[Fate Quest Completed]
[Reward: 20,000 System Coins]
The moment the system notification appeared, my smile widened. The question now was what I should spend those coins on. I immediately entered the system shop and checked my balance first. A total of 22,000 coins. One thousand had come from clearing the goblin cave, and another thousand from hours of nonstop training.
As I walked, I browsed the system shop at the same time. First of all, I didn't need a physical boost. I already had a plan to achieve physical perfection on my own. That meant I could acquire a new skill. Or I could choose not to spend the coins at all. The choice was entirely mine. The fact remained, though, that I had no real means of defense.
I remembered the saying "the best offense is a good defense," but I had never found it particularly consistent on an individual level. On the scale of nations, perhaps it made sense. But when applied to a living being who could be killed by a single unexpected strike, the idea fell apart.
"Hm… what should I do?"
The question was simple. The answer was not.
I slowed my steps as I wandered through the system shop. Walking helped organize my thoughts. The coin count remained fixed in the corner of my vision: 22,000. A clean, rounded number.
Defense.
Yes. That was what I lacked. Predator's Awareness warned me of threats in advance. Calamity Cut eliminated those threats. My mind left no room for hesitation. Yet all of them shared a single flaw.
They all relied on active choice.
A moment of distraction.
An unexpected angle.
A difference in speed.
And it would all be over.
As someone from the modern world, I understood this better than anyone. No matter how strong you were, a bullet you didn't notice would still kill you. This world might not use bullets, but the principle was the same. Sudden. Blind. Unforgiving.
I opened the defense category in the shop.
Pages of options unfolded before me.
[Minor Physical Resistance]
Cheap. Ineffective. A waste of time.
[Enhanced Reflex Barrier]
Reflex-based. It overlapped with Predator's Awareness. Worse, it was consumption-heavy.
[Auto-Defense Protocol]
System intervention. Dangerous. Giving the system too much authority was never a wise long-term choice.
[Damage Nullification: Tier I]
Tempting. And priced accordingly. It would devour nearly all my coins.
My finger froze in midair.
Most defensive skills were built on the same assumption: you will be hit. I rejected that premise. My plans were never built around taking damage. They never had been.
The problem was… sometimes the world didn't care about plans.
I didn't close the shop. Instead, I moved into the less popular subcategories, the ones that didn't look as "flashy."
And there, I found what I was looking for.
[Sanctum Barrier]
The moment I touched it, the description expanded.
[Effect: Creates a semi-permeable protective field around a selected target.]
[Coverage: Physical and mana-based attacks.]
[Restriction: Only one target at a time.]
[Permeability: Enemies may enter the barrier if they choose.]
[Note: The barrier blocks effects, not intent.]
My eyebrows lifted slightly as I read.
"Blocks effects, not intent…"
It could only be used on a single target.
But that target didn't have to be me. In a critical moment, I could protect someone else.
While active, any attack directed at the target became meaningless upon contact. None of it mattered: strength, speed, mana level. The effect itself was nullified.
And if the attacker stepped inside?
The corner of my lips curved ever so slightly.
Anyone who entered was no longer an attacker; they were someone who was approaching.
And someone approaching had entered the range of my sword and Calamity Cut.
There was another detail.
The single-target limitation was a restriction from the system's perspective. From mine, it meant focus. I had no intention of shielding crowds or standing as a bulwark for armies. I wanted to protect critical entities.
Myself.
And when necessary… others.
I looked back at the system screen. The price field blinked.
[Cost: 15,000 System Coins]
Not cheap but not prohibitively expensive either. I would still have enough coins left for future investments.
It wasn't automatic. It wasn't absolute. It certainly wasn't a "set it and forget it" ability. I would still need to decide timing, positioning, target selection. Everything would still depend on me.
I held my finger over the confirmation icon. A brief hesitation… then I pressed it.
[Sanctum Barrier purchased. ]
[Remaining Balance: 7,000 System Coins]
The screen vanished. In its place, a new sensation settled into the back of my mind. It wasn't cold. Nor was it warm. It felt… stable. Something stationary, waiting to be called upon.
I wanted to test the skill immediately. I struggled a bit at first, but within a second I adapted and activated it. It worked. A circular, translucent shield appeared around me. But it had a problem… it was far too bright. I couldn't use this on a stealth mission.I wasn't planning on defending during stealth operations. I would be the one attacking, but I still wished it weren't so luminous.
Just then, another system notification appeared.
[You can modify your skill via the System Shop.]
My eyes narrowed slightly.
Modification.
I liked that word.
I reopened the shop and went straight to [Sanctum Barrier → Modifications]
The list was longer than the base skill's description. And far more expensive. The system loved "fine-tuning."
[Opacity Adjustment]
[Restricts the barrier's visibility to the user only. ]
[Cost: 1,000 Coins]
[Selective Permeability]
[Allows specified energy types to pass through the barrier. ]
[Cost: 2,000 Coins]
[Anchor Lock]
[Fixes the barrier to a specific location instead of a targe]t.
[Cost: 3,000 Coins]
[Passive State]
[Minimizes energy emission while active and adjusts mana consumption based on incoming attack intensity. ]
[Cost: 4,000 Coins]
I read through the list slowly. All of them were useful. But not all were necessary.
The brightness issue was the most urgent.
Opacity Adjustment.
That alone would suffice for stealth missions.
But another option caught my attention.
Passive State.
This mod prevented the barrier from "shouting" that it was an active defense. Energy output was minimized, mana wasn't wasted unnecessarily, and the barrier was pushed almost entirely into the background. It still functioned but it didn't announce its presence. Automatic mana adjustment based on incoming attacks was an added bonus.
I ran a quick evaluation. My coin situation was still comfortable. There was no rush for major investments. True strength lay in using the right tool at the right moment.
I didn't hesitate.
[Opacity Adjustment purchased]
[Passive State purchased]
[Remaining Balance: 2,000 System Coins]
With the system's confirmation, the sensation of the barrier changed.
The translucent ring that had been glowing around me earlier… it was still visible, but that was likely because I was the user. Even Predator's Awareness detected only a faint sense of "spatial density." Which meant it was working.
"A good purchase…"
I still had two thousand coins left, but there was no need to spend them for now. I closed the system window and looked around.
To be honest, I had no idea where I was. Trees. Everywhere. No road in sight.
I had been so focused on the system rewards that I hadn't even paid attention to where I was walking.
As someone from the modern world, I had no idea how to get out of a forest. Was I supposed to look for ant nests? Did they face north? There was something about mushrooms too… but what was it? Stars could be used as a compass, I think. Wait, it's not even nighttime yet!
In fact, with all these trees, I couldn't even tell where the sun was.
"Damn it. I should have paid more attention to those documentaries. What am I supposed to do now?"
If I kept walking in a single direction without turning back, I might find my way out or I might get even more lost. I really should have brought a map...