Chapter 130 – Flower Deal

Two weeks have passed since that auction...

Most of my time was spent in the cave.

What happened in Sunset City was no small matter...

I needed to disappear from sight until the tournament began.

I gained many advantages and agreements...

and at the same time, I made enemies as well.

You could say the most important advantage I gained...

was the accumulation agreement with the city.

And also...

a tool that increases one of the three attributes—

strength, speed, or stamina—by 5%.

After all the battles I’ve fought in the training dimension and against the invasion...

5% is a huge difference in the middle of combat.

It can mean the difference between life and death.

But...

as usual...

good things don’t last for me.

.

I obtained two tools of the same type and level:

(Sky Enhancer – Level 3)

I wanted to assign both to strength.

But after trying... I failed.

I used the first to increase strength.

The second... I placed into stamina.

I think my speed is sufficient... at this stage.

.

As for the enemies I made while gaining these benefits...

you could say...

"With everyone..." I whispered with a laugh.

It seems the reason was that question—

one that made me appear like the ultimate victor.

I didn’t intend that...

but it happened anyway.

.

Well...

back to the present.

.

Today, a new batch of ancient weapons is supposed to arrive.

The fourth batch.

And that means...

it’s time for the third-rank healing flower agreement.

.

I considered many possible terms.

I could ask for more accumulation...

but what I already have is more than enough.

It’s better to try my luck in things I actually need.

But...

what do I need now?

.

The tournament is about to begin.

I can’t say I’m ready...

and I can’t say I’m not.

Facing a fourth-rank master like myself won’t be easy.

So what about an entire tournament?

Anything less than reaching the top four...

is failure to me.

A complete failure.

.

My strength will be exposed...

and I’ll gain nothing.

.

So I need to prepare.

.

Do I need more power?

No...

I think my strength is enough.

But...

what about my defense?

.

It needs improvement.

.

What if my opponent uses poison?

That won’t matter.

Luckily...

I have the white flower.

Poison won’t affect me.

Otherwise...

I would have already died in the mushroom forest.

.

But...

what about clean cutting attacks?

.

Yes...

that’s the real problem.

Regeneration.

.

But does something like that exist?

I don’t know.

I’ll have to search and see.

.

The other thing I need...

is a movement tool.

Or better—

a teleportation ability.

.

And what about running out of accumulation?

.

That’s another problem.

Especially since my strongest attacks consume a large amount of combat accumulation.

.

...Forget it.

Not important now.

.

What matters is continuing to forge weapons.

Having accumulation is a huge advantage—

and it would be foolish not to exploit it.

.

Quickly...

I stood up from the bed.

.

Walked toward the furnace.

.

And began forging more ancient weapons...

as well as advanced ones.

.

After two weeks...

.

I now possess:

More than 4 million accumulation points.

20 ancient weapons.

6 advanced weapons.

.

30 first-rank yellow healing flowers.

30 second-rank green healing flowers.

40 third-rank red healing flowers.

5 fourth-rank blue healing flowers.

.

And one white flower...

and one black flower.

.

So far...

everything is going well.

.

All I need now...

is one thing.

.

Focus on my goal.

.

And the path to it...

goes through...

ascending to the fifth rank.

.

But...

this is where the real problem lies.

.

In two parts.

.

The first—

I don’t know the conditions required for ascension.

And...

my heart still races whenever I remember what happened last time.

.

That white dragon—

representing the white flower.

.

And the volcanic mountain—

representing the Flame Art weapon.

.

Both still pose a serious threat to me.

.

Even if they exist in a dimension where I can’t die...

they still affect the density and weight of my rank aura.

.

Last time...

luck was on my side.

.

The battle between the dragon and the mountain lasted longer...

which gave me a huge amount of fourth-rank aura and weight.

.

But this time...

that won’t happen.

.

The white flower is of a higher rank than the Flame Art weapon.

During the last ascension, its power was sealed...

yet it still dominated the mountain...

and eventually defeated it.

.

If I attempt to ascend to the fifth rank...

it’s obvious.

.

The flower will be far stronger.

.

The Flame Art won’t stand a chance.

.

"Ugh..."

.

I placed my hand on my head...

running my fingers through my hair.

.

Overthinking is ruining my hair... heh.

.

Now...

the second problem.

.

The attribute points.

.

I need to reach 100 points in each of the three:

Strength.

Speed.

Stamina.

.

And these points...

are the real problem.

.

They can’t be bought.

. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

They can only be gained through constant combat...

and experience.

.

But...

.

"What if...?" I whispered.

.

Then—

I decided to test my idea.

.

I raised my hand...

and took out a small white sphere.

.

With a whisper—

it activated.

.

White light spread from it...

surrounding me.

.

Then—

a gate opened in front of me.

.

I stepped forward...

and passed through.

.

The next moment—

I was inside the hotel...

in Sunset City.

.

The gate vanished.

The sphere reappeared in my hand.

.

Two weeks ago...

the Ice Lord gave me this teleportation sphere—Level 2—

to make meetings easier.

.

A great tool...

but with a flaw.

.

You must visit the location first...

and mark it.

Only then can you return to it.

.

I activated it again.

.

Another gate opened.

.

One step...

then another—

.

And I was inside the meeting hall...

in the city’s military base.

.

The Ice Lord was already there...

waiting.

.

He stood up.

.

"Masked Lord... welcome."

.

I smiled.

Shook his hand.

.

Then we began the usual meeting.

.

I handed him ten ancient weapons.

.

And received my accumulation in return.

.

Then—

it was time.

.

The flower agreement.

.

I raised my hand...

and summoned a box.

.

But I didn’t hand it to him.

.

Instead...

I extended my arm to the side—

away from the table.

.

I let the box fall.

.

The moment it left my hand—

it expanded.

.

Rapidly.

.

Into a massive square chest.

.

BOOM.

.

It hit the ground—

and opened instantly.

.

"That... is impressive."

The Ice Lord let out a breath of surprise and satisfaction.

.

Inside—

thirty third-rank healing flowers.

.

"Thirty," I said.

"They can be yours... or not."

.

He looked at me.

.

"There is no ’not.’

Anything within reason—you’ll have it."

.

Then...

he glanced at the teleportation sphere in my hand.

.

"What do you think of it?"

.

"It’s decent," I replied.

"But I’d prefer this to be the last day I use it."

.

He understood instantly.

.

A small smile appeared.

.

"That can be arranged."

.

"I’ve been thinking..." I said quietly.

"Since the auction... do you have a secret space you can give me?"

.

He laughed.

.

"Having one is one thing. Giving it away is another.

It sold for over sixty million at the auction.

Not many can reach even a fraction of that."

.

"Alright..." I whispered.

"Let’s get serious."

.

"I want catastrophe beasts.

Regular beasts.

And their food."

.

"...What?"

His eyes widened.

"I thought you’d ask for more accumulation... or tools."

.

I smiled.

"Can you provide it?"

.

He raised a finger.

"Each flower can be valued at 200,000."

Then another finger.

"A minor catastrophe beast is worth around 250,000.

We can trade one flower for one beast."

.

I let him finish.

.

Then smiled.

.

"My lord... the auction wasn’t long ago.

It set the market value."

.

I paused.

.

"A minor catastrophe beast was 200,000 then."

.

Another pause.

.

"And an ancient weapon reached 600,000."

.

I smiled again.

.

"And yet... there wasn’t a single healing flower.

Not even rank one."

.

I leaned slightly forward.

.

"That means one thing."

.

"They’re rarer than ancient weapons."

.

"So each flower... is worth 800,000."

.

"You’re wrong," he replied calmly.

"Absence doesn’t equal rarity.

Many things simply don’t appear in auctions."

.

He continued:

"Also, we valued ancient weapons at 350,000 in our deal.

So your flowers... would be around 450,000 at most."

.

I smiled.

.

"Then two minor catastrophe beasts per flower."

.

He smiled back.

.

"I’ll allow that."

.

"How many do you want?"

.

"Ten."

.

"Done."

.

"Now... medium catastrophe beasts."

.

"Two flowers for one."

.

"Agreed."

.

"I want five."

.

"Good deal," he said.

"Do you want major catastrophe beasts?"

.

"I have fifteen flowers left..."

I whispered.

"I want five."

.

"Three," he said.

.

"...Agreed."

.

"But there’s one more thing..."

I added quietly.

After a while...

The meeting ended.

It had been fruitful—just as I had planned.

Or... maybe not.

Everything would depend on how things unfolded next.

I returned to the cave... and then asked it to create internal spaces.

Each space was dedicated to a single creature.

I left the flow of time inside them completely normal.

There was no need to accelerate time within the beast spaces...

And at the same time, I couldn’t risk triggering any temporal acceleration that might alter the cave itself into a personal domain.

If that happened... I would lose all of its time-acceleration advantages—

the very advantages I relied on to craft weapons and grow the flowers.

"Now..." I whispered,

"It’s time... for the experiment."