Chapter 173
In the blink of an eye—
Eren's spiritual form shifted into the Balance Space.
After ascending to Magician, Eren's spiritual power had greatly increased. His meditative state had also enhanced his mental acuity, strengthening his connection with the Balance Space.
Now, he could enter this mystical realm at will, simply by channeling his spiritual power.
Previously, he had to rely on deep meditation just to establish a connection and forcefully enter.
The only downside—
His physical body was too heavy.
With his current spiritual strength, he couldn't bring his corporeal form into the Balance Space.
Otherwise, if he could fully transport himself here, this hidden realm—floating above the River of Fate—would be the safest refuge imaginable.
Stepping onto the mercury-like mist that swirled beneath his feet—
Eren focused his vision, channeling more and more spiritual power into his eyes.
But no matter how much power he injected—
Whenever he gazed upon this mysterious space, it still felt hazy and indistinct, as if he were peering through fogged glass.
"As expected... even at the Magician level, I still can't fully comprehend this place."
Realizing that even enhanced spiritual sight couldn't unravel the secrets of the Balance Space, Eren dismissed the gathered energy in his eyes.
If he couldn't even perceive the true nature of this realm, he wasn't going to risk trying to analyze the Fate Scale itself.
Who knew what kind of consequences that might trigger?
After taking a moment to calm his thoughts, Eren's gaze returned to the Fate Scale.
Last time, he had spent 10,000 Fate Points on a high-level draw, leaving him with 2,702 Fate Points.
Now that he had ascended, it was time to test his hypothesis—
A new draw.
With a thought—
Eren summoned the illusory Fate Scale, triggering a basic 10-draw.
The Fate Compass materialized above him, spinning rapidly, leaving behind trails of afterimages.
As the spinning projection reflected in his eyes, Eren's gaze flickered with deep thought.
When the wheel finally stopped—
Two blue.
Two green.
Six white.
Twelve floating light orbs hovered in the air before him.
As expected—
This time, he didn't hit the jackpot with any purple-tier items.
However—
Getting two blue-tier items in a 10-pull was already pretty good.
Usually, in past draws, he had only ever gotten one guaranteed blue-tier item.
Wait…
Could this extra blue-tier item be related to the Fate's Blessing he had acquired after purging the Eldritch God's aura?
One became two.
Was the effect of Fate's Blessing really this obvious?
Or was this simply luck?
As he recalled the unexpected reward from his previous purification, Eren's expression grew contemplative.
But it didn't matter.
Whether it was luck or Fate's Blessing, it was still a win for him.
Fixing his gaze on the two blue-tier orbs, Eren hesitated for only a moment before reaching for the leftmost one.
Faceless Man Potion (Sequence 6)
A second later—
The outer shell of the blue light orb shattered.
A vial of eerie, black-green liquid appeared in Eren's hands—
It occasionally bubbled, with each bubble the size of an eyeball, reflecting shifting hues under the surrounding glow.
Faintly, distorted human faces surfaced and vanished within the liquid.
This was the next step in the Diviner pathway—
The Faceless Man Potion (Sequence 6).
As he gazed at the vial—
A cold, mocking smile crept onto Eren's lips.
So this really is fate, huh?
Compared to last time—when drawing the Magician Potion had sent a chill down his spine—Eren felt far less shaken this time.
For one—
He had already suspected that each draw after ascending was "coincidentally" rigged to give him his next promotion material.
Getting the Faceless Man Potion now only confirmed his theory.
And two—
Since his mental state had reached a meditative balance, he felt far less disturbed by these strange coincidences.
Since I can't fight "fate"… I might as well enjoy its gifts.
After all—
If someone always had their next promotion material conveniently placed before them, wasn't that a blessing in disguise?
At least—
Compared to someone like Klein, who had to search the entire world for potion ingredients, Eren had it easy.
With a flick of his wrist—
The Faceless Man Potion vanished into his sleeve.
After storing the potion, Eren turned his attention to the nine remaining light orbs.
One by one, he opened them.
The six white-tier orbs revealed—
Three books A jar of premium honey A set of silver dining utensils A bottle of red wine
Hmm.
No modern firearms this time?
Did the Fate Compass finally realize that regular guns were useless to him?
Or was it just random chance?
As for the three books—
Only one of them caught Eren's interest.
It was a beauty guide written by some famous makeup artist from an unknown world.
It could be useful for disguises and camouflage techniques.
But the other two books…
"The Actor's Guide to Self-Cultivation" "Pickup Artist's Handbook"
…What the hell?
Eren stared at the titles, speechless.
They weren't completely useless…
But he had no interest in them.
If the six white-tier items left Eren feeling disappointed—
Then the two green-tier rewards were a pleasant surprise.
[Eerie VHS Tape]
"Insert it into a TV, and you'll receive a mysterious recording of a beautiful woman… What are you waiting for, young man?"
Note: Due to tragic past experiences, this woman has an explosive temper. Once the VHS tape is played, be prepared to defend yourself against her deadly attacks. Warning: Do not open this tape without proper defensive measures or spiritual resistance. Otherwise, you may end up torn to shreds or drowned in her cursed well…
[Question Notebook]
"Write a question in this notebook, and it will provide an answer."
Be warned: The answer may or may not be what you want.
Price of knowledge: After receiving an answer, you must answer a personal question from the notebook.
Rules:
You cannot refuse to answer the notebook's question. You cannot lie in your response. Failure to comply will result in punishment from the notebook.
Background: This was once a completely ordinary notebook… until a being who had touched the River of Time used it as a child to write a question out of boredom. That single moment changed the nature of the notebook, granting it mysterious abilities.
Neither the Eerie VHS Tape nor the Question Notebook were simple green-tier items.
Especially the Question Notebook—
It had been influenced by a being who had glimpsed omniscience.
The ability to receive knowledge in exchange for answering a question was highly valuable.
The only downside was the personal question requirement, but compared to the dangers of divination or blind exploration, this was a manageable cost.
A Jackpot Draw: The Space Ring
If the green-tier rewards caught Eren's attention—
Then the final blue-tier reward completely stunned him.
[Greedy Space Ring]
"A special ring with an internal storage space that can hold non-living objects."
Background:
Created by a goblin whose greed was engraved into his very soul. Even in death, the goblin refused to release his grip on this precious ring. Upon his demise, the ring inherited his greed.
Warning:
This ring demands rent from its owner every week. Failure to pay will result in a randomly selected stored item being "devoured."
A Space Ring!
One of the most iconic protagonist items in fantasy stories—
And now Eren had one!
The closest he had ever come to owning a spatial item was when he had drawn a space stone in a previous lottery pull.
Unfortunately, since he had no forging skills, he had no way of making it into a proper storage item…
So he had just fed it to his pet monster.
But now—
With this ring, that long-standing wish had finally come true.
Eren took the dark iron-colored ring, adjusted it to fit his right pinky, and slid it on.
The moment the ring touched his skin—
A faint gray glow flickered across his eyes.
Immediately, information about the ring's abilities flooded his mind.
Storage Capacity: A 5-meter diameter spherical space.
Restrictions: Can only store non-living objects. Cost: Every week, the ring demands a 50-gram gold coin as rent. Failure to pay will result in one random stored item being consumed.
"Wow. This ring is more greedy than some landlords."
For most people, losing a 50-gram gold coin every week might be a huge expense.
But for Eren—
He was drowning in gold.
Just recently, he had seized fifteen 1-kilogram gold bars from the Water Ghost Gang's headquarters.
That was 15,000 grams of gold.
Enough to pay rent for 300 weeks—roughly 5-6 years.
Of course—
He would need to melt the bars down into individual 50-gram gold coins.
Otherwise, knowing the ring's greed, if he tried to store a full 1-kilogram gold bar, it would likely take the entire thing as one week's rent.
"Since you're so greedy… I'll call you the Greedy Ring from now on."
Smiling, Eren rubbed the surface of the ring before proceeding to store all his new loot inside.
A Soul-Nourishing Fruit: The Infant Fruit
After securing his items—
Eren stopped drawing.
Instead, he spent 1,000 Fate Points to materialize an item from the River of Fate.
[Infant Fruit]
"A rare fruit that grows in desolate lands where countless souls have perished. It nourishes and strengthens the soul while also healing any soul-related injuries."
This fruit was meant for reviving his Jester clone.
Due to the Twin Divinity ability, his Jester clone had not fully perished.
However, reviving it would require a great cost.
Additionally—
Eren had just ascended to Magician.
If he wanted to restore his clone at his current strength, the requirements would be even higher.
After using 1,000 Fate Points for the Infant Fruit, he spent another 500 to materialize various high-grade vitality-boosting herbs.
After all—
To revive the Jester clone, healing the soul alone wouldn't be enough.
...
A Few Minutes Later…
Inside Eren's home—
He changed into a vibrant, flamboyant suit, complete with a top hat.
And then—
A graceful, impeccably dressed Jester once again returned to the world.
(End of Chapter)
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