Everyone took a leg from the Queen Iron Crab. A yellow portal suddenly appeared inside the dungeon.
Every team start celebrating
"Look! The exit gate is here!"
"Finally! I can leave this place."
"Coming here was one of the worst decisions of my life."
One by one, everyone stepped through the portal and left the dungeon.
Outside, everyone celebrated their survival.
Yor smiled. "Let’s head back to the college."
Aster shook his head. "You guys go ahead. I need to stop by somewhere first."
"Alright then. We’ll see you later."
As they walked away, Aster thought, "Let’s test out my Inspection Mark."
He looked at their backs and activated the skill. Three glowing yellow crystal marks appeared above their heads before disappearing in an instant.
Aster closed his eyes and focused on Yor.
Immediately, Yor’s location and the surrounding area appeared vividly in his mind.
"So that’s how it works."
Aster then headed toward the train station.
"The distance to Saint Helena College is too far. I can’t use Grapple to travel all the way there. I’ll have to book a train ticket."
"Yo, Aster!" Darius waved at him from a distance "I saw your friends leave. Aren’t you going with them?" he asked.
Aster shook his head "No. I need to go to Saint Helena College."
"Oh, great! We’re heading in that direction too. Why don’t you come with us?"
"I can?"
"Of course!" Darius grinned and pointed toward a massive monster truck parked nearby. "Just look at that beauty. This beast can outrun any train. We’ll reach Saint Helena College in no time."
Aster happily accepted the offer and climbed aboard the monster truck. As the vehicle started moving, Darius asked curiously,
"But why is a Military College student going to Saint Helena College?"
Aster smiled "I have a friend there. I want him to make a custom weapon for me."
Darius smiled. "A custom weapon? Heh... those things cost a fortune."
Aster’s expression instantly froze "Shit... I don’t have any money."
Seeing him suddenly go silent, Darius tilted his head "Hey, Aster. Why’d you suddenly go quiet?" He chuckled before adding, "By the way, we’ll be stopping at the Imperial Auction House on our way to Saint Helena College to sell our monster materials. Is that alright with you?"
Hearing that, Aster immediately came back to his senses "Actually, that’s perfect! I need to sell some monster materials too."
"Hahaha! That’s reassuring."
After some time, they arrived in front of the "Imperial Auction House".
Following Darius inside, Aster looked around in amazement. Darius pointed toward a counter
"You can sell your monster materials over there."
Aster walked over to the counter.
"Welcome to the Imperial Auction House, sir. How may I assist you today?" a female staff member greeted him politely.
"I’d like to sell some monster materials."
"Certainly. Could you show me the materials?"
Aster scratched his head awkwardly.
"Here? I actually have... quite a lot."
The staff member glanced at him.
"He looks like nothing more than a student. I doubt he has anything particularly valuable... Still, the House Master always tells us to treat every customer with respect."
She smiled politely "In that case, please follow me."
She led Aster into a spacious storage room "You can take everything out here."
Aster began emptying his storage ring.
One after another, hundreds of Iron Crab corpses piled onto the floor, along with the Queen Iron Crab’s materials.
"I’ll keep the Queen’s claws. They should make excellent supplementary materials for my custom weapon."
The staff member’s eyes widened.
"How can his storage ring hold this many monster corpses? Is he from some influential family? Thank goodness I listened to the House Master’s advice."
Aster then took out twenty Mana Fruits.
"I still have plenty left. Selling a few shouldn’t be a problem."
Holding one up, he asked with a smile, "Can I sell these as well?"
The moment the staff member saw them, her composure completely shattered.
"T-Th-Those are Mana Fruits... right?!"
Aster blinked in confusion.
"Uh... yes. They’re Mana Fruits. Can I sell them here?"
Realizing she had lost her composure, the staff member quickly took a deep breath.
"My apologies for my unprofessional behavior." She bowed slightly. "Yes, you can certainly sell them here. However, I would strongly recommend putting them up for auction."
"Auction?" Aster asked curiously. "Would people actually buy these?"
The staff member looked at him in disbelief.
"Of course! Mana Fruits are extremely rare. People would compete fiercely just to obtain one."
Aster stared at the fruits in his hand again.
"Are they really that valuable?"
After waiting for some time, the staff member returned with a bank card.
"Sir, after selling your monster materials and auctioning the Mana Fruits, your total payment comes to "100 million credits", after deducting our one percent commission."
"...100 million?"
Aster’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
"The Iron Crabs were worth that much?"
The staff member hurriedly shook her head.
"Oh, no. The monster materials only account for a small portion of the total. Almost all of the money came from the Mana Fruits."
Hearing that, Aster’s eyes widened, and his jaw fell open as if his mind had momentarily stopped working.
"Only twenty Mana Fruits sold for one hundred million credits... I still have mountains of them in my inventory. Just how much are they all worth?"
At that moment, Darius walked over.
"Hey, Aster! Finished selling everything?"
Aster nodded with a smile.
"Yep. I’m all done."
"Great. Let’s get going."
As they walked back toward the monster truck, a loud commotion suddenly erupted ahead.
A large crowd had gathered in the middle of the hall.
Curious, Aster and Darius squeezed through the crowd.
At the center, two men were locked in a fierce battle.
Aster frowned "Why are they fighting?"
Darius shrugged "They’re probably representatives of two powerful families. This kind of thing happens all the time. Influential families constantly compete over valuable treasures. Losing an item is the same as losing face, so sometimes arguments escalate into fights."
Aster silently watched the battle. One man wore a formal white martial arts uniform. The other was dressed in an expensive black suit.
"So it’s a fight between a martial artist and an awakener."
The awakener’s fist suddenly burst into blazing flames. "Die!"
He threw a fiery punch. The martial artist crossed both arms to block it.
"BOOM!"
Although he blocked the attack, the flames still scorched his forearms. The awakener laughed arrogantly.
"Hahaha! Martial artists can never surpass awakeners! Just hand over the item!"
The martial artist snorted. "You’re more delusional than I thought."
A green aura enveloped his body. The burns on his arms healed at a visible speed.
Aster watched closely.
"So martial arts can even be used for healing."
Both men gathered power for another clash.
But before either could attack
An icy breeze swept through the auction hall. The temperature plummeted in an instant. Everyone instinctively shivered.
"BANG!"
A powerful kick blasted the entrance door off its hinges. The massive door crashed onto the floor as freezing mist and snow-like frost poured into the hall.
From within the swirling frost, a graceful woman slowly stepped forward.
She wore an elegant crystal-blue gown that shimmered like clear glass beneath the light. Her snow-white hair flowed down her back, contrasting beautifully with her crimson lips.
Her icy gaze swept across the hall.
"What is happening here?"
Her voice was calm... Yet terrifyingly cold.
One of the staff members immediately ran toward her. "H-House Master!"
She hurriedly explained everything while nervously mumbling. The House Master’s expression darkened.
"How dare you cause such a commotion... in my house."
She casually raised one hand. A dense wave of freezing mana shot forward. The two fighters didn’t even have time to react.
They were instantly frozen into solid ice.
"Crack!"
The next moment, both ice sculptures shattered into countless pieces.
Aster stood frozen in shock. "S-She... killed them?"
Darius’s face turned pale. "We’re leaving. Right now."
The two quietly turned to leave. Just then, one of the staff members pointed toward Aster.
"House Master... that’s the young man."
She looked toward Aster before lowering her gaze to the Mana Fruits resting in her hand.
"So... he’s the one who sold these rare Mana Fruits."