1699  Skill Ownership

"Hmm. My current wealth should be enough to get the Skills I want."

Eren concluded as he looked at the number of Menaka's Runes on his Spectral Screen. He then sighed at the fact that he had been working hard to earn something he couldn't even touch with his own hands.

"This virtual wealth feels like one huge scam to me," he mumbled to himself. He became kinda homesick as he remembered how wealthy he had been in Anfang.

His homeworld had tangible wealth. For all the benefits the Mesh provided to him, this was something Labh Salem couldn't give him. Not really.

Labh Salem liberated his actions. But he felt like this world had trapped his mind somewhere, forcing him to run after something he could only see as digits on a Spectral Screen.

"When in Rome do as the Romans do, huh? Instead of fighting it, I better find ways to exploit this system and make it work in my favor. That fat bird surely had some weirdly wise things to say."

Eren smiled as he remembered something Argo used to tell him. He wondered if he would get to meet him ever again in a different form.

"Maybe the concept of money itself is made up, a fabric of one's imagination. It feels real because we give it value. And as long as we keep on doing that, it is as real as the elements of the world. And that's what matters in the end."

The Skills Eren had used to clear the entire den of demonic entities were his borrowed might. It had been lent to him by the Mesh because of his special status as the Inheritor of the Elder Ichor Bloodline. It also helped that Beelzebub, the facilitator of these Skills, was on Eren's side.

The Skills that dabbled with the Existential Concepts of the boundless cosmos were not something one could use just because they had a buttload of Menaka's Runes. They broke the common sense and well-established order of the Mesh. As such, they couldn't be owned permanently by Eren with his current form either.

The sole reason Eren had invested a substantial amount of Menaka's Runes to borrow these Skills was because he had deemed it to be a profitable endeavor should he succeed in clearing the den all by himself. Plus, he wanted to see how the Skills utilized the Existential Concepts through the Mesh.

The Ishgaar's Templars had already started looking at him as if he was crazy for trying to take one bold mission after another. However, they called him a madman when they learned that he was planning to clear a demonic den all by himself.

Jivem was very happy with Eren's performance. He had offered him an attractive position within the ranks of Ishgaar's Templars. However, Eren seemed to be only interested in working for the temple as a mercenary.

Eren had come to realize that there was a reason behind the increased demonic activities all across the continent of Onianum. This was because of a legend that stated that Hvergelmir Springs was about to appear in the world of Labh Salem.

The demonic entities were doing everything they could to prepare for this supposed big event. Most of these demonic entities had been harnessing a demon within their mortal shells– a willful state of being possessed. Some of them had managed to awaken the demon within them, merging with the demonic essence and turning into a true demon. However, most had slumbering demonic fragments within them. It was said that Hvergelmir Springs would allow these demonic entities to merge with the slumbering demon fragment within themselves, giving them higher benefits.

The demonic entities with awakened demon soul fragments within themselves could progress further in their respective Paths to Power. Plus their progress would be rapid and hardly have any bottlenecks.

The awakened demon soul fragment also meant that the demonic entities could finally access the Skills that had remained dormant and locked in their Spectral Screens. There were other benefits of Hvergelmir Springs as well. However, the more Eren learned about these things, the stranger they sounded to him.

He decided to learn more about these things and the validity of this well-known legend. The easiest way to do that was by hunting demonic entities.

Eren started hunting demons one after the other in the past five months, which allowed him to learn more in every aspect. It made him understand the necessary changes he needed to make in his battle style to make him more used to employing the Skills in his possession.

Initially, Eren was a bit downcast to learn the fact that he could not obtain the demons' Skills after devouring them. His targets bought the Skills through Menaka's Market. They were not the owner of the Skills themselves.

As such, Eren could not claim the targets' Skills after their deaths. The Mesh just severed the connection with the targets when they died.

Basically, the Skills were the Mesh's property that was lent to all living beings who had been blessed with the Menaka's Blessing. The Mesh would reclaim the Skills it had lent to the patrons in the case of their deaths.

There was no way for Eren to change the rules of the agreement that took place between Goddess Menaka and those who accepted her Blessing. Not unless he messed with someone's soul using his divine powers.

'Naah. I should drop that idea. I already have too many gods as my enemies. I don't want to add more to the list. Especially someone like Menaka.

Plus, I don't know to what extent she could keep tabs on those who she has blessed. Unless I can go off the Mesh and become invisible, I should not think about breaking the Mesh.'

Eren didn't want to mess with the Mesh or the goddess who supported it at this point. No matter how greedy he was for the acquisition of new Skills, he didn't want to offend a goddess by experimenting with someone's soul in order to bypass the restrictions on one's soul.