"Are you sure?" I move back to the living room and sit on the couch opposite Sophie, who still holds the mana stone in her hand.

"Yes!" Sophie is still smiling brightly and says it without any hesitation. She seems confident.

"Okay, let's do it then," I tell her and open the system window, "I want to sell…" I start when Sophie interrupts me.

"Wait! Wait, wait, wait!" she nearly screams and stands up, putting her hand on me, "What are you doing?" her voice is urgent, nearly scared.

"What else? I'm going to sell the coordinates. Don't you remember, that was the deal," I tell her.

"I know! But right away?" she hesitates, somewhat unsure.

"There is no need to wait, and you just said you remembered the coordinates, so what's the problem?"

"I could screw it up somewhere, what if I'm wrong and I made a mistake. What if we are wrong…" she pauses and looks at me.

Ohhh, so mindblender Missy is getting cold feet.

So weak!

"I see, so allow me to ask. Are you sure you did it right and you tested if it works by putting the coordinates into the mana stone and then checking the 'pocket' in your mind?" I ask simply.

"Obviously, I did! Multiple times, over and over again until I was absolutely sure."

Sophie can be surprisingly timid and unconfident at times when she is not defending her little sister. But I trust her when it comes to this. Over the weeks we've spent together working on coordinates, I've come to recognize her skill. When it comes to handling mana and inscribing, Sophie is really good, and that was confirmed even by her creating inscribed mana stones to sell to the system in her spare time.

So there is no need to hesitate.

"Sell coordinates," I say and amusedly watch Sophie's horrified expression.

Do you really want to sell the following item for 10,000 shards?

Eladore Coordinates: The precise address to the world of Eladore. While they provide a pathway, travelers must be wary of Eladore's inherent and man-made defenses against intrusion.

Yes/No

Okay, let's not panic! Everything is according to plan!

So Lissandra's world is called Eladore. It somewhat feels weird to learn that.

And why the heck is there so much? Is this real? I expected a bit less as most of the coordinates start at 20,000 and even more, and when selling to the system, the stuff usually goes for 5-10% of their shop price.

We didn't create these coordinates, so in the past few days, I was worried that I might have big eyes back then, thinking I would scam the system shop a little bit.

Sure, I saw most of the coordinates for 20 thousand with some coordinates for 100 thousand and a few even for 200 thousand.

So there are two options.

Option one, the coordinates to Lissandra's world are worth 100-200 thousand shards, and we are selling them for 5-10 percent as we usually sell items gained inside the tutorial.

Option number two, they are worth around 20 thousand and are sold for 10 thousand because they are considered as something we "made," even though I only gave them to Sophie and then remembered them again.

Well, that's for later. Future Nathaniel can deal with that, really, screw that weirdo.

"Sell coordinates," I quickly say before the system changes its mind, and the weirdest feeling hits me, and I feel lightheaded for a bit.

After a moment, I try to check the coordinates I used to remember, and they are gone, totally gone. It's the weirdest feeling. I just can't remember them.

I check my shards.

Shards: 12,990

Huhuh, I'm rich! Suck it, system and Cockroachsandra!

"The coordinates are gone from the mana stone," Sophie says and throws it away. Then she pulls out another one and starts inscribing it while I wait patiently and carefully observe as she does so.

When she finally hands me the mana stone, I look at what is inside and learn it again. It's close as if inscribing it into my mind, and soon I know them again. Or at least I think I do. I can't remember how they felt before, so it's hard to compare.

To test it, I also pull out another mana stone and inscribe what I learned, wasting a huge amount of money in the process as it ruins the mana stone as currency.

When I hand it to Sophie, she starts comparing it with what she inscribed and remembered.

"It's the same," she sighs, relief clear in her voice, "It actually worked."

"Go on, sell them," I tell her, and she does so.

"I want to sell coordinates," she says, and I see her eyes moving, reading the notification.

She opens her green eyes so wide open it looks like they will fall out, which makes little Isabella laugh and hit Sophie's arms a few times while doing so.

"Ten thousand..." she sighs out, "sell. I want to sell." She says hurriedly and then also acts confusedly for a moment, checking her mind for the coordinates.

Once again, I inscribe the mana stone and have her learn the coordinates. When we confirm everything, I say again, "I want to sell coordinates."

Unable to sell the same coordinates twice.

A simple message pops out unsurprisingly. Well, I guess I would have wanted way too much.

I shake my head, and Sophie also looks unsurprised, yet a bit disappointed, but I am already thinking about what poor soul from group 4 I will bully and force to learn and sell coordinates.

Aaron, Dennis, and Min-Jae all have [Mana Manipulation], or maybe Maya? [Focus] could help her. Tess is a musclehead who only cares about her Primordial lightning and [Psychokinesis]. Haddy is even worse. Isabella is too impatient, and Lily... well, she is also a musclehead in a similar way to Tess, even though she seems to be making some progress with the epic crown from the 3rd floor.

“What should I buy?” Sophie asks me, and only then do I remember the entirety of our deal.

All the shards she gets she will spend to buy what I want in exchange for a clean slate with me and, by extension, with others that might follow my “lead”.

When I look to the side, I see Isabella looking at me with big green eyes. She doesn’t say anything. She just stares at me... menacingly. As always, her [Empathy] probes the feelings of people around her.

She isn’t pushy, nor asking for anything. She just looks seriously curious, waiting for my decision.

So annoying! I know. I KNOW!

It would feel... weird to just take all the shards, even if that's the deal we made. Although she also improved her skills thanks to experimenting with me, it would feel annoying.

Haaaa, that's why I don’t like dealing with people.

I sigh, “You can keep half of the shards,” I tell her, immediately realizing how much it is. With a bit more saving and adding to the ones she got from side quests, she can get an epic passive. Or, immediately, she can buy an epic item.

In reaction to my words, Isabella stands up and walks in front of me, a big smile on her face and her hands shyly behind her back. Her skill is still connected to me.

She is just a kid, barely ten, and the spitting image of her sister. Same tanned skin, black hair, a similar nose, and only her eyes are a bit lighter in color.

“What?” I say, trying to get some annoyance into my voice.

That makes her smile even more, being still connected to my feelings. Then the little girl hugs me and whispers in my ear, “Thank you, Nathaniel.”

She quickly lets go and rushes to her sister, immediately telling her what to spend 5 thousand shards on.

Meanwhile, to feel manly once again, I put my legs on the table and start loudly chewing on some snacks that I stole from Maya. Should I also burp or whatever manly men do?

I ignore the weird looks Sophie is giving me.

It takes some time, but in the end, Sophie buys something, and a small egg appears in front of her. A simple white egg, covered in circuits, and inside it, I can feel the heartbeat of a living being.

Before I can ask anything, Isabella shouts, “Not telling!”

Tsk. I’m sorry, Biscuit, I might have no other choice.

Sophie smiles at me apologetically but also doesn’t say anything. What a siscon.

“Keep 5 thousand shards for now. I don't need anything right now,” I tell her.

Unfortunately, she can't transfer them for me to buy another epic passive, only maybe some items, or mana stones, or materials. I already have an idea of what I need from her to buy, but I will deal with it after the Beyond second trial.

First, I need to spend my 13 thousand shards.

I activate my domain, and as it reaches my room, I place an anchor there and then use [Tether] to get there. The process is mostly smooth and much faster than before, and I sit in the chair and open the window. Once again, I scroll through the passives.

I've already done it so many times, yet I do it again. The list is long, very long, yet I think there are some epic passives that do not show for me. I confirmed it by others having significantly different rare passives than I do, so maybe it's slightly personalized to some extent. There is nothing I can do about it, so I once again open my three current favorites.

There are more passives I would like and even more than these three, but I think the ones I picked can help me the most right now.

Passive Skill: Phoenix Embrace (epic): The user harnesses thermal energy, channeling controlled bursts of heat to accelerate the healing process, using the primordial energy’s transformative nature to heal their wounds.

Passive Skill: Mana Affinity (epic): The user has a natural bond with ambient mana, subtly drawing it towards them in places of high magical concentration.

Passive Skill: Arcane Resilience (epic): The user's body has adapted to resist the side effects of powerful spells, significantly reducing the physical toll of casting.

Phoenix Embrace is a stronger version of my current passive.

Passive Skill: Pyrokinetic Resurgence (rare) - The user taps into pyrokinetic energies to fuel their regeneration. By channeling controlled bursts of heat, they expedite the healing process, using fire's transformative nature to mend their wounds.

It sounds stronger and it's more connected to thermal energy instead of just some fire. The healing effect could be much stronger as it's one of the Primordial energies and should be more “pure” as Obelia once said.

Arcane Resilience could allow me to experiment more with my mana and maybe once again try to create the black mana that I created with the help of [Focus] and didn't die only thanks to the saint's healing aura.

Mana Affinity could allow me to delve deeper into absorbing ambient mana. I don’t think this passive is strong; it's probably the weakest out of the three, but when thinking more about the future it could become much stronger.

I already started experimenting with the Ethercrystal shortsword, the epic item I got from Elydor, but I have yet to actually absorb external mana or turn it into my own.

Unfortunately, all of these passives seem to be the better ones as each of them costs around ten thousand shards while most epic passives start at eight thousand, so there is no way I get enough shards that soon to buy any.

Hmm, maybe if I go all in and sell everything I have and steal some other stuff.

Actually, should I do that? It doesn't sound like a bad idea. Yet, something stops me from doing that. That sounds like a lot of trouble for a low amount of shards and we already have enough with ants appearing further and further away from their territory. A few days ago, they even caught some of the ant scouts halfway between their territory and Virelia.

We still have to learn why they actually do that, but I'm already worried that it will forever stay a mystery. The colony and its ways truly are mysterious.

I just wish Tess would stop looking at me like that.

Once again, I realize that I am just putting off a decision that I was unable to make over a few weeks. All three passives are just that good and I already know how I could change my fighting style a bit to fully utilize it.

Okay, let's pick the passive.