It was a difficult choice.
If I spent 100,000 souls on upgrading the Legion Arm, I would have only 120,000 left to increase my level, which wouldn’t be enough to reach Saint rank.
“And I won’t have another chance to gather this many souls anytime soon…”
“Think, Ethan… Think! You’re the best player in the world, the only person who ever completed Ordeal! If these choices had been presented to me while I was sitting behind my screen, what would I have chosen?”
I didn’t need to think for long to find the answer.
“I would’ve chosen the Legion Arm, then gone off to farm weaker enemies until I leveled up…”
I was one of those players who could spend dozens of hours repeating the exact same process just to gain a few levels.
I could still remember how much the people watching my streams used to complain about it, constantly demanding that I do my farming off-stream.
What they didn’t realize was that I was already doing it both on and off-stream.
Remembering those days brought a wry smile to my face. They were among the few pleasant memories I still carried from my previous life.
And thanks to that memory, I finally knew what I had to do.
“Fuck it all. Whatever happens, happens. There’s no point hesitating now.”
Without further delay, I initiated the upgrade.
But it wasn’t my own level I increased.
It was the level of my Legion Arm.
The mechanical arm trembled slightly before beginning to glow, surrounded by a strange crimson-red aura.
Right before my eyes, the Legion Arm underwent a complete transformation, taking on a slightly different appearance as a new ability was added to its arsenal.
It was still a dark mechanical arm resembling the gauntlet of some ancient, mysterious suit of armor.
However, the channels of red light running through its interior had changed. They now pulsed with greater intensity, like veins carrying molten lava instead of blood.
The transformation ended quickly.
And just like that, I had obtained my Legion Arm’s fourth ability.
Overcharge had been incredibly powerful despite being only its third ability, so it seemed obvious that the fourth would be even stronger.
That was what I had gambled on.
…
Legion Arm: Level 4
Souls Required to Reach Level 5: 500,000
Grappling Hook
Explosive Stake
Overcharge
Jackpot!
…
“Jackpot?”
I repeated the name of the fourth ability several times, realizing just how strange it sounded.
Was my new ability seriously called Jackpot?
What kind of prize was I supposed to be winning?
I also noticed that the cost of the next upgrade had increased fivefold!
How much would it take to reach Level 5 now?
And what exactly was the maximum level of this arm?
If things continued like this, it would eventually start devouring millions of souls.
But this wasn’t the time to worry about the future.
The present was more important.
And I’d just spent a hundred thousand souls to obtain this so-called Jackpot.
“Let’s see what kind of prize I’ve won…”
…
Jackpot!: 1–999
Jackpot! A game of absolute luck!
Upon activating Jackpot, the user receives a random number between 1 and 999. This number determines the magnitude of the explosive power unleashed by the Legion Arm!
The higher the number, the greater the power!
It could be powerful enough to bring down titans, or so feeble that it couldn’t even shake an ant!
…
I blinked several times after reading Jackpot’s description.
It was the most absurd and exaggerated description I’d ever seen in my life, almost as though some lunatic had written it instead of the system.
Still, I understood how the new ability worked.
“A random number between 1 and 999… Doesn’t that mean it depends entirely on luck?!”
And just how much power would it grant me if I rolled an extremely high number?
The description didn’t make that clear.
I had no idea what rank the word titans was supposed to represent, but since this ability came after Overcharge, I assumed it would at least be stronger than a fully charged lightning attack.
“I’ve gotten myself another strange ability… Since it’s based on luck, I imagine it has a long cooldown or a limit on how many times I can use it in a single battle…”
That was the conclusion I reached on my own, even though the system hadn’t mentioned any such restriction.
After all, it wouldn’t make sense to give me an unlimited number of attempts. Otherwise, I could simply keep activating it without stopping until I got the result I wanted.
The ability would become completely spammable.
“I’ll save it as my final trump card…”
I didn’t know whether Jackpot was worth sacrificing my chance to reach Saint rank, but I decided to reserve judgment until I’d witnessed its true power.
I still had 120,000 souls remaining.
I decided to spend them while using my Class Change at Will ability to redistribute my stat points more efficiently.
By the time I finished, my stats looked like this.
…
Name: Ethan Heart
Class: Classless
Level: 47
Current Souls: 3,050
Souls Required for Next Level: 40,000
…
Vigor: 16 (Increases HP)
MP: 15 (Increases mana)
Endurance: 10 (Increases stamina)
Strength: 26 (Increases damage dealt with heavy weapons)
Dexterity: 30 (Increases damage dealt with speed-based weapons)
Intelligence: 10 (Increases magic power)
Faith: 10 (Increases the power of holy incantations)
Arcane: 10 (Increases luck and bleed effectiveness)
…
In the end, I transferred every point I’d invested in Arcane over to Dexterity.
This meant I could no longer wield the Executioner’s Sword, but I could still equip Night Armor.
And thanks to my Class Change Blessing, I could redistribute my stats again whenever I wanted.
For the time being, however, I had decided to get accustomed to wielding Dark Sister, a weapon that relied on speed rather than the raw strength required by the Executioner’s Sword.
I was still stuck at Elite rank.
But overall, I was satisfied with the progress I’d made.
“Now… I think it’s finally time to confront the Arden family and put an end to this slavery.”