Chapter 43: Sovereign Shop level 2

The two goblins were now having a full conversation during dinner, and I could actually understand them!

"Hmmm! Chicken is so delish!" Gopuro declared proudly, raising his grilled drumstick into the air like a trophy.

"Nu! Red meat is more delish! Puran likes steak!" Gopuran shot back while continuing to chew vigorously on her skewered steak. A little bit of meat juice glistened on her chin before she quickly wiped it away with the back of her hand.

Haha... these guys really love meat. They’re easily the biggest eaters I’ve ever seen!

Still, my Goblish comprehension was only around forty percent at best. I was still very much a beginner, and nearly half of what they said still went straight over my head.

I definitely wanted to keep learning and improve my understanding of their language, but right now, I didn’t have that much time to spend.

After all, I couldn’t keep Gopuran or Gopuro inside the castle as my personal language tutor forever. I needed both of them out there working so I could start generating more Points.

Haaiz... if only I had some way to magically level up my Goblish skill...

Just then, something clicked.

"Oh, wait..."

"I do have a way!"

And that was my [Lord’s Blessing] skill!

I wasn’t entirely sure whether it would work on myself, but the description clearly stated:

[Spend Points to raise a citizen’s level or upgrade their skills.]

So, as long as the target was considered a citizen, I should theoretically be able to apply it.

Which brought me to one important question.

Am I considered a citizen of my own castle?

I checked my status screen.

[Population: 3]

Yes.

Three.

That meant I was being counted as part of my own population.

Logically speaking, it made sense. Even if you were the ruler of a country, you were still technically a citizen of that country...

Right???

Hmmm... now that I think about it... does the King of England even need a passport?

And what about the President of the US? He probably needs one too, right?

Well, no harm in trying!

Using [Lord’s Blessing] didn’t cost any Powerstones or Points just to attempt, so I immediately tried to apply the skill to myself.

However, the moment I focused my will, a cold System notification appeared.

[Error: You cannot bless yourself! You can only bless your citizens!]

"OH, COME ON! SYSTEM!!!"

"This is not fair!!!"

"I AM A CITIZEN!"

"I don’t understand this. Why the fuck am I not considered my own citizen?!"

But before I could continue arguing with the System in my head, another notification suddenly appeared.

[To level up your Goblish skill, you need to upgrade the Sovereign Shop!]

[Would you like to upgrade the Sovereign Shop right now?]

[Upgrade Sovereign Shop]

Prerequisite: System Shop Level 2 (Met), Castle Core Level 2 (Met)

Upgrade Cost: 300 Points

Unlocks: Ability to upgrade certain Sovereign Skills

New Skills: Vassal’s Eyes, Ruler’s Voice, Devolution

Haha... alright!

I had been planning to do these upgrades anyway.

And not to mention, those new skills looked amazing!

[Vassal’s Eyes]

[Ruler’s Voice]

[Devolution]

If those skills are exactly what I think they are... I’m going to be very happy!

And then another thought occurred to me.

Wait...

Who would have thought the [Goblish] skill I just obtained would also count as a Sovereign Skill?

Isn’t that actually pretty interesting!

*****

With that thought in mind, I opened my Inventory and checked my current balance.

Hmmm...

My total net worth was currently around 2000 Points, at least by my rough estimation.

I had managed to harvest a decent amount of meat from the wolf carcass, but unfortunately, the System had forced me to sell most of it. After all, fresh meat could only be stored for one day before it spoiled.

At least I had been able to keep all the valuable non-perishable materials. The bones, fat, fur, fangs, and claws could all be stored indefinitely, and each was worth a surprisingly decent amount of Points.

Besides the Sovereign Shop, I also wanted to upgrade my Item Shop to unlock better equipment options, and also better food too. That upgrade only cost 100 Points to reach Level 2, so I figured I should have enough to upgrade both.

As for the other available shops...

None of them seemed particularly useful to me right now.

So, without any further hesitation, I decided to start with the Sovereign Shop.

[Ding!]

[Sovereign Shop Upgrade Successful!]

[-300 Points]

[Sovereign Shop Level 2 Unlocked!]

[Nice! You can now upgrade certain Sovereign Skills to Level 2!]

[Nice! New Sovereign Skills are now available for purchase: Vassal’s Eyes, Ruler’s Voice, Devolution!]

I opened the Sovereign Shop and examined the newly unlocked skills.

*****

[Vassal’s Eyes Lv. 1]

Type: Active

Description:

Connects to one citizen’s senses, allowing you to see and hear whatever they are currently seeing and hearing.At Level 1, you can only activate this skill on one citizen at a time. Activating it on another citizen will automatically disconnect the previous target.Skill usage slowly consumes Points and is subject to a range limit.

Upgrade Potential: Higher skill levels allow you to target more citizens simultaneously while also increasing the range limit.

Max Duration: Unlimited

Range Limit: 5 km from your Core

Point Cost: 1 Point per hour

Unlock Cost: 100 Castle Points

*****

[Ruler’s Voice Lv. 1]

Type: Active

Description:

Allows you to communicate with your citizens by sending messages directly into their minds.

You can freely customize the tone and sound of your voice. However, no matter which voice you choose, your citizens will always recognize it as the voice of their ruler.

This skill has a range limit and consumes Points based on the number of messages sent.

Range Limit: 5 km from your Core

Point Cost: 1 Point per 10 messages sent. Group messages count as multiple messages. The cost increases by 1 Point for each kilometer the citizen is away from your Core.

Unlock Cost: 100 Castle Points

*****

[Devolution]

Type: Active

Description: Reverts a citizen to an earlier evolutionary variant. 30% of the accumulated EXP lost during devolution will be refunded in the form of Powerstones.

Unlock Cost: 100 Castle Points