Chapter 5: Trash Grade weapon

Chapter 5: Trash Grade weapon

To continue building his own base, Jack knew he would need to gather essential resources for his shrine. Upgrading the cooling shrine was a priority—a higher-level shrine would grant him a wider safe radius, lower the environmental temperature further, and allow him to construct more specialized buildings. With his ultimate enhancement cheat ready to boost his capabilities, he was set to get to work. But before he could even think about stepping out into the burning wild, he needed weapons to fight the monsters lurking outside the territory.

Checking the shrine’s status window, Jack noted that he had about 6 days before the first scheduled Monster Wave hit his base. Just like in the [Max Difficulty Survival] game he used to play, the system granted a beginner protection period. However, the immediate danger wasn't the monsters—it was the scorching heat.

The shrine currently held only 12 hours worth of fuel before its cooling zone would collapse entirely. Without a continuous supply of resources, the sanctuary would vanish, leaving him and his base to bake in the volcanic wasteland.

"Well, I’m lucky I found a weapon in the wooden house," Jack muttered to himself, holding up the simple blade he had scavenged from inside the cabin.

Focusing his gaze on the iron hilt, a system panel materialized over the blade:

[Rusty Iron Sword]

[Grade: Trash]

[Attribute: Attack +5]

[Description: A completely ordinary iron sword, covered in rust. Nothing worth mentioning.]

From the system’s initial introduction, Jack had already committed the equipment grading scale of this world to memory:

[Trash → Bronze → Silver → Gold → Platinum → Diamond...]

"Now for the last free Enhancement point I have," Jack said, his eyes gleaming with anticipation. "System, use it on the sword!"

He couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement. "I wonder what effect it’ll have after enhancing a sword. Using my first point on heat tolerance was incredible, so let's see what a weapon enhancement does!"

A soft flash of light enveloped the rusty metal, reshaping the edges and wiping away the reddish corrosion.

[‘Rusty Iron Sword’ has been successfully Enhanced once. New attributes have been updated. Please check!]

"System, give me the sword's status," Jack requested.

The screen refreshed instantly:

[Rusty Iron Sword +1]

[Grade: Trash]

[Attribute: Attack +30]

[Special Effect: Attacks have a 50% chance to inflict poison. While infected, the target loses 100 HP per second for 10 seconds.]

[Description: Looks ordinary, but is somewhat unique.]

Jack stared at the numbers in disbelief. "That’s a fucking holy upgrade! What the fuck... the attack jumped by 25 points up to 30, and it gained a powerful special effect too!"

He swung the newly refined blade through the air, feeling its improved balance, though a thought suddenly crossed his mind. "But wait... why didn’t my body get a passive special effect like poison or something when I enhanced my heat tolerance earlier? Maybe special effects don't apply to every single stat, or maybe body enhancements follow a different rule set than weapons."

"What are you mumbling about over there?" Aria’s voice interrupted his thoughts.

She flew out from inside the shrine, hovering in the air after having inspected the glowing blue spire for a while.

"Nothing, I’m just checking my talent," Jack answered, sheathing the sword at his waist. He turned to face her and continued, "By the way, I’m leaving the safe zone for a while. I need to gather resources for the shrine so it won't stop cooling down this place."

Aria’s eyes widened, her jaw dropping in shock. "WHAT?!!! You mean this thing will actually stop cooling down?!"

"Yeah," Jack explained calmly, pulling up the shrine's resource requirements. "It needs water and special beast cores. I have to go hunt monsters outside to collect them."

He tapped the screen so Aria could see the details floating above the spire:

[Cooling Shrine: Lv. 1]

[Effect: Decreases temperature by 30℃ within a 50-meter radius]

[Consumption: 1 Liter of Water + 1 Beast Core / 2 Hours]

(Current Remaining Time: 11 Hours and 33 Minutes)

[Upgrade Requirements: Volcanic Stone ×5]

"I will need 12 liters of water and 12 beast cores just to power the shrine for a single day," Jack pointed out, his tone grim. "If I don’t get them, the shrine shuts down, and we will die here from the heat."

"Then what are you waiting for?!" Aria yelled, flailing her tiny arms dramatically. "Go get us some fucking cores! Do your part here! I already brought water to this place!"

"Seriously, give me a minute to think and prep, or I'm not stepping foot out there. Remember—thanks to my enhancement, even if this shrine completely shuts down and runs out of water, I can sit right here completely unharmed. You, on the other hand, will literally get cooked alive. So if you want this place to stay cool, let me handle this at my own pace."

Aria huffed, crossing her tiny arms and turning her head away. "Fine, fine! I’m shutting up!"

With a stomp of her tiny foot in mid-air, she zipped back toward the wooden house, sulking as she ducked inside.

Left alone near the shrine, Jack looked down at his weapon and pondered his strategy.

"To be honest, the shrine at Level 1 won’t be enough for long, especially if I end up bringing more people here later—like Zoey," Jack thought aloud. "I could make myself even more tolerant to heat, but to enhance my heat tolerance a second time, the system demands 2 Enhancement Points. I guess the cost will just keep going up and up, so relying purely on personal body buffs won't be sustainable."

He looked back at the glowing blue crystal spire. "Strengthening my physical strength will naturally help me endure harsh environments better, but the wide-scale advantages of upgrading the shrine are far greater. I need to start gathering materials right now."

Tightening his grip on the hilt of his +1 sword, Jack turned toward the perimeter line of the safe zone and prepared to step out into the red, ash-filled horizon.

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