CHAPTER 24: THE SECRET BEHIND THEIR STRENGTH

The noise in the exchange post swelled and then dipped as the door swung open.

Darian walked in, the sunlight at his back casting his tall frame in sharp contrast to the dim interior. His Westlight Academy uniform was spotless, his boots polished, and not a trace of dust clung to him—as if the dungeon itself had bowed out of his way.

A few of the Westlight students straightened immediately.

"Finally, Darian’s here."

"Now they’ll see what a real hunt looks like."

For them, he wasn’t just another student—he was their answer, their shield against the embarrassment of being outperformed by a low-level school.

They knew his family’s background. His father commanded one of the border garrisons and was also the head of the Velastra family; his mother was a senior mage in the federal forces. Darian had trained with seasoned knights and mages since he was a child. If anyone could crunch the numbers Lyra’s group had posted, it was him.

Eyes followed him as he strode toward the counter, the air in the room shifting with every step.

The clerk at the counter looked up as Darian approached.

Without a word, Darian loosened the straps on his pack and tipped it forward.

A cascade of dull glints spilled across the counter—monster cores, one after another, until the clerk had to use both hands to stop them from rolling off the edge.

The crowd went silent for a moment. Then a whisper cut through: "...Wait. That’s twenty-five."

Heads turned. Eyes widened. The muttering swelled again.

"That’s far above normal," one student said, voice dripping with disbelief.

"So what if he’s the heir of the Velastra family? Even with recovery potions, killing more than twenty monsters in a single run shouldn’t be possible."

Others nodded, still staring at the pile of cores.

But none of them knew the truth.

Darian’s calm expression didn’t betray it, but deep down, he was savoring the advantage he’d kept hidden—the Fire Wall spell he’d recently mastered with the help of tomatoes purchased from the Rowen shop.

He let the murmurs wash over him, saying nothing as the clerk took out the 50 low-grade mana stones.

Lyra, Aria, and Calen stood frozen for a moment, staring at the pile of monster cores Darian had just traded in. Even for him, the amount was absurd.

They exchanged glances but said nothing. Instead, they turned away and headed out of the exchange post.

Outside, they completed their own distribution of mana stones among their team members. Once that was settled, the three of them began walking toward Rowen’s shop—a familiar stop for them after hunts.

Halfway down the street, they noticed someone ahead moving in the same direction. "...Isn’t that Darian?" Calen murmured.

Sure enough, a few minutes later, Darian reached the shop and stepped inside without hesitation.

Realization hit them all at once.

"So that’s how he could take down that many monsters alone," Lyra whispered.

The three of them followed him in.

None of them noticed the small group of students shadowing their steps from a distance. These followers kept to the edges of the street, whispering among themselves, intent on finding out just what this "ordinary" shop had to do with such abnormal monster kills.

From the shadows of the crowded street, a few students from the lower-town school trailed behind, careful to keep enough distance to avoid suspicion.

"That’s Darian," one whispered. "And those three from our school—Lyra, Aria, and Calen."

"They’re all heading the same way... wonder what’s there," another muttered, eyes narrowing as the group ahead turned down a quieter lane.

Far behind them, the Westlight Academy students lingered near the exchange post. They’d seen Darian’s direction too, but none of them moved to follow.

"Why would we waste time chasing them?" one of the academy boys scoffed. "We have our own plans."

"Exactly," another said. "If they have some secret, it’s probably nothing compared to what we can get."

Meanwhile, the lower-town students kept their pace slow, hugging the wall as Darian pushed open the door of a shabby old shop. The faint jingle of a bell drifted out before the door closed behind him.

A moment later, Lyra’s group stepped in as well.

The trailing students shared a quick glance.

"...Alright. Let’s see what’s going on."

They slipped inside after them.

Inside, Darian and Lyra’s group were just finishing up at the counter. Rowen tipped the small pouch in his hand, counting the ten low-grade mana stones they’d given him for payment.

The bell over the door chimed again. All heads turned toward the sound.

A group of students stepped inside—faces Rowen recognized from the lower-town school.

Lyra, Aria, Calen, and Darian exchanged a quick glance. It didn’t take long for them to realize what had happened. They’d been followed.

No one said anything.

They could hardly tell others not to buy what they themselves had just purchased. Without a word, they stepped past the newcomers and out the door, letting it swing shut behind them.

The lower-town students, meanwhile, scanned the shelves—and their eyes quickly fell on the neat baskets of potatoes and tomatoes.

The walls were lined with baskets of fresh vegetables—only tomatoes and potatoes.

Behind the counter stood a young man with dark hair, calmly weighing something on a small scale.

The students froze.

"...Wait... that’s Rowen," one whispered.

They all remembered him—the quiet boy who always scored first in theory exams at their school. But after the Awakening Ceremony, he had disappeared from sight. No one had seen him around the training grounds or even at school.

Yet here he was, running this modest little shop.

As their eyes wandered, one of them noticed the small handwritten tags propped up in front of the baskets.

Tomatoes – Focus Boost – 3 per one Low-Grade Mana Stones each Potatoes – Mana Recovery – 3 per one Low-Grade Mana Stones each

They blinked. "...That can’t be right," someone muttered. "For vegetables?"

Mana stones were worth far more than any normal produce. If Rowen was charging that much, either he had gone insane—or those effects were real.

More than one of them felt an urge to walk inside and ask him directly, just to confirm the price.

Their curiosity doubled. If Darian, Lyra, Aria, and Calen were all buying something from this Rowen, then whatever he was selling had to be special.

"...What kind of shop is this?" another whispered.