Aren left Mira's apartment at ten past ten, the Spire's evening chill cutting through his coat. He descended forty floors, caught the last tram to Midtown, and found the all-hours study carrel in the Academy's east wing. He locked the door.
Alone, he checked his status:
[BANK BALANCE: 2,087 VELTRIONS]
Then the notification—gold-edged, one-time only:
[ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: CAPITAL FORMATION] [FOR INTEGRATING SHOP CREDIT WITH REAL-WORLD BANKING] [+1,000 VELTRIONS - ONE-TIME BONUS]
[BANK BALANCE: 3,087 VELTRIONS]
He transferred 2,000 Veltrions to the student brokerage terminal.
[BANK BALANCE: 1,087 VELTRIONS]
Then he activated the skill.
[STOCK FORESIGHT: ACTIVATE? Y/N]
Y.
[CL: 105 → 90/105] [COST: 15 CL]
Three amber panels materialized:
[PREDICTION 1/3: LUMINA STEEL CORP | +3% | 48 HOURS] [PREDICTION 2/3: KAELMOOR TEXTILE GUILD | +8% | 72 HOURS]
[PREDICTION 3/3: UNDERGROFT LOGISTICS | +1% | 6 HOURS]
[CAPITAL CONTROL: 10,000 VELTRION MAXIMUM PER TRADE] [STAGE 1 CONSTRAINT: 10,000 VELTRIONS PER POSITION] [MILESTONE TRACKING: 0/5 TRADES TOWARD 50K OPPORTUNITY] [NEXT UNLOCK: AFTER 5 SUCCESSFUL TRADES, ONE 50,000 VELTRION TRADE AUTHORIZED] [RESET AFTER USE: RETURNS TO 10,000 VELTRION CAP]
Aren studied the mechanic. Stage 1 trapped him at 10,000 Veltrions maximum per trade. But after 5 successful trades, he would unlock one opportunity to deploy 50,000 Veltrions in a single trade. After that one trade, the cap reset to 10,000.
He had only 2,000 Veltrions deployed—far below the cap. Diversifying into three small positions would yield crumbs. +1% on 600V was 6 Veltrions. +8% on 2,000V was 160 Veltrions.
He went all-in. Single order. 2,000 Veltrions into Kaelmoor Textile Guild. The terminal confirmed: BUY EXECUTED.
Then he paid the shipping license fees.
Monday morning at the Commerce Bureau:
400 Veltrions (filing fee)
200 Veltrions (bond deposit)
[BANK BALANCE: 1,087 → 687 → 487 VELTRIONS]
He left with 487 Veltrions in his account—enough for twelve days of survival if the trade failed. Three weeks if he starved carefully. The shipping license application was stamped and filed. Vane's father had tried this same license three decades ago, but Aren didn't know if he had succeeded or failed. He only knew he had 487V to his name, a 2,000V position riding on a single prediction, and seventy-two hours until the settlement.
The week became a study in discipline and silence.
Monday (Day 8): Morning routine in the Annex basement. Thirty push-ups with STR 16—sustainable, mechanical. He did not check the brokerage terminal during the jog. In Economic Theory IV, he used Photographic Memory only, conserving CL 105. Afternoon: Filed shipping paperwork. Evening: Alone in the carrel, he read The Sovereign's Ledger Chapter Eight on concentration versus diversification.
Tuesday (Day 9): Added weight to squats—a plumbing pipe filled with concrete. STA 19 handled the load. He attended Market Microstructure, absorbing order flow mathematics without burning Superbrain. Afternoon: Team meeting in the library with Sera. She showed him freight route maps. He remembered every detail but revealed nothing about his own liquidity or the 2,000V moving in the market without his touch.
Wednesday (Day 10): Weekly Quest: Foundation Protocol maintenance. The exercise was now baseline, not task. He ran the stairs with AGI 18, taking them three at a time. In the evening, he sat in the carrel and faced the activation prompt:
[STOCK FORESIGHT: ACTIVATE? Y/N]
He selected N.
With only 487V in the bank, even combined with next week's 2,000V exchange, he'd have only 2,487V—a quarter of the 10,000 cap. The returns would be nominal, and he would burn his second use, leaving him blind for three weeks entering the competition. Patience. He needed to fill the 10,000 cap completely to maximize efficiency, and he needed to reach 5 trades to unlock the 50,000V opportunity.
He waited.
Thursday: CL Recovery Potion test. He burned 20 CL on Superbrain during a lecture on sovereign debt, dropping to 70/105, then drank the silver liquid. CL: 70 → 105 instantly. The taste was metallic. Worth 500 SC? For emergencies, yes. He now had one potion left.
Friday afternoon: The trade cleared.
[BROKERAGE ALERT: KAELMOOR TEXTILE GUILD | +8.2% | POSITION VALUE: 2,164 VELTRIONS]
He sold immediately. Transferred the principal back.
[BANK BALANCE: 487 + 2,164 = 2,651 VELTRIONS]
[MILESTONE TRACKING: 1/5 TRADES TOWARD 50K OPPORTUNITY]
One trade down. Four to go until the 50,000 Veltrion slot unlocked. 2,651 Veltrions in liquid capital.
He had survived the week on 487V, grown his body with STR 16, maintained INT 105, and proven he could concentrate risk when he had certainty. No one knew. Not Garrett, not Sera, not Mira.
Saturday evening. Mira's apartment, 4201.
The team assembled: Garrett nursing expensive whiskey, Sera arranging freight models on the glass table, Leo cross-referencing import tariffs. The competition was in 16 days.
"You've been busy," Mira said, watching Aren enter. She wore clothes worth 500 Veltrions. He wore the same faded uniform, but it fit differently across the shoulders now—denser, harder. "The shipping license. I heard you filed it. That's six hundred Veltrions in fees and bonds. Where did you get that kind of liquidity?"
"Information arbitrage," Aren said, taking a seat. He kept his expression neutral, giving nothing away. "Same as the textbook game. Same as the study guides."
"Study guides don't compound that fast," Garrett said, suspicious. "Unless you're running a different kind of game."
"I run the only kind that matters," Aren said. "My own."
He pulled up the competition brief on his tablet. "Your freight model assumes uniform customs delays. That's wrong. Kaelmoor has three inspection tiers—green, yellow, red. The textbook scenario only teaches red tier. But if we register as an educational import entity, we get green tier clearance—48 hours instead of 14 days. That changes the working capital requirement by 30%."
Sera looked up. "That's not in the standard materials."
"I read the bilateral trade agreement annexes," Aren said. Photographic Memory held every clause, though he couldn't tell them that. "The information is there. People just don't look."
"If you know this," Garrett said, "why share it?"
"Because implementation costs money," Aren said. He leaned forward, his voice dropping to a humble but firm tone. "Data acquisition. Simulation software licenses. Research materials. The competition prep will cost roughly 2,000 Veltrions total—five hundred each. I've already paid my share. I'm here to collect yours."
The room went quiet.
"You want me on your team," Aren continued, "you pay for my infrastructure. Five hundred Veltrions each. Tonight. I'm not your worker, and I'm not your student. I'm your logistics provider. You want the green tier clearance? You buy it."
Mira held his gaze for a long moment. Then she reached into her bag and produced a transfer card. "Five hundred. Consider it a retainer."
Garrett hesitated, then produced his own slip. "Three hundred now. Two hundred after you prove the clearance works."
"Acceptable," Aren said. He took the slips—800 Veltrions incoming. Leo contributed 500V without comment.
[BANK BALANCE: 2,651 + 1,300 = 3,951 VELTRIONS]
He now had their obligation without revealing a single golden notification. He walked to the window, looking down at the invisible Undercroft, then turned back to face them.
"Listen," Aren said, his voice softer now, humble. "This competition format allows us to submit a proposal on the day of the event. We don't need to build everything beforehand—just perfect the presentation and the logic. We have one week to get this right."
He looked at each of them. "We'll share ideas and changes through calls and chats during the week. Meet here again next Saturday. But I need to tell you something honestly—this is my last team competition. After this, I need to focus entirely on Academy results. I need qualifying scores for the prestigious university scholarships. I can't afford to split my attention anymore."
The room was quiet. Garrett nodded slowly. Sera made a note. Leo looked up from his papers with rare eye contact, acknowledging the admission.
"Fair enough," Mira said. "One week. We make it count."
Aren didn't mention the golden text waiting in his peripheral vision, invisible to everyone in the room. He didn't mention that tomorrow—Sunday—the weekly exchange would reset, allowing him to convert another 20 SC → 2,000V, pushing his liquid capital toward 6,000 Veltrions. He didn't mention that he had completed his morning routine and the weekly exercise protocol perfectly, but had left the rewards unclaimed in the interface, a hidden reserve only he could see.
The System was his alone. A cheat code in a world of normal players. Vane knew it existed, bound by contract to silence, but even he couldn't see Aren's screens, track his CL, or know about the Stock Foresight skill waiting for its next activation.
The team watched him, seeing only a disciplined, mysterious student who somehow knew more than he should. Exactly as Aren intended.
[End Chapter 10]