Hero's Carnage

A couple of minutes later, the woman returned with a neatly fresh stack of cash in her hands.

She then handed it to Lucas.

Lucas looked at the stack of cash with wide eyes. Is he supposed to carry this much money everywhere? What if he gets robbed?

Seeing his reaction, the woman then spoke, "If you want, I can give you the money in credit."

"How does that work?" Lucas asked.

"You can sign up for a guild card with the guild. With the guild card, you can get loans or put money into the card, so you don't have to carry physical cash everywhere. The majority if not all of the shops around the world accept the guild card so you don't have to worry about not being able to use it," she explained to him.

"So I can put my money in this guild card and use it as though it's real money?" Lucas asked, as he has very little experience when it comes to money.

"Yes. As long as you have money inside the card, you can use it as though it's real money."

"Are there any fees I have to pay for the card?" Lucas then asked.

"You don't have to pay for the card itself, but you'll have to pay 10 dollars per month to continue using the card. Of course, there are premium cards out there that you can pay for, but in return, you won't need to pay any monthly fees."

Lucas pondered for a moment before nodding his head, "Okay, I want this normal guild card for now."

If he continued to earn money at this rate, maintaining the guild card wouldn't be a problem for him, and it was more convenient to carry around a small card than stacks of money around.

What will he do once he starts earning even more money?

"Please fill out this form for the card." The woman then handed him a piece of paper.

Lucas took a minute to fill out whatever he could, keeping his address empty since he didn't have a home— not even a temporary one.

Sometime later, the woman handed him a green card and said, "Here's your guild card. I have already put your 12,800 dollars inside. If you wish to check your balance, you can use that machine over there. Also, 10 dollars will be automatically deducted from your card at the beginning of every month."

The woman pointed at the ATM at the corner of the building.

"If you lose your guild card, you can ask for another one, but you'll have to pay a small fee for it."

"Okay."

After listening to the woman's explanation about the guild card, Lucas went to the ATM to check his money.

Indeed, there were 12,800 dollars inside the card.

Lucas left the guild shortly after.

'Now that I have so much money, I should upgrade my gear and get some mana potions…'

With that in mind, Lucas went to the nearest store that sold weapons and armor.

The sword he picked up from the Players he'd killed was still in perfect condition, so he didn't need a new weapon.

However, his clothes were worn out, and it would be dangerous to continue entering dungeons without any proper protective gear.

Even though Lucas was confident in his ability to dodge the enemies' attacks with Vanishing Steps as long as they were goblins and hobgoblins, and he can kill them without even alerting them, he will have to eventually enter harder dungeons with stronger monsters.

Furthermore, what if he runs into another elite monster?

Thus, Lucas decided to buy some armor.

After entering the store, Lucas went straight to the armor section and began looking around.

"Hello, are you looking for something specific? Maybe I can help." One of the workers there asked Lucas when she noticed him looking around.

"I am looking for new clothes with defensive properties, and I prefer them light," Lucas said.

"Light clothes with good defense, right? What is your budget?" The young woman asked him.

"Less than 10 thousand."

The woman nodded and began showing him around the store.

"If you want light armor, then I suggest robes. They're incredibly light and comfortable. However, they are not good at defending against physical attacks— at least not the ones at your budget. Though they are great with magical attacks."

"This one here is only 3,000 dollars. It has a Minor Fire Resistance buff."

Lucas pondered for a moment before asking, "Are there any that give bonus mana?"

The woman nodded and showed him a pair of black robes and said, "This grants you 100 bonus mana, and it's exactly 9,000 dollars."

"That expensive for only 100 mana?" Lucas was dumbfounded. That was nearly all of his money!

"Armor that gives bonus mana are usually expensive since they are far more popular than defensive armor, as they allow the Players to use more skills."

"That makes sense…" Lucas agreed with the woman.

If he had to choose between getting more defense or having the ability to use more skills at once, he'd definitely choose the latter.

'However, 9,000 dollars for 100 mana… That's only 2 Devastate…' Lucas sighed inwardly.

"Do you not have anything cheaper?" He then asked.

"Unfortunately, this is the only one we have at your budget," she said.

After pondering for a moment, Lucas nodded his head, "Okay, I will buy this one."

In the end, he decided to give himself more offensive power than defense.

After all, there's a popular saying that a better offense also means better defense.

"Great!" The woman seemed ecstatic that he was going to buy the clothes, as she would get a bonus for selling something she recommended.

"Do you accept the guild card?" Lucas asked just in case.

"Of course!" She nodded.

"Okay."

Lucas followed the woman to the front and proceeded to pay for the clothes.

After getting his new clothes, Lucas went to the changing room in the back of the store and changed out of his dirty hospital gowns, replacing them with his new clothes, a pair of black robes, and his total mana increased by 100.