Galaxy's First Ruler

[…

Submitting request to create Item….

Optimizing Item…

Item 'Light-Year Teleportation' is beyond your reckoning

Do you want to create another item?

…]

"…"

[…

Submitting request to create Item….

Optimizing Item…

Item 'Cellular Breakdown' is beyond your reckoning

Do you want to create another Item?

…]

[…

Submitting request to create Item….

Optimizing Item…

Item 'Space Walk' is beyond your reckoning

Do you want to create another item?

…]

"Sigh!…"

In the spacious office within the Thousand Faces Guild, Aldrich slumped down into the chair. A tired sigh rang out from his mouth and the only one who could see these gestures was the old man standing outside the window-walled office.

From the moment he had arrived in New York, Aldrich had been trying to create an Item or Skill that could help him survive the Doom. There was a reason that he had claimed to face the enlarged 250 km wide asteroid.

But to use that Item, he would have to die first.

Aldrich was more concerned about his actual body rather than how he would save the disaster from happening. Therefore, he had been preparing for both outcomes; him coming back safely and him getting lost into oblivion.

Nothing seemed to work regarding the creation to survive a thing like that. Whatever or whoever had sent it towards Earth seemed to have a Rank way higher than Baron. Aldrich just couldn't guess the purpose of such cruelty from a powerful being like that.

Aldrich knew that the moment he would come back from the abode of that enormous Veil, he wouldn't be able to use his Inventory. He let out a breath of air and decided to modify an Item that he already had.

"Metacreativity. Update Rank."

[…

Skill Metacreativity is now active

Specify the Item to update?

…]

"Oldest Change."

[…

Item: Oldest Change

Type: Mask

Rank: Common

Durability: 300/300

Minimum Usage Condition: The highest Attribute of Dreamer must be greater than the sum of the two lowest Attributes

…

The Item is eligible to be Ranked up

Specify the number of ExPs Dreamer is willing to lose?

…]

"…All."

[…

Optimizing Item…

Item 'Oldest Change' is updated

ExPs consumed: 128000

Warning: The consumed ExPs are permanently lost

Warning: You have fallen back to Level 3

…]

The entire area within the office became foggy. 'Oldest Change' left Aldrich's face and hovered in front of Aldrich. He watched in astonishment as the single horn protruded out from one side of the mask. The curved horn on the other side struggled to rise but ultimately couldn't.

The devilish horn wasn't the end of this transformation. Two red lines appeared, running from the corner of the mask's eye holes to the jawline under them. A similarly colored blood-red circle appeared in the middle of the mask's forehead.

The rugged mask of terror emanated a noble but devilish aura.

Aldrich's hand reached out and brought the updated mask near his face. He brought up the Stats and his mouth opened wide. He had only encountered one other Baron Rank Item, even that didn't come close to this thing.

[…

Item: Devil's Oldest Change

Type: Mask

Rank: Baron

Durability: 12000/12000

Minimum Usage Condition: The highest Attribute of Dreamer must be greater than the sum of the two lowest Attributes

Description: 5% addition in the Item-specific Skill while facing the Divine

Item-specific Skill: Change

Item-specific Skill's Detail: Transfer 70% of any Attribute to another Attribute

Warning: All effects of the Item would be lost if unequipped

Warning: The Item would influence the Dreamer to become a Devil

…]

After hours of trials and failures, a slight smile came upon Aldrich's expressionless face. The smile wasn't for the successful outcome of his mask, but its rank Baron. There was a reason he had put so many ExPs to bring the Oldest Change to this level, and not Rare.

A tremendous fluctuation appeared under Aldrich's feet as his pale shadow squirmed and gained a jet black color. The emotions of gratitude, hunger, and love got passed down from the Shadow Homunculus to its master. After devouring the 'Beast Slayer' spear of Bellerophon, it only needed one more Baron Item to reach a level where it could freely devour Baron rank Items.

A shark-like wide mouth with sharp teeth opened up in his shadow and Aldrich dropped the transformed mask into it.

Crunchh! Crunchhh!! Gulp!!!

With only two crunching sounds, the Shadow Homunculus gulped down the Item.

The shadow wriggled like having millions of worms under its illusory skin. Aldrich's hand reached within the depths of his shadow and pulled out a jet black mask with one curved horn on its side. The two red lines running across the mask's cheeks and the red circle on its forehead looked even more ominous. But the shadowy vapors rising from the mask, like a morning fog, were the most heart-shuddering.

Hahaha!

Aldrich looked at the updated warning, and a chuckle escaped from his mouth. The result had surpassed his guesses about the various changes the Shadow Homunculus could go through.

[…

Item: Shadow Homunculus

Type: Shadow

Rank: NA (Baron)

Durability: NA

Minimum Usage Condition: Love

Description: An indestructible Item that doesn't need to be stored in the Inventory

Item-specific Skill: Devour

Item-specific Skill's Detail: Can devour anything

Warning: It is Alive

Warning: The Item would only work if it feels the emotion of Love

Warning: The Item shows the characteristics of forming an unnatural bond with the Dreamer

Warning: If the imitated Item suffers damage greater than its original Durability, it would break down into Shadow Homunculus

Warning: Any number of Items can be imitated given their total Inventory Units don't exceed the maximum Inventory-Space available to Dreamer

...]

Aldrich watched the usage condition and other warnings and contemplated them for a bit. He couldn't feel any rejection from the Item itself, so he thought little about it and put it to the back of his mind.

The foggy room regained its visibility, and Aldrich brought the shadowy mask up to its face.

Swish! Houuu!!!

"Hah!"

A satisfied breath came out of Aldrich as he felt the power coursing through his veins. And the creature of Darkness howled, seeing him covered with a devilish aura.

Aldrich was unaware of a popular saying among the nobles of the Galaxy.

'A Baron wasn't truly a Baron without an Item of Nobility.'