Legendary Traveler: By Earning Progress Points I will Become Supreme!

While not much had changed on his Display, two lines of text shook the foundation of everything Aoni had conceptualized about how the possible upgrades he could generate using points could turn out.

'Double the storage space and A FUCKING ONE-STAR MINOR POCKET DIMENSION EFFECT! Fuck leaving this thing outside; it's PRICELESS NOW! Also Fuck upgrading NODES, if I can continuously craft items like this in succession!' part way through that thought, his hand separated from the box and with a loud…

THWAP

Aoni smacked himself across the face to clear his mind.

"Points, don't forget about POINTS. Be steady, Aoni. Stay steady. You've had way too much in your head today, and it's making you act out." Rubbing his sore cheek, Aoni decided to check the point deductions for each of the Step upgrades he had executed, only to find that they were apparently static at 10 points.

Not only that, but since each one had yielded five bonus points in return, he basically got a half-off deal.

Yet there was something that was bugging him, and that was how non-specific his command could be when upgrading the stone container, but given the fact that he had to be in physical contact with it, the lad found it acceptable that it didn't need a specific name…still.

"What if…I do this!" Sliding his right hand on the stone container until he was at the far left edge, Aoni stretched out his body and touched the wooden container resting beside the stone one with the tips of his left fingers.

The moment his fingers made contact with the wooden container, its information appeared on the Crafter's Display, causing Aoni to frown at first before smiling like a greedy merchant.

2: Make-Shift Wood Chest

Durability: G- (►)

Storage Space: 4x4 Square Feet

Grade: Gradeless (►)

Effect: N/A Find adventures at My Virtual Library Empire

"Well, at least it didn't get called Shoddy or poorly made; that would only serve to destroy my self-esteem, right, onto testing! Upgrade the Make-Shift Wood Chest to the One-Star Stage Full-Star Step!" Seeing similar stats at a glance, Aoni didn't bother checking if there was any difference between the two containers and missed a VERY important bit of information.

| Increasing the Grade of "Make-Shift Wood Chest" from Gradeless to ★ |

| Progress Points have been deducted |

CRACK…

"Uh-oh…" at the first signs that something was going wrong, the lad's first reaction was pretty standard for someone who was realizing they somehow fucked up.

CRACK, CRACK

"No no…." Eyes wide open, Aoni instantly released the Wooden chest and took a single step back as it emitted two loud splintering noises.

CRACK CRACK CRACK

"No no no no no no no no!" Completely freaked out because not only was the wooden chest cracking and splintering right before his very eyes, but also emitting a golden light that seemed to be trying to break free of its containment, Aoni rushed forward and delivered a full power kick into the front of the container, sending it flying off the platform just in the nick of time because not even a full second later.

Booooommm!

It exploded in a violent manner, flinging debris and shrapnel in every direction.

The only saving grace at that moment was the fact that he had enough foresight to kick it not only off the platform but at a downward angle; that way, the natural lip created by the terrain, along with the snow it was bashing through, acted as a buffer of sorts, dampening the sound of the explosion but also reducing the collateral damage to the other containers to a minimum.

Blinking several times and falling onto his butt on the hard rocky platform, Aoni patted his chest to calm himself down while trying to figure out what had gone wrong.

Gathering his witts, Aoni eventually stood up, and since he couldn't come up with an answer, the only thing he could do was walk over to one of the other wooden chests to check its stats. Once he did, the lad quickly ran over to the Stone chest and verified his findings; after that, it didn't take him long to realize his mistake.

Durability: G- (►)

"The difference lies not only in the materials used to craft the container but also the fact that unlike the stone chest, which had a G+ durability, the wooden ones are several steps lower at G-." Removing his hand, Aoni sighed heavily before walking to the edge of the platform and looking down at the scattered remains of his mistake.

"This is why I always say stay steady, you idiot. Had you taken a second and used your brain, you wouldn't have wasted resources and broken the few pieces of equipment you made," resisting the urge to smack himself in repentance, Aoni hopped off the platform, slid down the mountainside like a penguin (On his belly) and began collecting the fragments of equipment he had spent several days crafting.

Not that they were exactly the best things he made, but still, there were several unfinished projects, crude weapons made of bone, three pairs of snow shoes, some skis, and some bits of armor he had made.

Still, a loss was a loss, and in this case, the primary currency was resources and, most importantly, TIME.

By the time he finished collecting or, more like salvaging what he could, Aoni had lost almost a full hour, by which point he no longer felt the edge of excitement that came with getting his new Display.

Instead, he was beating himself up for being moronic, as if the loss of resources wasn't bad enough; he had also lost the 40 points used for the upgrade without earning a single bonus point in return.@@novelbin@@

In a sense, this was a valuable lesson for Aoni, as he would remember this feeling and resolve himself never to repeat the same mistake twice.

"I'll have to make another chest, some hinges out of bone, and then see what can be repaired, and whatever can't will have to be recycled." With that opinion voiced into the world, the lad trudged to his Crafting station and began sorting out the damaged goods.