Inside the cramped, dim apartment, a sudden pulse of light radiated from Kaelen's chest. The God Tears, now merged with his very soul, began to vibrate. It wasn't a physical object he could hold anymore, but a divine resonance reacting to the broken greatness sitting before him.
Kaelen's eyes glowed with the cold, piercing light of the Sovereign's Eye. He looked at Aya, and the data didn't just appear—it screamed for a solution.
[Divine Insight: Healing Requirement for Aya Sloan]
* Target: The Fallen Saint.
* Condition: Mana-Congestion Paralysis.
* Required Materials: Heart of an Otherworld SSS-Rank Monster Core & Life-Blood of a Saint-Grade Beast.
* Current Market Value: Approximately 15.5 Billion Credits.
* Current Feasibility: Near Impossible.
Kaelen felt a weight settle on his shoulders. An S-Tier item alone cost 150 million credits. SS-Tier started at 500 million, and SSS items were priced in the billions. To a student in the outskirts, these numbers were larger than the stars in the sky.
"Kaelen?" Aya asked, noticing the strange glow in his eyes. "You're staring again. Is my 'Worth' dropping that fast?"
"No," Kaelen said, his voice dropping an octave. "It's the opposite. You are worth more than this entire city. But to get what you need, I need to become a king of trade. I need billions, Aya. And I'm going to get them."
The Oath of Shadows
Aya looked at him, her breath hitching. In this cold world, everyone looked at her with pity or disgust. Kaelen looked at her like she was a hidden treasure.
She reached out and took his hand. Her palm was cold, but her grip was firm. "I've lived my whole life waiting for someone to see me, not my chair. If you're going to fight the world, Kaelen... let me be the one you're fighting for. From today, we are each other's half."
Kaelen gripped her hand back, the Void Heart in his chest thumping in a heavy, rhythmic beat. "From this moment on, your voice is my command, and my eyes are your path. I will not stop until you stand on your own two feet and sing until the stars tremble."
It was a simple oath, spoken in a rundown room, but the System itself seemed to flinch at their words.
The First Seed
Aya pulled a small, dented metal card from her pocket. "This is everything I've saved from my 'disability' rations and the scrap I've sold over the years. It's 5,000 credits. To the people in the Capital, it wouldn't buy a shoelace. To me, it's my life."
Kaelen looked at the card. It was a tiny seed, but with his eyes, he could grow a forest.
"The hunters' market is three blocks down, in the Sub-Sector," Aya explained, her eyes bright with a new hope. "It's where the low-rankers bring the stuff they find in the local rifts. Most of it is junk. If you can find even one mislabeled item, we might double this."
Kaelen tucked the card into his pocket. He didn't just want to double it. He wanted to break the market.
The Hunter's Market: Sub-Sector 9
The market was a chaotic mess of steam, neon, and the smell of raw monster meat. Men in reinforced armor stood over stalls filled with rusted blades and cracked monster hides.
Kaelen walked through the crowd, his Sovereign's Eye scanning everything.
[View: Steel Saber] | Rank: D | Worth: F | Value: 1,200 Credits
[View: Health Potion] | Rank: E | Worth: G | Value: 400 Credits
Everything was priced exactly as it should be. The traders here were "sharks" for a reason—they didn't miss much. But they were looking for Rank. Kaelen was looking for Worth.
He stopped at a stall in the far corner where an old man was selling "Rift Debris"—stones and metal chunks that had no mana signature.
"Five hundred credits for the pile," the man grunted. "Good for paperweights."
Kaelen's eyes landed on a black, soot-covered stone at the bottom of the pile.
[View: Fossilized Dragon-Bee Amber]
* Public Rank: H (Coal)
* True Rank: A
* Hidden Worth: Contains a dormant 'King' larva.
* True Market Value: 8.5 Million Credits (If awakened).
Kaelen's heart thundered. He had 5,000 credits. He could buy this for 500 and turn it into millions. It wasn't the billions he needed for Aya yet, but it was the first step toward the Emperor's throne.
"I'll take the pile," Kaelen said, sliding the card across the table.
The business of the Abandoned Emperor had officially begun.