“So you were scared to touch a little shrine.”

  “Terrible rage bait Freddy.”

  “It was worth a shot.”

  “If you say so, I wanna see you walk up to it and touch it though.”

  “I don’t mind doing that all. Terrible rage bait Rakeon.”

  “If you say so.”

  A stretch of silence followed as both of us stood at the edge of the park and observed the floating shrine looking thing.

  It was made up of seemingly two pieces. A cylindrical lower piece, with like a 10 inch diameter maybe?

  Then there was a top part, which just looked like a flat rectangle on top of it.

  The whole thing was a metallic silver, and maybe about 3 feet in length.

  Taking a good long look at it now, it really didn’t look like a shrine to me. I think it looks more like a small podium.

  “Where the hell did you get shrine from. It looks like a podium people give lectures from and what not.”

  “I don’t know, I was nervous.”

  “So you really were scared of a teaching podium.”

  “…Okay fine that one almost got me. But all jokes aside, we can’t just stand here forever.”

  “Fine, I’ll go check it out. “

  As much as I’d love to continue trying to get my cousin mad, he wasn’t wrong.

  Someone needed to check out the shrine podium thing and it’s exactly what Grandpa sent us here to do.

  No time like the present.

  “Alright wait here. If I disappear or something then run back immediately and let them know.”

  “You don’t gotta tell me twice. I’ll be gone before you know it.”

  I ignored him and began walking to the floating…thing since I knew he was joking. Probably joking.

  Throwing that thought to the back of my mind, I neared the floating device and stopped when I got within reach of it.

  Here we go.

  I reached out my hand touched the device.

  There was a massive grin on my face.

  Ding!

  Welcome to the System Shop for Earth!

  As a Planet going through a Pre-Int Subjugation, rudimentary shops have been established at many locations across your Planet without cost.

  Note: Full functioning System Shops can only be made available post subjugation and will not be without cost.

  “Hey, what the hell got you grinning like you just got a new console for Christmas.”

  I looked away from the screen that popped up in front of me and at my cousin.

  “Because I did just get a new console for Christmas. Touch it!”

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  He hesitantly placed a hand on what I now knew to be the system shop and I watched as a grin slowly found its way onto his face.

  Going to back to look at the screen in front of me.

  There were 8 different tabs on the screen.

  1. Basic Supplies

  2. System Utilities

  3. Crafting Materials

  4. Training Aids

  5. Basic Food

  6. Medical Aids

  7. Training Manuals

  8. Knowledge

  After taking a look through all of them, not only did I finally see the use and value for those coins we got from the Dungeon in the ocean, but also the way in which we were going to survive this apocalypse.

  This is exactly what we needed.

  Basic Supplies

  · Iron Sword (Basic) – Standard crude iron blade – 70 Bronze

  · Iron Spear (Basic) – Long reach, decent balance – 70 Bronze

  · Iron Short bow – Low-power hunting bow – 80 Bronze

  · Quiver of Arrows (x20) – Basic iron-tipped arrows – 40 Bronze

  · Leather Armor Set – Light protection; covers torso, legs, forearms – 95 Bronze

  · Weapon Sharpening Kit – Maintains metal weapon edge for 10–15 uses – 1 Silver

  · Leather Backpack – Durable, 12-slot standard pack – 50 Bronze

  · Flint and Steel Kit – Reliable fire starter, reusable – 90 Copper

  · Minor Healing Salve (x3) – Treats cuts and bruises over time – 25 Bronze

  System Utilities

  · Identification Scroll – Reveals Level and Grade of Target (F Grade Only) – 2 Silver

  · Faction Node – Allows for the creation of System Recognized Factions and the claiming of Land – 10 Gold

  Crafting Materials

  · Coarse Beast Hide (x5) – Used for basic armor and bags – 85 Bronze

  · Refined Iron Ingot (x2) – Ready for weapon or armor smithing – 1 Silver

  · Monster Bone (x3) – Stronger than wood; used in primitive reinforcement – 1 Silver

  · Basic Alchemy Herb Pouch – Reagents for stamina, minor healing, or detox – 1 Silver

  · Mana Sap Vial (Minor) – Weak mana-conductive fluid, useful for enchantments – 2 Silver

  Training Aids

  · Resistance Wraps – A wrap that can cause increased resistance for the area it is applied to – 2 Silver

  · Training Dummy (Self-Repairing) – Can take damage and restore itself over time – 5 Silver

  Basic Food

  · Bread Loaf (x5) – Simple, dense grain bread; lasts up to 3 days – 15 Copper

  · Foraged Veggies (x10) – Roots, tubers, wild greens, etc… – 20 Copper

  · Dried Meat Pack (x5) – Salted and smoked, slightly boosts stamina – 25 Copper

  · Clean Water Flask – Sealed purified water (Does not refill) – 10 Copper

  · Cooked Meat Cut (x3) – Fresh meat, cooked and preserved with light spices – 3 Silver

  · Full Trail Meal Kit – Bread + meat + veggies; nourishing and well-balanced – 1 Silver

  Medical Supplies

  · Minor Healing Salve (x3) – Treats light cuts, bruises, and scrapes. Ineffective on deep or critical wounds – 25 Bronze

  · Wound Seal Powder (x1) – Closes open gashes and heavy bleeding. Does not accelerate healing but prevents death by blood loss – 2 Silver

  · Standard Healing Paste (x2) – Treats punctures, slashes, or torn muscle tissue that Minor Healing Salve cannot address. Useful for battlefield injuries – 5 Silver

  · Vital Repair Elixir (x1) Restores damaged organs, halts internal bleeding, and stabilizes life-threatening trauma. Reserved for emergencies – 2 Gold

  Training Manuals

  · Basic Weapon Handling – Teaches stances, grips, and form across multiple weapons – 4 Silver

  · Foundation of Martial Movement – General movement: balance, reflex, center of gravity – 4 Silver

  · Principles of Craftsmanship – Covers forging basics, metallurgy, shaping, tempering – 5 Silver

  · Survival and Fieldcraft – Teaches foraging, traps, camp setup, navigation – 3 Silver

  · Mana Control Techniques – Entry-level guidance for sensing and channeling mana – 5 Silver

  Knowledge

  · Understanding Classes – Overview of how classes form, evolve, and interact with traits – 3 Silver

  · Introduction to Mana, Natural laws, flow structure, and basic metaphysical theory – 4 Silver

  · World Subjugation – Explains how worlds fall under the rule of another – 5 Silver

  · The Grades – Abstract outline of higher realms – 6 Silver

  There was a whole lot of things here, and If I was right about the coins from the Dungeon being Copper and Bronze, then the only thing we could reasonably buy right now was food.

  And that wasn’t something to complain about.

  As long as this system shop didn’t go away, then we would have food! We currently didn’t have any way to store the food, but we would at least have access to get more.

  And of course there were many other things to understand and digest from the list of the items available but out of all of them…my eyes immediately drifted to the books. There was a lot of knowledge to be had in them.

  I don’t know how many Bronze coins it will take to reach Silver and if that’s even the right approach to the currency, but we have to do whatever it takes to make sure we conquer those Dungeons.

  Taking my hand of the System Shop. I looked over at Rakeon to see that he was still dialed in.

  “C’mon man we gotta go. Everyone’s waiting.”

  “You can go on without with me, I’m currently looking at my future and it is bright!”

  WE ARE ON THE MAIN RISING STARS PAGE!!! HOW?! IDK

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