The man arrived at the entrance of a small, broken shack.
An old lady, who was stationed at the reception in tattered clothes, welcomed the man, then went inside and brought a young man with her who wore decent clothes, unlike her.
"Sir, as you requested, this individual will be your guide for the journey; if you are interested, we also provide food and a resting place."
"No need."
"Then, sir, the price to cover the distance will be a hundred bits or one lune."
Here's a crystal.
A piece of a shiny, glowing object was thrown onto the counter.
"Sir, this…"
"Keep the change."
"Sir, but… thank you so much, sir. We will always remember your kindness." The young woman who had brought the man and was standing beside her cut off the old lady's words and gave a deep bow to the man.
The common currency varies by continent and location, but the true currency is the same throughout the world.
The currency of the northern continent was divided into two parts, similar to other regions.
The common currency (distinct for every region) was the Lune, further divided into bits, lune, and crown.
Whereas the true universal currency, recognized and valued across every region of the world, was known as "Crystals," a round stone that was transparent and glowed in a sky blue color that formed naturally within the land or was forged through rare and powerful artifacts.
A hundred bits were the same as one lune, and a hundred lunes were similar to one crown. These were small coins, having different colors. The bit had a brown, lune with white and crown with rose color.
On the other hand, crystals existed in only two types. Common crystals were used for buying and trading items, relics, artifacts and, most importantly, refilling spirit energy and much more. In contrast, enhanced crystals were an upgraded form, not found in nature like the common ones, and surpassed them in every aspect by an enormous margin, much like comparing an ant to a mammoth.
Crystals far exceeded the local currency used by common people and were utilized by spirit resonators.
There was no comparison between the two, and they greatly differed in value.
The old lady had not expected a shard that was valued at least ten crowns or so.
It was more than enough for the poor lady to pay off all her pending loans, rebuild the entire shop, and still survive for at least ten months without working even a bit.
She was overwhelmed and was about to refuse, but her daughter cut in, stopping her mid-sentence and leaving her silent.
"Hello, sir, my name is Kyle, a worker at this place who knows every corner of this entire continent." He spoke confidently, smiling and looking straight at the man whose eyes were slightly visible under the blue robe.
Kyle's face had a long claw scratch across it that barely missed his right eye. He had short black hair and wore normal clothing with a heavy brown coat.
Both of them walked out of the broken shack and waited for the starry sky to change into night.
They reached the end of the town, "Inkwood," and entered the neighboring city, "Astrabi."
It was a more developed region than the town, which existed on the outskirts of the empire.
The city had buildings made of stone and cement, each one sturdy and rough at the edges, consisting of a floor or two.
They both entered a glowing building that had a huge board on top, and it had written,
"Astra Club."
The wooden floor was covered with a red carpet, while around twenty to thirty people sat at tables, eating, drinking, relaxing, and chatting.
They both sat on an empty seat that was located in the left back corner. Kyle went to the reception and ordered some drinks with food.
"Have you heard? The Solaris Kingdom, located to the east of the northern continent, has completely disappeared."
"A group of elites that were dispatched by our king to investigate reportedly found nothing but a huge crater that looked as if it had been attacked by a meteor and swallowed as a whole.
"What about the prince? Did he survive?"
"It is very unlikely. There was nothing left, not even the main building. Survival would have been impossible. Hmm, what was his name again? Hmm… was it "Xenon Novae Solaris"?
"Well, how unfortunate. Despite being born into one of the three prominent kingdoms of the northern continent, he was afflicted with a severe disease that left him crippled for nearly twelve years. And when he recovered, he had lost his entire family in the catastrophe."
"Well, death comes to all. Even the strongest are not exempt. It seems his fate was particularly harsh."
"I once envied their wealth and status, but now I can only feel pity. Losing one's entire family in such a manner… it is very difficult to comprehend the extent of his suffering."
A group of people was discussing it in a corner.
Kyle had naturally heard about it as well. He did not speak much with the man whom he accompanied, as he did not seem friendly or talkative.
Even though Kyle loved to talk, he would rather not attract unnecessary trouble with a shady-looking man whose entire body was covered with a blue robe.
They both ate and rested for the remaining night and waited for the sun to rise.
…
This world consisted of four time phases that followed the twenty-four-hour clock.
Normal daytime consisted of the sun and its bright radiance - 08:00 am → 6:00 pm
In the evening, when the sun sets, the cosmic sky appears, which consists of millions of galaxies, stars, dust, etc. - 6:00 pm → 8:00 pm
At night, the moon appears, shining its moonlight on the earth as the cosmic sky drifts away - 8:00 pm → 06:00 am
At dawn, just before the sun rises, the cosmic sky appears once again as the moon disappears - 06:00 am → 08:00 am
One often makes the mistake of thinking of the cosmic sky as a present gifted by heaven, but in reality, it was more like a hellish period, which often leads to people's demise. During these four hours, the monsters went berserk; their powers surge, and their body size became twice as large as their original size.
Rifts are opened, tearing the sky, causing space and time dilation in different areas of different difficulties and ranks, each one consisting of its own moons, often known as "rift moons," that signify its difficulties.
…
The bright sun appeared in the sky as both Xenon and Kyle rode on the back of a wild wind horse, a rank-two wild beast that moved faster than a normal horse.
Its body was brown and contained strips of white and sky blue painted on it. It was more sturdy and muscular.
They had obtained the horse through a local shop, which sold different types of traveling beasts for 50 crystals to 100 crystals. The horse was 80 shards, being the fastest but neither the safest nor the strongest.
It had the ability to increase its speed at least twice the normal when it moved in the direction of the wind and charge at high speed towards its opponent, striking it head-on.It was connected to both riders through the submission gem, a tier 1 artifact that could be used to temporarily control a horse for at least six months before its power dissipated.
Enslaved beasts could perceive their master's emotions and respond to their will without the need for spoken commands, guided by the deep dual resonance that bound them together.
"Dual resonance" happened when two different spirit energies, from either humans or animals, mixed together.
But it was not the case for the artifacts; mostly all of them contained elemental energy, and hence, their synchronization process was known as "spirit resonance."
The submission gem is stored in the spirit core of both the owner and the slave, where it glowed red while floating.
The information was unknown to Xenon until he saw the memories of his ancestors through their graves that were in the mountains.
They both traversed through the different land and took breaks for themselves and their respective horses.
No unnecessary talks happened in between them; Kyle only answered when Xenon asked about the land and location.
The whole Blossoming Vale was covered by a huge wall on its outskirts to make sure no beasts stormed inside and destroyed the nation. But even such huge walls cannot prevent rifts' formation and sometimes they tore open the sky, forming when the cosmic sky appeared.
On their way, they were fortunate enough to not meet any rifts under the cosmic sky.
When they stopped to rest, Xenon purchased some common and uncommon artifacts and shards to expand his knowledge and strength to prepare for the near future.
Since he belongs to one of the three prominent families of the northern kingdom, even though more than ninety-nine percent was destroyed, he originally possessed a little over a million crystals, but now they were reduced to a million.