Chapter 30: One Day Fixed Deposit

"Is that true, young master?"

"Yes, Mildred, it’s true..." Damon said, his attendants noticeably brightening up at the news, but then he paused before adding.

"However, for some reason that’s too lengthy to get into at the moment, I can’t raise my stats..... At least not in the normal way as others do."

"What do you mean, Master Damon? What does that mean?"

"I will fill you guys in on the details later, but what you need to know at the moment is that I awakened a ’unique class’."

"A Unique class?!. That’s incredible, young master." Damon could feel Mildred’s excitement surging.

"However, though it’s not a combative class.... "

"It does give me the ability to double the amount of origin crystals in my possession every day keep and not use it."

Harvey and Mildred turned to look at one another, then back at Damon once again, their eyes noticeably widening as Harvey intoned in clarification, now almost in a whisper—

"You can.... Double origin crystals, master Damon?"

"Yes."

"Every day?"

"Yes... every twenty-four hours, hold on usage, to be precise."

Damon explained simply in response; he didn’t bother to mention the one week, one month, and even one year option—

This reveal was more than enough shock to their systems; it was unbelievable to both of them. But Damon has never been one to joke around, so they understood this was the truth, no matter how ridiculous it sounded.

"So that’s why..." Mildred mumbled in realization as to why Damon had stopped her from using the crystals they had hunted to make that purchase.

"Young master, this.... Doesn’t this mean you never have to...?" she mumbled ecstatically, visibly becoming more emotional as she looked at Damon but trying her best to compose herself.

This was the first time Damon had gotten such a visceral mix of emotional reactions of surprise, joy, and relief from his attendants; however minutely it was let out.

Mildred had been incredibly worried. Their young master was fragile, but that hadn’t mattered in their world before this trial commenced, since he had what mattered most in abundance: wealth.

This world might have turned to hell, but there was one fact everyone was starting to understand, and that ’currency was still king’. Only this time, the currency had changed from the one they used to know into precious Origin crystals.

Doesn’t that mean her young master can still thrive freely in this world even with his weak constitution ?.

"Master Damon, this is wonderful news," Harvey remarked after a moment’s pause to calibrate his thoughts.

"But.... Can I ask something of you, master Damon?" he added in request, his expression transforming into an even more tense one than when they arrived.

"Go ahead, Harvey."

"Please, tell no one else about this," Harvey demanded, his tone allowing no reproach, and Mildred nodded in full support, an equal level of tension in her expression.

Damon could understand their fears. He had become a literal walking, talking Origin Crystal glitch. If a strong awakener with evil intentions were to catch wind of his ability, he would be turned into a living crystal mine.

Harvey and Mildred were even more worried; they couldn’t even keep Damon safe from Brad. Not to mention Brad finding out about this; if any of these monsters in human skin currently being rumored about on the chat channels were to find out about this when they aren’t equipped to fight back, it would be a disaster.

"I know, Harvy. This is exactly the reason I asked to talk to you two privately."

Damon felt like Hazel was trustworthy; still, it was too early to be certain about this. It didn’t feel good keeping a secret, but Damon felt he needed to learn to adapt quickly, or he wouldn’t just be endangering himself, but these two who care so much for him.

Sage was out of the question. Damon wasn’t getting the feeling that that person liked him very much, and was only, for some reason, sticking to their newly formed group.

As for Nick, it was even more of a worse idea for him to find out about such a secret as compared to Sage, since he was still finding it hard to come to terms with the situation around them.

Reading people and inferring from interactions was a new domain of exploration for Damon; still, he would try his best to make as few mistakes as possible.

"But young master. If your skill requires twenty-four hours to work...."

"How about your injuries?. I think we still need to purchase the injector, and Harvey and I would simply go down again to the lower floors...."

"It’s fine, Mildred. I can hold on till tomorrow."

"Besides, it seems the thing about awakeners having better recovery speed is true.... I am in better shape than I should be."

Damon explained his thoughts. Other than the weakness, grogginess, and persistent pain, Damon’s wounds weren’t worsening anymore. They weren’t healing either, but it would certainly have been worse for a non-awakened.

He could only link this to the fact that awakeners have been rumored to have a better endurance for injuries. Though Mildred and Harvey, who wasn’t looking good from his own wounds and severed arm, did not seem that convinced by Damon.

They counter-argued that they actually managed to source a total of nine origin crystals, and Mildred just had to purchase the injector with five of those crystals, and Harvey could hand over his four to Damon for him to apply his skill on.

Damon kicked against this and insisted that he invested them all into his skill immediately. Harvey’s severed arm also wasn’t looking good. If Damon did this, by this time tomorrow, those nine Origin crystals would become eighteen; then he could get the injector for both himself and Harvey, and then invest the rest back.

They went through a series of back-and-forth arguing the logic behind Damon’s decision, but at the end of the day, Damon brought an end to their insistence by simply being stubborn. More stubborn than Mildred.

The transaction was conducted in a simple exchange. Damon listed two spoons he picked up from the kitchen drawers into the private trade request in the private channel.

Then he sent two trade requests to Harvey and Mildred after setting the price to the Origin crystals they both possessed.

The spoons vanished, and Damon finally came into possession of nine Origin crystals, which he now felt innately bonded to. It was magical;

[Balance: 9 oc]

Facing the intense, worried gazes of his attendants, who were still on the fence with Damon depositing all the crystals given his current condition—

Damon directly activated his class skill, designating the duration and setting the parameters–

[ONE DAY FIXED DEPOSIT:

Investment Volume: 9 oc

Duration: 24hours

ROI: 100%

Projected Returns: 18 oc

Proceed? ]

It was an innate tug on his conscious will, and as soon as Damon willed it, he felt the deduction and a subtle detachment from that immaterial currency that seemed to have been dispersed without form into a state he couldn’t reach.

’Just what is this feeling?’ Damon pondered. It was confounding how he could perceive these sensations. He wondered if the same was true for all awakeners.

[Balance: 0 oc]

"There. It’s done. No going back now." Damon remarked as Mildred sighed in defeat.

Though Damon caught a hopeful glow in her. Damon’s ability definitely felt like a hack, a bug in the system.

Now relaxed as the deposit was made, Damon finally changed the conversation to what he was curious about. He needed to know their situation, starting with the state of the building they were currently trapped in.

"Now please tell me.... What happened on your hunt?"