A moment later, Ryo realized something else.
If godheads could be exchanged for forum points…
Did that mean other Gifts from Little Garden could also be converted into forum points?
He still wasn’t sure exactly what the points could do, but that didn’t stop him from preparing in advance.
And if it really worked — didn’t that mean he could exploit the gap between Little Garden and the forum to become the person with the most freely available points in the entire Dimensional Forum?
Maybe even make the forum entirely his own tool?
With that thought, Ryo turned to look at Lamia, who sat nearby with her eyes closed, acclimating to the surge of power from absorbing Leticia’s godhead.
Because of her blood relation to Leticia, Lamia’s compatibility with the godhead was excellent.
Even just the temporary fusion had raised her strength by a significant margin.
From entering the four-digit range after becoming his Dragon Knight and receiving his Dragon’s Shadow, to now — with the Shadow Authority contained in the godhead combined with the godhead’s own amplification — she had become an elite among four-digit beings.
At her current level, Lamia could easily be considered a chief deity in an average pantheon.
“You got any Gifts you’re not using?
Something cheap, so I can run an experiment.”
“Hmm, master, what kind of Gift do you need?
I don’t really have that many.”
Lamia tapped her lip with her index finger, looking uncertain.
“I was just about to start my internship after finishing Ouroboros’s internal training when I suddenly became your knight.
So I don’t have many Gifts on me.”
“All I’ve got are some training Gifts my instructors gave us back then.”
“No problem.
It’s just an experiment.”
Ryo dismissed the forum interface with a casual wave.
“Then I’ll just give you my Gift Card, master.
Take whatever you need.”
A Gift Card — an ultra-rare item capable of storing and identifying Gifts.
If she hadn’t been trained as an executive candidate, she never would’ve been issued one in the first place.
She handed Ryo a wine-red Gift Card.
But just as he reached to take it, Lamia tightened her grip, her face flushing as she cried out:
“Master…
my unwashed laundry is still in there…”
Ryo stared flatly at the clearly “embarrassed” Lamia and deadpanned:
“Why would I be interested in your clothes?”
“Eh?
But How a Female Knight Should Serve Her Young Master said that young masters like you are at that age where they’re full of curiosity about a woman’s body…”
“Then why would I need to go after your clothes?
You’re standing right here.
Unless…
the contract you signed promising to serve me for eternity was a lie?”
“Uh…”
Lamia was momentarily at a loss for words.
She’d originally just wanted to tease Ryo and see him flustered — but instead, she’d nearly dug herself into a hole and risked more than she’d bargained for.
With a helpless sigh, Lamia struck a pose of utter resignation.
“If master wants it…
then go ahead.
Lamia won’t resist…”
Ryo ignored her antics entirely and began inspecting the contents of her Gift Card.
It was clear that, in the early stages of building their operation, they were flat broke.
Aside from the two godheads, they had practically nothing.
That went without saying for Ryo.
As for Lamia’s Gift Card, it held only some internal communication Gifts and a hundred-odd Thousand Eyes gold coins — her saved-up allowance.
Beyond that, there was just miscellaneous junk.
Especially Lamia’s clothes.
Ryo couldn’t resist his curiosity and took a peek — only to be somewhat disappointed.
They were all modest, girlish styles.
Nothing exciting.
Maybe next time he should suggest Lamia buy some more…
surprising styles?
As he glanced at the contents of the Gift Card, Ryo’s gaze flickered briefly toward Lamia before he looked away.
But of course, how could that glance escape Lamia, who had every ounce of her attention focused on him?
“Hehe~ Master, you couldn’t resist sneaking a peek, could you?”
Lamia’s face was slightly red, but it was mostly the sly satisfaction of someone whose scheme had worked.
“So next time…
should I buy some more…
exciting styles?”
Lamia was already calculating.
Her allowance might not be enough to fund their startup, but it was more than enough to keep her and Ryo living quite comfortably.
Then he opened the forum to see if these Gifts could be converted into points.
“How much are these worth?”
[Heat Orb: 0 points.
Freezing Orb: 1 point.]
“Hm?”
Ryo tilted his head, staring at the forum in confusion.
Weren’t these two Gifts on the same level?
Why was there such a huge price difference?
Looking at the two orbs in his hands, Ryo narrowed his eyes.
He remembered now — wasn’t the freezing orb dozens of times more expensive than the heat orb?
Was it about price?
No, there had to be a deeper reason.
He still remembered why the freezing orb was so expensive.
It wasn’t because of practicality — it was because the freezing orb violated the second law of thermodynamics.
No, that wasn’t it either.
Ryo could tell with his eyes closed that the whole thing was a gimmick.
Little Garden had countless Gifts that violated the second law of thermodynamics.
It was probably because the heat orb was a manufactured tool, while the freezing orb was a Gift.
Ryo studied the two Gifts he’d already pried open and nodded thoughtfully.
The heat orb’s core was an inscribed spell formula.
Inside the freezing orb, however, was a spirit-rank fragment on the verge of dissipating.
After all, compared to a heating spell, a freezing spell that lowered temperature was far more complex.
For convenience’s sake, the maker had simply used a trace amount of spirit-rank fragment to produce the freezing orb — and raised the price in the bargain.
Why not?
So the truth behind the points was spirit rank?
No — it was feats.
Spirit rank was the crystallization of feats.
And the source of the forum’s points was extremely similar to feats.
In a sense, feats and points were interchangeable?
No — it was simply that the forum recognized feats.
The Little Garden Central Core wasn’t necessarily going to recognize the forum’s points.
“Well, well.
Turns out the Dimensional Forum is just a scrap collector.”
After casually cashing in the dissipating spirit-rank fragment, Ryo couldn’t help but grumble.