After a bit more deliberation, Darius decided to go with the spear. The bow was fine and all, but having two ranged fighting styles sounded like it would conflict rather than harmonize in reality.
On the other hand, a spear's close/mid-range combat style added to his long-range magic style was the perfect combination.
In fact, now that he considered the topic, Darius was quite surprised as to why spear magicians had not really been featured in media, yet sword-wielding magicians named Spellblades existed. The best explanation he could come up with was that it was most likely an aesthetic thing.
After all, a person swinging a sword like a noble hero who could also shoot out fireballs looked cooler compared to a person with a spear doing the same. However, Darius was not pursuing aesthetics, but practicality.
As such, he changed the criteria.
[Would you like to change the Rusty Iron Sword into an Iron Spear? This will cost 0.25 Conversion Points.]
Quite costly compared to changing it into a normal quality iron sword, but understandable. After all, the quantity of metal required had increased while the workmanship would be changing at a fundamental level.
In this case, it was only so cheap because the amount of iron he had reduced to cost for the first stage of transmutation.
In a split second, Darius' hand was no longer holding a wretched rusty iron sword that looked like it would crumble the next second, but a finely made iron spear of a dark-grey color that had a double-bladed spearhead.
Its heavy weight made it quite burdensome to carry around and he barely managed to swing it a bit before he nearly toppled. 'Another thing those stories failed to capture was how goddamn heavy metallic weapons are and how hard it is to get used to them.' Darius cursed internally before he inspected his new weapon.
[Iron Spear - Weapon
Durability: 50/50
Quality: Perfect
Damage: 7-10
Description: A sharp and balanced spear made of fine iron and the best possible craftsmanship. Created through pure Transmutation.]
Darius nodded with pleasure. As expected of the Transmutation skill, it really didn't cut corners in production. The spear's minimum damage was already more than twice the maximum damage of the iron dagger, which was a given just looking at their sizes.
Darius smiled as he made up his mind to gain a spear skill by all means and raise it. He suspected it would not be as easy as it had been with Skinning and Butchery, since those two could be considered simple skills with short learning curves.
Fortunately, thanks to his ability of Transmutation, he wouldn't have to strenuously learn spearmanship up to the point where such a skill would be generated, rather opting to create it in exchange for his precious Conversion Points.
Fearing that the hyenas could come back or he might encounter another beast like the Grey Bear, he desired more methods to resist their assault.
As such, he took out another leaf and performed the conversion to an empty book.
[Would you like to change the conifer leaf into an empty book? This will cost 0.01 Conversion Points.]
When the empty book was formed, Darius checked how much it would cost to convert it into a basic spear manual.
[Would you like to change the empty book into a basic spear manual? This will cost 4 Conversion Points.]
Darius blew air. It seemed he would have to wait until tomorrow... He would have to make do with a bit of cleverness and magic until midnight. Worst case scenario, he still had the Short Warp scroll to get out of danger.
For now, Darius moved onto a subject that was crucial to his survival in this world. He removed a Bronze Ando Coin from his Inventory and held it up.
[Would you like to change the Bronze Ando Coin into a Silver Ando Coin? This will cost 0.1 Conversion Points.]
Darius smacked his lips, an action that he made to try and hide his quivering heart. What he had just discovered was so scandalous and dangerous that he would likely be killed on the spot if someone were to find out.
Darius could print authentic money. Not counterfeit, not shoddy, but actual money that would be no different from those used by Andrato Kingdom's banks. No, considering the elitist nature of his ability, it might even be better.
As a merchant, he abhorred and loved this ability. He loathed it because rampant spending with external/non-circulatory funds was bound to cause chain effects depending on how much new currency would be introduced to the system, causing inflation and economic chaos.
He loved it because no matter the situation, he would have enough money to pay his way out of everything as long as he dedicated some time to making coins every day. Truly, a double-edged sword.
Darius took his experiment further.
[Would you like to change the Bronze Ando Coin into a Gold Ando Coin? This will cost 0.3 Conversion Points.]
Darius was even more shaken. It seemed as if the premier currency of the land itself could not escape his grasp. Thanks to the small Infoblock, he knew the true value of a gold coin.
By Earth standards, it was roughly the same as having $100,000. It was absolutely not a joke and should be handled with care. It was a sign of status, wealth, and identity, as only nobles and above could realistically afford to hold such a coin.
Still, Darius had about 1.84 Conversion Points left for the day, so he transformed 5 of his Bronze Ando Coins into Gold Ando Coins, leaving him with about 0.34 Conversion Points for the day. Those 5 Gold Ando Coins would not be spent until he reached the big city, and its importance was vital in securing land, title, and identity, one of Darius' biggest issues right now.
(Editor's Note: We are aware that using his CP on the potions would have used up a total of 0.0003 CP, but since minor conversions like that will be completely inconsequential even in the future, we hope you forgive us if we use rounded up numbers instead of writing 'Darius had 1.8397 CP left'.)
Seeing as he was now done with his experiments, Darius paid attention to another issue he had put off in order to focus on his travel, which was hunger. Ever since he had woken up from nothingness yesterday, he hadn't taken a single bite out of anything.
He had only drunk the Pure Water, and while that had staved off fatigue and hunger greatly, it wasn't a permanent solution, especially since the water had lost most of its active effects and long since shifted into a passive one.
Then again, this was why he had attempted to skin and butcher the Grey Bear in the first place. Darius found a nice tree off the side of the footpath and sat down beneath it.
The wind was lovely and the air was crisp as could be. After taking a short rest since he had walked quite a distance with his young body, he had to sip on the Pure Water then lie down a bit to regain stamina.
Once done, he rose to his feet and began his next task.
It was time to learn how to cook.
