The Author's POV

"Hmmm...which one" 

Inside my dorm room, leisurely laying down on my bed, I scrolled through a long list of products displayed on my tablet. 

Two days have passed since Kevin's incident, and by now, Kevin should already be back in his own room with only minor injuries on his body. 

...and exactly like in the story, the events that had transpired between Gilbert and Kevin spread throughout the whole academy like wildfire. 

'Kevin challenged Gilbert and got into an accident during the fight' 

That's the version of the story that was currently being spread across the academy. Although a lot of students were present during the fight, because of [Blood supremacy] status, no one dared to refute the real happenings of the events. 

Moreover, all the videos that were posted online with regards to the events would quickly disappear as fast as they were uploaded. 

...In the end, Kevin's reputation dropped whilst Gilbert's remained the same. 

Either way, that was beside the point. As I already knew this was going to happen, I wasn't really shocked by the happenings. 

A more pressing matter was currently awaiting me. 

Scrolling through my tablet, I was currently on a website called [World Market] 

...The biggest online marketing shop in the human domain. Sort of like Amazon or ebay back on earth in my previous world. 

The products that they sold ranged from combat suits, potions, herbs, artifacts, and basically anything that you could think of. 

If you wanted something, chances were that [World Market] had it.

"...where is it...mhhhh...ah, herbs and potions" 

Scrolling through the different categories on their website, I soon clicked on the 'herbs and potions' section.

Soon after I pressed on that section, an endless row of products presented itself on the webpage. The list went on and on and on. It was practically endless. 

Now, why was I looking through this section? 

The answer was simple...I needed to increase my rank as soon as possible.

This was especially so considering that I was about to embark on a dangerous mission with Kevin. Immorra aside, the location of where the [Levisha style] was located was in fact inside of a D ranked dungeon. 

Although I already had plans with regard to how I was going to approach the dungeon, I felt that I still needed to increase my strength. You could never be too careless in such dangerous environments. 

If I had to say something about my current strength, it would be that it was inadequate. 

Thus, knowing this fact, I had no other choice but to look towards the [World Market] in hopes of finding something to aid me in my quest of finding something that could boost my strength. 

I refrained from using the website in the past because I was poor. After all each of the products listed on that site sold for millions of U. 

Fortunately, as I had saved enough money, I could now take a proper look at the website and see if there was anything useful. 

This time, I had a clear goal. 

Find something that could increase my rank from <F+> to <E> 

"...Let's skip potions and directly go to natural treasure/herbs...yup, let's go with the <E> and <F> range...and here" 

As I looked through the long list of items, using advanced search, I narrowed down my findings to <F> and <E> rank and chose the natural treasure section. 

The reason why I chose natural treasure/herbs rather than potions was simple...it was cheaper.

...and there was a good reason for that. 

For one, depending on the potency of the herb, they couldn't be taken back to back as the medical properties would linger in the human system for quite a while. Usually, one year would be the most optimal time to take another herb, however, stronger ones may require even more time to fully digest. 

Secondly, compared to potions which required a highly skilled person to carefully distill and mix the different types of herbs, consuming natural resources required none of that work. This also explained why upon ingestion, someone would feel unbearable pain course throughout their body.

They weren't made to be consumed by humans. Either way, pretty much only the richest people could afford to use potions instead of herbs hence why there was still a market for them. 

...and lastly. They required an inhuman level of willpower. Because of how dense the mana contained within them was, if not careful, someone could find themselves losing their mind due to the sheer amount of pain that they experienced as they ingested the herb. 

This was primarily why people tended to avoid herbs and chose potions whose effects were much milder.

...it just wasn't for the faint of heart. 

*Sigh* 

"What other choice do I have?" 

Sighing out loud, I couldn't help but mumble to myself as I stared at the long list of herbs on my phone 

Since I couldn't afford an advanced-level potion, I could only go for herbs. Like they all say, 'beggars can't be choosers'

"Actually, how much do I have?" 

Frowning slightly, taking out my phone, I quickly opened my bank app and checked my bank account. 

===========================

Student: Ren Dover

Age: 16

Balance: 38,634,070 U

Withdraw                                    Deposit

===========================

"Around 38,000,000 U...huh?" 

Taken aback, I couldn't help but be surprised by the amount of money I had in my bank account. Though I knew I had a lot, I didn't expect it to be that much...

Moreover, this was excluding the amount that I had put as a budget for the mercenary group. After short-selling Bull's wrath stock, I made a lot of money. 

On the topic of Bull's wrath, surprisingly, they managed to pick themselves up and have allied themselves with another gold-ranked guild not far from where they were. 

Right now it was Sword of Light and Luxious vs Bullswrath and the other gold-ranked guild. That's the current talk of the Northern District. 

Fortunately, I had already completed the transaction before any of this happened else I would've lost a lot of possible profit. 

"Maybe I can actually afford an advanced potion..." 

With the amount of money I had I could definitely afford to buy an advanced potion, but after a bit of thought, I discarded such a notion. 

Looking through the prices of the advanced potion section, the cheapest potion that could help me rank up totaled a whopping 35,000,000 U

...yeah, a bit too pricey. Thus, without hesitation, I closed the tab and quickly went back to look at the herbs section. 

"Now...what should I buy" 

===========================

Tituala flower 

A flower that grows in high altitudes, and contains a high concentration of mana. Upon ingestion for a brief period of time, the pores of the user will open up granting maximum mana absorption rate. Warning, only use if you are at least <F> ranked, as death may be possible if a lower-ranked individual consumes such natural treasure. 

Price : 12,000,000 U 

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Blood ginseng 

Gingseng that is soaked in the blood of <E> ranked beast Red-eyed Chimera. Under the influence of its blood, the ginseng's gentle properties along with the chimera's chaotic properties created a perfect balance between the two polar opposite energies. Through the perfect balance of those properties, users may be able to increase rank if they can absorb the energy trapped within the ginseng. Warning, only use if you are at least <F> ranked, as death may be possible if a lower-ranked individual consumes such natural treasure. 

Price : 15,800,000U 

----------------------------------------------

Black lotus 

A lotus that grows...

===========================

"Tssss" 

Hissing slightly, I couldn't help but scrunch up my face as I looked at the prices of some of the herbs listed. 

Though I knew that the prices would've been high, they were still far more than I had expected. Shaking my head, I looked back at the list 

"...now which one should I choose" 

I had to choose carefully. There was another thing I forgot to mention when talking about ranking up through external aid. 

...and that there was a chance of failure.

Though not big, it was still there. Therefore, I had to choose something that gave me the highest chance of success

"Tituala flower, and Blood ginseng..." 

Those were the two natural treasures that had caught my interest. The Tituala flower, with its gentle and soothing properties, would definitely hurt a lot less compared to the blood ginseng...however, after a bit of thinking I choose the blood ginseng. 

The reason was simple. 

Lower chance of failure. Though the pain would be far worse than the Tituala flower, to me none of that mattered. I couldn't afford to throw 12,000,000 U for nothing. I may as well spend an extra 3,000,000U to get a higher chance of ranking up. 

...after all, I couldn't afford to fail. 

With each passing day, I realized that I was still too weak. No matter how much I tried to catch up to Kevin and the others...I was still not fast enough. 

They were prodigies themselves. They weren't just going to wait for me to catch up. 

I had to take matters into my own hand...and thus. 

-Click! 

Pressing onto the cart on the top right of my screen, I quickly purchased the blood ginseng. Taking a deep breath as I watched the transaction go through, I couldn't help but softly mumble 

"huuuu....time to rank up"