Jin stepped away from the glittering glass display case and approached the back wall of the shop. The bargain bins were nothing more than rough, unpolished wooden crates lined up on the floor.
He knelt beside the first bin. It smelled of dry earth, cheap ink, and old parchment. He reached in and began to sift through the pile.
His mind shifted into a cold, calculating state. He was no longer a student looking at magic; he was an investor allocating highly limited capital to maximize his odds of survival. He needed a balanced portfolio of defense, escape, and offense.
He picked up a flat, circular piece of grey slate. A crude, glowing blue symbol was scratched into its surface.
"Basic Kinetic Protection," the shopkeeper called out from the counter, watching Jin closely. "Can absorb the impact of a charging horned boar. Carved on slate. Shatters after one use. Twenty-five low-grade cores."
Jin rubbed his thumb over the rough slate. It was heavy and slightly awkward to carry, but twenty-five low-grade cores was incredibly cheap. He needed a buffer for unexpected ambushes. He pulled out two of the slate runes and set them on the floor beside him. One for him, one for Luna. That was fifty low-grade cores.
He moved to the next bin. He needed an escape route.
He dug through a pile of thick, stiff yellow paper. He found what he was looking for: cheap, mass-produced teleportation runes.
Unlike the flawless golden stone in the display case, the ink on these paper talismans was slightly smeared.
"Short-range spatial displacement," the shopkeeper explained. "Fifty low-grade cores each. They take a full second of continuous Aether injection to activate, and they will only move you about five kilometers. Not fifty."
Jin weighed the stiff paper in his hand. A one-second delay in a life-or-death fight was an eternity. Five kilometers was not a massive distance, but it was far enough to break an enemy's line of sight and escape into the jungle canopy. It was a calculated risk he had to take.
He placed two of the yellow paper runes next to the slate stones. That was another one hundred low-grade cores.
Finally, he needed a trump card. A way to instantly turn the tide of a fight if his sword wasn't enough. He moved to the last bin and found a small, dark red clay tile. It radiated a faint, uncomfortable heat.
"Fireball," Jin muttered, reading the messy tag.
"High-compression explosive," the shopkeeper corrected. "One mid-grade Aether core. It is volatile. Throw it hard before you activate it."
Jin added the red clay tile to his small pile.
He closed his eyes and ran the math in his head. Two protection runes at twenty-five low-grade each equaled fifty. Two teleportation runes at fifty each equaled one hundred. The total for the cheap runes was one hundred and fifty low-grade cores.
Because one hundred low-grade cores equaled exactly one mid-grade core, his cost so far was one and a half mid-grade cores. Adding the fireball rune brought the grand total to two and a half mid-grade cores. Or, two mid-grade and fifty low-grade cores.
Jin stood up and carried his selections to the counter. He untied his pouch and placed three glowing mid-grade Aether cores on the polished wood.
The shopkeeper nodded in approval at Jin's decisive nature. He swept the three mid-grade stones into a lockbox. From a drawer beneath the counter, he scooped out a handful of dim, slightly cloudy blue stones. He counted out exactly fifty low-grade Aether cores and pushed them across the wood.
Jin carefully packed his change and his new, life-saving arsenal into his spatial pouch. He felt much heavier, but far more secure.
The walk back to Villa 11 was quiet. The heavy reality of the upcoming exam pressed down on both of them. This tournament was not going to be held in a controlled arena. It was an expedition into outer space, onto a wild, untamed jungle planet.
As soon as they locked the heavy reinforced door of their villa, they separated. There was no time to relax on the plush sofas or admire the view from the balcony.
Jin sat cross-legged in the center of the spacious living room. Luna took the bedroom. They immediately sank into deep cultivation.
The air inside the villa grew dense over the next few days. The ambient Aether in the room was constantly being pulled and stretched as the two of them breathed, cycling the energy through their meridians, refining their bodies for the harsh environment of space.
On the third day of their silent retreat, a sharp, resonant hum echoed from the bedroom.
Jin opened his eyes. The ambient Aether in the living room suddenly rushed toward Luna's door like water spiraling down a drain. A moment later, a wave of cool, sharp energy washed over the villa.
Luna stepped out of the bedroom. Her silver hair seemed to catch the light differently. Her grey eyes were brighter, sharper, and her presence felt significantly heavier. She had successfully broken through the bottleneck. She was now a Foundation Level 9 cultivator.
Before Jin could congratulate her, a heavy, metallic knock echoed from the front door.
Jin opened it to find a sweating courier wearing the heavy leather apron of the blacksmith's guild. He was holding a long, flat wooden crate.
"Delivery from the forge," the courier grunted, handing the heavy box to Jin.
Luna's weapons had arrived right on schedule. The timing was perfect. She now had the required cultivation level to properly wield the heavy, Aether-conductive metal.
Another four days passed in a blur of intense, agonizing focus.
The villa was completely silent, save for the sound of Jin's slow, rhythmic breathing. He sat frozen in the center of the room, his brow dripping with cold sweat.
He was pushing against a massive, invisible wall inside his chest. Foundation Level 10 was the absolute peak of the mortal foundation. It required an immense amount of compressed Aether to shatter the final meridian barrier.
He drew upon the residual energy of the cores he had consumed in the past, forcing the chaotic energy into a tight, singular point. The pressure in his veins was agonizing, feeling as though his blood was boiling.
Suddenly, the invisible wall cracked.
Jin pushed harder, gritting his teeth. With a sound like shattering glass that only he could hear, the barrier collapsed.
A torrent of pure, refined Aether flooded his system. His muscles hardened, his senses expanded, and his fatigue instantly vanished. He exhaled a long breath of grey, impure air.
He opened his dark eyes. He had reached Foundation Level 10. He was at the absolute peak of his current realm.
He stood up. His body felt incredibly light, yet packed with explosive, coiled power.
"It is time," Jin said. His voice was calm and steady.
Luna walked into the room, her new weapons strapped securely to her waist. She nodded.
The cultivation phase was over. It was time for logistics.
Jin walked into the villa's kitchen. He opened the large, stasis-cooled pantry. They had used their remaining low-grade cores to order bulk supplies the day before.
He pulled out dozens of tightly wrapped, vacuum-sealed packages. Blocks of tasteless, high-calorie dry rations. Thick slabs of salted, dried beast meat. Hardtack biscuits designed to last for years without spoiling.
He opened his grey spatial pouch. Slowly and methodically, he began to stack the dry rations into the folded pocket of space, maximizing every square inch of the magical storage.
They had weapons. They had runes. They had the physical strength. And now, they had the food to outlast their enemies.
They were ready for the void.