DEVOURER

The very next day…

Jack was at the dinner table eating his food along with his mom and sister who were gossiping, telling each other their own little jokes while Jack ate and went in deep thought.

He wore an apron that was wet and covered in small food stains due to him washing dishes and preparing the food. Jack, although he hated cleaning, especially dishes, he loved cooking and heavily considered becoming a chef for the longest time. It was a passion he loved dearly. 

There are only two loves in Jack's life, birds, and cooking.

Lucky for him, last night his mom and sister didn't come home until much, much later than he expected which gave him more than enough time to clean the house to his mother's satisfaction.

"Mom…" Jack said.

"Yes, hon?"

Jack didn't know whether or not to tell them what had happened, and that he had twenty million shells in his pocket right now. It was enough money to last them for their whole lives and more.

"Is it okay if I go outside and take a day off today from cleaning?"

The last time Jack got a day off from cleaning was on his own birthday, nine months ago. His birthdays are the only days he doesn't have to do anything but relax. Even when he gets sick or injured he still has to contribute somehow to the house, according to his mother at least.

"What? Look at the house! Are you insane? There is a ton of stuff for us to do. How can you ask for a day off when you have to clean so much?" She gestured to the entire house as if they were living in absolute filth.

There wasn't even a speck of dust to be found anywhere. 

'Of course, when you say 'us' you mean 'me'" Jack thought, already knowing what will happen.

"Oh, Jack." His sister shook her head at her brother as if he said something wrong.

"But… I clean everyday."

"You barely do anything around here. Half of everything you do you do it half-ass and the other you don't do it at all."

"But-"

"Shut up! You're not taking a day off so leave at that. This is my house and anything I say you do."

"Yeah!" His sister chimed in.

Jack hid it well but he was angry, there is nothing he can do or say because his mom won't listen, and his sister doesn't make it better making it feel like he's getting ambushed by them constantly. She says that he barely does anything? That he does it half-assed? And that this is her house yet she's barely home and he is the only one who cleans up everyday?

"Yes, mom. Sorry mom."

"Oh, shut the fuck up, Jack. I recognize that fucking attitude of yours. You're not the fucking slave here! Go to your fucking room and clean it! And do my bed and your sister's bed while you're at it."

Jack stood up and left the table slowly.

"And when you're done you better clean the table and the rest of the dishes!"

"Mom, so there's this new boy that I like that we met in that restaurant earlier today." His sister spoke to his mom in a cheery mood.

"Ooh the tall waiter?"

"No! Well, yes him, but it's the other one."

Jack went to his room and closed his door. He wanted something to hit right now but if he unleashed his full strength he would destroy his own house.

He walked around his room, breathing heavily trying to calm himself down. 

'I want to get out! I want to get out! I want to leave this house!' 

He lied down on his bed trying to calm down.

'Do I… have to ask him to leave?' Jack thought as he stared at his ceiling.

Meanwhile…

Sky was sitting down inside his ship counting down the seconds. Everyone went off to do their own thing.

"Time's up." He tore a new blue scroll and summoned the merchant.

{Blue scroll: 5}

"Hey." The merchant appeared with his body slumped against the table.

"You… okay?" Sky nudged the merchant gently. This was the first time he had seen him like this.

"Fine, just… my girlfriend broke up with me."

"Oh… I am sorry to hear that." Sky was more shocked to hear that he had a girlfriend to begin with.

"Thank you. I should've seen the signs, they were right there in front of me yet I ignored them. I was a fool."

"Yeah…" Sky quickly scanned the items and the quests, but there wasn't anything decent for him to get.

"Anyways, sorry about that, Sky. I told you about the… thing of the thing, the thing-a-majig. Here."

With a tap of his finger a silver tray appeared at the edge of the table.

{Hidden quest complete}

{Find the merchant fifty times}

{New system-shop function added, reset tray}

"In short, in this silver tray you can reset the timer of the store for a price. You can either pay ten million shells to reset the store, or pay me a player coupon. There is no limit to how many times you can reset."

"Wow, really?" Sky asked, but between the two choices it seemed giving ten million shells seemed like the better and cheaper option.

"There's a catch, if you pay me ten million shells and you want to reset again, you have to pay me twenty million. If you still want to reset then it'll be forty million, then eighty, and you get it, it doubles every time."

"Ohh, that makes sense." Sky thought it was too good to be true.

"But, the price for player coupons won't increase, it will always cost one player coupon to reset the store and no more. And as for the price of shells to reset, don't worry about it, if the next cost of the reset button is eighty million, after twenty four hours the price will reset back to the original price of ten million."

"Ohh." Sky liked this function.

"Oh yeah, the first time is always free every time the store naturally resets." 

"So how do I use this tray?"

"Just place your hand there." Sky did as he said and two options appeared in front of him.

{Would you like to reset the shop for free?}

{Yes} {No}

Sky clicked the button and the entire shop reset, including the timer.

"Yay, you did it." Still feeling down, the merchant was slowly waving a white flag to celebrate Sky's success without even looking at him.

Sky looked and still nothing that he liked. The quests only gave out tens of thousands of shells, minor experience, terrible items. And the items for sale were useless.

Sky placed his hand on the tray again.

{Would you like to reset the shop for {ten million shells} or {one player coupon}}

Sky clicked the ten million shell option resetting the store again. There was a blue paper quest that appeared on the board which Sky took.

{Reach level 300}

{G. wants you to get to this level}

{Rewards: 3x player coupon}

{Failure punishment: None}

{Time limit: None}

Sky took it though he wished the rewards were better.

{Sky Rouge}

{Level 267}

Sky was confident he would reach that level soon one day.

{Store reset}

Sky bought another reset, the next price will be forty million.

This time Sky saw something good in the special item section.

{Magical deck of cards: Purple}

{A magical weapon that has endless possibilities of attack, defense, and support}

{Scales with the wielders stats}

{Price: 5x player coupon}

"Isn't this a bit price-y? It doesn't even tell me how much damage it does." Sky said.

"..." The merchant was quiet and just waving the flag. Sky noticed that the table was getting wetter because the merchant wouldn't stop crying.

"..." Sky.

He put down five player coupons and took it.

{You bought the magical deck of cards}

{Player coupon: 14}

Sky examined it carefully but this wasn't meant for him, it might be the first purple grade weapon he owned but this weapon didn't suit him.

{Hello? Is this working?}

Just then Sky heard a familiar voice in his head.

"Jack?"

Jack, who was sad in his bed, stood up in shock.

{Holy shit, it worked?}

"I told you it would work. Did you decide to join my crew after all?"

{I don't know, yet. I don't know what kind of crew you guys are}

"We're not pirates if that's what you're worried about."

{So… you're exterminators?}

"Eh… we're a little bit of everything. We do indeed do questionable stuff from time to time. I am not going to deny that, but we're not criminals."

{I never thought you guys were criminals, it certainly didn't seem that way to me yesterday. If I were to join you I have a few questions to ask first and some conditions before I join}

Sky raised his eyebrow, this is a first.

"Okay? What are your questions?"

{If I join you guys, when will you leave this island?}

"Probably later tomorrow."

{I see. Second question, will I be getting stronger and richer like yesterday?}

"Of course. I pay everyone here something, money or scrolls or items, especially when we clear a dungeon. But don't expect to get strong, some days are slower than others. After all, yesterday was the second time we explored a purple dungeon. But we will get stronger, strong enough to even complete that dungeon without any effort"

{That's fair}

"Yeah, but I do expect you to pull your own weight when you join. Everyone here helps or does something one way or another. Jules makes potions, Jay keeps an eye out, Jericho finds treasure chest like that one time you saw."

{I understand that and that's more than fair, I wasn't planning on being a leech, god knows I know what it feels like to have leeches in my life. Also do you have a chef on board?}

"No, not really. Jay does cook from time to time but he only makes sandwiches."

When Jack said that Sky could barely contain his excitement. Jack, who has a talent for cooking, asked about a cooking position on his ship?

Just because someone has a talent for something doesn't mean they'll like it.

{Okay. Here is my first condition, I do not want to clean the ship. I do not mind cleaning my own space and mess, but I do not want to clean up other people's messes, especially the dishes, and I am sorry if I sound selfish in saying that. I will gladly be the new cook of the ship, I am quite experienced in cooking and love it. I will fish, hunt, buy groceries, everything}

Sky thought how Jack had a maxed out cleaning skill. He doesn't know how long he has been cleaning for, but it must be to the point he must be sick of it.

"Okay, don't worry about cleaning, we have slaves for that. And you can cook, I will pay you for that, think of it as a salary or something. Bonuses included. The money for the food you make will come out of my own pocket, not yours."

Jack sighed, worried he might be pushing it.

{Second condition, can you make me stronger? You know with scrolls and better items and whatnot? I keep thinking about that boss we fought… I want to be able to beat him}

"I can, we won't always be lucky but we will be stronger. Only if you prove to me you are worth it."

Jack sighed in relief.

{Thank god. I want to say goodbye to my family before we leave. I will most likely sneak out at night or something. Oh wow, it's really happening} 

Jack realized his dream to leave home was actually coming sooner than he hoped.

Sky smiled and said, "Understood. I'll see you later, Jack."

{See you}

Sky ended the call barely able to contain his smile.

"At least you're happy, because I certainly am not." The merchant kept weeping.

"I think you should take another day off." Sky suggested.

"I guess. I have about five hundred thousand vacation days I can use any time I want."

"Uh, what? How do you get that much?" Sky asked, curious.

"Well… I get one day off every month, and I rarely use them and I can save them up and they accumulate, and I have been working as a merchant for… a long time, that's how. So is there anything else you'd like to buy or can I take my leave?"

Sky bought another reset for forty million. And there was nothing interesting.

"A warning, Sky, don't get too greedy. If you spend too much on resets you won't have enough money to buy items anymore."

Sky sighed and bought another reset for eighty million.

"Hm… this made me feel a bit better." The merchant let out a chuckle, he didn't know why but he found it funny that Sky ignored his warning.

To their surprise they saw two good things appear in the shop. 

{Mana cannon x2: Purple}

{Shoot out cannonballs made out of mana, The range and damage of the cannonball shot depends on the mana of the crew on the ship}

{Cost: 800m shells}

{DEVOURER: SPECIAL ITEM}

{A blue sentient treasure chest with sharp rows of teeth. It does not eat living beings, instead it eats large amount of items of all kinds and produces a new but random item by chance}

{Example: Using 10 green items produces a red item, and using 10 red items produces a random purple item}

{Warning: The higher the grade of the items you throw in the lower the chance to successfully produce an item}

{Tip: Only feed it the same grade items 10 times for best results}

{Cost: 10 player coupon}

Without hesitation Sky bought the cannonball and the DEVOURER. Both items were supposed to be large but due to convenience they were shrunk down.

{Shells: 414m shells}

{Player coupon: 4}

"Not even hesitating to buy the expensive items?" The merchant asked.

"I don't know when I can find another good item like these two."

"Fair. Will that be all?"

"Yeah, thanks."

"Yeah… and thanks for the idea I'll take a few days off from work. I'll see you later."

The shop and the merchant disappeared.

Sky, however, took out the DEVOURER and placed it inside the ship. The chest was wider than the dungeon chests he's seen, it was mostly blue but the edges were made of gold. It was opening and closing itself as if it were breathing while it showed its sharp fangs and stuck its tongue out.

"Can you speak? Can you understand me?" Sky asked.

The DEVOURER didn't react to him.

Sky then took out two red grade weapons and brought them closer to the chest. Sensing the items that were being handed to him the DEVOURER ate the items without even touching Sky's hands.

Sky frowned. The system said he needed to feed him at least ten items of the same grade. He took out eight more items and gave it to the chest which it devoured happily.

It danced around slightly, its mouth flowing purple like disco lights. Then it opened its mouth and it made a loud burping noise.

{Item production failed}

Sky frowned. It did say it has a chance to fail.

'I have thirty seven more grade items which are decent. Should I use it on the chest? Oh well.' Sky gave it thirty red items.

{Item production failed}

{Item production failed}

{Item production successful}

'What?'

DEVOURER spat out an item and it landed in front of Sky, it was a long, gold-red staff with silver engravings of clouds.

'Identify.'

{Cloud staff: Purple}

{Damage: 30k}

{Requirements, lvl 250, dex 700, strength 600}

{Ability: Any damage dealt to an enemy a small cloud will be automatically summoned. Three types of clouds will appear at random}

{Fluffy cloud: A cloud that shields the wielder from damage equal to the damage you dealt to an enemy}

{Angry cloud: A cloud that attacks your enemies equal to the damage you dealt}

{Angelic cloud: A cloud that heals you and allies equal to the damage you dealt}

Sky moved the staff around slowly, he didn't have a staff mastery but he quite liked the weapon in his hand.

"Looks like I have a lot of training to do with you. And thank you." Sky patted the DEVOURER but it didn't seem to feel it.

{Gold sentient brick likes how you treat DEVOURER}

{40k more shells will be added daily}

"Wait… but it's not even in the same room…" Sky looked around realizing that the gold sentient brick, his greatest way to earn money, could see more than he thought.

Sky put the staff away for now and went to the deck of the ship to find his three slaves cleaning the ship thoroughly.

"You three, get another bed ready soon."

"Yes, Master!" They answered, two of them left while one stayed behind.

"Master, can I ask why?" She spoke gently.

"Why what, Tiana?" Sky said.

Out of the three slaves, Tiana seemed to have grown more accustomed to Sky. The other two were still deadly afraid of him, afraid that if they even inconvenienced him slightly they would be killed. But Tiana seemed to see Sky as more than she thought of him at first after observing him and his crew.

"Is there a reason to make another bed? Are you getting a new slave?"

"Not yet. A new crew member is joining, so you better treat him well like the others."

"As you wish, Master." She bowed before attempting to leave.

"Oh, I almost forgot. When you go down, ask your friends to buy all the kitchen and ingredients you can find on this island, clean them all. I'll give you the money once you're done setting up the room."

"Yes, Master." She is used to him ordering them to buy large quantities of items for whatever reason, most of it being food.

Sky took out his new staff and began handling it and hitting the air with it as if he were hitting something.

{New skill learned}

{Staff mastery: lvl 1: 10% more damage: 1% chance to stun an enemy for 1 second}

Sky got a better handle of the weapon and didn't stop practicing with it till his crew was back on the ship.