Due to being an official employee of [Fort Skip]'s keep, the host has been awarded [10,000] merit points. The total merit balance of the host is now: 10,000 [+10,000].

Daz, as per usual, moved Mr Barrier from his face then stretched lightly before he offered a prayer to Pala.

The host has successfully made a [Prayer] to the god [Pala], the [God of Shovels]. Now evaluating the [Prayer]. Prayer successfully Evaluated. Daz's Prayer to Pala: the God of Shovels Prayer Type: Appreciation. Sincerity Level: 89%. Prayer Effects 0.3% of Pala's power has been restored. Temporary buff [Pala's Appreciative Champion] has been given to the host. Cooldown until the host can perform another official [Prayer]: 23:59:20.

While very similar to the buff, Pala's Thankful Champion, Pala's Appreciative Champion only increased Daz's ability to handle shovels by 10% instead of 15%.

Daz couldn't really help that. He was quite appreciative of Pala, but thankful? Pala had to earn Daz's thanks if he wanted to get them repeatedly.

Leaning over and softly kissing Madison's forehead, Daz whispered, "I'll be in the throne room for a while, so if you wake up early, you can find me there, 'kay?"

"Mmm," came the girl's mumbled response before she reached around Daz and stole his pillow to have it act as her new hugging partner.

Smiling warmly, Daz got dressed and then left the room. Before long, he was sat on his throne while Crosius toiled away at his desk next to him.

"What to get..." Daz muttered as he played with the SSS-ranked Item Token that he'd been rewarded with for becoming second on the merit ranking list.

Daz was torn between two options. He'd spent a little over an hour following the system's recommendations as well as browsing the system's item shop on his own with his instincts, but even then, he couldn't choose between the final pair of contending items.

One was a brand new outfit. Altros' Travelling Gear had been useful, but far too often had it not saved him from a life-threatening situation. Its feature that allowed it to repair itself was fantastic and somewhat rare, but with almost every stat boost it gave as well as its seemingly more useful skills all sealed, and considering that no one under Daz's rule specialised in enchanting, unlocking the outfit's full potential seemed like a far-off goal.

As for the second item Daz was considering getting, it was actually a mode of transportation. To be more specific, it was a sci-fi car that had been imbued with dozens of magical effects allowing it to move in water, in space, through the air, heck, practically anywhere. It had a safe top speed of Mach-4, but it could be pushed to Mach-10 at the risk of exploding. Every Mach above four would increase the chance of a critical failure by 10%.

Why did Daz want this and why were his instincts guiding him to purchase it? Well, while he could move quickly with Hamson, and while the option to fly with Fort Sky was certainly there, neither were very practical.

As for Hamson, he wasn't the most comfortable shovel to ride on, that was sure. He was fast and nimble, but the wind-pressure would cause mild discomfort for Daz if he rode the shovel too quickly and for too long.

As for Fort Sky, well, while the flying island could easily move at a speed of 1-mile-per-second, Daz had learned that it was only possible for GriD CrosS to do that for, at most, 3-minutes a day.

It would seem that the dishonest gem had tried its best to impress its master when it had travelled 20-miles in 20-seconds upon their first meeting.

"Hmm..." Daz stroked his jawline thoughtfully. "Master Identification," he said as he thought of his currently equipped armour.

Travelling Gear of Altros: The Wanderer [B-Rank (Higher Tier)] Description

The former equipment of a now system-famous player, Altros: the Wanderer.

It currently belongs to the prospective host and Archreaper, Daz.

Many of its prior enchantments still linger, but are far too damaged to be used, and have thus been sealed.

Finally looking to replace this heap of garbage, are you? Well, to be fair, you slipped right into it like a pea in a pod. Maybe you'd be better off sticking to what you know? Y'know, garbage, that is, Mr Former Recycling Centre Employee.

Stats Defense: 3,000 Agility: 400 (Sealed) Strength: 200 (Sealed) Constitution: 200 (Sealed) Luck: 700 (Sealed) Heat Resistance: 40% (sealed) Durability: 10,000/10,000 Skills Self-Repairing Self-Cleaning Armour Hardening (Sealed) Strength of The Desert (Sealed)

"How much would it cost me to repair all of the enchantments, system?" Daz asked.

Confirmed. Should the host wish the system to repair the enchantments on the item [Travelling Gear of Altros - The Wanderer], it would cost 65,000,000 merit points. It is advised that should the host wish to restore this item to its former glory that they employ a suitably skilled enchanter instead of relying on the system.

"Yeah, not gonna happen. I need my points to upgrade Fort Skip, Fort Sky, and Waterford. Not to mention how many points I'm bound to need in order to unify four states in only 6-months," Daz replied.

He sighed softly and simply thought for a short while.

Eventually, he decided that it'd be best to look at the two SSS-ranked items once more before making a final decision. "Show me Archreaper Foldestudes' Platemail now, and show me what all of its skills do, please, system."

Confirmed. Displaying the item [Archreaper Foldestudes' Platemail] and all related skills. Archreaper Foldestudes' Platemail [SSS-Rank (Higher Tier)] Description

This is the famed platemail of the man hailed to be the most powerful Archreaper to have ever lived, Foldestudes. It is made of pure Encorian scales, thrice-infused void crystals, the souls of 10-billion beings, and four perfect-tier planet cores.

Upon him reaching the end of his very long lifespan, Foldestudes asked the system to take all of his belongings and only sell or offer them to his fellow reapers.

While he was a cruel and vicious man with no concern for another being's life, Foldestudes was incredibly elitist and an advocate of the superiority of his own species over all others.

Current unlock level: 1.

I low-key kinda hope you choose this. Foldestudes was a real cunt of a madman, and, well, let's just say that you two have some common ground...

Stats Soul Power: 50,000 (10,000,000) Mana: 20,000 (4,000,000) Mana Sensitivity: 10,000 (2,000,000) Fate: 5,000 (1,000,000) Defense: 30,000 (6,000,000) Death Resistance: 5% (50%) Durability: 9,821,123/25,000,000 Skills Challenge of Worth Death Reflection Greater Magic Amplification Eruption of Magic Price 500 Solar Credits and 500,000,000 Merit Stars (Free should you use your [SSS-rank Item Token] to purchase it) Challenge of Worth The host may challenge a mirror image of Foldestudes. The mirror image has ten different power levels, and only by defeating all ten power levels will the platemail's stats be fully unlocked. Death Reflection Once per day, the host can reflect their own death onto whatever it was that tried to end their life. Greater Magic Amplification All skills used by the host that consume any form of magical energy shall be tripled in power so long as the platemail is equipped. Eruption of Magic Allows the host to expend all of their magical energies to create an enormous explosion of power with them as the centre. Cost: A minimum of 40% of the host's magical energies.

While this armour was obviously incredible, it also held many drawbacks. The obvious one would be that Daz had no magical energy source.

Death Energy fed off of souls, and thus, did not qualify. Daz could purchase a new energy source, yes, but doing so would cost him a vast fortune as he would have to alter his race to be able to contain both Death Energy and the new power source.

Not only would this be costly, but it also held the potential to affect his future evolution options, which was very risky.

The other notable flaw was that the armour could not repair itself like Altros' Travelling Gear could. It held a very high level of durability still, yes, and no doubt, it would be a challenge to reduce it much considering the materials it was made out of, but there was something very appealing about having self-repairing weapons and armour.

Regardless, Daz moved on and looked over the alien car's information. "System, show me the details of the Ridomochi Final Model again, please. Same as before, show me all of its skills like with the armour."

Confirmed. Displaying the item [Ridomochi Final Model] and all related skills. Ridomochi Final Model [SSS-Rank (Higher Tier)] Description

Ridomochi, the woman toted as being a candidate for the role of the God of Machines - a role which she aptly refused when the position became vacant - was only able to create this absolute masterpiece after toiling away for 700 straight years.

It is capable of seamless travel through almost every environment known to the system, it can perfectly adjust itself to all terrains - liquids and different air/gravity densities included, it has won multiple awards for being the most beautiful vehicle ever created, and it is also able to match the level of comfort that any 50-star hotel sanctioned by the system could ever provide.

Only 50 models of this vehicle exist, and due to Ridomochi's raw hatred for those that do nothing but collect money, she has restricted all of the models to only be available to those she deems to be worthy, meaning should you choose to purchase this item, you will be mentally connected with her and will have to persuade her to allow you to buy it.

Ridomochi is a good person. She actually enjoys my snide little remarks... What? Did you think that you were the only one? Sure, I don't show this stuff to everyone, but, unlike Altros, I have a lot of people that I allow the privilege of experiencing my literary genius. You ain't no snowflake, Kid.

Stats Speed: Mach 4 Handling: Perfect Suspension: Perfect Traction Perfect Braking: Perfect Pressure resistance: 100% Durability: 15,000,000/15,000,000 Skills Hyperoverclocking The Sovereign Treatment Automated Master Driving Lessons Bound Price 500,000,000 Solar Credits (Free should you use your [SSS-rank Item Token] to purchase it) Hyperoverclocking Allows the host to push the vehicle beyond its limits, giving it a max speed of up to Mach-10, but each Mach above 4 increases the chances of the vehicle exploding by 10% up to a maximum of 60%. The Sovereign Treatment When inside of the vehicle, the host shall feel comfort beyond the limits of physical comprehension. Automated Master Driving Lessons When in use, the host shall passively learn the skill [Master Driving]. Bound This item is bound to the host who purchases it, and cannot be used by any other host or sold to the system after its purchase.

In Daz's opinion, this item had far more tolerable downsides, but it was slightly less useful on the grand scale of things than the armour was.

As far as its drawbacks went, Daz was convinced that he could persuade the owner to sell him one of the models. As for its Hyperclocking ability, he cared very little for it. Mach-4 was already incredibly fast, so he saw no reason to travel any faster than the speed of sound multiplied by four in the foreseeable future.

In regards to the fact that it forced a skill onto the driver, well, Daz had plenty of skill slots open currently, so that wasn't a concern for now and it also helped that it was a temporary skill like the translation one from the auction was meant to be.

"Hmm... The platemail'll definitely be more useful right now, but the car has more versatility and I can see Rose loving it since she cares so much about tech... Well, my instincts are neutral, and the platemail isn't optimised for me since I'm not a mana user right now, so I guess my choice is already made," Daz said out loud. "System, I want to use my token on the Ridomochi Final Model, please."

Confirmed. The original owner of [Ridomochi Final Model] has requested to talk with the host [Daz] before she will allow you to purchase her item.

Allow a telepathic conversation to be hosted by the system?

"Yes, I allow it," Daz replied.

'Hachoo!' Immediately, Daz's mind was filled with the sound a cute sneeze. 'So, another one wants my car, huh? Well, you've got 30-seconds to tell me why! I'm in the middle of work righ- hachoo! right now, so be quick or get lost!'

'What a high-pitched voice... She almost sounds... like a small animal?' Daz thought before he cleared his mind and offered his reason for wanting to buy this alien's incredible vehicle.