TAKE YOUR BLOOD MONEY
The total takeaways, after all the calculations were complete, were astronomical for someone like me who, until earlier in the day, the most I had ever held was 10,000 in cash.
Emilia, sadly, was in last place, earning a total of 1,176,000 USD from her Platinum that swiftly was exchanged into 117 Α-coins and 60 α-coins.
Surprisingly, it wasn't me who came in second, earning 6,360,000 USD from his Gold; Brenden rocked back and forth on the carpet of my bedroom floor with his legs crossed, smiling like a fool with his 636 Α-coins.
And lastly, in FIRST PLACE was ME, TAYLOR, the winner of the imaginary competition, even though I had initially spent the LEAST amount to procure all my silver. You have to remember, I had been buying silver at around 20-60 dollars an ounce for YEARS.
Every paycheck, I would buy a couple of ounce bars, forming a habit out of it, and then, whenever I would reach the 35-ounce mark, I would melt them down and create a Kilo Bar.
As such, over the past decade, the total amount of money I had spent was just shy of 40,000 dollars, only to have it instantly transformed into 6,440,000 USD, or, after the exchange, 644 A-coins.
"COUGH!"
"COUGH!"
"COUGH, OI TAYLOR WAKE THE F**K UP!" Brenden's voice drew me out of my happiness as I witnessed him and Emilia standing in front of me with their hands extended.
"We will be taking the 4 A-coins you owe us, along with our share of the B-Coin exchange; I WILL, however, be generous like the good brother I am and allow you to keep whatever change was left over from the Acclimation potions, as well as the leftover 50 α-coins, from your loss," Brenden said with a sadistic smile.
"Stingy…" That was all I said as I ruefully withdrew the 348 A-coins, aka the BULK of the money I obtained from the B-Coin exchange, and handed it over along with four coins from my earnings.
What I didn't expect was how lackluster the A-coins were once manifested into reality. Just like the picture in my inventory showed, the coins themselves appeared to be made out of ordinary grey rock.
However, the craftsmanship of each coin proved it to be anything but ordinary since every single coin was precisely the same size and weight and had a perfect (Α) carved into the surface.
Each coin weighed only a few grams, contrary to how I had expected; even though they were made of stone, each one felt light as a feather, and size-wise, they were about the size of a bottle cap.
Uncaring about how my brother would react, I began dumping handful after handful of Arkadia coins onto my bed, counting them out one at a time until I was sure there were precisely 352 Α-coins.
"TAKE YOUR BLOOD MONEY! I can't bear to watch…" being overly dramatic, I covered my face and left my room to go check on my father.
Rolling his eyes at my display, Brenden chose to ignore me and divided the coins between himself and Emilia, giving her a larger share of the coins so they had close to equal amounts.
Merging everything they had, their total Arkadia coins came out to 1109 Α-coins. Since they were married and had been together for going on 20 years, they shared everything, including their finances, so in the end, Brenden and Emilia each had 554 Α-coins.
When it came down to the amount of α-Coins they each got, Brenden took 55, while Emilia kept 60.
---
Walking into my father's bedroom and noticing he hadn't moved an inch from when I last saw him, I quickly brought up my stats and checked my Currency line.
{Currency: 656 Α-Coins, 135 α-Coins}
'Tsk, I was so close to walking away with a thousand coins. But noooo, Brenden just had to remember the B-coin exchange.' I thought after feeling my father's forehead with the back of my left hand to see if he had a fever.
Initially, I had been about to use my right hand, but then I remembered that it was still wrapped in a handkerchief with a gaping wound underneath, and I swapped over to my dominant left hand.
'eh, I should probably check and see how useful the potions are; without a dedicated HP stat, it's going to be a pain to calculate how effective they are…regardless, I will buy one of each and try them out…make that two of each; I should get one for Dad too, just in case he has some lingering injuries.'
'If I'm lucky, maybe the High-Alpha potion will heal my legs…especially my bum knee.' With that thought, I looked down at my left knee, which for the last 16 years had been in a constant state of throbbing pain due to a lack of cartilage and permanent nerve damage.
About a minute later, I was sitting on the floor in my father's bedroom with four vials of pale red liquid. Two of them were a lighter shade than the others, and from my observations, it was evident that the darker the color of the potion, the higher its grade.
The Low-Alpha potion was closer to a pinkish color than it was red; actually, scratch that, it was closer to being transparent, like water, than it was a typical HP potion in video games, whereas the High-Alpha potion kind of reminded me of pink lemonade.
Before I had withdrawn the four potions, I hadn't skipped any steps and, like a good little noob, had read the descriptions of both potions.
:{Health Potion (α)}:
{{{A Potion created and sold by the Arkadia Medicinal Shop. This potion serves one singular purpose: to stimulate the natural healing factor of the being's body, allowing for a slightly quicker healing ability.}}}
{{{This potion is the most basic of basic health potions and is only effective in healing the most minor of injuries of Alpha Rank Beings.}}}
{{{Directions: Consume the entire contents of the Vial orally; effects will be instant; however, there is an effective time rate which lasts up to 10 minutes. Results may vary depending on Age, Race, and Particle Rank.}}}