Absolute Shopping Addict

He had three sons, and despite the rivalry that came with siblings, rallied around their oldest brother when it came to matters of the division.

Everything changed when a man named Connor showed up in the division.

Connor"s rise in power was meteoric, and for someone twenty years younger than LJ, he was a match to the firstborn son"s power… and he was only growing stronger.

This was why some within the Grand Duelists ranked Connor above the firstborn, causing the schism within the division that we see now.

The old man let Connor continue his rise to the top of the division, because he doesn"t think that the succession has to be one of his children: the Grand Duelists has always been a place where power matters most, and if Connor had that much power, he would have changed the succession.

But as it was, LJ and Connor were in a dead heat, power-wise, and it ended up causing the split within the division, causing the reputation and prestige of the Grand Duelists to weaken.

It was at this point where Li began to look outside the division for a solution to his problem.

"This schism within the division is slowly poisoning us all. We need new blood to remind us how the pursuit of power is the only thing that matters."

He thought that the members of each faction would return to their roots by recruiting newer and more promising awakeners, but they were both not that powerful, and were easily swayed by the rhetoric of the faction they were recruited by.

Even then, the Grand Duelists still had their reputation, prestige and name recognition; the work of multiple generations cannot be expected to collapse within a few short years… but they are in a precarious situation as of late.

That was the reason Li went incognito to several evaluations, only to return home empty-handed.

"I cannot solve this schism with an ordinary awakener. I need someone out of the box, I need someone extraordinary."

This has happened several times already, and he was close to giving up, and that was when he met Jake.

"This fellow is interesting. He has potential, and there is something in his eyes that the other awakeners do not have."

Jake had the potential to be the awakener he needed, and if he can give Jake a little help, could go places. There was also Liam, the awakener Jake brought with him, who was both talented and insightful, and was easily Jake"s #2, both in terms of their friendship, and their talent level among the awakeners of their tutorial area.

But that wasn"t the only thing he saw within those two: he saw loyalty.

"You take a chance on us; we"ll throw in our lot with you," that was what he determined from these two.

Out of every awakener, Master Li had one of the greatest abilities to see into people"s character, and what he found gave him hope.

That was why he decided to take the risk and offer his gift to the two novice awakeners before him.

"This is a skill I personally have, which uses a different way of gathering and using mana from what you"d normally learn within the Grand Duelists," the old man explained. "I will give it to you, teach you how I use it, and once you understand how it works, you will grow by unimaginable leaps and bounds."

***

As soon as the light subsided, Jake Smithson finally understood that he was now in a new world.

The very nature of his mana had changed: before, it was running rampant throughout his body, inefficiently stopping in clumps and spots here, moving smoothly there.

If he had to explain it, it was like the mana in his body were cars on a street, and the old man took all of the cars and parked them into a single parking lot, where the cars would leave at his discretion.

The mana within him was organized and focused into a single point, and that point was currently lurking beneath his body.

"What is this feeling?"

The mere presence of this focused mana made even his view of the world change; it was brighter, more colorful.

"It"s just here, and I can already feel the power within me."

Everything old was new once more: his senses had become more acute, simple movements of his arms and legs felt different… to Jake, he felt like if he was given a place to stand, he could will the world itself to move.

"Oh, man. I feel like I could buy all the luxuries in the world with this. Fifteen yachts, five private islands…"

Of course, Jake would express his feelings in a way only an addict to shopping would.

"This power is a bit like a bucking bronco, though. I have to tame it every now and then. It"s raging inside me… wanting to be let out and used.

The Grand Duelists are who I thought they were, and that"s why they"re part of the Ten Stars. I think I understand now."

Suddenly, Jake realized the weight of the name "Grand Duelists" and the reason awakeners give the name Ten Stars that much prestige: to be given that much power, just like that?

Strangely, he now finds himself jealous of how the awakeners within this division have lived with this power for a long time.

"No wonder you Ten Stars people act like that."

A hand rested on Jake"s shoulder, and he turned to see the old man smiling at him.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

Jake smiled.

"It"s a special feeling," he replied, and that was all he could come up with at that moment.

"Your mana has taken the form of an orb, no?" the old man asked. "It is resting within your body at the moment, but it will want to be used. You have to strengthen it yourself."

"I can do that, gramps. Liam looks like he"s still trying to get it under control, though."

"Ah, I can help him with that," the old man said as he went to Liam to a.s.sist the other awakener to harness the new power gifted to them.

Jake closed his eyes for a moment and willed the mana within his abdomen to emerge and circulate around him, and unlike its resistance when being kept in, the power flowed freely within him, returning to the orb within his abdomen after a few moments.

When he opened his eyes, he could see the old man still helping Liam out.

"What do you call this power, Master Li? The mana within my body doesn"t feel anything like the mana I used to have," Jake asked, wondering what the name of his new skill was, because it wasn"t displayed on the status window.

"It"s a power that Nohas hasn"t discovered and named yet."

"Is such a thing even possible?"

"I"ve only discovered this power recently, so I haven"t had the chance to name it yet."

"A nameless power that the status window hasn"t recognized yet? I think this will be the greatest a.s.set for my shopping," Jake thought, thinking of his newfound power as a shopping a.s.sistant.

"You wouldn"t mind me naming this power then, Master Li?"

"Oho, so it"s Master Li now?" the old man asked with a laugh. "Feel free to name it yourself, as it is a power I have only kept for myself to this day – other members of the Grand Duelists have not discovered or obtained this power yet. I haven"t had the time to figure out all the things it can do – maybe you can do that on my behalf. After all, I gave you that power as a gift because it suits your temperament very well, so you should try to enhance it yourself. So, what would you name it?"

Jake took a minute to think before giving the old man his answer.

"I think I"ll call it my "Bankroll"," Jake answered confidently.

"Bank… roll?" the old man asked, confused. "I get the "Bank", but why that name?"

"Well, it"s my bankroll," Jake explained. "I can bring it out to help me buy more stuff with. Imagine going to a place, buying something expensive, and dropping stacks of cash onto the counter as you pay them?"

"I see your point," the old man replied.

***

Jake gave his newfound strength and skill a name: Bankroll, like a rolled-up bundle of money he carried on him at all times.

"If you ask me what the greatest moment when shopping is? It"s when I drop a bundle of cash and start pointing at things. Get me this, get me that, get me everything from here to there."

It was something of a life dream of his: save money furiously for five years, then take it all out in cash and splurge on a gigantic shopping spree.

Such was the mentality of a genuine shopping addict.

Now, though, he had what it took to do what he imagined and actually do it, thanks to that bankroll of his.

"Come to think of it, the Awakening Store is an online shopping mall… I wonder if they have any offline stores? Would be nice to bring out some points and swagger in there, show off a little."

The smile on Jake"s face as he imagined those things happening was quickly replaced by a solemn expression to match the look Master Li gave him as soon as he opened his eyes.

"Still, though, visualizing your power as a roll of money? I suppose it could work – but no, none of the members haven"t even acquired this yet! Unbelievable, what was I thinking, bringing this guy here?"

"Well, I could be wrong here, but weren"t you planning to give this...o...b..to everyone in the division?" Jake asked back, surprised.

Jake, of course, a.s.sumed that every member of the Grand Duelists would be learning this power, thus his surprise at realizing none the members have acquired or trained this ability yet.

"No," the old man replied. "How else would I make you rising stars within the division? If I gave you two the same skills everyone else had, you would not be able to stand out at all, which is why I thought to give you something different."

This was another part of Master Li"s strategy: since his firstborn and Connor have near mastery of all of the Grand Duelists" skill set, they are also aware of the skills" strengths and weaknesses.

Jake and Liam wouldn"t be able to stand out, since those two have had a head start on them worth decades, which is why the old man researched and readied a new set of powers he would give to the novice awakeners he deemed promising.

Those awakeners were Jake and Liam, and the power he gave them was a fragment of those powers Li recently gained. It had limited features at the moment it was imprinted onto Jake and Liam, but it had one key feature Li knew would help them in the future: potential for growth.

"And that is why I must ask for your utmost discretion about this gift. This is something you must not share with the division. Consider it a personal ace-in-the-hole for yourselves."

Jake nodded calmly, as that was already in his mind: to keep the good thing for himself, and he wasn"t going to tell others, anyway.

Besides, what would he gain from sharing such an amazing thing to others?

"You got it, gramps," Jake said, and Liam just nodded.

"Just over the hill, you"ll get to see the city named Carter: home of the Grand Duelists."

The three of them walked up the hill, and beheld the view before them.

***

If Brino looked like a medieval village, and Kingsville a medieval city, nothing could have prepared Jake and Liam for what they saw: the place called Carter was a literal modern city.

There were no skysc.r.a.pers, but their enhanced sight could make out a lot of buildings with three or four floors, and countless people going about their daily business.

Shops and bars within buildings was a common sight as the two took in the sights, even from such a distance.

Jake had a sudden thought.

"By the way, gramps, what did you mean when you say that the city is the home of the Grand Duelists?"
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"It is our home, our domain, and our territory," the old man explained.

The wide s.p.a.ce the city occupied looked very pleasing: it wasn"t medieval like Brino nor cramped like Kingsville. Even with their enhanced sight, Jake and Liam couldn"t look to the end of the city from where they were.

It spoke to the size and majesty of the Grand Duelists to make an entire city their domain and territory, rousing Jake"s curiosity even further.

He asked the old man a question.

"If this city is the domain of the Grand Duelists… what are all these businesses doing here? Why isn"t this a community of people who hunt monsters?"

Awakeners who don"t hunt monsters and live a normal life?

It didn"t make sense to Jake, and sensing his confusion, Master Li answered the question.

"Some of the Nohas-born people don"t end up as awakeners," he explained. "Even if this world is a place where hunting monsters is constant, don"t you think these people should also be protected to live their lives as best they can?"

Jake nodded as he digested that information: some people born in Nohas don"t end up as awakeners.

"It"s not just those who aren"t awakeners, too. Those who are wounded in battle and cannot be awakeners anymore, they can get to live out their lives here, like on Earth."

Jake"s eyes widened as he realized he didn"t think about that – well, Nohas is a cruel and dangerous place, after all. Fatalities, maiming, and awakeners who lose their power are everyday occurrences.

There are also those who could never or could no longer fight monsters; it"s a good thing, though – they won"t just survive in this place, they could thrive, too.

"Good to know," Liam said, concurring with Jake"s thoughts. "They can at least live their lives even after their time as awakeners has ended."

That was when the old man turned to them, his expression solemn.

"This is why the Grand Duelists exist: to provide a domain for these kinds of people. If the schism ends up tearing the division apart, I fear for what may happen to the people here."

***