When the training session finally ended, Wade was drenched in sweat, his shirt sticking to his back and his lungs burning from exertion.
Even though the projections couldn’t truly harm them, the fatigue they were feeling, the pressure they’d been put under, and strain they’d undergone were all real.
His muscles ached, and his breathing ca heavy as the final wave of Mirror Wraiths vanished into nothingness, leaving the hall still and bright once again.
Sebastian clapped his hands once. "Good work, everyone. That’s enough for today."
Rowan groaned in relief, collapsing backward onto the polished floor.
Ingrid rolled her neck, her bow still in hand, her breathing calm and even, looking barely winded.
Wade couldn’t help but marvel at her composure.
He had no idea how she managed to stay so poised after an hour of non-stop fighting.
Sebastian gave them all a nod.
"We’ll et again in three days. Use the ti to rest, recover, and, if you can afford it, upgrade your gear or train your skills. You’ll need it."
With that, he dismissed them, striding toward the exit.
Ingrid soon followed in silence, leaving only Wade and Rowan behind.
"Three days," Rowan said, stretching his arms overhead with a loud yawn. "That’s enough ti to do sothing reckless, don’t you think?"
Wade smirked. "Reckless is the only thing I’m good at these days."
They shared a laugh before parting ways outside the training hall.
Rowan said he’d be visiting a friend in the smithing district, while Wade, well, Wade had other plans.
After taking a shower, he headed straight for the guild store.
The room was as pristine as ever, the clerks manning the counter.
This ti, Wade was allowed past the counter.
He walked deeper inside until he reached the section marked Mana Gear.
He leaned over the polished display case, his eyes scanning the glowing blue catalog that floated in front of him.
A dizzying array of items appeared, each with neatly listed attributes, prices, and requirents.
He scrolled through rows of trinkets, rings, necklaces, and armguards, all designed to enhance mana capacity, regeneration, or spellcasting stability.
What caught his attention, however, were the Crysteel Pauldrons of Deep Flow.
Each one increased the user’s mana pool by 500 MP.
He whistled softly under his breath. "Now that’s worth it."
The price tag below read 50,000 coins each. Painful, but necessary.
"Two of those," Wade told the attendant, a red haired clerk who imdiately began retrieving the items.
He equipped them imdiately, the pauldrons fitting snugly on both shoulders.
They were beautiful, reinforced with dark tal inlays, the faint lines of enchantnt shimring with quiet blue light.
He could feel the difference the mont they latched onto his armor.
His body humd with raw energy, his mana pool swelling like a rising tide.
He checked his status quickly.
[MP: 1010/1240] ↑
A grin spread across his face. Perfect.
Next, he turned to the Mobility catalog.
The list was shorter but impressive.
He found boots designed to increase agility and movent speed by twenty percent, crafted from wind serpent hide, flexible and light.
They were priced at 25,000 coins.
Beside them was a skill stone labeled [Short-Step], a short-range teleportation skill allowing the user to instantly shift five ters in any direction.
That, he decided, was priceless.
"I’ll take both," he said.
The attendant nodded, processing his purchases as Wade transferred the coins from his inventory.
The boots molded to his feet with surprising comfort, light as air, while the skill stone dissolved into shimring motes that sank into his chest.
Ding!
[New Skill Acquired: Short-Step]
He clenched his fists, excitent bubbling up inside him.
Between the pauldrons and the boots, he could now sustain longer fights and move faster than before.
And both were crucial for surviving solo dungeon runs.
But he wasn’t done yet.
He swiped over to the Defense section, scanning through the shields and barrier spells.
After a few monts, one entry made him stop.
Aegis of Reflection — 30,000 coins.
It was a shimring shield spell that could reflect up to half of an attack’s damage back to the caster once every five seconds.
The skill stone glowed faintly gold in its crystal casing.
He bought it imdiately, absorbing it into his system.
Still, he felt he could use one last piece of mana equipnt to round out his build.
After so searching, he found what he wanted.
A Focus Charm, a small tal pendant that gave a 30% increase in mana regeneration and capacity even more.
Price: 40,000 coins.
He bought it without hesitation.
[MP: 1382/1612] ↑
To complete the haul, Wade turned to the Consumables section, purchasing 60 points’ worth of stat stones.
With that, he should be able to increase his stats within the acceptable limit imposed by his level.
All in all, by the ti the final transaction ended, Wade’s balance had plumted drastically.
He pulled up his inventory to confirm.
[Coins: 500,000 → 226,000]
[Coins: 247,000]
He exhaled slowly. Over 200,000 coins, gone in one sitting.
Still, as he flexed his hands, feeling the surge of mana and the weight of the gear sitting on his shoulders, he knew it was worth every coin.
With his pauldrons enhancing his mana pool, his new shield and charm boosting regeneration, and his boots and Short-Step skill improving mobility, Wade finally had the foundation for a real, balanced build.
He felt lighter now, stronger. More like a proper adventurer.
But he wasn’t about to let the guild know everything he was doing.
The rest of his money would be spent elsewhere, off the guild’s radar.
If Fairchild had taught him anything, it was that information and leverage were just as valuable as raw strength.
He had to start building his own network, his own resources.
And he couldn’t do that if the guild tracked every coin he spent.
He grinned to himself.
He still had 247,000 coins to his na, enough to make a few private investnts.
The kind that would never appear on the guild’s records.
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