District 1 was a different world.
While District 9—where the government had assigned them a cramped unit after their parents died—smelled of ozone and damp concrete, District 1 smelled of filtered air and money. The streets were paved with seamless white stone, kept spotless by low-level cleaning drones. The skyscrapers here weren't just buildings; they were mana-reinforced fortresses, home to the Hunter Association, the top Guilds, and the Bank of Valoria.
Eidon and Moira stepped off the high-speed maglev train. They were still wearing their Academy uniforms—Moira's slightly tight around the shoulders, Eidon's perfectly fitted to his new, superhuman physique.
Heads turned immediately.
It wasn't just Moira's striking silver hair or her unearthly beauty. It was the aura of the "Twin Miracles" that had been plastered on the news all morning.
"Is that her? The SSS-Rank?"
"Who's the guy? The Dermit?"
"Why are they taking the train? Don't Guilds send limos for SSS-Ranks?"
Moira ignored them, walking half a step behind Eidon, her eyes scanning the crowd for threats. Her hand rested casually near her hip, where the Radiant Claymore sat in her internal inventory, ready to manifest in a microsecond.
"Relax," Eidon murmured. "We're here to do business, not start a war."
They approached the Awakener's Exchange, a colossal domed building that looked more like a cathedral than a marketplace. This was where monster parts were turned into currency.
Inside, the noise was deafening. Thousands of hunters were shouting bids, haggling over prices, and watching the massive holographic ticker that tracked the value of materials.
[ GOBLIN EARS: 50 CR ]
[ ORC TUSKS: 1,200 CR ]
[ WYVERN SCALES: 50,000 CR ]
Eidon walked straight to the "Appraisal" counter. The line was long, filled with tired E-Rank hunters clutching bags of rat tails.
"Excuse me," Moira said.
She didn't shout. She just released a fraction of her mana.
The air around them grew heavy. The hunters in front of them felt a sudden, crushing weight on their chests. They turned, saw the glowing blue eyes of the Shield Maiden, and scrambled out of the way.
"Go ahead, miss! After you!"
"Please, take my spot!"
The path cleared instantly. Eidon walked to the counter without breaking stride.
The appraiser was a balding man with thick glasses, looking bored. He didn't look up from his datapad.
"Put the items in the tray. Standard processing fee is 5%. If it's trash, I'm charging you for wasting my time."
Eidon reached into the empty air. He didn't use a visible bag; he just plucked the fist-sized, pulsating E-Rank Core from his inventory.
He dropped it onto the metal tray.
CLUNK.
The sound was heavy. The core wasn't dull gray like a normal goblin stone. It was a deep, swirling emerald, humming with a resonance that rattled the pens on the desk.
The appraiser looked up. His eyes widened behind his glasses.
"E-Rank?" he stammered, picking it up. He adjusted his spectacles, squinting at the mana swirls. "This density... it's not a grunt. This is a Chieftain's Core."
"Hobgoblin Chieftain," Eidon corrected. "Solo kill."
The appraiser laughed nervously. "Solo? A rookie? Right. Look, kid, the market is flooded with goblin parts right now because of the Dungeon Rush. Standard price is 15,000 Credits."
Moira frowned. "15,000? That won't even cover the upgrade fees for our gear."
"Supply and demand, sweetheart," the appraiser shrugged, reaching for a stamp. "Take it or leave it."
Eidon didn't move. The golden ring in his iris pulsed invisible light.
[ TARGET: Appraiser ID-402 ]
[ SKILL: Low-Grade Appraisal (D) ]
[ THOUGHTS: "Stupid kids. They don't know purity ratings. I can mark this as 'Standard', sell it to the Alchemists for 100,000 because of the 98% purity, and pocket the difference." ]
Eidon smiled. It was a cold, sharp smile.
"Scan it again," Eidon said softly. "Check the purity."
The appraiser froze. "Excuse me?"
"You heard me. Check the mana purity. If it's below 90%, I'll give it to you for free. If it's above 95%... the Association standard rate is ten times the base value. Isn't that Rule 4, Section B of the Exchange Charter?"
The appraiser sweated. He looked at Eidon, really looked at him, and realized that the "Dermit" eyes weren't empty. They were analyzing him.
He reluctantly placed the core under the mana-scanner.
BEEP.
[ MANA PURITY: 98.4% ]
[ GRADE: PRISTINE ]
[ ESTIMATED VALUE: 250,000 CR ]
The number flashed on the customer-facing screen in bright green letters. The hunters in the queue behind them gasped.
"Two... two hundred fifty thousand?"
"For an E-Rank? Is that thing made of jade?"
The appraiser turned pale. He had been caught trying to hustle an SSS-Rank. "I... uh... the machine must have been calibrating... yes, 250,000 is the correct valuation."
"Actually," a melodic, authoritative voice cut in from behind them. "I'll pay 500,000."
The crowd parted again, but this time it wasn't out of fear—it was out of reverence.
A woman walked toward them. She wore robes of deep violet silk that seemed to shimmer with their own light. She held a staff topped with a floating amethyst crystal. Her presence felt like a calm, deep lake compared to Moira's raging ocean.
Lady Seraphina. Guild Master of the Arcane Lotus. S-Rank Mage. One of the three most powerful people in the city.
The appraiser stood up so fast he knocked his chair over. "Lady Seraphina! An honor!"
Seraphina ignored him. She stopped two meters from Eidon, her violet eyes locking onto his.
"A Chieftain Core with 98% purity implies it died instantly," Seraphina said, her gaze drifting to Moira. "It didn't have time to burn its mana in a rage state. Clean. Efficient."
She pulled a credit chip from her sleeve and placed it on the counter.
"500,000 Credits. I need high-purity cores for my research. The Association will just grind it into dust for potions. It's a waste."
Eidon looked at the S-Rank Mage.
[ TARGET: Seraphina Vane (Human) ]
[ CLASS: High Elementalist (S-Rank) ]
[ LEVEL: 148 ]
[ THOUGHTS: "The girl is the sword, clearly. But the boy... why is he so calm? He's standing in front of an S-Rank Mage and his heart rate hasn't increased by a single beat. Is he ignorant? Or is he hiding something?" ]
[ HIDDEN STATUS: Suffering from 'Mana Burn' in her left meridian. Requires a Decree of Life to fix.]
Eidon picked up the credit chip.
"Sold," he said simply.
He handed her the core. Their fingers brushed. Seraphina felt a strange static shock, not of mana, but of something... older.
"Eidon Axiom," she said, testing the name. "The SSS-Rank Anomaly. It's rare to see a Dermit with such... confidence."
"Confidence is the only asset I have, Lady Seraphina," Eidon replied smoothly. "Moira does the heavy lifting."
"Indeed," Seraphina smiled, but her eyes remained calculating. "Good luck out there. The world is changing quickly."
"Thank you," Eidon said, his face a mask of polite disinterest.
He turned to Moira. "Let's go. We have groceries to buy."
Moira nodded to Seraphina—a warrior's nod, respectful but guarded—and followed Eidon out of the hall.
Seraphina watched them go, clutching the warm emerald core.
"He didn't flinch," she whispered to herself. "Interesting."
Outside the Exchange
"Five hundred thousand," Moira said, looking at the chip in Eidon's hand. "That's a lot of groceries."
"It's liquid cash," Eidon said, pocketing the chip. "We need it for food, clothes, and utilities. But it's not enough for what we really need."
He hailed a taxi. "District 9. And take the long way."
Once they were in the car, the privacy partition raised, Moira looked at him. "Eidon, are we staying in the government unit? Everyone knows where we live. The recruiters are already camping out."
"We stay there for now," Eidon said, leaning back and closing his eyes. "We go into lockdown."
"Lockdown?"
"I'm not buying a house from a real estate agent, Moira. Walls made of brick and mortar can be broken by a C-Rank warrior. I need a fortress."
"What kind of fortress?"
"I can't show you the listing," Eidon said, tapping his temple. "But there's an item in the Shop. A Dimensional Sanctuary. S-Rank. It's a pocket dimension residence. Invisible. Impossible to find. Immune to scrying."
Moira gasped. "That sounds... expensive."
"Ten million SP," Eidon said. "We have 1.4 million. But the market is exploding. We go home. We let the Shadow Sentinel guard the door. We don't leave until that counter hits ten million."
Three Days Later
The government housing unit in District 9 had become a bunker.
Outside, the hallway was filled with flowers, fruit baskets, and contract offers from every Guild in the country. Reporters camped on the lawn.
Inside, the blinds were drawn. The Shadow Sentinel stood motionless by the door, an invisible reaper that terrified anyone who tried to knock too loudly.
Eidon sat at the kitchen table, watching the numbers spin.
The last three days had been madness. The sale of the Griffin Egg had caused a chain reaction. Hunters, realizing that anything could appear in the Shop, had gone into a frenzy. The SP transaction volume had tripled.
Every potion bought, every sword upgraded, every skill book purchased—Eidon took 10%.
[ DAY 1 REVENUE: +2,100,000 SP ]
[ DAY 2 REVENUE: +3,400,000 SP ]
[ DAY 3 REVENUE: +3,800,000 SP ]
The balance in the corner of his vision was glowing gold.
[ CURRENT SP: 10,735,000 ]
Eidon exhaled, a sound of pure relief.
"Moira," he called out.
Moira walked in from the living room, stretching. "Is it time?"
"It's time," Eidon smiled.
He navigated to the [ BUILDINGS ] tab.
[ PURCHASE: Dimensional Sanctuary (S-Rank) ]
[ COST: 10,000,000 SP ]
[ TRANSACTION COMPLETE. ]
A silver ring materialized in his hand. It was simple, made of a metal that looked like frozen starlight, with no gemstone, just a loop of pure dimensional mana.
"This is the Master Key," Eidon said, slipping it onto his right index finger.
He immediately opened the [ HOUSE MANAGEMENT ] menu that appeared in his vision.
[ DIMENSIONAL SANCTUARY ]
[ OWNER: Eidon Axiom ]
[ GUESTS: 0 ]
[ KEYS ISSUED: 1 ]
[ ACTION: PURCHASE SUB-KEY (ACCESS RING) - 50,000 SP ]
"Buy," Eidon ordered mentally.
A second ring materialized. This one was slightly smaller, delicate and elegant.
He stood up and walked over to Moira.
"Give me your hand," he said.
Moira blinked, then extended her left hand.
Eidon took it. He slid the starlight ring onto her finger. It resized instantly to fit her perfectly.
"This is your key," Eidon explained, looking at the ring to make sure it bonded correctly. "It allows you to teleport to the Sanctuary from anywhere in the world. Just channel mana into it."
He looked up and paused.
Moira was staring at the ring. Her face was bright red. Her breathing had hitched. She wasn't listening to a word he said about teleportation.
Eidon's [ Eye of Heavens ] activated automatically.
[ TARGET: Moira Nyx ]
[ EMOTIONAL STATE: Euphoric / Overwhelmed ]
[ CURRENT THOUGHTS: "A ring? He gave me a ring? On my finger? It fits perfectly. Does he know? Is this... is this a promise? It has to be. You don't give a girl a ring like this unless it means forever. Oh god, I'm not ready, but I am ready. I'll protect this ring with my life. Yes. Yes!"]
Eidon felt a drop of sweat roll down his back.
She thinks it's a marriage proposal, he realized. Damn it.
He gently let go of her hand, stepping back to create a safe distance before she decided to tackle him.
"It's... for the house," Eidon clarified, his voice slightly strained.
Moira snapped out of her trance, though the blush didn't fade. She clutched the ring to her chest, her eyes sparkling.
"Right," she said, her voice breathless. "For the house. Our house. Together."
"Right," Eidon said, deciding to abandon the correction. "Anyway. Channel mana into it. Activate."
He pushed mana into his own ring.
[ TELEPORTATION ACTIVATED ]
The space around them warped. The dingy apartment, the peeling wallpaper, and the Shadow Sentinel all dissolved into streaks of white light.
ZWOOP.
They vanished, leaving the empty Government Unit behind for the baffled recruiters to find in the morning.