Kain's footsteps carried a clean, steady cadence through the silent vault as he drifted past rows of polished cases, hovering tomes, and pedestals held in soft suspension by pale arrays. The air smelled faintly of old paper and spirit-ink—calm, ordered, almost medicinal.
He exhaled and began working the aisles with purpose. Placards clicked beneath his eyes as he read and rejected in the same breath. "Sky‑Burrow Drill Ant Queen's Husk—no." A glance to the next stand. "Thunder‑etched Spearshaft—Halreth can forge better." He kept moving. "Moonveil Egg—can't contract you." Another turn. "Spirit‑Seal Pendant—redundant now; the 'Veil of the Hidden Star' spiritual skill will do that job." He slid past a case of crystals. "Sun‑Marrow Ore—Pangea has veins of this already. I could get tons by tomorrow by just asking the dwarves to dig up some for me." A glass tube of feathers shimmered in the light. "Nine‑Winds Gale Feathers—a decent evolution material, wrong fit for my team."
