I don’t like a... 'Big brother'

Third Person's POV

After narrowly escaping from death with Delphine, Aether ventured out of the Academy and roamed around Valysar city. He hoped to find some eye-catching items as Taylor had suggested or even some shady goods for his upcoming contest.

To his surprise, there was none to be found..... Yeah, The city was exceptionally clean.

Aether felt a wave of frustration wash over him. He never imagined that this city could be so pure, without even a hint of a black market.

'Must be because of the Academy's influence...' Aether thought, glancing at the money he received after selling his remaining Golden 1-Star Arcane Crystals.

Given that the Golden Crystal was high grade, it fetched around 1000ˀ, with lower grades yielding lower values.

Being skilled in bargaining, Aether managed to secure about 1100ˀ for the crystal, bringing his personal assets to 3300ˀ, excluding the anonymous amount he had received and...