The Discarded Son's Skill Market

Putting everything he had planned to do on hold, Zaid frowned and turned his full attention to Valia.

’I think you were. Have you been hurt?’ he asked.

Valia hesitated. In an inner world that Zaid couldn’t see, she looked at her body. Weak and exhausted, yet strangely full of vitality. If it weren’t for how weak and exhausted she felt, she would have answered that she was fine.

How could she feel weak and exhausted when she was full of vitality?

She hesitated...

’Valia?’ Zaid called out to her again.

’I don’t know.’ Faced with uncertainty, she shook her head. She struggled to find the right words, but after several dozen seconds she said, ’I feel weak, but my body is healthy.’

Zaid’s knuckles tightened. ’Your spirit.’

Valia frowned. Had someone attacked her without her noticing?

And a blow to her spirit!

Who had they faced for something like that to be possible?

’When we stop to camp, I’ll find a place to check on you. Hang in there for now.’

Valia looked out using her senses. The unfamiliar surroundings confused her. ’Where are we going, master?’

’To the Ancient Temple.’

’What is that?’ She was immediately intrigued and, ignoring the strange weakness, asked eagerly, ’Some kind of religious sect?’

Zaid nodded. ’The Church of the Seventh Night. Why?’ Although he couldn’t see her, he could tell exactly how excited she was as she asked that question.

’The Seventh Night! I’ve heard so much about that place!’ Valia, excited, wanted to rush out...

’Don’t go!’ Zaid scolded her immediately. He almost jumped to his feet in fright.

Valia stopped. He didn’t need to tell her why he had suddenly shouted; she noticed a crowd of people she didn’t even know or had seen only once. She decided to stay put.

’Let me know when we get there, master! I’ve always wanted to visit the Church of the Seventh Night. I heard from my father that it’s a millennia-old sect.’

Zaid nodded. ’For now, go back to rest. I’ll let you know when we stop so I can check on you.’

She nodded and happily went to rest... she was so weak that she fell asleep almost immediately.

Zaid then realized that something was wrong with his spirit. He didn’t know who had attacked them, but it wasn’t normal. Something must have happened during the battle in the Forest of the Undead, and he had to find out what it was.

Feeling uncertain and nervous, Zaid decided to catch up on his earnings from the past few days.

The first thing he did was check his level.

[Level 7]

It glowed faintly with a flickering blue light, indicating that he was nearing the upper limit of his range. Reaching the coveted Level 10 was just around the corner.

His stats had also risen significantly, but nothing beyond the standard increase per level. He still had all of his ME.

[ME: 2,415]

An absolute farm, worthy of a legendary scavenger. If every day were like this, he would have already bought a High-Rank Talent; unfortunately, having that kind of day was difficult given his current strength level.

However, he was already close to 2,500 ME. Currently, he didn’t have anything of value in the F or E ranks in his Talent Store. Although there were good talents in those ranks, they would be of no use to him.

He already had the Mastery of Daggers and was trying to perfect that skill. He also had The Giant’s Hand, which gave him superhuman strength in his hands; if he strengthened his wrists and forearms even further, he would have a brutal lifesaver.

That time, when he withstood Valia’s attack, it was only because she had underestimated him and hadn’t used her full strength; he couldn’t assume that the next Rank D opponent he’d face would do the same.

With these abilities and his Rank S Sense, there’s no weakness he can’t cover... Well, not counting the weakness of his body in general.

That is the problem he currently faces.

A lack of physical strength in a world full of dangers. E or D ranks aren’t that hard to achieve in a conflict-ridden environment like the Forest of the Undead and the Portals of Waste—not to mention outside the city walls.

Even in the city itself, haven’t you run into Martin and Finn? Now you’ve caught the attention of an S-Rank and an old man with a strange philosophy!

Even though you don’t want to think about it, that could get you into trouble. Especially if either of those two who found out about you says anything, and the Zacharys find out... you’ll be dead by then.

So his current priority is to strengthen his body and find something that would be the perfect match for his Dagger Mastery; because right now, he wasn’t exactly a pushover in that regard.

His preparation involved spending a large amount of money—the kind he’d stolen from that idiot—to buy a better dagger and better gear for missions. So right now, the only thing he needed was for his body to keep up with his growing strength.

’C-Rank Talents are the best option. But there isn’t a single C-Rank Talent in my shop that strengthens the body.’

In fact, there was only one: Robinson Shawn’s Steel Skin, and it’s a D-Rank.

’15% reduction in physical damage...’ He read the description for what felt like the fifth time.

He couldn’t even afford to buy it, but he was confident he’d soon come up with the necessary amount.

’Just in case of an emergency.’

He shook his head and cleared his mind of such pessimistic thoughts.

Putting all that aside, he looked out the window at the forests, valleys, and mountains stretching out before him and wondered: Where the hell had Robinson gone these past few days?

He returned to the academy with Luke, gave them side of the story, and then disappeared... Luke was nowhere to be found either, and Jackson was admitted to a private clinic to see if he had suffered any mental trauma; visitors were not allowed.

’How suspicious.’

He didn’t know if it was his keen intuition, his paranoia, or something else, but he had a feeling that something wasn’t right. It wasn’t just about having heard something he perhaps shouldn’t have heard in that forest; it was also about his own innermost circle: himself, Valia, his inner self, Alice...

Erick...

Zaid thought of Erick and looked at a bag he had brought with him. There was only one book inside.

He picked it up. ’He was kind enough to give me his beloved, one-of-a-kind limited-edition copy of his favorite novel—one he hasn’t even finished reading yet—and I couldn’t refuse. He really wants me to read it.’ He smiled.

It had been a long time since he’d read, but it was never too late to start over.

The book’s cover bore the title: The Shadow God Dies.

’As long as the main character isn’t the God of Shadows...’ Zaid joked to himself. That would be the worst title for a book, if that were the case.

And further down was the author’s name: Anhur J. Baldree.

He thought he’d heard that name before, but he wasn’t going to try to remember it. It didn’t matter; what was important was the story.

In the first few pages of the book and in its synopsis, Zaid realized that his joke had come true.

The Shadow God was, in fact, the main character.

’Is this really that good?’ He hesitated...

However, he soon realized he’d misjudged it. The book was genuinely good.

The protagonist’s death, despite being foreshadowed by the book’s title, had a reason: He died and simply returned to the past, as it was a novel about time loops, featuring political and magical intrigues and a world rich in creatures capable of seeing through people.

The protagonist was constantly facing a mortal danger: he couldn’t let anyone suspect that he could travel back in time, because if he did, no one would likely flip the switch—instead, they would choose to lock him up in a laboratory.

That would be simple if he didn’t have to do anything... The problem is that he had to. Not only because his mother—a cursed goddess—would always die at the end of each time block and his mission was to save her, but also because if he stopped searching for the fortress, he would surely die, and his entire world would be laid waste by those who can see through people...

The plot revolved around all of that; Zaid was amazed at how good it was. Especially since it was about a god.

He was a god in constant danger!

Vrom!

While he was engrossed in his reading, paying little attention to what was going on outside, the car they were riding in was jolted violently.

His book flew through the air, and he had to move quickly to catch Alice, so he didn’t have time to reach for the book.

"What the hell?" Martin, who saw his cards and dice flying through the air, shouted in shock when he saw that the car was flying through the air.

The world spun around for the driver and his passengers. The trees around them seemed to have been turned upside down, and the road suddenly loomed over the top of the car.

The car spun several times on the ground and ended up crashing into a gigantic tree before exploding.

The explosion lit up the night sky... perhaps the biggest problem.

Zaid, Alice, and their entire group had managed to jump out. Only the driver and one of his assistants remained inside... now, along with Erick’s precious book, they were part of history.

From the outside, Zaid was able to see everything more clearly and better understand what had happened; it was a disaster.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!