Chapter 64: Reaper’s Aegis

Chapter 64: Chapter 64: Reaper’s Aegis

"So," Jason said, walking ahead of them with the larger sack of cores slung over one shoulder, "how exactly did two secret hunters end up in a C-Rank-adjacent Gate?"

Jon glanced at Stark, something almost sheepish crossing his face.

"We registered with the Association on our own. Our clan doesn’t know."

"Yeah. I figured as much."

"We used our own savings to bid on the listing," Stark added. "And the association won’t approve anything under three members unless one of them outranks the Gate’s reading. We needed a third body just to qualify."

"And the actual point of today was.....?"

"Seeing who could kill more," Jon said, entirely without shame.

"That’s it. That’s the whole plan."

"We’re aware it sounds foolish when you say it like that."

"I didn’t say anything. You said it."

Stark huffed, dragging his own sack along without complaint, clearly resigned to carrying the heavier end of both the literal and figurative weight of the day.

"How long has this been going on?" Jason asked, genuinely curious now. "The two of you, I mean."

"Since we were children," Jon said. "Our fathers were rivals too. It’s practically tradition at this point."

"That sounds exhausting."

"It’s motivating," Stark corrected, a competitive edge creeping back into his voice despite the exhaustion still sitting heavy on both of them.

"I would’ve killed two more ogres today if he hadn’t shoved me out of the way for that last C-Rank."

"I saved your life you ungrateful wench."

"You stole my kill."

"Those aren’t mutually exclusive."

Jason let the bickering continue uninterrupted for the rest of the walk, finding it far more entertaining than the idle chatter.

---

At the Association branch, Jason took the negotiation into his own hands, waving the boys off toward a bench while he worked the appraiser through the core quality, density, and condition.

Channeling his inner Reeve for this event.

"The boss core is borderline C rank," the appraiser said, turning it over under a measuring array.

"Rest of these are a solid C as well, maybe a few bordering D on the smaller ones."

"The smaller ones came off ogres killed in the same engagement as the boss," Jason said. "Same density of ambient mana, same conditions. You’re undervaluing them because of size, not actual quality."

The appraiser frowned, running the array over two more cores.

He pushed back once more on the overall total a few minutes later, and Jason pushed back harder, citing the pristine extraction condition on nearly every core in the bag, no cracks, no leakage, careful work rather than rushed harvesting.

They settled, eventually, at one hundred and fifty thousand pounds.

Jason kept his body language calm even as his expression was hidden through the mask.

Though internally, something very close to delight was doing laps around his ribs.

He split off fifty thousand each for the boys, handing it over without ceremony.

"Be careful," he said. "Both of you. Your clan’s going to notice this habit eventually, and when they do, I doubt they’d be pleased about the secrecy."

"We know," Jon said.

"We’ll manage," Stark added, confident that he’d be able to talk down his elder clansmen.

Jason doubted that, mildly, but said nothing further, and left them at the branch entrance already bickering quietly over who’d actually killed more that day, the number apparently still contested despite the fight having ended nearly an hour earlier.

---

He ducked into a different alley two streets over, checked both directions carefully, and shed the mask and cloak once he was certain nobody was watching.

Then he headed for the market, Jason Veryon again by the time he reached the first stall.

He moved through the vendors with real purpose this time, selecting ingredients well above his usual budget, a cut of meat from a vendor who clearly didn’t sell to casual customers, a handful of rare spices he’d never once bothered with before, a few vegetables grown specifically with mana-rich soil that cost nearly triple the ordinary variety.

’Need to know what Cooking Mastery actually does with the good stuff. Leftovers only tell me so much.’

He checked the system while he walked, the system notifications from the fight still waiting to be read properly.

[Reward: Thunderfire Sword Art — Acquired]

A full technique manual, built specifically around the sword rather than the spear, essence flow adapted to a blade’s shorter reach and different cutting logic.

’Exactly what I needed.

My basic sword work wasn’t going to hold up much longer against anything serious.

He kept scrolling, and the second reward nearly stopped him mid-step in the middle of the produce stalls.

[Reward: Reaper’s Aegis — Acquired]

[Flexible armor. Dampens incoming physical force and weakens attacking essence on contact.]

[Accompanying helmet: Blocks all external perception.]

He read that last line three times, standing stock-still long enough that the vendor in front of him cleared his throat pointedly.

"Sorry," Jason muttered, grabbing the nearest bundle of herbs and moving on.

’Nobody can see through it huh.’

Something dangerously close to a laugh bubbled up in his chest, and he had to actively work to keep his expression neutral in the middle of a crowded market street.

’That solves the one real hole in the whole plan. Someone sharp enough, someone like Loran, could theoretically see past a disguise eventually. Not anymore.’

He thought of the dragon-seeking compass Loran had produced during that visit, the cold panic of wondering whether anything might slip past Veil, and felt something settle in his chest that was almost relief.

’Whatever happens from here, Ash stays Ash. Even to him.’

He carried the thought with him through the rest of his shopping, a wide, entirely undignified grin stuck to his face that he couldn’t quite manage to smooth away, drawing a few curious glances from vendors who had no idea what exactly had made this particular customer so pleased about a bag of vegetables.

One elderly stallkeeper even commented on it. "Good day, young man?"

"Excellent day."

"Must’ve found a good deal somewhere."

"Something like that."

---

He stopped at the pharmacy last, restocking Novaria’s medication, the familiar routine grounding some of the giddiness back into something resembling composure.

The pharmacist handed over the doses without comment, same as always, scanning the payment through with brisk efficiency, and Jason paid without really registering the cost, his mind still circling back to the armor waiting in his inventory.

He adjusted his grip on the shopping bags, the weight of expensive ingredients pulling pleasantly at his arms, and started the walk home.

___________________________________________

Author’s note

Sending a gift worth 500 coins means two extra Chapters