Nova left the warehouse, feeling a slight reluctance. This was a great chance to rid the city of a cancerous growth. But despite his boasting, he wasn't confident in a victory. Not even in a one-on-one.

'That blade was special… If enchantments or special types of forging exist in this world, I should hurry up and get my next fragment.'

His third life was spent as a master blacksmith, forging weapons and tools for the greatest warriors, helping them expand in the new world. Each would bring back materials from their hunts, allowing even greater masterpieces to be forged.

And they all came to him, with no one even coming close to his level of mastery.

'One of my simpler lives… Though it turned hairy near the end when I had to join the fight.'

Nova moved through the shadows in a flash, traveling all the way from the lower district to the dockside in less than a minute, landing on Quinn's roof. He still had some time remaining on the fragment and wanted to secure the premises where he would stay.

'I should probably start strengthening the fragment as well. It will only be a few percent each time, but that's still an increase of two hundred Soul Power. Eventually, it will matter.'

The area around Quinn's shop was still lively, mostly due to a tavern on the other side of the road. It was marked with Nihil's symbol carved into the doorframe, like several other shops Nova had spotted on his way over.

'Heh, reminds me of my first life… Protection money, laundering, gang fights… Strangely enough, all done for the cause of making the city a better place tomorrow. And that's where we differ, bodyguard… Now, let's see.'

The essence in his body flowed into an intricate web of runes, far more expansive and meticulous than any he had attempted in this world before. Golden light traced patterns across the wooden roof, starting from beneath his feet and spreading outward like ripples in a pond.

Each circle birthed smaller circles, branching into delicate arrays that seemed to pulse with their own rhythm. Eventually, they stopped and somehow fused with the wooden surface.

[You have learned the skill: Advanced Detection Formation (Expert - 83%) {Grade 6}]

[A formation that detects notable energy signatures in a radius of 200 meters, signaling the linked individual. Only skills of a greater tier can cause mistakes. Lasts for 24 hours without essence refill.]

[You have discovered a new skill. Bonus mastery applied: Master - 3%]

[Updated skill info: A formation that detects all energy signatures in a radius of 300 meters, signaling the linked individual. Only skills of a greater tier can cause mistakes. Lasts for 24 hours without essence refill.]

Immediately, the signatures of every soul in the vicinity appeared in his mind, clearly indicated on a crude map. It covered nearly three hundred thousand square meters, revealing close to six thousand distinct souls—each one a point of light in his mental landscape.

Some were likely sleeping, some were walking around the streets, and some gathered in groups. The souls varied in brightness, but the vast majority glowed with the dim light of a newly completed soul, making it hard to distinguish between the young and old. And, of course, children under five didn't even register.

Nova stared at the completed formation, sensing how the lack of Mental Control affected his ability to make it perfectly. It had taken a sizeable chunk of his available essence, but it was worth it. This way, he would know of anyone of note approaching his position. He was still weak without the fragment, after all.

'A barrier would attract attention, so this will have to do. Besides, I wouldn't want Quinn's customers to be stopped at the door.'

Satisfied with his work, Nova flicked open a locked window and crawled through, appearing in what seemed to be an untouched bedroom. He announced his presence to the host. "I'm back."

"Ah! How did it go?" Quinn's voice drifted from another room, along with the sounds of someone getting out of a deep couch. He appeared through the door a few seconds later with curiosity plastered all over his face. "Already found your room, huh? Did it go well?"

Nova shrugged as he looked around the room, feeling quite satisfied with the accommodations. The bed looked soft, and even had a warm blanket and pillow. "It was alright. I found the boss, but he's probably a bit too strong for me right now. So I might have to find a different method."

"You found the boss? Nihil?" Quinn raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"That's his name?" Nova asked, taking a seat in a chair near the bed. "You know him?"

"Well, not personally. But everyone knows of him, or at least that someone controls all the rats in the city… So you'll have to find a new way to gather souls?"

"Yeah… I got one, Soul Power of one hundred, so maybe I can trade it for a bunch of weaker ones?"

"... I've only been to a soul trader once, so I can't really tell you much." Quinn's voice lowered, sounding almost tender. "Most people trade them for money, but I'm sure it should be possible."

Stolen novel; please report.

Suddenly, Nova started thinking about how death would be handled in this world. Would the soul pass to whoever is closest during an accident? Or after dying of a disease? Would the family deal a blow to the sick before death to keep the soul, almost like an inheritance?

'... A fucked up world, this is. A soul isn't a commodity. It's everything that makes someone who they are, past the physical. But, for people like the governor, losing his soul to someone else would be terrible.'

"How does inheritance work here?" Nova asked, eager for an answer to his questions. "When someone dies naturally, what happens to their soul?"

Quinn settled into the doorframe with a somber expression. "Depends on the family's wealth, usually. Rich folks have formations and soul-guiders—special items that ensure the soul passes to the family's storage. But us poor folks..." He shrugged heavily. "Whoever's closest when we go."

"So families need to stay around their sick and dying in case…?"

"Well, most people hire deathbed maids—people who are trained in caring for the dying, and who are legally required to hand over any souls they gain during their work. But others, yeah." Quinn lowered his eyes to the floor. "I… watched over my father, at his end. And… money was scarce, so I went to the trader."

Nova nodded slowly, feeling the pieces click into place. The Gardens weren't just about power—they were a reflection of how this entire world viewed souls—as commodities, as inheritance, as power to be claimed.

'A world where death itself is corrupted by greed. Where even the final moments with loved ones are tainted by necessity.'

"And the soul traders?" he asked, returning to his immediate concern.

"Licensed by the church, officially. Though plenty of underground trading happens too. They say Nihil's got a whole vault of them somewhere, unless he's keeping them in his soul." Quinn straightened up, seeming eager to move away from darker topics. "But you'll want the official traders for what you're planning. They're the only ones who can verify soul purity and handle the transfer contracts."

"Yeah, I imagine Nihil won't be too pleased if I try to sell him the soul of his underling," Nova replied, cracking a smile. "I'll go in the morning, then. Thanks for the room."

"Yeah… No worries." Quinn's voice turned thick and unreadable. "It hasn't been used in a long time." He stepped out of the doorframe, closing the door behind him with gentle care.

'That sounded… sad.'

The room was mostly stripped of personality, but it did show signs: a bed too small for an adult, a lamp with a teddy bear shade casting soft shadows on the wall, and a chair positioned perfectly beside the bed—the kind used for bedtime stories and goodnight kisses.

'Ah… Poor lad. Were the rats involved somehow? Or the Garden?'

The fishmonger was suddenly put in a new light in Nova's mind. No longer someone uncaring about the children in the castle, but a father who had lost his child, now reaching out to help another—trying to do what he perhaps couldn't do before.

'Heh, and then it turned out to be me. But still, he deserves credit for the attempt.'

Nova sat in silence for a moment, but was reminded of the time quickly running out. Shaking the thoughts of the past occupant from his mind, he closed his eyes in focus. With the relatively low Mental Control, the next skill would require his utmost concentration.

'Let's hope it isn't too strong for the fragment…'

Essence was pulled from his body and sent to his core, surrounding it in a sphere. Symbols of far greater complexity than what he had used before slowly condensed on the surface of the sphere, absorbing the essence in their surroundings. They turned from light blue to a shiny gold color, glowing in a pattern that slowly increased in speed.

Nova was sweating, doing everything in his power to keep the invocation running smoothly. The increasing speed eventually culminated in the entire sphere glowing, and then finally, it constricted around the core, fusing every bit of essence into it.

[You have learned the skill: Golden Reinforcement Invocation (Adept - 64%) {Grade 7}]

[Your essence invigorates the soul through a complex spherical invocation, reinforcing Soul Power by spending essence. Efficiency decreases as Soul Power increases.]

[Your Soul Power has increased by 100.]

A drop of sweat trailed down his temple as he breathed a sigh of relief, unclenching his fists. 'Haaah, merely adept, huh? Now, I only have a few thousand essence left, so I can probably only do that once a day. Unless…'

The timer of the fragment was close to zero, but Nova unequipped it before the time ended, hoping to see if he could equip it again before the cooldown period was finished.

'... No? Yes! It works!'

He could feel the fragment stay in his control, unlike when it was in cooldown. This gave him a chance to use the invocation at least twice a day, as long as it was available.

'Great! But I also have to grow my own soul so that the maximum timer doesn't shrink. But first, let's do the same for this rotten soul.'

He studied the soul of the man he had killed no more than ten minutes ago, finding nothing of much worth.

[Soul of Nolan Corwick]

[Core Stats]

[Soul Power: 99]

[Soul Purity: Murky]

[Compatibility: 45%]

[Essence]

[219/219]

[Aspects]

[Physical Force: 19]

[Physical Control: 18]

[Physical Resilience: 21]

[Mental Force: 17]

[Mental Control: 19]

[Essence Generation: 20]

[Essence Capacity: 18]

[Soul Traits]

[Runner] [COMMON]

[Calm Under Pressure] [UNCOMMON]

'Hmm, murky… That's better than I expected. But I guess the purity doesn't reflect the character of the person. Or at least that it doesn't have to. Other than that, nothing notable… Oh, there's no time limit! I guess it's unlimited since my Soul Power is higher.'

After equipping it and spending all the essence on Inner Blossoming Invocation, it went up to 109 Soul Power. Every bit would help when trading it for smaller souls.

'If I can trade this for four average souls, I can get them up to 100 Soul Power in four days. Then, I can trade them for sixteen new souls, repeating the process. This would give me sixteen hundred Soul Power in eight days, which is way more than I need. Sixty-four in twelve days, two hundred and fifty-six in sixteen, and by day twenty, I'll have over a thousand souls… But at that point, I wouldn't have time to deal with them all. Now, is there anything stopping this from working?'

There were supply issues to consider. Soul traders likely wouldn't have that many souls ready for trading. Besides, they would get extremely suspicious if he went to the same trader every time.

And then there was the issue of essence. If the souls gained essence on their own, even while unequipped, it was no problem. But if they had to be equipped to even gain essence, the method decreased severely in efficiency.

Nova opened Nolan's soul stats again, staring at the essence. It was unmoved, but it should only gain one point every three minutes. And so he waited. And waited…

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