Absolute Shopping Addict 54 Chapter 54

[GOAT Flyers (Series 11): Come fly with the GOAT! The memory foam, insulated outsole and reinforced insole all combine to give your footwork skills that extra edge! All 'Footwork' skills gain one level, and all active 'Footwork' skills consume 50% less mana and stamina. Additionally, thanks to its revolutionary Active Gel technology, all your 'Water' magic will gain an additional effect that increases your attack power by 100%. Amazing, huh? Now you can take your cross training to another level with this! Speaking of cross training, you can expect us to come up with a home gym system on our catalog very soon, so watch out for it…]

[Icehammer Dark Sport: Thanks to its aromatics and metallic leather overtones, it will leave quite the impression on everyone you meet. Using this item in battle will cause enemies to lose hostility towards you for 30 minutes, and this effect can only be used once a day. Sure, you can use it for parties, but the effect proper is only a once-day application.]

These effects are also intriguing and significant, as befits their inclusion within the Gold Label.

Gaining a skill from scratch is difficult, raising an existing skill from level 1 to level 2 takes more effort… and from level 2 to 3?
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'Forget about it,' Jake thought. 'I don't even have a level 3 skill myself, yet.'

Still, though, this shows how much of a benefit these GOAT Flyers have. Imagine, you also gain a ridiculous attack buff each time you cast a 'Water' magic spell? Seriously.

While Jake doesn't have any 'Water' type magic yet, he doesn't buy things because he needs something – he buys things that look fancy enough for him to show off to others.

'These shoes are awesome.'

To speak simply about the perfume, it can save your bacon if you are in trouble, allowing you half an hour to get to safety as the monsters don't see you as hostile.

'Honestly, if I don't get these things, I might as well be dead. Mark my words.'

Jake's shopping obsession is beginning to rear its ugly head: his hands are itching, knees weak, a chill is spreading, his eyes are on the thing on the screen, event's ongoing…

'Come on, show me how to get this…'

[For those new to the Gold Label and partic.i.p.ants in the Rookie Event, we will offer an astronomical discount for you. Our standard price for these items is a whopping 600,000 points, but if you partic.i.p.ate in this event and win, you can get them for manageable price of 420,000. 30% off! However, you can only purchase this item if you gain eligibility.]

'420,000 points, huh? I can do that,' Jake thought, 'now familiar with such a price range. Heck, it's a lot cheaper than I first thought it would be! That 30% discount sure came in at the best time.'

He's not the type of customer who will complain about the price, even with such a high discount; he's going to buy it anyway, price be d.a.m.ned.

'The question now becomes, how do I gain eligibility? That's what I'll need to purchase the stuff. What qualifications are those?'

Jake asked the question and the answer appeared in moments.

[Show your potential as a division rookie! Compete and win, Gold Label items are only for winners! The qualification for these items is: you need to win three out of five fights with other awakeners in your Division! Bring your Game, rookie!

Note: This event is not eligible for installment payment.]

'Now this, I haven't seen before.'

The event's eligibility requirement is quite tricky: get into a fight with five other awakeners from the Grand Duelists, and win three?

n.o.body wants to rock the boat, especially when you've just joined a division, as it was like a new hire picking a fight with his co-workers and the shift manager on the very first day… but as always, Jake's shopper logic carried the day.

'You know what? If the new blood makes the team manager look bad, that mean a promotion. I can see that the Gold Label is getting me to set trends just like it, too. Interesting,' Jake thought, only taking ten seconds to make the choice of him picking a fight with the awakeners of the Grand Duelists, all for a pair of sneakers and a bottle of perfume. 'What's the use of rank when you have nice kicks and smell good, anyway?'

"What could be on the mind of one of our newest members? Did he remember something that caused him to scream, and now he's silent?" Connor asked as he went towards Jake, only to flinch as he saw a mischievous smile from the younger man directed at him.

That was how Jake started the Rookie event.

'Oh boy,' Liam thought. 'Here we go again…'

***

Connor was a straightforward and self-righteous person: he preferred to deal with things directly, as shown by his refusal to hide the existence of a succession crisis, even to awakeners that just joined the division.

This nature was also put into display whenever he got into a conversation.

"Also, the accessories you have are quite… opulent. That watch and necklace, specifically," he remarked, eyeing Jake's jewelry rather openly. "Where would you get items like this?"

"Nowhere special," Jake answered sensibly, not intending to tell anyone here the truth about his shopping skill. "Part of it's crafted, some of it's monster drops."

He laughed, and Connor laughed with him.

"Take a look at this showy fellow! A perfect fit for the 'Grand Duelists'," Connor declared to the other awakeners, showing his great interest in Jake.

It's not like he wants to, but that he has to – he has no choice. A novice just fresh off the tutorial area, wearing an absurd amount of jewelry?

Thanks to his own network of informants and scouts, he also gained some information about Jake that few did, and that was when he placed his arm around Jake's shoulder.

"Heard you almost beat that guy from Cheon-Ji-In," Connor stage-whispered. "You know, the one who used the Force of Heaven?"

This was based on the information he got. A fresh novice, this close to defeating a first-year ringer? That was great – to Connor, despite his nature, he found the achievement praiseworthy anyway.

"I almost kicked his a.s.s, and then that smug f.u.c.kface showed up and stopped the fight," Jake explained, and Connor almost spat out his drink.

"Seriously? You called Timothy, the heir to Cheon-Ji-In, a 'smug f.u.c.kface'… to his face?" Connor asked after he recovered himself, and when Jake nodded, he laughed out loud. How many people in Nohas would call Timothy a smug f.u.c.kface to his face and get away with it?

"The b.a.l.l.s on this guy," Connor added, and some of the other awakeners laughed, with still others raising their tankards to his achievement.

Jake just shrugged his shoulders.

'What's with that response?'

"I mean, that sounded a lot like what happened to me," Connor continued. "I was this close to f.u.c.king up that ringer, and then their friends in their division stopped the fight. Twenty years later and they still can't take a loss with grace. No progress, I tell you, no progress at all…"

He told his story easily, and you had to listen, because between the lines was inferred his great skill.

This skill was what put Connor, who wasn't even born in Nohas, into a dead heat with LJ for the succession of this division.

'Jake could do it because he hunted nonstop for monsters to kill and points to gain, Liam thought. What kind of person could he be to defeating an established awakener?'

When Liam heard Connor's story, he looked at the older awakener with curiosity, because he knew firsthand the difference between a novice and established awakener.

He acquitted himself admirably during the tutorial, but his best attack didn't even faze Damian – a difference that, despite his talent, couldn't be overcome easily.

The journey from Kingsville had him and Jake learn many skills from Master Li, skills that made them much stronger, to the point where even a talented novice awakener couldn't take them down, since the skills the divisions teach were a definite step up from those obtained in the tutorial.

This guy, though, said he almost defeated an experienced awakener.

'Does he have any special skills or powers?'

It's understandable if you have special abilities like Jake's access to the Awakener Shop.

'Interesting,' Liam thought as he began making plans to learn about what kind of awakener that Connor fellow is – and someday, he'll be able to find the answers to his questions.

"Here we go, have this drink – it's a monster blood c.o.c.ktail."

***

The tension in main hall slowly ramped up, with Connor and the awakeners in his faction at the center, with LJ and his colleagues remaining silent, only watching the exchanges and conversations take place.

The old man went elsewhere after sharing a few funny stories about Jake to several members… and shortly after that… that was when the incident broke out.

"Well, why do you keep talking about how you reigned over the tutorial area? Have any of our members not swept the tutorials?"

Several hours had pa.s.sed since they had begun drinking, and the fake courtesy began to fade away, replaced by jealousy and insecurity, no doubt inflamed by all of the old man's rather flattering depictions of Jake.

Anyone knows how alcohol and flame interact, so this was an inevitability.

"I don't see any awakeners here who went through their tutorial area unknown and emerged from the novice evaluation as a Ten Stars pick. It's always the tutorial area kings. Pretty d.a.m.n boring, if you ask me."

"Easy for you to say, you weren't a king in your tutorial area."

"That was because I left my fellow awakeners to their own devices, let them figure out to get stronger on their own."

"Then that means your crown is brittle!"

The background of the complaint was Jake's tone; they thought Jake was arrogant.

It wasn't exactly incorrect; Jake has never had the habit of being courteous to those who haven't earned his respect, thus making people think he was rude.

To him, he doesn't have a reason to be courteous; he even talks to Master Li like he would his grandfather.

'Not everyone has a free personality like Gramps,' Jake thought, realizing that it was a slight mistake for him to think that the atmosphere of The Grand Duelists would be similar to that of its leader.

Well, now would be a good time to rectify that mistake.

"Fair enough, then what would you have done in my shoes?"

The awakener who said he was brittle just became quiet, and Jake just laughed.

'I'm not going to change my att.i.tude for anyone or anything… well, this seems to be a good opportunity,' Jake thought, liking how the conversation was going. 'Just a little more to go, and the moment will be seized – that event won't qualify for itself.'

"Are you laughing at me?"

"If you're mistaking me laughing at the conversation as me laughing at you, that's your problem, not me. You think you can control how I act, huh? Is that how it works here?" Jake asked, his abrasive personality finally appearing, several insults and drinks later.

That was when his response finally got one of the awakeners to snap.

"What did you just say, you son of a b.i.t.c.h? I'll have you know I finished my tutorial area as the top fighter… I was involved in numerous raids on calamity monsters, and I have over 300 monster kills!"

Jake just laughed.

"Yeah, yeah, and you're trained in gorilla warfare, so f.u.c.king scary. Spare me."

The awakener got up off the table and made his way to Jake, who also got up and stood his ground.

Neither one of them stepped back until the awakener called out.

"All right, tough guy, let's take this outside," he said, yanking his sword out of his inventory.

However, instead of being intimidated, Jake just scoffed at the other adventurer.

"Do you seriously call that thing a sword?"

He brought out his own weapon.

"This is what you call a f.u.c.king sword, cheapskate."

The sight of the sword stilled everybody, until someone broke the silence.

"Oi, you two take your little diva quarrel outside, we're still having a good time here… unless you fellows also want to watch?"

The crowd cheered Connor's wit.

***

Conflict between established awakeners and new ones within a division are more common than one may think, which is why when this incident flared out, next to none of the other awakeners were surprised, or even tried to stop the two from fighting.

'Better this happen now and be dealt with rather than having those two fighting each other in a dungeon or in a war against another division,' Connor thought, his smile hiding the truth of what he was really thinking. 'When I think of it, it's like animals: one show of force is enough to change the pecking order.'

'For all of our cities and divisions and magic, incidents like this never fail to convince me that this is some bizarre RPG land Lord of the Flies s.h.i.t.'

Very few caught Connor's eyes while he thought about that – Jake was one of them. However, he was fixated on something completely different.

'I need to buy that… come on, let's get this party going… I need those GOAT Flyers…'

The pecking order was nowhere near Jake's priorities, he just needed to win, those items were important.

"Whoa, look at Wade starting the show!"

"New blood about to get blooded, this should be interesting!"

The other awakeners hurriedly pushed the chairs and tables aside to make enough room in the center for the fight to happen, because the best thing to happen during a celebration like this is a fight breaking out.

"Well, it looks like we're going to see the pecking order shaken up much earlier than we thought, eh? Let's see how this goes."

Jake didn't let them just sit and watch.

***