After a few minutes of rest—when his headache from the excess power and knowledge now under his control finally subsided—Alexander spent 6 more growth points to give Ocean his body-boosting skills and the spell |Mana Blessing|.
Wanting to finally feel the power of the levels he obtained, even to recover faster from the headache, Alexander began allocating his free attribute points, which totaled over 1000 at that moment.
[100 points added to Vitality]
[200 points added to Intelligence]
[200 points added to Strength]
[100 points added to Defense]
[350 points added to Agility]
[115 points added to Dexterity]
Ding!
[Your Vitality has reached the maximum possible for a Dual-Core Goblin.]
[Your HP has reached the maximum possible for a Dual-Core Goblin.]
[Your body is receiving an amount of HP that exceeds its limit…]
[Your energy has reached the maximum possible for a Dual-Core Goblin.]
[Your body is receiving an amount of energy that exceeds its limit…]
Ding!
[Your Intelligence has reached the maximum possible for a Dual-Core Goblin.]
[Your mana has reached the maximum possible for a Dual-Core Goblin.]
[Your body is receiving an amount of mana that exceeds its limit…]
[Your MP has reached the maximum possible for a Dual-Core Goblin.]
[Your body is receiving a mental power that exceeds its limit…]
Ding!
[Your Strength has reached the maximum possible for a Dual-Core Goblin.]
Ding!
[Your Defense has reached the maximum possible for a Dual-Core Goblin.]
Ding!
[Your Agility has reached the maximum possible for a Dual-Core Goblin.]
Feeling the power of several levels in attributes flowing through his body, Alexander felt an indescribable sensation of being alive as he had never felt before.
However, he couldn't enjoy this sensation for long. He soon felt the shackles of the restrictions imposed on his current species.
Alexander's sensations were painfully conflicting. On one side he felt his new power pulsing and flowing, and on the other side the invisible shackles that restrained and limited him.
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Not wanting to think about the feeling of being restrained, Alexander tried to occupy his mind with other things and turned to Diana. "With the number of monsters we hunted, you have more than the right to this amount. So don't worry, Diana, this was your effort."
"Here. Go buy the house for your parents," said Alexander as he paid Diana her share of what they obtained during the trip. And just her share already exceeded 1 large black diamond coin. "They and you deserve it."
"Thank you very much, Alexander," thanked Diana while looking at and admiring her payment. "I worked hard to earn this on my own merit, but I know that if it weren't for you maybe I wouldn't have gotten here…"
"I can finally start helping my parents," said Diana, starting to cry as she held the item with her payment against her chest.
"I've told you this many times," sighed Alexander. "The most I did was speed up your journey a bit, because you really have talent. All you needed was to trust yourself more."
"You can say that and think what you want. For me, you were the turning point of my life," said Diana, wiping her tears and opening a beautiful smile.
"So let's say it was a good team effort," joked Alexander to lighten the mood. "Now let's go buy the house for your parents."
Finishing wiping the tears and opening a smile, Diana nodded and they went to the city's merchant association, responsible for selling most of the properties and items in general in the city.
Upon arriving at the association, they left Ocean very close to one of the windows and entered to talk about the possible purchase of a house, which was surprisingly difficult, as the attendant seemed grumpy and unwilling to serve them.
After dismissing Diana for some time, the attendant finally noticed the silver identification around her neck, which made him turn to Alexander.
He wore a smile that didn’t reach his eyes and bore an identification with three silver plates on his chest.
Knowing what it meant to have three silver plates on an identification—having lived in an adventurer city—the attendant turned toward the window as the light inside the building seemed to dim slightly.
He came face to face with Ocean, who was staring back at him, having sensed Alexander’s animosity.
Swallowing dryly as he faced Ocean, who was already over 1.70m tall and extremely robust, the attendant ran to call his superior, who soon appeared to replace him.
The manager, who proved to be extremely skilled, quickly understood the situation and tried to resolve the situation promptly, because irritating adventurers in an adventurer city would do him no good. Much less with two silver-rank adventurers with such an imposing combat familiar.
"Sorry about my employee. He isn't always like this," said the manager in a conciliatory tone. "Let's do this: tell me what you need and I’ll take care of it right away and with a 10% discount."
"We don't intend to make things difficult for you," assured Alexander to the manager in a friendly manner. "We appreciate and accept the 10% discount you offered."
"We came here today because she wants to buy a house," explained Alexander as he pointed to Diana.
Following the cue and taking the word, Diana began listing the specifications she wanted for the house:
It must be in good condition and ready to use.
It must have 2 to 3 bedrooms, at least 1 being a master bedroom.
It must have a kitchen, living room, at least 1 internal bathroom, a spacious yard, and be in a quiet location.
It must be a bit away from the city center, but still safe.
Quickly taking note of Diana's specifications, the manager went to a side room, returned with some papers, and said: "Our association only has three houses that meet your requirements at the moment."
"The first has two bedrooms, one master and one single, and costs 25 large platinum coins."
"The second has three bedrooms, one master and two single, and costs 50 large platinum coins."
"The last one has three bedrooms, all master, and two of them have their own bathrooms."
"The price of the third house is 80 large platinum coins, however, it features a large walled internal area, good sound insulation in the bedrooms, a large bathtub in each bathroom, and we also offer free painting in any color you want," explained the manager.
After hearing the options and their values, Diana looked furtively at Alexander and made up her mind. "I'm interested in this 3rd house… Can we visit it to check its condition before buying?"
"Naturally," replied the manager smiling. "I will arrange a carriage to take us there."
"Are you sure about this, Diana?" asked Alexander.
"It's expensive and it still lacks furniture," reminded Alexander. "This way you'll end up with no money when you finish buying everything."
"I liked this one," decisively said Diana.
"If you buy the 3rd house, I'll give you a discount on its furniture," said the manager upon hearing their conversation.
"The value of all the furniture, utensils, and such for the house is 35 large platinum coins," informed the manager as he checked his documents. "However, if you make these purchases together, the price for the furniture and the house will be 110 large platinum coins."
"And with the 10% discount you offered us, the final value is 99 large platinum coins, right?" asked Alexander innocently, with a smile that was not at all a smile.
Seeing Alexander's smile, the manager couldn't help but smile bitterly in response.
He really wasn't afraid of Alexander. However, breaking his word and losing a sale of almost 1 large black diamond coin for just 1 small black diamond coin didn't seem interesting to him.
"Exactly, dear customer," replied the manager with a forced and professional smile. "With the 10% discount I promised before, the final price is 99 large platinum coins."
"What do you think, Diana?" asked Alexander with a genuine smile.
"I think it's perfect," replied Diana happily.
"If that's the case, let's check the house," said the manager.
