgrade. He also hoped it would help the beastfolk focus to not have someone nervously staring over their shoulders.

They went to another part of the massive city surrounding the Order, one that was filled with bars, cafes, casinos, and whatnot, making it a true hub of entertainment. Jake enjoyed seeing the relatively modern-looking environment, and especially one tall building caught his interest. It was a tall sky-scraper-looking construction, shooting several kilometers into the sky, and looked damn impressive. Irin noticed his interest and explained.

“This is quite a famous building within the Order and has been standing for nearly a full era. It is a hotel operated by the largest merchant faction of the multiverse, the Golden Road Emporium, and is considering a landmark. Most often, it is used by individuals of high status and whenever any high-ranking visitors come by the Order and like this particular kind of environment. I am sure that with the upcoming ceremony, it will be full within the week. Ah, but of course, besides business meetings, quite a few people also book rooms for the more intimate kinds of meetings,” Irin explained with a smile, enjoying her teasing. “Why so interested? Wanna take a look inside and book a room? Maybe this could be my reward for helping you with all this shopping…”

Jake looked at Irin standing there smiling at him flirtatiously with the large building behind her and just shrugged.

“Sure.”

Irin looked taken aback for a moment before laughing and shaking her head. “You know, a poor girl like me could get the wrongful impression when you are so ambiguous with your answers.”

“No, I know what I said,” Jake confirmed.

She was stumped for several seconds as she just stared at him.

Jake stared back.

“You’re serious?” she asked with wide eyes.

“If you are.”

Irin slowly nodded as Jake went over and walked past her through the gate leading into the hotel, with Irin taking a few seconds before she rushed after him.

Look, when continuously confronted with an aggressively flirtatious succubus, even Jake had his limits.

And… hey.

Sometimes a guy just had to be a dude.