"Greediness kills…" he mumbled when he remembered Grace's speech, before decisively ignoring it, bolting towards the entrance to escape.
The Obsidian Carapace made his escape smooth.
'At least, my mana value is almost complete and I also received a gear from my last kill.'
Soon, distant roars and clashes echoed behind him.
'What was I thinking? Just one monster crystal—was it worth the risk? No!' He grimaced, resisting the urge to smack himself. 'That snatch and run instinct had taken over. If I want to survive, I need better control.'
He burst from the embrace of green mist, squinting as the rising sun rays stabbed his eyes.
Uncertain whether the creatures would stray beyond the mist, Draven sprinted farther—until a sudden, searing pain split his skull. His vision swam; his steps faltered.
Blindly grasping for support, he found nothing and collapsed on his knees. The agony intensified.
'Soul eyes…' he realized the problem when he could think again, quickly deactivating it. The pain ebbed, then vanished.
He quickly retracted his mask while gasping heavily.
"T-That was sick," he hissed between breaths. 'Can't keep that skill active too long.'
He staggered to his feet, scanning the empty plains before snatching up the fallen Phantom Lynx's crystal and hurrying toward Haven.
His stomach grumbled the entire journey.
By the time he reached the outskirts, Elites were already venturing out—some in teams, others alone.
Draven ducked into an alley and swapped the Obsidian Carapace for his old armor. The Obsidian Carapace bore a striking resemblance to the shell of the worm. The side of his forehead still bore a cut when the boomerang hurled him at the cavern wall.
No longer required to study his surroundings, Draven thought, 'I remember I got a gear, right? Let's check this stuff. Hope it gives me something good like an arrow.'
–––
[Gear: Phantom Lash]
[Rank: Transient]
[Order: Second Order]
[Type: Weapon]
[Description: A silken whip woven from the lynx's tail fur. Cuts with lethal precision and ghostly elegance.
–––
'Really? A whip?' He stopped mid-step. 'Useless. I haven't even gotten to be a pro archer, or a legendary swordmaster—learning whip is a bloody hassle. Well, I could sell it for 250,000 to 300,000. It's a top-tier gear from the monster I killed. No time to waste on distracting stuff.'
Draven moved to the Haven and entered the Inner area, quickly heading to the Council Association Store.
He said to one of the receptionists when he entered, "I heard you guys buy and sell monster crystals and Gears."
The young girl nodded. "Yes, we do."
Draven placed the monster crystal on the desk. "A Second Order Transient monster crystal, how much?"
"Standard price: 5,000 credit units," she replied professionally.
Draven's gaze swept across the room before returning to the girl. He flashed his most charming, innocent smile and subtly tilted his head to beckon her closer. She hesitated for just a moment, then leaned in, and he whispered to her, "This monster is really strong and deadly. It's very tricky to deal with—it almost took my life. A nightmare for Elites. See the cut on my forehead…"
He pointed at the cut he received when the boomerang exploded.
"...it was delivered by the claws of this monster. I am a thousand percent sure it will give 7 mana, so, can you increase the price?"
Lying shamelessly, Draven kept an innocent and harmless smile.
The girl retracted with a poker face and said to his smiling face, "5,000 credit units. Take it, or leave it."
Draven, feeling the biting hunger, could only accept it.
"Meet any receptionist on the other side and collect your payment," she said after receiving the crystal.
Draven left, and when he entered the chamber that stored the mirror, he bumped into Jude.
They stared at each other before Draven ignored him to leave, strolling towards the mirror.
But Jude quickly walked up to him and stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.
"Can we talk?" Jude spoke calmly.
Draven, who was in the process of summoning his gear, stopped.
'I should use him as a test subject for Ethereal Dominion. I always wanted to test it with the right target.'
He activated the first level of Ethereal Dominion the moment he thought of it.
[–10 Soul Vitalis.]
Jude recoiled like he'd been burned, sword flashing into his grip as he stumbled back.
Still facing away, Draven tilted his head and hissed, "Fuck off." Then he strode through the mirror.
When he came out on the other side, everybody quickly gave him space, with some even entering alert mode. Draven scanned all of them before deactivating the skill.
'Damn. That worked better than I expected.' He couldn't suppress a grin when he came out of the room.
He quickly left to meet Grace, as she was the receptionist he was familiar with, although not to the extent of closeness.
When he met her, Draven complained to her about the person on the other side ripping him off. He also delivered the same tale he told her.
And her reply made him quickly collect the 5,000 credit units.
She told him with a smile, "I will bring a person, and if it's 7 mana received, I will give you 7,500 credit units, but if it's less, you get none."
Gambling right now was a no-no with the terrible gnawing hunger. What sane person does that?
He quickly got changed and left for his house.
When he got to the house, he took a shower and went to have a nice meal at a restaurant.
After devouring enough food to his satisfaction, Draven finally had the energy to think about his situation.
He pulled up his panel.
–––
[Name]: Draven
[Class]: None
[Race]: Human
[Legacy]: Soul Mystic (Sealed)
[Rank]: Transient
[Order]: Second
[Soul Vitalis]: 25
[Mana]: 49/100
> Physique: 2
> Constitution: 1
> Will: 28
[Skills]: [Mental Serration], [Soul Eyes], [Stasis], [Ethereal Dominion], [Soul Covenant (25% Unsealed)]
[Gear]: [Desolate Might], [Iron Plate], [Verdant Reaper], [Rebound Appendage], [Key 123], [Obsidian Carapace], [Phantom Lash]
–
[CURSE OF VOIDHELL]
–––
'Halfway to Third Order? But the Third Order is where most get stuck—the mana requirement's insane.'
He dismissed the screen, staring at the chandelier overhead.
Drumming his fingers lightly, he thought, 'My archery is above average at best, if not average. It was the enhancement from the Soul Vitalis that carried me. The Phantom Lynx exposed my flaw. Also, I need to learn how to use my bow as a levitating anchor and pivot to escape, like how I used it at that hill.'
He drained his glass. 'Professional training room it is.'