[Body Arts:
*. Jade Hands (0/10000).
*. Domination Fists (0/10000).
*. Threading Hell (0/20000).
*. Golden Body Heavenly Weapon (0/50000).
*. Samara (0/70000.)
Weaponry Arts:
*. Seven Desolate Swords (0/15000).
*. Bleak Mountain, Nine Spears (0/71000).
*. Soul Severing Blade (0/90000).
Movement Arts:
*. Starfall (0/19000).
*. One Inch Step (0/24000).
*. Ghost Strides (0/40000).]
…
Although his options weren't many, especially since he couldn't afford most of them with only 18,435 Achievement Points left, Marcus still didn't know what to pick.
"They all sound appealing." He thought as he focused on the most expensive one, the Soul Severing Blade.
Within a second, more details about the technique popped up.
…
[Soul Severing Blade: An art created to vanquish. Tears through the perceivable and reaps from the soul. With a blade in hand, even the world will submit to your blade.]
…
Though Marcus couldn't truly tell the extent to which this battle art extended, each word felt impactful to him.
Unfortunately, he couldn't afford it.
Marcus suddenly felt like the achievement points he had previously accumulated were nothing.
In fact, it made him feel embarrassed that he was proud of it.
He shook his head and focused on the ones he could afford for now.
Jade Hands, Domination Fists, Seven Desolate Swords.
…
[Jade Hands: Hands that know the pressure of war, know the art of killing. Stronger than iron, as flexible as water. A polished Jade is no different from a skilled hand.]
[Domination Fists: Created from a pseudo Intent, formed to dominate. One fist to clear the clouds, and another to fall mountains. Under the Dominator's Fists, Wills will bend.]
[Seven Desolate Swords: Created by a lonely warrior who studied Sword Intents of old masters. Each sword strike brings the Intent of desolation when mastered, to your enemies. At its peak, even the world would be wary of the desolation your sword brings.]
…
Just from reading their details, Marcus couldn't tell which would suit him.
And although their pricing was enough to give an idea of which was stronger, he was also aware that the term stronger in this case would lose its meaning depending on how the art is used.
But two of them caught his attention.
"Domination Fists and Seven Desolate Swords. The two of them have mentions of Intent."
Marcus wondered what Intent was.
The word was self-explanatory, however, he knew that it was more than that.
Hence his curiosity towards the two.
I can't afford the two of them at the same time.
He would need at least 25,000 Achievement Points to afford them together.
"Damn it, I hate being poor." He scrunched his face as he started thinking of which to select.
"And I can get access to more information about them unless I pay." He placed a hand underneath his chin and paused in thought.
"Domination Fists sounds more appealing. More than anything, I would prefer to use my hands over weapons. But there are drawbacks to that."
"Moreover, I don't think something that was created from a pseudo Intent would be better than another that was created with complete Intents."
Marcus knew that many times, what the system says isn't as simple as it is pronounced.
"I shouldn't only be thinking of which is stronger, but also, which is easier to learn. If I still want to save everyone as I did in the previous life, I don't have much time."
His mind began leaning towards the Seven Desolate Swords, mainly because his opponents were way stronger than him.
Attempting to use his body to fight against them might be no different from smashing an egg on a rock.
But when it came to swords, especially the ones made from his top-grade Marc Steel, Marcus had an inkling that he would do more damage to his enemies with a sword.
The more Marcus thought about it.
Until the point where he stopped thinking about it.
With a thought, he purchased the Seven Desolate Swords. And in an instant, streams of knowledge, sword movements in collaboration with the movement of the body and energy, flowed into his head.
Each of the seven swords had seven sub-moves, totaling a set of forty-nine sword moves.
As the knowledge streamed into his mind, perhaps because Marcus had opened his Pulse of Seeing, he received a vision.
In the vision, there was a man with a long sword hanging on his back, standing atop the peak of a valley.
Below were grassy plains, riddled with animals of different walks.
Flowers swayed with the gentle breezes from the wind, and everything gave off a feeling of utter peace.
Then the swordsman unsheathed his sword and stared down the valley.
His lips moved, and although Marcus couldn't hear a voice, he could tell what the man was saying.
"The Seven Desolate Swords. First Sword of Desolation: Ashes That Remember."
Marcus couldn't see when or how the swordsman had swung his sword, however, he could see when he was sheathing his sword as he had slowed down.
The moment the sword came to a still, the valley below changed.
All lives had been lost.
The grasses weren't only cut, but they dried out. The animals died without knowing what had killed them.
Their corpses all had a similar loss of mass on them, as though they had been deprived of something.
The peace that this place brought turned into a canvas of loss.
It was almost tangible.
A vibe that even crossed barriers and made Marcus feel as though he couldn't escape.
Then the swordsman's lips moved again. But Marcus couldn't make sense of it this time as the vision was quickly fading away.
Marcus soon came to his senses and the first thing he noticed was how cold his body had become.
His back was covered in sweat and his fists were tightly closed, trembling slightly.
He didn't even need to think much or wonder why. He was scared of what he witnessed.
Such a sword move… I have never seen a sword do something like that. Is that even possible?
And there are six more moves like that, each being more terrifying than the former.
Even though he didn't see the six others in the vision, from the information he had in his head, he knew that they were stronger.
Suddenly, Marcus frowned.
"I know the moves but haven't comprehended them yet?" He muttered.
Normally he would have some level of comprehension after receiving new knowledge, but it seemed like knowledge from Battle Arts was different.
Marcus clicked his tongue and put this thought behind him for now.
At the moment, before proceeding to take action against Maney, he needed to solve one more thing.
Coins…
He could choose to rescue everyone he couldn't save by moving a day earlier than he did in his previous life.
However, he still needed money to secure more food and medicine.
Shelters could be built.
And because he had sent Veronica away in this life, Marcus didn't have the gall to ask for a loan from her.
He sighed and called for Bradley.