Reverse Apocalypse: The Devil's Revenge

"Liam, how can I earn enough money to regrow my limb quickly? 50,000 Arcanium seems way too expensive with all those other expenses I have to take care of in order to not fall behind…" Derek Hael asked while running next to Liam.

They weren't running too fast as they followed Felicia who used the shortest path through the city in order to get to her mother's fencing dojo.

"You want to earn money quic–...Oi, Felicia, not that way. There is a nest of Giant Fire Ants."

Liam was just about to shout a warning when Felicia pulled into a side alley they should not have entered. Giant Fire Ants were as strong as the Canine Shedims, but there were a thousand times more of them. Giant Fire Ant Soldiers, Elite Soldiers, and so on should not even exist but they did.

It was better to avoid them for the time being since Liam was not confident of being able to kill so many Giant Fire Ants either. Their carapace was thick and resilient, and their body had acidity traits that were highly corrosive. Black Steel Weapons would corrode after being bathed in the blood of the Giant Fire Ants, meaning that it was only possible to kill one or two of them before a Black Steel Weapon would be rendered useless.

As for Liam's weapons, his claws wouldn't corrode that easily. However, his skin would slowly burn and it was only a matter of time before he would end up losing his hands.

The Arcane Kunai wouldn't crumble to pieces after being corroded, but Liam figured that his control of the Arcane Kunai would be temporarily weakened through the acidity traits of the Giant Fire Ants' blood. The blood coating the Arcane Kunai would try to get through to the blade and destroy it, which the Arcane Kunai would prevent in response.

"Oh? Okay then. Good thing that you purchased the information about the Jula Valley," Felicia mumbled, half absent-mindedly.

Her worry kept increasing exponentially the closer they got to the fencing dojo. It was only a matter of half an hour until they would reach the dojo, and she was not too sure what would await her. The best scenario was that everyone survived and her parents were waiting for her while the worst was that her parents had disappeared without a trace, leaving her no way of knowing whether they were still alive or if they had been killed.

Knowing that her parents died would be better than being oblivious to the truth. It might hurt and damage her mind if she were to find the dead bodies of her entire family, but at least she would know what happened to them. Not knowing anything was much worse!

Everyone understood her worries, but it was more important that they reached the fencing dojo alive and unscathed at best.

Thus, they made a few detours with Liam pointing out the streets and alleys they shouldn't visit for the time being. Afterward, he turned back to Derek, whose question was still unanswered.

"If you're confident that you will be able to earn Arcanium faster once your strong arm grew back, you should ask the system if it can lend you 50,000 Arcanium. However, pay attention to the conditions the system offers you. It might ask for expensive collateral and demand an extremely high-interest rate. Read through the notification carefully before accepting anything, otherwise, you might actually turn a windfall into a tornado that will sweep you off your feet."

Liam had used the loaning mechanism of the Arcane System once. It had been very useful for him, and he would use it again if needed. Now that he thought about it, he grew a little interested.

"System, what's the highest loan I can avail myself with an interest rate below 3%? Use the Livral Orb as collateral that you can obtain if I fail to pay back my interest and debt. Take this into consideration, will you?"

[Analysis completed…No active Loan Contract detected…Interest rate has been calculated.]

[The highest loan the host can take is 500,000 Arcanium. The Interest rate is 2.8%, per month, which is equivalent to 14,200 Arcanium per month. This is after taking the current circumstances into consideration, and the Livral Orb as collateral]

'When I said that I want an interest rate lower than 3%, I meant annually…' Liam thought, showing the Arcane System his middle finger in his mind.

[The system analyzed the host's thought and readjusted the offer]

[The highest loan the host can take is 1 Arcanium. The Interest is 300%, and the host's Livral Orb will be sealed.]

"Hah…I didn't know that the Arcane System is a jokester…"

Liam shook his head while paying some attention to Derek, whose expression had changed considerably.

"I have to use my Soul as collateral and can take out a loan for 50,000 Arcanium with an interest rate of 500 Arcanium a month. That's roughly 12% interest a year. Don't you think that is a little high? Ah, and I need to complete the last payment int five years, otherwise, my soul will be taken by the Soul Reaper, apparently…"

Derek thought that his Soul as collateral would be more worthwhile. Unfortunately, his interest rate was extremely high.

Being able to regrow his arm was extremely important in his opinion, not only because he didn't want to live with one arm, but also because his combat prowess would inevitably increase drastically once he trained himself to wield two weapons with which he could use the Swordgale Aura.

He had lost his strong arm, which meant that it was even more important to get his arm back!

But paying 500 Arcanium every month, just as an interest rate? That was a little high for him. Fighting the half-mutated boars didn't even increase his Arcanium by five units. Wouldn't that mean he had to fight every single day for 24 hours until he would collapse just to earn the Arcanium that would pay his interest? He would not even be able to touch the principal amount.

That was a little too much!

"It looks like the interest rate is directly proportional to the loan amount, the higher amount the higher the rate. That's pretty obvious, but you can take it into consideration.

The stronger you get, the easier it will be for you to kill stronger monsters. Earning 50,000 won't be easy but selling expensive monster carcasses will definitely bring in a small fortune.

If you want to regrow your arm sooner rather than later, I would actually take the offer. Though, just make sure that you always pay the interest rate. Losing your soul is not a laughing matter. I witnessed it a few times…it's not nice!"

"Hah…thanks…I guess…"