Leaving the darkness of Snow Forest behind, the trail descending to the foot of the mountain opened onto an entirely different scene.
Dawn broke over Karsan—the largest magitech industrial city in the lower reaches of the Far North.
Towering beneath the mountain range of Wolf Territory, Karsan operated to the frantic rhythm of a modern metropolis: skyscrapers wrapped in reinforced glass that repelled frost, neon magic signs flashing in every color, and elevated magitech railways where bullet-shaped maglev trains shrieked through the morning mist, tearing apart the fog.
In this era, the kingdom of Elantra no longer operated under an archaic absolute monarchy. The country was governed by the High Magic Council under the leadership of its chairman, with national policies passed by votes from the Magic Commissioners. The royal family and ancient great houses like Dermott held powerful commissioner seats and countless unofficial privileges, but under administrative law, the citizen identification system applied equally throughout the realm.
Being struck from the genealogy of Wolf Castle had stripped Bailey only of his inheritance rights and noble stipend. Legally, he still possessed a perfectly valid Magitech Identity Card as a free fifteen-year-old citizen.
He had the right to travel, the right to shop, and the right to enroll in any open academy within Elantra.
However, with caution embedded in his very bones, Bailey understood that a lone teenager carrying a large fortune in gold bars and raw magical gemstones—with no documents proving their mining origins—would immediately trigger an asset-verification procedure if he walked straight into the central banks. That could easily alert the Dermott family's eyes and ears at Karsan's checkpoints.
Before boarding the train, he needed to discreetly exchange part of his fortune for circulating Elen cash.
Karsan's underground commercial district was packed with private magitech jewelry shops.
Bailey pulled up the hood of his athletic hoodie and pushed open the door of a metal-trading shop bearing the sign “Gemstone & Magic Fortune.”
Behind the bulletproof glass counter, a gaunt, middle-aged shopkeeper with narrow eyes named Goren was using a magitech microscope to examine an elemental stone. At the sound of the doorbell, he looked up. When he saw a slender teenager in neat athletic clothes, walking alone, the corner of Goren's eye twitched.
A runaway kid wandering around with a few odds and ends.
“Looking for an appraisal or a straight sale, kid?” Goren leaned both hands on the counter, flashing his usual salesman’s smile.
Bailey didn’t answer. He calmly pulled a raw gold bar and a thumb-sized sapphire from his coat pocket—only a small portion of Sia’s treasure hoard. He placed them on the velvet transaction tray.
“Convert them to standard-denomination Elen cash.” Bailey’s voice was flat.
Goren’s eyes lit up when he saw the gold bar’s purity and the dense, deep-blue mana within the sapphire. These were clearly premium minerals extracted from deep within a forbidden wilderness. He immediately placed them on the digital magitech scale on the counter.
BEEP.
The electronic display jumped, but showed an absurdly low figure: 3,200 Elen.
“Too much lead impurity in the gold, and the mana structure inside the sapphire is cracked,” Goren clicked his tongue and pretended to sigh. “You look young, kid, so I’ll offer you the absolute top purchase price: 3,000 Elen in cash. No invoice-processing fee deducted. Take it.”
The actual market value of these valuables was no less than 25,000 Elen through legitimate channels. Goren was blatantly taking advantage of Bailey’s youthful appearance to force down the price, while the hand hidden beneath the counter silently pressed the magitech electromagnetic pulse control, locking the scale’s sensor valve.
He thought a fifteen-year-old child would be dazzled by a few thousand Elen in cash.
But he didn’t know that from the moment he entered the room, Bailey had been preparing an escape route and placing the entire surrounding space under his absolute control.
Perceive—Conceptualize—Establish.
Bailey’s spatial perception enveloped the entire electronic scale and Goren’s misbehaving hand beneath the counter. He clearly sensed every artificial mana pulse strangling the device’s weight-sensor core.
The corner of Bailey’s mouth lifted slightly.
Control—Break.
A thread of spatial magic slipped through the gap in the transaction glass and pierced straight into the scale’s microcontroller, forcibly severing Goren’s fraudulent signal.
CLICK... CLICK... CLICK!
The digital display on the counter suddenly flickered violently before settling on the true figure: 26,800 Elen.
At the same time, the temperature around the transaction counter plummeted. A thin film of icy mist crystallized over Goren’s collar, accompanied by a razor-sharp chill pressed against his carotid artery—a transparent ice shard compressed by space, hovering beside his throat.
Goren’s entire body went rigid, cold sweat soaking the back of his shirt. He was a Beginner Tier 2 Mage, but the invisible pressure clamped around his neck was so precise and frigid that the slightest movement would slice his blood vessel clean through.
“Your scale just corrected its own accuracy,” Bailey said lightly. “Give me the full 25,000 Elen in standard-denomination cash. If a single cent is missing, or that hand beneath the counter presses one more button... something unfortunate will happen to this shop.”
Goren swallowed hard, his face drained of color. He immediately understood: the person standing before him was a dangerous predator with its claws hidden.
“I... I understand! Just a technical misunderstanding, brother!”
Trembling, Goren opened the safe, counted out twenty-five sealed bundles of bank-wrapped Elen cash, and carefully placed them on the transaction tray without daring to try another trick.
Bailey put the money in his backpack and calmly walked out of the shop.
He didn’t go straight to the central station. Even though he had cash and legal documents, he still followed a principle of safety: take one step back to maintain control of the whole situation.
He turned into a sportswear store by the roadside, bought a thin ash-gray windbreaker, changed his hairstyle to a neat side part, and put on a pair of black-rimmed glasses with no prescription. After only five minutes, his outward appearance had completely blended in with the thousands of school and college students moving through Karsan’s streets.
Bailey entered the lobby of Karsan Central Station, scanned his Magitech Identity Card at an automated ticket counter, and received a business-class ticket for a high-speed train heading south.
DING DING—
An announcement rang out over the station speakers:
“Magitech Continental Line High-Speed Train #07, departing from Karsan Station for Barcelia Port City Central Station, will close its doors in five minutes.”
Bailey passed through the automatic security checkpoint and entered the quiet business-class car. He chose a window seat and gently rested his head against the thick soundproof reinforced glass.
The train doors closed with a soft hiss.
The maglev train began to accelerate, gliding along the magitech tracks at hundreds of kilometers per hour, leaving behind the industrial city of Karsan and the snow-covered mountain ranges of Wolf Territory.
Outside the window, the white snow gradually began to melt, giving way to the vivid green plains of the south.
Ahead of Bailey, the port city of Barcelia—the place where the March entrance examination would take place—awaited him.