The Valoria Academy for Awakened Youth was usually a place of rigid hierarchy. The noble families arrived in mana-driven limousines, looking down on the scholarship students who arrived by bus. But today, the atmosphere was electrifyingly different.
As Eidon and Moira walked through the massive iron gates, the air buzzed with a manic energy.
"I'm telling you, I killed three rats in the basement and got 15 SP!" a skinny boy with a patched uniform was shouting to his friend. "I checked the Skill Tab, and it actually showed a Fireball tome! It said 'Class Compatible'! I just need 500 more points!"
"My brother is a Warrior, and he only sees 'Bash' and 'Slash'," another girl whispered excitedly. "The Shop filters it for you. It's genius. No more buying the wrong books by mistake."
Eidon listened, a faint smile touching his lips. It was a simple feature, but a necessary one. It prevented idiots from buying skills they couldn't learn. Not that he would have accepted complaints anyway. There were no refunds in the Universal Shop.
They reached the main administrative building. Waiting at the top of the stairs, flanked by nervous-looking instructors, was Director Halloway. He was a stern man who usually terrified the first-years, but the moment he saw Moira, his face broke into a beaming, almost desperate smile.
"Miss Nyx! Mr. Axiom!" Halloway descended the stairs, hands clasped. "Welcome! A truly historic day for our Academy. To have two SSS-Rank talents... well, one SSS-Rank and one... special case... is an honor beyond words."
He ignored the "Dermit" stigma. He was smart enough to know that Moira Nyx was a walking nuclear deterrent, and she was clearly attached to the hip of the "Dermit."
"Director," Eidon nodded politely. "We're here for the placement dive."
"Of course! The 'Initiation Dive'!" Halloway gestured grandly to the training grounds behind the school. "Usually, we send students in squads of five. But given Miss Nyx's... potential... and your unique situation, we are allowing you to form a duo. The Dungeon is a replicated E-Rank Cavern. Goblins and Kobolds. Standard fare."
"Perfect," Moira said, her voice cool. "Lead the way."
The training grounds were crowded. Hundreds of students were gearing up, checking their weapons. When Moira walked in, the noise dipped noticeably. The sheer visual pressure of her existence—the perfect posture, the silver hair, the lingering memory of the giant spectral avatar—made people instinctively step back.
But not everyone had good survival instincts.
"Hey! You're Moira Nyx, right?"
A tall, broad-shouldered boy with slicked-back blond hair stepped into their path. He was wearing expensive, custom-fitted leather armor with the crest of a minor noble house.
"I'm Jaxen," he said, puffing out his chest. "B-Rank Spearman. Look, I know you're stuck with the charity case over there because of... childhood attachments or whatever. But this is a dungeon. Dead weight gets you killed."
He smirked at Eidon. "No offense, 'Dermit'. But you can't level up. You're basically a civilian tourist. Why don't you sit on the bench and let the real hunters handle this? Moira needs a team that matches her status."
The air around them dropped ten degrees instantly.
Moira stopped. She didn't look at Jaxen. She looked at the space between his eyes.
A low, vibrating hum began to emanate from her body. The ground beneath her boots cracked. Behind her, the air distorted, the faint, ghostly outline of a massive Tower Shield flickering into existence. Her eyes, usually a calm blue, began to glow with a terrifying, white-hot light.
"You think..." Moira whispered, her voice sounding like grinding stones, "that you are worthy to breathe the same air as him?"
Jaxen's smirk vanished. He stumbled back, his face draining of blood as the killing intent washed over him like a tidal wave. This wasn't a student rivalry. She was preparing to erase him.
"Moira."
A hand touched her shoulder.
The pressure vanished instantly. The spectral shield dissolved. The white light faded from her eyes, replaced by a soft, confused blink as she turned to look at Eidon.
"He's not worth the cooldown," Eidon said calmly, his voice bored. "Let's go. We're burning daylight."
He didn't even look at Jaxen. He just walked past him as if the boy were a piece of furniture.
Moira cast one last, venomous glare at the trembling spearman—a promise of future violence if he ever spoke again—before falling into step beside Eidon.
The Dungeon: E-Rank Replication (The Mossy Caverns)
The transition was smooth. One moment they were on the training field; the next, they were standing in a damp, bioluminescent cave. The air smelled of wet earth and rot.
"E-Rank," Eidon noted. "Goblins are roughly Level 5 to 8. Good for testing."
"Do you want me to clear the path?" Moira asked, her hand hovering near her hip, though she had no weapon yet.
"Not yet," Eidon said. "First, we gear up."
He closed his eyes.
"Open Shop."
For the first time since unlocking the Ex-Rank upgrade, he took a moment to truly look at the full scope of his domain. The interface expanded, filling his vision with a sprawling, majestic grid of golden categories.
Unlike the public version, which was limited and filtered, his Admin View was absolute.
[ THE UNIVERSAL SHOP (ADMIN VIEW) ]
[ STATS ]
[ TALENTS ]
[ SKILLS ]
[ MATERIALS ]
[ WEAPONS ]
[ ARMOR ]
[ VEHICLES ]
[ CONSUMABLES ]
[ SLAVES ]
[ PETS ]
[ BUILDINGS ]
[ SPECIAL ITEMS ]
[ ADMIN TOOLS ]
"I need a skill," Eidon murmured. "I have the stats of a Level 10 Warrior, but I don't know how to swing a sword properly."
He clicked on [ SKILLS ].
He filtered by [ SWORDSMANSHIP ].
[ ITEM: Basic Imperial Swordsmanship ]
[ RANK: D ]
[ PRICE: 500 SP ]
"Cheap," Eidon noted. He bought it.
[ PURCHASE COMPLETE. ]
[ ASSIMILATING SKILL... ]
A sharp headache spiked behind his eyes, followed by a sudden flood of muscle memory. His stance shifted automatically. He knew how to distribute his weight. He knew the grip. He knew the strike angles.
"Now, a weapon."
He switched to [ WEAPONS ].
[ ITEM: Standard Steel Longsword ]
[ RANK: E ]
[ PRICE: 150 SP ]
He bought it. A swirl of blue light materialized in his right hand, solidifying into a simple, well-balanced steel sword.
"Inventory check," he muttered. He focused on the empty air in front of him. A small, ripple-like portal opened—the standard Dimensional Storage.
[ CAPACITY: 0.0 / 5.0 KG ]
[ RESTRICTION: Inanimate Objects Only ]
"Still 5kg," he sighed. The public was stuck with this pathetic limit, but he knew the [ SPECIAL ITEMS ] tab held Expanded Void Bags. They were expensive and exclusive to him. He'd buy one for himself later.
He turned to Moira. She was watching him with wide eyes, fascinated by the way he pulled matter from thin air.
"You need a weapon," Eidon said. "Your class lets you use anything, but a Guardian needs something with weight."
He scrolled to the [ A-RANK ] section.
The prices here jumped drastically. The cheap consumables were bait. The real gear was where the economy scaled.
[ ITEM: Radiant Claymore ]
[ RANK: A ]
[ DESCRIPTION: Forged from Sun-Steel. Amplifies light-attribute mana by 40%. Indestructible by non-magical means. ]
[ PRICE: 750,000 SP ]
Seven hundred and fifty thousand.
It was more than half of his current fortune. It was a staggering amount of wealth to drop on a single item this early in the game. With that money, he could have bought an army of low-level slaves or upgraded his own stats significantly further.
But he looked at Moira. She was standing there in her ill-fitting school uniform, ready to punch a goblin to death with her bare hands just to protect him.
He didn't hesitate.
[ CONFIRM PURCHASE? ]
"Yes."
[ TRANSACTION COMPLETE. ]
[ REMAINING BALANCE: 690,000 SP ]
A massive burst of golden light erupted in the damp cave, far brighter than the summoning of his steel sword. From the particles, a magnificent two-handed sword formed. The blade was pure white metal, etched with glowing runes that pulsed like a heartbeat. The hilt was wrapped in gold leather. It hummed with a warm, holy energy that illuminated the dark cavern walls, banishing the shadows instantly.
Eidon grabbed the hilt—it was incredibly heavy, even with his enhanced strength—and held it out to her.
"Here," he said. "It's A-Rank. It's not the best, but it's worthy of you."
"Not the best?" Moira whispered.
She stared at the sword. A-Rank weapons were heirlooms of noble houses. They cost billions. And he just... summoned it.
She reached out, her fingers trembling slightly as she wrapped them around the hilt. The weapon hummed, recognizing her SSS-Rank mana, and glowed brighter in her grip, singing a harmonious note.
She didn't look at the stats. She didn't check the damage rating. She held it close to her chest, hugging the deadly, razor-sharp blade as if it were a plush toy.
Eidon's eye pulsed.
[ TARGET: Moira Nyx ]
[ EMOTIONAL STATE: Overwhelming Joy / Devotion ]
[ THOUGHTS: "He spent a fortune on me. He didn't buy himself armor. He didn't buy himself a better sword. He bought this for me. I'm so happy. I'm going to chop down the whole world with this. I will never let this leave my hand." ]
"Do you like it?" Eidon asked, suppressing a smile at her intense inner monologue.
Moira looked up, beaming with a smile so bright it outshone the Radiant Claymore.
"It's perfect," she said. "I love it."
"Good," Eidon turned toward the darkness of the tunnel, raising his steel sword. "Then let's go rob some goblins."