"Let's hope I get something good," Riku thought, placing his hand on the bronze chest.
In an instant, the bronze chest opened, revealing a glowing orb inside.
[Ding! Congratulations, you have opened a Bronze Chest and received a Basic Gene Serum.]
[Ding! Basic Gene Serum detected. Value: 500 exchange points. Recycle?]
"A basic gene enhancement serum—not bad," Riku let out a quiet sigh and spoke to the system in his mind. 'Don't recycle.'
Only a fool would give up something this useful.
Following the instructions, Riku took the sharp syringe and plunged it straight into his heart, injecting the serum.
Even though the pain was almost unbearable, he just frowned and silently pushed every last drop into himself.
When he pulled out the syringe, his face was flushed, and the serum quickly spread through his body with each heartbeat.
He gripped a nearby rock as the pain pulsed through him.
After about ten minutes, the pain finally faded.
With a squeeze, the rock in his hand cracked—his grip was already much stronger.
Still, compared to the beings in this world, he was weak. Any ogre or werebeast could kill him with ease.
But for now, physical strength was less important. Being able to use Shambhala well was enough.
A sudden roar echoed from below. Riku's eyes snapped down to the foot of the slope, where a four-meter-tall, muscle-bound, green-skinned ogre was stomping toward his horse.
Startled, the horse Riku had tied up whinnied and struggled at its tether.
'I can't lose my mount,' he thought, his eyes narrowing. Even if this was just the lowest-level ogre among the Demonia, it was more than he could handle in a direct fight. But he needed that horse—going on foot would use up too much energy.
'Let's hope there aren't more Demonia around,' Riku muttered, moving to a large, round boulder near the slope.
He quickly calculated the best angle and then pushed the rock over the edge.
Rumbling, the huge stone tumbled down the slope, gathering speed and power until it crashed straight into the ogre, sending blue blood splattering everywhere. The monster was killed instantly.
"Good, that worked out," Riku let out a breath. He'd run the calculations in his head, but things could always go wrong. Luckily, he didn't need to use Shambhala again, which would have cost more energy.
He teleported next to his horse, calmed it down, and then walked over to the remains of the ogre.
[Ding! Demonia (Ogre) corpse detected. Recycle for 100 exchange points?]
Riku smiled. If he could recycle knives, clothes, and even horses, of course, he could recycle the body of an ogre.
"Recycle," he said calmly.
The corpse vanished, leaving only a bloody stain behind. If not for that, no one would know a fight had happened here.
"Time to move on," Riku muttered, shaking his head as he mounted up and rode off toward his next destination—the wreckage of a Dwarf warship, and the nearest silver chest.
Not long after Riku left, a few more Demonia wandered to the bloody spot, roaring to the sky. They might not be very smart, but even they could tell a comrade had been killed.
A week later, after a winding journey, Riku found two more bronze chests.
One just had a box of premium chewing gum inside. The other was a bit better: a Lux from The Asterisk War called "Skywalk."
It greatly increased movement speed and allowed for walking in the air.
Originally, it needed manadite to function, but the system had modified it to run on stamina instead.
Riku was pretty satisfied—speed meant survival, and walking in the air was a bonus.
And as for the Lux's original requirement of a contract or toll for its use, the system had wiped all that out.
Riku liked that. He didn't need a weapon that wouldn't obey—if it couldn't be controlled, it was as good as junk.