Endless Leveling Done Right!

Chapter 444: Are You Ready To Call Me, Master? [Part 2]

"This second book is a movement skill called Tempest Step [EX]. It’s also a Unique Martial Skill," Alex continued. "It complements the Berserker Dragon Barrage. Once you master both of them, you’ll become an unstoppable juggernaut."

Alex then dangled the two books in front of Renard with the most devilish smile that he could muster.

"I’m pricing both these books at three hundred thousand academy points," Alex practically sang. "Pretty cheap, right?"

Renard’s face paled after hearing how much the two books cost.

He didn’t know how Alex had come up with the price, but it would take him years to collect enough points to buy even one of the books.

"I can loan the points to you and you can pay me in installments," Alex offered. "But I have one more condition—you won’t have to pay interest—but you are going to call me Master from now on."

Renard barely stopped himself from saying that he would rather die than call his rival his Master.

However, he couldn’t take his eyes off the two skill books in front of him.

Alex laughed internally, knowing full well that he was basically scamming Renard. Without his interference, the Hero would have "accidentally" discovered these two Martial Skill Books next year.

The silver-haired young man was simply speeding up the process because he didn’t want to wait that long for Renard to turn into a true powerhouse. He had weighed the pros and cons. Bringing Renard’s progress forward would be more beneficial in the long run.

Alex, like Nessia, was also never going to say no to a chance to make big bucks.

He was not going to turn down the opportunity of having one of the Heroes of ELO in his debt either.

"So, how about it?" Alex said, smiling like a loan shark. "Are you ready to call me Master? Don’t worry. As I said, there won’t be any interest in this loan. As long as you pay me a fixed amount quarterly, all is good."

"But what if I can’t pay you?" Renard asked. He felt like swallowing his saliva, but his mouth felt dry at the moment.

Alex shrugged. "If you can’t pay me with academy points, then you can also do a few errands and missions for me. These missions consist of bandit subjugation and dungeon exploration. Easy, right?"

After hearing the words "bandit subjugation," Renard immediately snapped to attention.

Renard might look like he hated almost everything—and he did. But he did not hate equally. He ranked them on a long, long list. And bandits had managed to squeeze into the top few spots.

Growing up, he had witnessed bandits attacking his village on more than one occasion.

If he could pay for Alex’s skill books by hunting bandits instead of academy points, Renard wouldn’t mind doing it!

Unbeknownst to him, Alex had deliberately bought it up. As expected, Renard took the bait.

As Renard started feeling more positive about this proposal, Alex also started looking slightly less like a slimy loan shark to him.

Although he was still hesitant, he also believed that this was going to be a turning point in his life.

Learning these two martial skills early would allow him to realize his potential sooner.

"I feel like I’m selling my soul to the devil." Renard sighed. "But I accept your offer."

"Don’t worry. I’m nicer than The Devil." Alex smirked as he handed the two Unique Skill Books to Renard.

He left as soon as the books were in Renard’s hands.

Once he stepped outside, Alex sighed in relief, his confident demeanor fading away.

He had spent ten thousand Arcana Points just to help Renard become stronger. Expensive, yes, but also a calculated sacrifice that would allow him to gain one powerful helper in the future.

Besides, he didn’t want his hate-hate relationship with Renard to continue.

Alex knew how strong Renard would become within the next year or so. And after that explosive growth, Renard would become someone Alex didn’t want to mess with.

’Better make him indebted to me now than suffer his revenge later,’ Alex thought. ’Should I also invest my Arcana Points in Lavinia, Charles, and Chuck?’

Arcana Points allowed him to buy items in the Arcana Shop. Usually, he used them sparingly because he believed it was better to have them and not need them than to need them and not have them.

However, after meeting Nero and Luthor, Alex understood that his arrival in Arcana had set off a whole chain of effects that even he was only partially aware of.

The past of Alex Stratos, which was intricately linked to Prince Aetherius Alexian Vademont, was a variable he hadn’t seen coming.

In order to overcome these unexpected developments, he would need to make the Heroes, Heroines, and supporting characters in his club stronger.

That way, when he finally had to go up against stronger opponents, he would have some dependable allies to help him in battle.

’I just hope he learns them fast,’ Alex thought as he walked towards Ironheart Dormitory. ’He only has less than a month before our field trip to Solara.’

The young man smiled faintly. If Renard really won against the nobles, then maybe Celestria’s parents would recognize him as someone worthy of their daughter.

If that really happened, then Alex would’ve "accidentally" played matchmaker between the two.

’Well, whatever happens, it’s their choice,’ Alex mused. ’All I did was give Renard a little push.’

The young man was now looking forward to their trip to Solara.

He wanted to see the expressions of the nobles when they realized their opponent was far stronger than they had assumed.

Of course, the streams of money flowing into his pockets would sweeten the experience even more.

As for investing Arcana Points in Lavinia, Charles, and Chuck, Alex decided to check the Arcana Shop first to see if there were skills suitable for them.

28,740 Arcana Points.

That was how much he had left after buying Renard’s skill books.

If he invested five thousand points in each of his friends, they would also experience an explosive growth just like Renard.

Although losing so much Arcana Points would make him sad for a while, the future rewards would make up for it without fail.

’Okay, let’s do this.’ Alex opened his Arcana Shop as soon as he arrived in his room and scrolled through the Unique Martial Skills, looking for skills that would complement his friends’ fighting styles.

The 50% discount slapped on every Skill Book banished the last bit of his hesitance. It might be a shopper’s impulse as well since the discount only lasted for twenty-four hours.

Alex already had a good number of skills at his disposal. Adding more would not necessarily make him stronger.

For now, he planned to master his Unique Skill, Gravitas Dominion [EX], so he could use it more effectively in battle.