In the end, nothing happened. The essence in the unequipped soul remained unmoved, even after he counted another three minutes in his mind to make sure.

'... Fuck. This is a major bump in the road. Only the fragments can gather essence while not equipped, then… Is it because it's part of my own soul, which technically is always equipped?

This means I can only gather essence in one soul at a time, outside of my own. And it means that absorbing the first Don Casanova fragment was a mistake… So, unless I can think of a better method, I can only grow one additional soul at a time. Which means…'

He started calculating in his mind, trying to figure out how long it would take him to reach the required amount of Soul Power by using Nolan's soul.

'16 hours a day, constant breathing technique… 172 first day, 232 second, 289 third, 344 fourth… about 1600 after one month. With constant cultivation, and slowing my own growth. No, I need to look for other methods first. This method even slows down as time passes, despite the increase in generation speed…

I need to look at other souls, see if I can figure out a better method. If I can find one with a high Essence Generation, that would be ideal.'

With a plan ready, he started feeling his eyelids weighing heavy, threatening to close up shop for the night.

'Time to test this comfortable bed… though it feels a bit inauspicious.'

For his own peace of mind, he offered a brief prayer to the previous owner of the bed. Then he stumbled over and leaned onto it, falling into the fluffy mattress with a satisfied sigh.

The detection formation hummed at the edge of his awareness, mapping the movements of thousands of souls across the district. Sailors stumbling home from taverns, guards making their rounds, families settling in for the night—each one a potential ally or enemy in this city of corrupted souls.

'Tomorrow then,' he thought as his eyes grew heavy. 'Time to see what this world considers fair trade for a human life.'

The nearest soul trader was located three blocks from Quinn's shop, closer to the center of the city. The building was adorned with faintly glowing lamps and draped with blue and silver cloth, giving it a very mystical feel.

Nova stood in the middle of the street, surrounded by people passing by. It was early morning, and nearly everyone was headed for work.

Quinn had been kind enough to lend him some clothes, but due to the difference in size, they had to be clever with the styling. A small shirt had become a large tunic with folded arms, and a set of shorts almost resembled a skirt due to a belt folding it around his waist.

'... A four-year-old in oversized clothes should be fine, right? Hmm, I'll need some advanced bullshitting to do this.'

It was a fine establishment, licensed directly by the church. The occasional customers were all dressed in presentable clothes and entered the doors with respect.

With a deep breath, Nova moved forward, pushing the doors open and entering the brightly lit trader. It wasn't very large, but it had clear signs of class in the interior, decorated in the same fashion as Larena's office, with needlessly intricate woodwork and velvet in every window.

Two counters, one on each side, split the store in half, while a stairway to a second floor was placed in the back.

A woman behind one of the counters looked at Nova with brows furrowed in confusion. "What are you doing here, kid? Scram, will you? Guard, do your job," she said, speaking to a large man near the entrance.

But before the guard could reply, Nova scoffed loudly. "I am not a child, miss. I'm a high dwarf, born in the great mountains of the north!" He put his nose up high, going for a signature look of superiority. "Will you let me stay, or should I take my business elsewhere?"

"... High dwarf? You…" She drummed her fingers on the counter, studying him with open skepticism. "I'm inclined not to believe you. What's with the clearly oversized tunic, then?"

Putting on a look of disappointment, Nova shook his head and clicked his tongue, as if addressing a particularly dense student. "This is the style in the northern mountains. Makes it much easier to trade with you humans. I do suspect it was a clever marketing scheme by one of the old merchants, but who am I to argue fashion?"

The lady looked frustrated at his response, staring at him with narrowed eyes. Her pupils pulsed lightly yellow for a moment, after which she tilted her head back, looking a lot more agreeable.

'Is that what Assess looks like? She should have done so from the start.'

She gestured for the guard to stand down and straightened her posture. "Fine then, I won't turn away a customer. How may I help you?"

"I'm here to trade a larger soul for as many small ones as I can. Will that be possible?"

"Of course, as soon as we get a good look at your soul, we will give you a fair deal. Do you have a soul stone, or would you like to use one of ours during the assessment?"

"Using yours is fine," Nova replied, hoping he could bluff his way through this. He had never heard of a soul stone before, but he assumed it was a type of storage for souls. "It's been a while since I did this, so can you explain it briefly?"

"Of course," the woman replied, pulling a black stone from under her counter and showing it to him. "You only need to hold it in your hand like this, and then guide the soul you want us to inspect out to your hand. It has a slight pull on souls, so once it's close enough, it will take care of itself."

'Guide the soul? Should be easy enough…'

He took the stone into his hand, feeling a cold sensation of emptiness. There was a slight pull at the soul floating near his core, but the fragment was unaffected. Closing his eyes, he guided it along his arm and into his palm, where it suddenly slipped into the stone.

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

[Lost soul of Nolan Corwick.]

"It's in," Nova said, returning the stone to the lady behind the counter. "I hope you'll treat it nicely."

"Of course," she replied, holding the stone up to her eyes. Another pulse of light appeared in her eyes, this time red in color, and immediately her eyebrows furrowed. "Corwick?" she said, now staring at Nova. "...If you have any trouble with Nihil, I'm afraid we will have to refuse this transaction."

'Damn… I would have preferred it if this wasn't traceable back to me. But I guess the cat's out of the bag.'

"Nihil and I have a mutual understanding." Nova's voice remained steady, but he wasn't as calm on the inside. "You won't be in any trouble because of this, but feel free to sell it to him after we're done here."

She seemed unconvinced, glancing up the stairway in the back. "Excuse me, I'll have to bring this up to the manager. Would you mind waiting here?"

"...Yes, I would mind. I think I'll take my business elsewhere." Nova extended his tiny hand expectantly.

He wasn't about to be trapped here waiting for one of Nihil's men to show up and reveal his identity. The consequences could be severe. 'Better to try again someplace else.'

But the woman hesitated, clutching the soul stone to her chest. "...We just need to make sure your claims are valid, sir. There are rules for handling human souls."

"I understand that, but I'm not interested in staying here while you call Nihil's men over. Give me the soul and let me leave."

"We have no relation with Nihil's group."

"I have no reason to believe that."

She hesitated, but her expression turned strict moments later. "...I'm sorry, sir. The soul is now considered stolen, so you will have to leave it here."

"I'm warning you, girl." His young voice was now as cold as ice. "Hand me the soul."

She looked spooked by his words, glancing at the guard by the door. "Clive, please escort the customer outside."

The guard moved from his spot near the door, taking heavy steps toward Nova.

'... Damn this woman. I don't have the liberty to lose any souls.'

Several plans formed in Nova's mind, but choosing either of them came with risks or sacrifices he didn't want to take.

'I could leave the city and hunt monsters using my fragment… That would be relatively safe, or at least my identity would be secure. Only the eyewitnesses here could say anything, and their story would be pretty unbelievable.

Or I could pretend to be possessed by the illustrious Noctis for the sake of selling the soul, going back to my childlike persona. This might be seen through with more scrutiny since I don't have a home or a history in the city.

I could threaten the people here using the fragment, but… I don't like threatening innocents. Contracts can only be entered by willing participants, so that wouldn't work either…'

The first option was tempting, but he had no idea how strong the monsters could be. If they grow by eating each other, and then those souls pass on to their descendants, they could end up with massive amounts of Soul Power. He would also be unable to help if anything happened in the city while he was gone.

'This visit was a proper blunder.'

The guard put his hand on Nova's shoulder, leaving him no more time to think.

[Fragment of Nova Noctis equipped.]

Immediately after equipping the fragment and feeling the essence burst through his body, Nova spread it out into the building and activated one of his signature assassination skills.

[You have learned the skill: Shadow Domain (Master - 18%) {Grade 7}]

[You create a domain of shadows, blocking out all forms of light in the surrounding area.]

[Shadow Sprint activated.]

The room descended into chaos, with three people yelling in the darkness, unable to see. Nova slipped out of the guard's grasp and moved like a wind over the counter, hounding the woman now crouched on the ground.

"W-what? Where did the light go?! Corin?" She flailed aimlessly in the dark, fruitlessly searching for the stone she had lost in the sudden chaos. "Thief! There's a thief!"

With his changed voice, Nova spoke calmly by her ear. "If you had just accepted his transaction… I went through so much trouble to possess that child. I understand you were just doing your job, but you should know there are threats greater than your local rat-boss out there."

The woman was frozen in place, not even daring to move her eyes.

'Ah, damn. I need to learn to control this killing intent. I was just trying to threaten her.'

He restrained his trait, but couldn't help driving the point home. "If someone comes in and uses the name Noctis in the future, just accept the transaction, okay? You've already annoyed me. Don't do it again."

She had started shaking, but still managed to nod her head in reply.

Steps and yells started sounding from upstairs, as great a signal to leave as he would get. "Tell Nihil I said hello," he whispered, and then he dashed back to the entrance, taking the shadow domain with him.

He stepped past the exit, breathing the fresh morning air, and lept between the shadows past many houses, soon finding himself back at Quinn's shop. Using Shadow Leap, he entered through one of the windows. Then he unequipped the fragment, saving it for later.

He sighed to himself, frustrated by his mistake. 'Ahh, why did I think that would work? Is this brain still too slow? Am I too affected by emotions at this age? Being in a hurry doesn't excuse stupidity!'

Quinn was still preparing the shop, using some sort of magical tool to freeze water into ice, getting ready for the first catches to arrive. It didn't cost him anything to be ready, after all.

"Hey, Quinn. The shop turned out to be uncooperative, so I had to take the soul—"

Nova stopped talking as he realized he had stolen the black soul stone. "Uhh, I had to take the soul back. I think they were planning to tell Nihil after recognizing the name on it."

Quinn remained frozen in place, holding the drill-like freezing tool suspended above an empty box as he processed Nova's words. "... Alright. But you managed to take care of it?"

Nova's lips twisted into a half-smile, not feeling very confident. "I probably could have done better. I'm considering going out to hunt monsters instead of the original plan now, to lie low for a while. But I need more info first."

"Yeah? That's fine, too. The hunter's guild can probably help you there, but as with the soul trader, your age might be a problem."

"... You're taking this surprisingly well."

Quinn's shoulders rose and fell in a resigned shrug. "Well… Everything you've said sounds normal compared to everything that happened yesterday. So I guess I'm just not surprised."

A smile spread on Nova's face, finding the logic humorous. "Huh… Well, okay, where is this guild located?"

"Near the edge of the upper district, so quite a long walk from here." Quinn gestured vaguely northward with the freezing tool. "The hunting grounds are mostly all in the north."

"Sounds good." Nova moved toward the door, hoping to get started as soon as possible. "You hold down the fort here, then."

"You're leaving no matter what they tell you?"

"Probably. If normal people have a chance at surviving, then I'm quite confident I won't die."

"It's all about luck, as I've understood it." Quinn's face grew somber as he leaned against his counter. "If you meet an ancient beast, you're pretty much screwed no matter what."

"How do you know if you've met an ancient beast?"

"You don't. You just die." He straightened up, clearing his throat. "But the definition is anything that has a Soul Power of over one million."

Nova staggered, both mentally and physically. He had never imagined something that powerful could be close to the city. "How are we safe if beasts like that are nearby?"

"We're not completely safe, but the walls are infused with very powerful barriers and spells. And they're not really nearby. All hunts happen far from the city, deep in the outlands."

"Huh… Well, I'll be off, then." Nova waved as he opened the door, ready to leave. "I'll see you again in a week or so, I hope."

"Me too, kid. Or, whatever you are. Safe travels."

A final glance at the man gave Nova the impression that he was unsure of how to feel. A mix of a genuine smile, worry, confusion at the situation, and lastly, a simple relief from having the days go back to normal.

'He's a good man. Nihil shouldn't be able to track me back here, but if I stay, I might put him in danger. So this solves a lot of problems at once! As long as I survive…'

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