Chapter-15
Sun & Moon
The capital unfolded like a tapestry of slanted rooftops cascading down the valley beneath the shadow of a single colossal arc. At the city's heart, a castle of pale stone rose so high it seemed to pierce the sky itself, its spires lost in drifting clouds. Bustling streets radiated outward from the fortress, alive with merchants, disciples, and officials flowing between districts. Steam carriages hissed as they rolled past packed market stalls, their brass pipes clattering like restless swords. A great steam train roared along elevated tracks, circling the perimeter before diving toward the inner gates, connecting the nine vast sectors of the Capital. Every whistle echoed the empire's ambition, a reminder of how far its reach extended …and how tightly the emperor's grasp held all beneath those towering roofs.
Ha-Jin could not stop staring at the sight before him. He had never seen such a beautiful sight—well, after all he had only been to the Junkyard, The Arena and that accursed realm.
Jae-Woo's face still held that stern but cool look as if this were the most normal day of his life while Alex and Ha-Jin were right beside him looking around wide-eyed and with mouths that had fallen wide open.
Jae-Woo guided them through the Capital and prevented Alex from running around the Capital to explore it like the adventurous boy he had always been from the day Jae-Woo had met him. His eyes practically glowed with excitement now as they walked past the shops.
"All right, then! I have some business to take care of. Do not at ANY cost follow me." Jae-Woo said, his tone stern and warning as he shoved his hand into his bag, digging around it until he took out ten gold coins. "Five for the both of you. Spend it carefully and do not show them the coins beforehand unless you want the shopkeepers to scam you with a high-price." He said, his tone hushed so that nobody else except the two boys in front of him would hear him.
Their eyes lit up as they both nodded their heads before quickly disappearing into the crowd with superhuman strength and speed that a child should probably not have. Jae-Woo let out a chuckle. "Sometimes, I forget that those two are children" He muttered to himself before walking off to where he was supposed to go.
Ha-Jin walked about the stalls, looking around at the shops, dumbfounded. He had never in his entire life seen so many shops in just one area. He pushed his way through the bustling crowd, looking around to find something for himself as he came around a shop filled with ornaments and items.
He stopped in his tracks, his curiosity piqued as he looked at the orb before him. Though he could not feel any mana from it, something inside him urged him to buy the mysterious orb that was laid right in front of him. He could see something—something that was not mana, swirling inside the orb.
He tore his gaze away from the orb and looked at the old man sitting on a chair inside the shop, using a fan to cool himself off in the burning hot morning sun."How much is this thing?" Ha-Jin asked the old man, internally hoping it was not some legendary item worth thousands of gold.
"Ah, that… I found it lying near a Realm, dunno what that thing is but you can have it for 5 silver I guess." The old man spoke in a gruff voice, leaning back in his chair.
Ha-Jin handed him a gold coin as the old man's mouth fell open before he spoke in a clearly surprised tone. "A gold coin?!" He barked out before Ha-Jin brought a finger to his lips.
The old man nodded, understanding the gesture from the boy and took out a card with runes inscribed with odd runes that Ha-Jin had definitely never seen in his life.
"What is that thing? Woah…" Ha-Jin spoke, his tone a mixture of curiosity and surprise as the old man took out 95 silver from somewhere in the card.
"You've seriously never heard of a runecard?" The old man asked dumbfoundedly as he put the coins in a brown pouch and sealed it. "It's a common magic item issued by the empire's bank. You're not from around here, now are you?"
"No, I'm from the outskirts of the continent." Ha-Jin said after a brief pause, purposely omitting the fact that he was from the Junkyard. He didn't know how they would react to children from the Junkyard after all, he shouldn't be taking such risks.
Ha-Jin quickly took the pouch from the old man, giving him a nod before he could have probed further.
Ha-Jin turned around and walked away, continuing his journey to find useful mana items for himself. A quest appeared in front of him as he continued his walk through the various shops.
[Quest: I'm Rich!!]
[Buy Useful Items 0/??]
[Reward:None (Increases with number of items)]
Ha-Jin's face brightened at the quest, this meant he could spend the remaining 4 gold and 95 silver coins on random items for better Skills and Items.
That was until he saw the words "Useful Items" in the Quest Window. He let out a sigh before cursing under his breath and muttering something about how nothing goes well for him.
His first stop was for weapons as he wandered about the shops in search of an armoury. He continued walking before he stopped in front of an ornament shop.
"I should get something for Joo-Hee while I'm at it." He muttered, looking over the vast collection of ornaments present in the shop. He smiled as his eyes landed on a red heart-shaped pendant, a golden chain running through it.
His eyes softened as he asked the young woman running the stall for its price. "10 silver." The woman replied before continuing. "Who's it for? Your girlfriend?"
Ha-Jin's cheeks flushed before he replied, stuttering. "Y-You could say so.."
The woman's lips curled into a smirk as she picked up the pendant and gave it to the flustered boy in front of him. "The heart can break into two, I don't have another gold chain right now… Though, I do have a mana reinforced thread for it. I'll give it to you for free." The woman said, leaning onto the table, resting her bust on the wood.
"Ah.. Thank you." Ha-Jin said, averting his eyes from the woman… leaning on the table to her face. He swiftly snatched the pendant and thread from the woman before running off. The woman let out a dry chuckle before licking her lips. "Oh, how I've wished to see you all grown up after so many years, Ha-Jin… I'm so excited to see you break…" She muttered as the same mark that Ji-Yeong had glowed on her right breast, except this time with three claw marks instead of four.
Ha-Jin finally slowed down, his cheeks still flushed, he was far enough from the stall. He let out a breathy sigh, composing himself enough to keep going around the shops.
He finally reached an armoury. He went right in towards the various types of weapons. Brass Knuckles, Daggers, Swords. Ha-Jin walked through the armoury embellished with various weapons made for only one purpose—to kill.
He kept trying various Daggers and Swords though none truly fit his taste. He reached the end of the armoury, not finding any weapon that fit him and his crude fighting style. He went up to the owner of the armoury and asked, not in a good mood as he walked so far just to not find a good weapon. "Do you have any other swords or daggers?"
The owner looked up from his not so child friendly magazine and bore his gaze right into the boy standing in front of him. "Really? Nothing in this vast collection of magnificent weapons caught your eye?" He asked in a bored tone before getting up from his chair and grabbed Ha-Jin on the shoulder. "Since you think you're superior enough to not have these weapons suit your taste, let us see if you can wield these." He barked, a vein popping on his forehead, making Ha-Jin realise just how shiny of a bald head he had.
The owner dragged him to the centre of the armoury by his hand before chanting some weird ritual as the basement opened, sucking them inside it. Ha-Jin let out a yelp as they fell god knows how many meters before they safely landed through the clever use of the Wind element on the floor of the basement.
Ha-Jin's eyes instinctively went to his eyes to cover them from the blinding shimmer of the two weapons on display in front of them. "I forged these two babies myself!" The dark-skinned old man barked out, pride glimmering in his black eyes. "Nobody has been able to wield these weapons of immense hatred, they bear hatred to the very gods who created this world! Nobody has been able to wield these without being overpowered by their hatr- Wait, what the hell are you doing?!" The man looked offended by being cut off by the boy already walking towards the weapons on display.
Ha-Jin was tired of the old man blabbering about the weapons and had decided to take the matter in his own hands. As soon as he touched the sword, an overwhelming pressure shot through his body. "No kidding… It's almost like these weapons have a will of their own!" Ha-Jin yelled as a cocky grin spread on the old man's face.
Suddenly, a woman made of a dark violet mist manifested before him and hugged him. Surprisingly, the hug felt physical and did not go through Ha-Jin as the Sword calmed down, letting Ha-Jin wield it freely. Ha-Jin raised it in the air, looking at the magnificent craft of the sword, the golden runes inscribed onto it and its beautifully designed black blade.
He swung it around a few times to test just how it was. Due to the sudden jerk of his body, the orb he had bought clattered to the floor.
As soon as it hit the ground, it pulled the sword towards it like some kind of magnet. The sword's blade escaped Ha-Jin's hands, cutting him on the palm almost purposely. Ha-Jin winced as the blood from his palm dripped onto the orb on the ground. The sword clattered onto the ground as the orb shone a dark violet before supplying the sword with a dark violet mist. The sword shrunk and bent until it was just the right measurement for him.
A rune appeared on Ha-Jin's right palm from where the blood had fallen onto the orb. Ha-Jin looked at the Crescent Moon on his hand that emitted a purple hue whenever the sword was near his hand.
Dismissing the mark for now, he grabbed the daggers on display. This time, they showed no resistance. The daggers absorbed the black mist from the orb as well. However, this time, instead of the orb glowing a dark violet, it glowed a bright gold as a rune of the Sun. A boy made of gold mist took Ha-Jin's left palm where the rune of the Sun had appeared and shook it before disappearing back into the blade.
Ha-Jin looked absolutely dumbfounded at all that had happened here in the matter of a few minutes, his mouth fully open. However, he was not as dumbfounded as the old man who had offered the weapons to him for free if he could wield them.
Suddenly, tears flowed down his cheeks as he started weeping. "Freya… Theo… You finally found somebody worthy." He muttered before falling onto his knees and continuing to weep. Ha-Jin, seeing the old man got on his knees and wrapped an arm around the weeping old man, though he did not know why the old man weeped, he did not want a man as old as him to waste the rest of his time weeping.
***
After the old man had calmed down, Ha-Jin had left the armoury. He had tried to ask the old man why he had suddenly started weeping on the floor but to no avail. All he had found out was the old man's name, Thomas.
Deep in thought, Ha-Jin strode through the Capital to find Alex or Jae-Woo. He was so lost in thought, he bumped into a cloaked man walking around the Capital with another cloaked person, whom Ha-Jin could tell was a woman from her curves.
The man was 4 inches taller than Ha-Jin at 6 '3, he had to slightly look down to look at Ha-Jin. As he looked down, he looked down at Ha-Jin, his gaze boring into his soul. A shiver ran down Ha-Jin's spine as he looked at the man's golden eyes that exerted immense pressure.
It was almost as if he were begging for a brawl.