Chapter 39: The Golden Skill Slot
“Done.”
The Whispering Grimoire nodded.
Hearing this, Qin Yuan bit directly into the fruit he held.
The juice that flooded his mouth was unprecedentedly fresh and sweet, carrying a peculiar fragrance.
Surprisingly delicious!
He barely noticed the passage of time. When he came back to his senses, the fruit in his hand had been unconsciously eaten completely.
He licked the corner of his mouth, craving more.
There was even an urge to suck his fingers...
But his willpower forcibly restrained it!
Then, he focused his attention, waiting for the effect to manifest.
About ten seconds later, a wave of burning sensation suddenly spread throughout his body.
Sweat began to pour from every pore.
After a few minutes, the sensation gradually subsided.
With a somewhat nervous heart, Qin Yuan prepared to perceive the benefits he had gained.
At that moment, the system notification sounded directly.
[You have devoured a rare magical material and received the following augmentations.]
[Comprehensive physique +2.]
[All elemental affinities +2.]
[Experience gain efficiency increased by 20%.]
[Additional effect unlocked: Your first rune paper skill slot will be upgraded to “Golden,” significantly increasing the casting speed of spells placed in this slot and boosting damage by 30%.]
“How is it?”
The Whispering Grimoire, waiting by his side, noticed Qin Yuan seemed lost in thought and quickly asked.
He recounted the information he had just received.
The grimoire raised an eyebrow. “A golden skill slot? Sounds pretty good.”
Qin Yuan nodded and opened his player interface to take a closer look.
Sure enough, the skill slot where he had placed Fireball had turned golden.
He tried to replace it with another skill.
[Replace the rune in this slot with “Blink”?]
[Note: Each replacement triggers a cooldown of three days.]
Qin Yuan immediately chose “No.”
Upon testing, he noticed this skill slot could only hold spells learned through magical rune papers; spells like Magic Missile and Summon Bear Spirit could not be equipped here.
After some thought, Qin Yuan decided to keep Fireball for now, making no changes.
Blink, though useful, didn’t benefit much from increased casting speed; its main issues were high mana consumption and long cooldown.
In contrast, damage-dealing spells were a better fit for this enhancement.
---
Upon gaining this ability, Qin Yuan immediately considered that it was time to find a higher-level spell.
Common spells were too mediocre for him now.
His main offensive technique should at least be upgraded to a rare-grade spell.
With this in mind, he opened the trade board market to check the current offerings.
A few days ago, the Player Alliance had been frantically buying up items, so there were few magical rune papers available for sale.
Later, it seemed their acquisitions slowed down after they reached their target.
When Qin Yuan checked a couple of days ago, there were a few common-grade magical rune papers listed.
They were all standard offensive spells overlapping with Fireball, so he didn’t buy any.
This time, a quick search showed seventeen magical rune papers for sale.
Despite the large player base, the low number of listings was due to complex reasons. Qin Yuan judged that most players found real-world trade in magical rune papers somewhat useless.
It was simple: all players start near human settlements, which already housed Mage Guild outposts.
Common-grade magical rune papers could be bought directly there, so there was no need to purchase in the real world, especially since that cost 20% more.
The main problem was the high price of rune papers and even higher cost of wands. Most players were still scrimping for money and couldn’t afford to be picky.
Therefore, actual demand remained low.
Although monsters occasionally dropped rune papers, warrior players who couldn’t use them usually sold them immediately in the Soul Realm for gold coins.
Selling them converted the money into potions, equipment, and other items that instantly improved combat strength.
Since the Mage Guild’s purchase price was only 10% below retail, there was little loss.
There was no reason to hoard such a large sum in the real world, hoping for a buyer.
One gold coin was already a fortune for most players at this stage.
Of course, Qin Yuan predicted that over time, the quantity of listings would increase.
But for now, choices were limited.
He began to examine the options.
Among the seventeen magical rune papers, only one was rare-grade; the rest were all common.
…
[Magical Rune Paper (Fire Butterfly ★ Rare): A wondrous paper dropped by monsters. Using it activates the corresponding magical rune.]
[Fire Butterfly ★: Active skill. Summons a swarm of fire butterflies with limited tracking ability. Upon impact, they explode and cause continuous burning damage.]
[Price: 4 gold 80 silver]
…
A rare-grade offensive skill with tracking effects…
Qin Yuan’s eyes lit up.
Without hesitation, he took action.
He clicked the trade option below, deposited the required gold from his inventory, and immediately completed the purchase.
A crisp chime sounded.
A brand-new fiery red magical rune paper appeared in his backpack.
Qin Yuan decisively activated and used it.
---
He then browsed through the other dozen or so common-grade magical rune papers.
He found one that looked promising.
[Magical Rune Paper (Frost Wall ★ Common): A wondrous paper dropped by monsters. Using it activates the corresponding magical rune.]
[Frost Wall ★: Active skill. Raises a wall of frost ahead that can block attacks.]
[Price: 1 gold 44 silver]
A defensive spell, with a seemingly decent effect…
Qin Yuan pondered and chose it to diversify his spell repertoire.
Blink was handy, but its mana consumption was steep. Plus, if a large-area spell came toward him, its roughly ten-meter displacement might not be enough to escape the attack radius.
With this in mind, Qin Yuan didn’t hesitate.
“This one it is!”
After successfully purchasing, he used it on the spot.
The familiar burning sensation in his arm returned but faded quickly, likely due to the higher level.
An ice-blue rune appeared at his fingertips.
He felt the new magical rune surging within his body.
Thus, the spells he had learned through magical rune papers now numbered five: Fireball, Vine Entanglement, Blink, Frost Wall, and Fire Butterfly.
To learn more, he would need to use a Forgetting Potion to erase one.
---
Then, Qin Yuan remembered another important task.
He needed to post a strategy guide and claim the reward…
The Whispering Grimoire had already revealed the content, and Qin Yuan was about to copy it when the successful trade of the purification powder interrupted him.
Thinking of this, he asked the grimoire to display the original content again.
He tapped the keyboard and began to write diligently.
After only a few thousand words, his hands began to ache.
“My hands are sore…”
He shook his aching hands and rested for a while before resuming.
Immersed in his work, he lost track of time and wrote steadily until the afternoon.
Only when the system notification popped up did he reluctantly lift his head.
[Your post has reached the word limit and cannot be extended.]
The strategy post had a limit of 20,000 words.
He realized this was less than a third of the total content the Whispering Grimoire had revealed.
Beyond that, there was a long list of uncommon creatures not yet included…
“Let’s leave it at that for now.”
That was enough.
Qin Yuan rubbed his arms, spent half an hour proofreading for typos, and then uploaded the post.
[Your post is under review and rating, which will take approximately one to two business days.]