Leveling Up Wives In The Apocalypse

'Does that mean, I won't be able to buy spells for the girls once their stats exceed mine?' Mathew froze when he realized the implications of this change.

Yet, as soon as he started to think about it, he couldn't help but shake his head.

'Am I stupid or what?' he asked himself, doubting his own intelligence for a while. 'How could the girls have higher stats than me when all their stats are added to my own?'

This means that one part of the problem never existed, to begin with. It didn't mean there was no problem at all, though.

"I guess I can't just buy overpowered spells I cannot use and then trade them with someone who can," Mathew muttered under his nose. Then and only then did he bother to move over one of the two pedestals that caught his attention as he read through all the spells displayed in the alley.

[Piercing bolt]

[Type: Military magic]

[Class: Penetration projectile]

[Mana cost: 60]

[Grade: advanced]

[Requirements:

- Mind 100

- Arcane 180

]

[The piercing bolt spells allow its users to create a slim strand of condensed mana. Upon launch, it turns into a homing projectile capable of avoiding simple obstacles. Upon striking the target, it uses its outer layer to penetrate through the target's armor/outer shell before unloading the condensed explosive mana directly against the target]

[Cost: 850 cores]

Mathew's stats reached both of the requirements. The mana usage was rather high but still lay within what Mathew could afford. And most importantly of all, it gave him the opportunity to fight against the one type of monster that both his and his wives' blades would be pretty damn useless against.

An armored enemy.

"I wish to purchase this spell," Mathew muttered while reaching out and placing his hand on the paper on the pedestal.

And just like all the times before, a selection window appeared before his eyes.

[Piercing bolt]

[Pick a grade:

- Middling

- Advanced

- High

- High advanced

]

The first context window that appeared consisted of two parts. The first one allowed Mathew to pick the desired grade of the spell, while the second one showcased how the details of the spell would change depending on the picked grade.

Yet, save for the mana cost, requirements, and the type of grade, only one thing changed between middling, advanced, and high advanced grades.

And it was the type of spell.

On the lowest possible, middling grade, it was of a battle magic type. Within the advanced and high grades, it turned into military magic while when Mathew picked its high-advanced grade...

The type changed to destruction type.

"It would be easier if I could get at least a single clue what those types are all about," Mathew muttered, hoping to coax the merchant into revealing some hidden truths.

Yet, even after turning his attention back to the spell while pretending to read about it... nothing happened.

'I guess I missed that shot,' he thought, rolling his eyes and selecting the advanced grade that he went with, to begin with.

The high grade had its mana cost tripled, making the spell completely unusable for Mathew's current situation. As for the middling stage, the change in the type of magic, although Mathew couldn't really figure it out, appeared to be bad enough to discourage him from the purchase.

"As for the second spell," Mathew muttered, turning around to face the other side of the alley before approaching the second pedestal that caught his attention.

[Anchorable protective veil]

[Type: Barrier magic]

[Class: Barrier]

[Mana cost: 25]

[Grade: high]

[Requirements:

- Mind 80

- Arcane 280

]

[Allows the caster to infuse an object with his mana to create a projected, protective veil. The veil remains hidden while unused and allows interactions over it but activates upon detecting a harmful substance, projectile, or attack. Can withstand up to seven attacks up to the advanced grade or up to three attacks of a high grade.]

[Cost: 2 700 cores]

Despite this spell being a grade higher than the piercing bolt, its mana cost was only a fraction of the offensive spell. Yet, for Mathew, this spell was actually far more important than the piercing bolt.

'There is always a way to work around an opponent's weaknesses,' he thought, instantly going through the already standard procedure and making the piece of paper float behind his back. 'But it's all over once any of us gets struck strong enough.'

One could continue to fight only as long as they remained in a shape well enough to do so. And judging from the grades of the items and all, Mathew has yet to encounter a monster that would reach an advanced grade, not to speak about a high one!

In other words, this one spell, although pretty damn pricey, nearly guaranteed the safety of his group, as long as they remained within the range of the veils that Mathew was sure to bestow upon them!

"And now that I have all that I absolutely need..." Mathew muttered, turning his head towards the opening of the alley.

He couldn't see the other alleys from his current spot. He would have to walk back before he could even check what was there.

'But what else could a merchant offer?' Mathew asked himself.

And as he voiced this question in his mind, a powerful sense of curiosity filled his soul.

He could buy food in the first alley. Mechanical tools of all sorts are in the second alley. Weapons in the third and system seeds in the fourth. He just confirmed that fifth alley was all about spells...

But weren't there about twenty different alleys within the merchant's subspace now?

'I could guess one, two, or maybe three more alleys, but what's in the rest of them?'

Mathew couldn't hold his curiosity back... and there was hardly anything that stopped him from checking it out.

Hardly anything... besides what he found out in the sixth alley and what he expected to require a short trip in the real world for him to achieve.

Just like before, the sixth alley was filled with pedestals, meaning that what Mathew would buy likely didn't have a material form. Yet, as soon as he approached the first pedestal, his eyes opened up wide.

[Water and plumbing service +]

[Increases capacity of the service by 50 people worth of water supply and plumbing]

[Limitations: Only applicable to a fortress the customer controls and that has an active service facility]

[Cost: 2 000 cores]

'That's actually yet another thing I really wanted,' Mathew thought only to take a step back and look across the entire alley.

Just like it was in the previous one, it was a pretty short path. Yet, that didn't mean the number of items displayed on its shelves was small!

"Electrical energy service plus, food catering service, cleaning service... here!" Mathew suddenly exclaimed as he went around the shelves looking for one thing that he really wanted.

One thing that his group, in theory, could accomplish with their own physical strength... but something that in reality would never happen.

[Fortress repair service]

[Brings the buildings used to establish a fortress back to their prime]

[Limitations: Only applicable when no one is within the area of the fortress]

[Caveats: Cost depends on the level of fortress destruction]

[Cost: 12 743 cores]