THE barber peeled away the dark cloth after he finished cutting his hair. Jullian turned his head from side to side, inspecting the fresh crop of hair with satisfaction.
Earlier that day, Jullian's leader had grumbled that his long, tied-back locks made him look 'middle-aged at twenty-one' and recommended this barber shop where he always got his hair trimmed. Now, Jullian ran a hand over his messy crop, studying his reflection.
"To be honest, you look younger now," Mikhail commented, floating beside him.
After paying for the haircut, they decided to wander down to the strip, stopping for Mikhail's strawberry smoothie.
As they strolled through the city, Jullian couldn't help but compare his past to the present and wonder what establishments had been replaced-like the popular café he frequented before that had become a four-story building for a stationery shop, or the Marchioness De Warrene's parlor that is now a conglomerate company.
He couldn't help but feel homesick in his own country.
As they crossed a street, Jullian suddenly stopped and stared at the familiar shop that he always visited along with Mikhail and Oswald:
Esper Department Store.
"I remember this place—it wasn't this tall back then," he said softly.
"Right? I'm also surprised that the store of Duke Percy is still standing," Mikhail said, talking about the Duke of the South. Then, Mikhail's eyes lit up. "Come on, let's go look inside-let's see how it changed inside!"
Jullian let himself be dragged inside. Cool air and the sharp scent of leather and metal hit him first—things hadn't changed as much as he'd feared.
Dark-stained wooden shelves lined the walls, their grain worn smooth by decades of hands resting on them as customers browsed—just as they had when he'd walked these aisles centuries ago. But where cloth coverings once protected the blades, each weapon now sat sealed inside mana-reinforced glass cases, their surfaces shimmering with faint silver runes that prevented theft.
Ancient steel swords leaned beside sleek, modern mana—blades; leather-bound spell tomes shared shelf space with digital tablets that displayed weapon stats in glowing text. The long central counter-still carved from the same massive oak log he remembered—now held card readers and mana-signature scanners, though the old brass cash register sat polished on one end like a nod to days gone by. Even the display hooks for daggers and axes were the same iron twists he'd once traced with his fingers, now fitted with tiny sensors that lit up when someone drew near.
Dust motes danced in sunbeams streaming through high windows, just as they always had—but now those beams caught the glint of anti—theft wards and reflected off crystal panels that kept the air clean and cool. It felt like stepping into a bridge between worlds. Everything he'd known, but touched by the time he'd lost.
Shortly, a warm and friendly saleslady approached them. "Good morning, sir! How can I help you?" she said in an energetic voice.
"We--I just want to look around," Jullian said, almost tripping over his own tongue.
"Sure, sir. Please come inside our store."
Mikhail pressed his face to a mana-sealed display case. "Look! That's the old mage's staff from the S-rank Maou fight, and that one belonged to Sir Ethan when he was the escort of the fifth saintess!"
Jullian just listened to Mikhail's excited chatter as he looked around at the weapons display inside the glass like precious jewelry.
When he reached the end of the shop, two weapons caught his attention that made him stop mid-track.
It was a pair of daggers resting on a blue cushion. The left gleamed silver-white, warm golden light rippling across its blade, while the right was dark as shadow, edged in faint red. Intricate filigree wound around both hilts.
Jullian was struck by a blend of astonishment and nostalgia as he stared at the two daggers. These twin blades might have differed from his lost Sun and Shadow daggers—destroyed in his fight with the black rift boss but the materials and techniques matched those used by the blacksmith who'd forged his blaze sword and original daggers.
"Those are Solar and Eclipse," the salesgirl chimed in, noticing how he was staring at the daggers. "They're the last masterpiece from Bardin-the greatest blacksmith before he passed two months ago. He forged them believing their true owner would return one day."
When he heard what the saleslady revealed, a tightness seized Jullian's throat, and a sudden heat pricked at his eyes.
Bardin had been more than his blacksmith—even though he was a dwarf, he'd been more of a father to him than his own father. He scolded him if he was wrong and bragged about him if he accomplished something. He'd also been one of the people who saw him off when he entered the Black Rift.
Now knowing Bardin waited for him even though 500 years had already passed made him feel a heavy guilt-like he'd abandoned the one person who'd always stood by him.
"You should have waited just a little longer, Bardin," Jullian thought, fighting back the sting in his eyes as he felt a weight settling in his chest.
Mikhail noticed his pained expression and patted him on the shoulder—he knew how important Bardin was to Jullian, just as Bardin had treated him like a son too.
"And his son Balin inherited the workshop," the girl added.
Both Jullian and Mikhail froze and snapped their heads towards the saleslady.
"Balin? The little snot-brat from back then?" Jullian leaned forward, nearly startling her. "He's running Sagittarius Workshop now?"
"Y-yes, sir!" She nodded, taken aback by his intense reaction but still managed to keep her smile.
"Jullian, isn't it good news?" Mikhail asked, his tone becoming buoyant with an unmistakable upward inflection as his hands swayed in the air like a child who'd been given a gift. "Let's go see him after our expedition."
Jullian managed a small smile. Knowing that someone from his past was still alive made him feel better.
To be honest, Jullian had struggled greatly after returning to his empire only to find all his family and peers were gone, and the empire he'd known had vanished entirely. The agony was so deep he'd considered following his loved ones into the afterlife-but he knew Gaea would not welcome him if he took his own life.
Fortunately, he'd reunited with Mikhail, though Mikhail bore a curse, Jullian's life became bearable again. And now learning Balin was still alive, he felt like a piece of his world had been restored.
The saleslady suddenly blushed, admiring the young man's gentle smile before her but immediately cleared her throat and put on her professional smile once more. "Would you like to purchase them, sir?"
Jullian was about to answer when he heard a ping and his system flickered to life:
[BONUS MISSION: Acquire the final masterpiece of the greatest blacksmith.]
[REWARD: Ring Fire unlocked + 2 EXP]
Jullian's eyebrow twitched when a sudden mission popped up. He was planning not to buy the daggers because he thought he didn't deserve Bardin's final masterpiece, but his system had other plans and slapped him with a sudden mission as if it had read his mind.
Jullian sighed, conflicted. "How much?"
"It's 28,986 lucre each," she said, tapping her calculator. "So it's 57,972 lucre in total."
His eyes almost popped out of his sockets when he heard how expensive the daggers were. He knew that Bardin put a ridiculous price on his weapons, but since he always just gave him his weapons, Jullian didn't mind the price—now that he was just an ordinary looter with a meager allowance, he finally realized how ridiculous that price was.
"I'm afraid I can't afford that."
"Oh-don't worry, sir," she reassured him. "If you don't have enough budget for the daggers, we also have a barter system here where we trade items for equal-value goods. If you have an item in your storage that can match the value of Solar and Eclipse, we will happily give you the twin daggers."
Jullian nodded his head in understanding and opened his storage, going to the "Items" section to see if there was anything valuable enough to barter. But all he had was 1,025 mana crystals that double mana, 500 blue runes that can level up gear and weapons, 1,247 gold ingots that can craft legendary gear and weapons, and 57 skill books—which he thought were not enough for Bardin's masterpiece.
Unbeknownst to him, all of those items would make him a VVIP.
His gaze fell to obsidian crystals, of which he had 2,000 pieces in different types. They were a bit less valuable than the daggers, but maybe if he gave two of them, they might accept them since they're used to weaken monsters—especially S-rank monsters——and can also be used for crafting blades.
"I don't know if this is enough," Jullian said as two obsidian crystals appeared in his hands: one was black and the other was snowflake obsidian. "But I hope you accept this as an exchange."
When the saleslady saw the two crystals, she let out an exaggerated gasp—as if she had seen something she had never seen in her entire life--so much so that her body started to tremble.
"C-c-c-can I see them... sir?" the lady stammered, holding out her trembling hands.
Though confused by her reaction, he still handed the two obsidian crystals to her, and the lady suddenly became breathless—panting in short, raspy bursts while she inspected the crystals like someone who had finally found a long-lost treasure.
"M-MANAGER!" the lady suddenly screamed, making the two flinch—her voice is loud enough to startle nearby shoppers as she ran across the store towards her manager after inspecting the crystals' authenticity.
Within minutes, the manager hurried over, swerving around weapon displays and past confused customers, and was in front of him in a second, looking at him like he was a very precious customer.
"Welcome, sir. Is it you who wants to barter two obsidian crystals for the Solar and Eclipse daggers?" the manager asked.
"Yes, I am," he answered, still weirded out by what he had witnessed. "If it's not enough—"
The manager didn't let him finish, cutting him off. "Not enough?" the manager asked, looking surprised before becoming serious. "You're right, this is not enough. LINDA!"
"Yes, manager," the saleslady said, instantly at his side.
"Bring our VVIP upstairs to where our high-quality esper gear is located," the manager ordered.
"This way, sir," the saleslady said, almost dragging him upstairs.
...
Jullian stared at himself in the mirror while wearing a black round-neck shirt topped with a harness, military cargo pants, combat boots, and fingerless gloves. It might look simple, but the clothes are woven from Nemean Lion's fur and Tarasque's scales, which are known for their resistance to weapons and magic.
The price of this set of gear would have made Jullian bankrupt if it weren't for his obsidian crystals.
The upstairs was an open private showroom—walls lined with floor-to-ceiling glass cabinets that glinted under crystal chandeliers, their warm light turning metal to liquid and fabric to spun gold. Even the carpet underfoot was thick enough to muffle every step, soft as walking on clouds. Instead of crowded shelves, each piece sat on its own velvet-draped pedestal or custom-built stand.
Jullian still couldn't believe that he would return to the rift even after he had willed himself to forget being an esper. But that was when he thought he had no one to protect anymore, or at least no reason to. When he saw how the Forgotten Disciple could not only transform into monsters but also turn people into them, he knew the citizens of the Valerius Empire were in danger. He couldn't just stand by while his friends turned into monsters—he wouldn't kill them.
He clenched his fist as new motivation sparked in his eyes.
A knock pulled Jullian from his thoughts, and the saleslady came in carrying the two daggers, already in their sheaths.
"This is the pair of daggers you wanted, sir," she said, handing them to Jullian. "If you want to test your new weapons, just go to the door on the left. Now, if you have anything you need, you can ring the intercom beside the door." Then she bowed and left.
After she left, Jullian immediately walked towards the door where he could test his new weapons. But before he opened it, he turned to Mikhail, who was floating not far away and scrolling through his cellphone. "Stay here. I don't think you can handle my mana."
Mikhail just nodded, not even looking at him. Jullian finally twisted the doorknob of the Testing Room, and the door opened into a wide, soundproof chamber—walls made of dark gray mana-vein stone that seemed to drink light, with no windows to speak of. A thick barrier of pulsing silver runes traced every edge of the room, glowing soft and steady. The moment the door clicked shut behind him, Jullian felt the familiar hum of external mana fade completely, leaving only the energy from his own body and new weapons.
The floor was solid steel plated with rubber, marked with faint circles and lines for targeting practice. At one end stood a series of dummies—some carved from solid oak, others reinforced with monster hide, and one massive block of enchanted crystal that shimmered like ice.
Jullian stood in the center, weapons in both hands. He took a deep breath, exhaled, and closed his eyes. Shortly after, mana the color of roaring fire coated his body, and the room became extremely hot. Sweat dripped into his hair as the smell of tobacco invaded his nose, before five hay dummies suddenly ignited into flame.
He flinched as the heat from the daggers crawled through his veins toward the center of his chest, where his mana core was located, connecting the power of the twin daggers to his own and making him the true owner of the Solar and Eclipse daggers.
When he snapped his eyes open, they were glowing with an orange hue as he locked his gaze on one of the dummies. In one swift move, the dummy was sliced into a thousand pieces, almost turning to dust.
When he sheathed his daggers, the glow in his eyes faded and the room returned to normal temperature, though the aftermath of his power remained on the damaged dummies.
Suddenly, his system popped up with messages:
[You successfully completed your mission.]
[The Ring Fire is unlocked.]
[EXP +2]
When he came out of the Testing Room, he was covered in sweat. Mikhail immediately covered his nose after smelling him.
"You stink," Mikhail complained, still pinching his nostrils shut. "And you ruined your new clothes."
Jullian just shrugged and wiped his hair with the towel the saleslady had provided earlier. "Who cares? I bought three sets of gear, so it's fine." He threw the towel on the nearby sofa. "Speaking of which, why are the staff here acting like I'm a noble? Did they find out my identity?"
"I don't think that's the reason," Mikhail said, turning his cellphone screen so Jullian could see a website about obsidian. "I think it's because of the obsidian crystals."
According to the research, obsidian crystals have many uses. Originally, they were only used to weaken monsters, but three years after Fedor became emperor, a mage discovered other uses based on type:
Black obsidian is used by dark mages to craft items that absorb rift mana, increasing the mana of espers who wield dark magic—it can also forge stealth weapons while Snowflake obsidian is used by summoner magic to craft items that cage monsters and used, and also use as a resource for generating electricity.
They are more useful than energy or selenite stones, and were once easy to obtain since they were only found in Mt. Toska in the Eastern Territory. However, after the East declared independence, its borders were closed to everyone—not even Emperor Viktor was allowed entry. So obsidian crystals are now extremely rare in other territories.
"I see. Now I understand why they reacted like that."
Still, he was curious why a once-welcoming territory had closed their borders.