Chapter 29: The Four Materials

The first material on the list was Starfall Crystal, and the System’s lead took Reinhard to a private collector’s gallery in the Astral Exchange.

An assistant laid out five specimens on black velvet, each glittering faintly under the lights, and Reinhard slid the Merchant King’s Lens onto his face.

Four of them were ordinary.

The fifth was the smallest and dullest of the lot, but in Reinhard’s vision it carried a different mark. It had the highest compatibility with Gnosis treatment of any Starfall Crystal in the city.

He pointed at it. "I’ll take that one."

The assistant hesitated. "Sir, that’s the most expensive one."

"Yes," Reinhard said with a smile. "I have taste."

"Two hundred and forty thousand."

"Fine."

The assistant blinked. Apparently, nobody had ever answered $240,000 with fine before. He carefully packed the crystal into its protective case.

[Current Balance: $3,418,340.]

[Required Material Acquired: Starfall Crystal.]

[Materials Acquired: 1/4.]

Reinhard didn’t slow down. The second material, Dragonlight, was held by a licensed merchant in the exchange’s Merchant Section, and the merchant took one look at Reinhard’s coat, glasses, and expensive case and immediately smiled. "Dragonlight? Very rare. Very difficult to find. For you, four hundred and ten thousand."

The Lens disagreed. Reinhard nodded thoughtfully, then turned around and started walking away.

"Sir?"

He kept walking, slowly.

"Sir! Three hundred and ninety!"

He kept going, somehow even more slowly.

"Three seventy!"

Reinhard stopped with his back to the merchant. "Merchant Technique." He paused. "Walking Away, Slowly."

"...Three sixty. Final."

Reinhard turned around with a warm smile. "Deal."

[Current Balance: $3,058,340.

[Required Material Acquired: Dragonlight.]

[Materials Acquired: 2/4.]

His phone buzzed as he left.

Lily: maki caved

Lily: i have a sword now

Lily: it’s beautiful

Lily: maki says i’m not allowed to name it

Lily: i named it

Reinhard grinned. Apparently, Lily had been busy too.

...

The Azure Lifeblood Ore was the last lot of the afternoon auction, and the room was packed with serious buyers from medical institutions and equipment companies. Reinhard took a seat in the back row and crossed one leg over the other.

"Opening at six hundred thousand," the auctioneer announced.

A paddle rose, and Reinhard looked up. The man holding it was an older gentleman in a formal suit, and Reinhard knew that suit.

"Six hundred and fifty," someone called.

"Seven hundred," said the man in the suit.

Reinhard raised his paddle. "Seven eighty."

The old man turned around, and the moment he saw Reinhard, his expression froze. Reinhard lowered the Lens down his nose. "Sir." The old man stared, and Reinhard smiled. "How’s the tea?"

The man’s face went through several emotions, none of them pleasant, and then he lowered his paddle.

The auctioneer looked around. "Seven hundred and eighty thousand. Do I hear eight hundred?"

Nobody moved. Several people had seen the old man’s reaction and decided they wanted nothing to do with whatever was going on.

The gavel fell. "Sold, to the gentleman in the back."

[Current Balance: $2,278,340.]

[Required Material Acquired: Azure Lifeblood Ore.]

[Materials Acquired: 3/4.]

Reinhard looked at the list. Three materials were already safe in his Inventory, and only one remained. Eclipse Glass.

...

The final lead took him back to the Astral Exchange, to a collector’s shop at the far end of the district. From the outside, it looked like a quiet townhouse, but inside, it was something else entirely. Reinforced display cases lined every wall, filled with rare materials, old Awakener weapons, monster remains, and strange artifacts Reinhard had never seen before.

An older man stepped out from the back. His face was calm, but his presence felt heavy. "Eclipse Glass?"

"Yes."

"I’m not selling it."

Reinhard raised an eyebrow. "How much?"

The collector shook his head. "You misunderstand. I don’t sell things just because someone offers enough money."

Reinhard didn’t argue. If money wouldn’t work, something else might. He put on the Merchant King’s Lens and slowly scanned the room, and his eyes stopped on a large piece of darkened crystal mounted on the back wall. It was beautiful, but there was a clean-edged gap in its center, as though a piece had been carefully removed. Reinhard had seen that exact shape earlier, sitting in a bin of cheap odds and ends on the exchange floor.

He turned to the collector. "You’re missing a piece."

The man’s expression flickered. "What?"

Reinhard pointed. "That."

The collector walked over to the crystal and stared at the empty center for a long moment. "The fragment," he said, and his voice had changed. "I’ve been looking for it for eleven years."

"I saw something on the exchange floor that looked like it would fit."

The collector turned sharply. "Where?"

Reinhard smiled. "I’ll be back."

He was out the door before the man could ask anything else.

...

It didn’t take long to retrace his steps.

The fragment was still sitting in the same bin. After several minutes of haggling, Reinhard finally got it for $95,000. It was expensive for a piece of broken crystal, but a bargain for something its owner had spent eleven years searching for.

[Current Balance: $2,183,340.]

Reinhard placed the fragment in a protective case, and when he stepped back onto the street, three familiar people were waiting.

"There he is!" Lily called.

Maki turned, and Emily’s face brightened the moment she saw him. Lily was pushing Emily’s wheelchair with one hand, and strapped across her back was a bright red sword almost as long as she was tall.

Reinhard looked at it. "It’s beautiful."

"I know," Lily said proudly.

"What’s its name?"

"Don’t," Maki warned.

"Crimson Fang," Lily announced.

"She named it in the store," Maki said. "Out loud. In front of the cashier."

"The cashier loved it."

"The cashier was afraid of you."

Emily laughed quietly. "Are you finally done?"

"Almost." Reinhard held up the case. "I found something the owner wants more than money."

Maki looked at it. "You haven’t gotten the last material yet?"

"Not yet," he said with a smile. "This is how I’m getting it."

"So we’re coming with you?" Emily asked.

"If you want."

"We’re already coming," Lily declared, and she immediately started pushing Emily toward the collector’s shop.

...

The moment they stepped inside, Emily slowed. The collector wasn’t releasing any aura at all, and yet the weight of his presence filled the room. Her fingers tightened around the wheels of her chair. "He’s B-Rank," she murmured.

Reinhard glanced down at her. "You can tell?"

Emily nodded. "Even without him showing it."

Maki and Lily exchanged startled looks. Neither had expected the quiet old man to be that strong.

The collector’s eyes moved across the newcomers, and they paused briefly on the enormous red sword strapped to Lily’s back. "That’s a letter opener."

Lily’s mouth fell open. "It’s Crimson Fang."

"It’s a very large letter opener."

Maki covered her face, her shoulders shaking with laughter.

Reinhard stepped forward and held out the case. "I found it."

The collector opened it, and for a long moment, he didn’t move. Then he carried the fragment to the darkened crystal on the back wall and carefully slid it into the empty space. It fit perfectly, and the crystal gave off a soft, deep glow.

The collector stood silently before it, and whatever the artifact meant to him, Reinhard didn’t need the Lens to know he had brought back the right thing.

At last, the collector turned. "You’re offering this for the Eclipse Glass?"

"Yes."

The old man studied him, then walked to a display case, unlocked it, and took out a dark, translucent shard that seemed to swallow the light around it. He held it out. "Eclipse Glass."

Reinhard took it, and the moment it entered his Inventory, a familiar notification appeared.

[Required Material Acquired: Eclipse Glass.]

[Materials Acquired: 4/4.]

Reinhard smiled. Got them all.

[Investment Objective Completed.]

[B-Grade Investment Successful.]

[Calculating Returns...]

Let’s see what we got this time.

[Legendary Returns Granted.]

[Credits: $5,000,000.]

[$2,183,340 → $7,183,340.]

Reinhard stared.

He had walked into Aurileus that morning with fifty-eight thousand dollars, and now he had more than seven million.

He reached for his phone to check the balance himself, and Lily, standing beside him, glanced at the screen. She stared, and then she quietly sat down on the floor, Crimson Fang clattering against the tiles beside her.

The collector looked at her. "Is she all right?"

"She’s processing our next tax bracket. It takes time, have pity on her."

"Uh... Okay."

Another notification appeared.

[Additional Reward Granted: Physical Body Enhanced.]

Power surged through Reinhard’s body, and his muscles tightened, growing denser and stronger. He flexed his fingers. Much stronger.

[Legendary Additional Reward Granted: Demon God Tyrant Body Second Awakening.]

[Effect: Converts accumulated mana into physical potential, strengthening the body by integrating mana into its physical foundation.]

[Projected Physical Performance: Greatly Increased.]

Reinhard’s eyes widened. That was a serious jump, but the description suggested it would eat the mana he had stored. Before he could think it through, another notification appeared.

[Additional Reward Granted: Mana Infusion, 20 Years.]

Reinhard looked between the two. If the Demon God Tyrant Body consumed his stored mana, twenty years of infusion would refill it.

Perfect.

He accepted the Demon God Tyrant Body, and the mana inside his Gnosis surged outward as his body drank it in, flooding through his muscles, bones, organs, and cells.

Unlike ordinary reinforcement, the mana didn’t just strengthen him for a moment. It stayed and became part of him. The transformation lasted only a few seconds, and when it ended, Reinhard slowly opened and closed his hand.

His body felt completely different, heavier, denser, and stronger.

Then twenty years of mana rushed in to fill the emptiness, and when everything settled, he checked his Gnosis. His mana had dropped back to the very beginning of C-Rank.

[Additional Reward Granted: Immortal Emperor Body.]

[Effect: Allows the user to store mana directly within their cells instead of relying entirely on the Gnosis.]

[Stored mana gradually strengthens the body, increases physical prowess, and accelerates natural recovery.]

[Additional Effect: Continued use gradually expands the user’s Gnosis, allowing it to contain and circulate greater quantities of mana.]

Reinhard stared.

Demon God.

Immortal Emperor.

Akasha was clearly running out of humble names, and he had no complaints.

[Additional Reward Granted: Counter Strike.]

[Effect: Stores a portion of damage received by the user and converts the accumulated force into a powerful retaliatory strike.]

[Additional Reward Granted: Gnosis Recovery Medicine.]

[Effect: Assists in the stabilization and restoration of damaged supernatural tissue.]

[Additional Effect: Can be used as a supporting treatment during Gnosis reconstruction.]

Reinhard’s expression turned serious at once. This one wasn’t for him. It couldn’t rebuild Emily’s Gnosis by itself, but it could support the treatment, and that mattered more than any dramatic body technique.

[Additional Reward Granted: Mana Reinforcement Enhancement.]

His reinforcement grew smoother and more efficient, drawing more power from every drop of mana, and Reinhard nodded. Good.

[Additional Reward Granted: Space Tear Enhanced.]

[Effect: Any person caught in the Space Tear that is hostile to the user will be locked away inside.]

[Additional Effect: Can create space tear thirty meters away now.]

[Additional Effect: Tears can form in two seconds]

His eyes lit up.

The air around him felt different, as though space itself were easier to grip.

Lily was still sitting on the floor while Maki tried to haul her up by the arm, and Emily watched Reinhard with a small, curious smile. She could tell something had happened. She just didn’t know what.

Then the collector spoke, and his eyes had moved past Reinhard to Emily. Something shifted in his expression, slowly at first and then all at once, like a memory rising from deep water.

"Emily Ashcroft?"

Emily froze.