"Ant, I remember you said there were five of you..."
At the north gate of Emeraldwood City, a young man wearing a wide-brimmed rain hat asked Ant with a puzzled expression,
"The last one didn't come with you?"
The young man was Dor, an older student Ant had met by chance during a previous visit to the city.
He, too, had once been a preparatory apprentice of the Hossens School, though he'd been eliminated two cohorts earlier than Lynn and the others.
When Dor heard that Ant was being dismissed by the School, he had kindly offered advice and even volunteered to help Ant and his friends settle down in Emeraldwood once they arrived.
That's why all five of them had come here.
"...No, it's a long story, Senior Dor."
Ant's expression dimmed, his voice dropping low.
"In short, Galito is dead."
"…Suicide?"
"Yeah."
Dor sighed, stepped forward, and patted Ant's shoulder in comfort.
"That might not be such a bad thing. At least he's been released from all this.
"And you don't need to call me 'Senior' anymore, just Dor is fine. Strictly speaking, none of us is part of the Hossens School anymore.
"We're just a bunch of poor mortals paying off a debt to the School."
He gave them a gentle smile before turning to address the group:
"Come on, I'll take you to find a place to stay."
...
They followed Dor as he led the way into the city.
'So the trigger is visual contact with knowledge… but could it have other effects too?'
Lynn walked quietly at the back, mind still lingering on the golden lights he'd seen earlier. His thoughts were spinning rapidly.
Before he realized it, another hour had passed.
"Dor, are we there yet?" Giggs' voice suddenly called out from up ahead.
Lynn paused for a moment, wiping sweat from his brow.
He looked at his arm, noticeably thinner than before, and suddenly froze in surprise.
Just then, the same shimmering lights, only now golden instead of blue, began to glow faintly on his forearm, forming a new string of text:
[Name: Lynn Kent]
[Age: 16]
[Source Energy: 0.07 (Self); 0 (World)]
At the same time, a stream of information flowed into his mind.
Lynn's pupils briefly lost focus as he concentrated on absorbing the sudden influx.
Meanwhile, Dor turned back and answered Giggs:
"Don't worry, we still have a bit to go, about half an hour more."
"Half an hour?" Giggs stopped at the side of the road, puzzled and slightly annoyed.
"We've already been walking for over an hour. If we go any farther, we'll hit the outskirts of the city. That area's just full of shacks..."
Emeraldwood City was shaped like a long, narrow oval, with its longest axis running north to south.
Unlike cities in Lynn's previous life, where central districts were the most prosperous, Emeraldwood's wealth clustered around the Hossens School to the north.
Which meant: the further north you went, the better the area.
When they first entered the city, they'd passed grand castles and gray stone buildings, but now, the surroundings were mostly wooden cabins.
"You're not wrong, Giggs. That's exactly where we're headed, the shack district," Dor said, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"You guys may not fully understand your situation yet.
"Maybe you're still hoping for solid, warm, clean stone houses, maybe even servants like back at the School?
"But take it from someone who's been through this... Even these wooden cabins around us? You might not be able to afford them."
He pointed to a small, single-story wooden house on his left, around 20 square meters.
"See that one? Sixty silver wolves a month. That's more than half a golden dragon. Sounds manageable, right?
"But most common folks here earn maybe twenty or thirty silver wolves a month. Only a few families can afford a place like that.
"And after five golden dragons are deducted from your earnings every month, how much do you think you'll have left? What kind of place do you think you can live in then?"
Giggs softened a little, though he still tried to argue:
"But we're not ordinary mortals!"
"Of course we're not," Dor chuckled bitterly, shaking his head.
"We've got something extra: monthly debt. And that's a lot more than rent, isn't it?
"If you want to rent a wooden cabin, be my guest, go now. But if you want somewhere with a decent price-performance ratio, keep following me."
With that, Dor turned and walked on.
"Come on, Giggs. Who knows Emeraldwood better than Senior Dor?" Ant stepped forward and patted his shoulder.
Over the past nine years, these prep-apprentices were only allowed to leave the School grounds one day a month.
That wasn't nearly enough time to eat, play, and enjoy life, let alone get to know the city.
Even when they realized they wouldn't be advancing and began taking an interest in Emeraldwood, the info they could gather was extremely limited.
Giggs hesitated only briefly before following along.
He might be the most mature of the group, but in the end, he was just another boy raised on the mountain.
In truth, the moment Dor started explaining, most of his doubts had already dissolved.
The group pressed on. Lynn stepped forward, instinctively following the others.
After some time, the stream of new information stopped flowing. He quietly raised his arm and focused.
A moment later, that pale golden screen reappeared.
Lynn let out a slow breath, feeling a sudden sense of inner calm.
He had figured it out.
That golden light screen was a self-monitoring ability tied to his "Insight" talent.
And that very talent, Insight, was his golden finger.
He could consume Mixed Source Energy to activate the Insight ability, allowing him to quickly grasp knowledge and gain power.
As for that mixed source energy, it consisted of both Self Source Energy and World Source Energy, in a ratio of 1:10.
In other words, it required one unit of his energy and ten units of world energy to activate the Insight ability.
Thinking of this, Lynn instinctively looked up at the gray sky above.
This world had stars as well, but they were mere projections from the Astral Plane.
There was no such thing as a "universe" here. Break through the sky above, and one would enter the endless Astral Sea.
Out there lay countless worlds. The one beneath his feet, Guern World, was just one of many.
And the World Source Energy required for Insight was the most precious resource of every world.
In the original, Lynn's memories, an instructor had once explained the concept:
"World Source Energy is the fountain of all extraordinary power.
All supernatural systems draw energy from it.
Together with the World Core, it forms the very essence of a world."
They were the foundation of the world's existence, the reason the world could exist at all, and also the most vital resource for which wizards waged war and seized by force.
World Source Energy required a vessel to manifest.
These vessels varied from world to world, but one thing never changed
They were always the most valuable things that the world had to offer.
And in this world, the one they now stood in, the world of Guern, that vessel was a magic stone.
As Lynn gently touched the coin pouch at his chest, a complex emotion welled up inside him.
A world of the supernatural… extraordinary powers…
Who hadn't dreamed of something like this?
And now, it was right in front of him.
Just as Lynn's heart began to stir with excitement, a foul stench suddenly wafted over an acrid mix of rot and urine that made him instinctively wrinkle his brow.
Snapping out of his thoughts, Lynn realized that under Dor's guidance, their group had arrived at a cluster of shacks.
The buildings here were more densely packed. Except for a few main roads, the rest of the paths were not only muddy but so narrow that some barely allowed one person to squeeze through.
The crooked shanties were crammed together in a haphazard mess, chaotic and crowded.
Fortunately, the wizards of the Hossens School understood composting, and the residents of Emeraldwood City had a habit of collecting excrement. Otherwise, this place might have been littered with piles of feces.
"Master Charlie!" Dor called out.
Moments later, a short, stout middle-aged man emerged from the shadows beneath one of the shacks, a rolled cigarette in his mouth. He held a coarse ledger in one hand, gave Lynn and the others a glance, then asked Dor:
"Weren't there supposed to be five of them?"
Dor put on a smile. "One committed suicide, Master Charlie… Happens all the time."
"Tch, bunch of cowards," Charlie sneered, waving them over.
"Come sign the contract. Fifteen silver wolves a month, pay monthly, no delays."
Sign a lease without even seeing the place?
Lynn froze, internal alarm bells going off.
In his previous life, he'd worked several years as a corporate grunt and had stepped into more than a few traps. He'd learned his lessons.
And one of the cardinal rules?
Never rent a place without seeing it first. That was asking for disaster.
Without showing it, he glanced at Ant and the others, hoping someone would object.
But these young men, recently booted from their school, were already anxious and uncertain. On the road, Dor had scolded them the entire way, and now their minds were dazed and unfocused. Not one of them thought to ask any questions; they simply started stepping forward to sign.
Realizing things were going sideways, Lynn quickly turned his eyes toward the leftmost youth, Giggs, and addressed him directly:
"I think before we rent anything, we should at least check out the rooms first, maybe even compare a few places, see where the best deal is. Don't you think, Giggs?"
In moments like this, it was always more effective to single someone out directly.
And Giggs, being more mature and level-headed, was the best candidate.
Giggs was visibly startled by the question. He frowned, considered it for a moment, then nodded in realization.
"You're right, Lynn. You don't buy anything without checking the goods, and you always shop around. Renting a place should be no different!"
Lynn let out a quiet breath of relief. He then turned to the more passive Ant and Leona and asked, "What about you two? What do you think?"
Leona was never one to have strong opinions. Looking at Lynn and Giggs, he simply nodded. "Yeah… makes sense to me."
Ant, however, looked hesitant. He glanced at Dor, then asked in confusion:
"But… Lord Dor already picked the place for us. Isn't it better if we don't waste energy looking for another?"
Lynn didn't reply. Instead, he turned his gaze to Dor and Charlie, who stood not far off.
Charlie, with his rough expression, took a deep drag of his cigarette and exhaled a puff of smoke in their direction, muttering carelessly:
"Suit yourselves. I don't need you lot anyway."
Dor, meanwhile, gave them a friendly smile and approached, looking slightly puzzled.
"What's the matter? If you want to see the place first, I can ask Manager Charlie for you."
"Y'know, places in Emeraldwood City aren't easy to come by. These shacks usually go for twenty silver wolves a month.
"I had to beg Master Charlie to get the price down to fifteen for you guys… Don't let my efforts go to waste."
He sounded genuinely sincere, but Lynn remained wary. He wasn't about to take unnecessary risks, nor did he want to argue too much; any excuse might just give Dor more leverage.
So he simply smiled and shook his head.
"Thank you, Lord Dor, but I think I'll take a look elsewhere."
Before Charlie could respond, Lynn turned toward the thoughtful-looking Giggs and asked:
"Want to come check out other places with me?"
Giggs hesitated a moment, then nodded lightly.
"Leona, how about you?"
"I…" Leona glanced at Ant, then back at Lynn and Giggs. Eventually, he nodded as well. "I'll go with you guys."
He didn't fully grasp the situation, but out of habit, he chose to follow the side with more people.
"Ant, come with us too," Giggs called out.
But Dor stepped forward and wrapped an arm around Ant's shoulder, casting a cold glance at the other three as he said in a low voice:
"It's getting dark, Ant. Convince your friends. If they don't find shelter before nightfall… they won't survive the night."
"You should stay, Giggs," Ant added, clearly swayed by Dor. His expression was anxious, almost angry.
Giggs wavered at his friend's words.
But deep down, something unexplainable pushed him to step back toward Lynn's side.
Lynn felt a bit more confident with that.
Finally, he smiled calmly and said, "Then we'll go have a look around elsewhere, Lord Dor."
And with that, body tense and alert, he turned with Giggs and Leona in tow and walked away.
What kind of world is this, really…? This 'helpful senior' is seriously suspicious.
…
They slipped through several back alleys, checking behind them until they were sure no one was following.
Only then did Lynn finally breathe a quiet sigh of relief.
After that, they began searching nearby for a place to stay.
And in just over half an hour, they found a far more suitable place not far from where they'd started.