Exploring the upgrade options that the system offered him now, at the dead of night, may seem weird, it even felt weird, but in an odd way, this was the only time he could do it.
In the past, surely chaotic twelve hours, starting from when that brigade of one-thousand men and women attacked the chapel, and everything after that point onwards, Clayton did not have the time to explore the purchase options that the system offered him. He had nearly always been busy with something.
As for now, as he, his friends and his undead slaves pierced through the forest, looking for an inkling of civilization, he was aware that he finally had time to explore what the system had to offer. Granted, his head still hurt like a motherfucker because of the prior upgrade, he was still willing to carve an advantage for himself, however minor that advantage may be.
Anyway, even though he was in no condition to read the odd, phantom-like book, he still insisted on exploring what there was to buy, and the system accommodated him quite well too. She was eager to help him, and even sounded happy for once, happier than he had ever heard her sound in the short, half-day he knew her.
[I understand that your headache tends to stunt your cognitive comprehension, so let us keep things simple for now, okay?]
'Alright,' He nodded, and squinted his eyes.
At this point, even the soft rays of the moonlight served to irritate him. He was yet to see the benefits of the IQ upgrade, but he sure felt every bad side-effect the upgrade brought along with it! The double-vision he suffered was light compared to the raging sensation that thumped across the entirety of his forehead.
It did not make sense, but for a moment he felt that his headache was a nudge more intensive just because he was bald. It was ridiculous, but he was in a condition where he even blamed the crickets across the mountainside. He didn't hesitate to blame his bald head too.
Anyway, the system continued with her introduction of available purchase options.
[In regards to upgrades surrounding your undead slaves, there are ten of them available. I don't want to burden your head with all ten of them, because I believe it will stunt your decisiveness significantly, and you can't afford half of the purchase options anyway. We'll start with the first two options for now.]
[The two pages in front of you feature two purchase options. Each one is distinct, and are designed to serve a specific purpose.]
[Purchase option number one, in a way, opens the door for a long-term investment. If you decide to buy it, and I recommend that you do, each following purchase will cost 3% less to buy.]
[It costs 900 Soul Points to purchase.]
[As for purchase option number two, it's something that I believe will interest you greatly. If you buy this one, your undead slaves will walk the grounds three days longer. I assume this will serve your plans.]
[This one costs 1,000 Soul Points to purchase.]
'Interesting…' He followed along.
In the following five minutes, he did not communicate with the system whatsoever. He somewhat understood the options she portrayed, and as he avoided looking at the illuminated words of the black book in front of him, as to not provoke a deeper headache, he gave some thought to the purchase options. He tried his best, at least.
At last, he asked her, mumbling nearly silently, "Can you remind me what percentages are? I'm old… as you may have noticed, so I don't remember much of what my teachers taught me when I was a young boy."
[Percentages are a method of expressing numbers as fractions.]
[Simply said, with a 3% discount on all upgrades revolving your slaves, will make your purchases a little bit cheaper. If a purchase option costs 100 Soul Points, for example, you will pay 3 points less for it.]
'That's rich,' He managed to muster a smile, 'I don't think a single one of your endless upgrades cost just one hundred Soul Points.'
[It doesn't matter. The math still applies.]
[I highly recommend that you buy option number one first. You can continue 'upgrading' the discount later on, because you're essentially unlocking a branch of purchases that will save you a significant amount of Soul Points.]
[If you spend enough points upgrading the Discount Branch, you can max it out at 80% discounts. With an advantage like that, what could cost 100,000 Soul Points to purchase, would be available to you for only 20,000 Soul Points.]
[The alternative is to ignore the discount opportunities all together, and wipe out half of the planet, animals and monsters included, because otherwise you will never have enough points to enjoy the full array of purchases I offer. But… I figure you don't have enough time to take down sixty-seventy cities to buy every available upgrade?]
'No kidding,' He continued smiling, 'Math is not my trump card right now, as I do not remember my math lessons, however, I did pay twenty-one hundred Soul Points for a headache earlier, so yes, I agree that discounts may be helpful.'
Afterwards, he said, 'Alright, then, system. I'm buying the first one. I need the discounts.'
[Confirmed]
[-900 Soul Points]
[Total Soul Points = 3,820]
'What?' He knitted his eyebrows together, 'That's all? I expected my headache to get worse. Haha!'
[Why would a discount hurt your head? On the contrary, it should give your head some relief. Think of all the savings you'll be making, hehe.]
'Thank goodness,' He sighed in relief, 'I was not ready for more pain. Isn't it bizarre that Fleshmancy, and all that it includes, can help me grow a new head if it gets cut off, but it can't cure a headache?'
[Your abilities did get rid of the worst part. You're supposed to be in a coma right now, and yet you aren't, so we have to assume that even your abilities agree that your headache isn't a priority.]
'I suppose,' He rubbed his forehead, as to alleviate a fraction of the pain away, 'Looks like I still have some points left over, so assuming the upgrade on page two doesn't cause me pain either, go for it. Give it to me, erg, to the slaves, if we're being thorough.'
[Confirmed]