The heavy rhythmic hammering from the basement forge vibrated against the soles of Jin's leather boots.
He stood in front of the Silver Tier weapon racks. The air was dry and smelled of hot oil. He reached out and grabbed the leather handle of a massive, heavy iron falchion.
He pulled it off the wooden pegs. It was completely identical in shape and size to the dull practice sword he used in the sparring tournament. But the edge was fundamentally different. The metal was not dull grey. It had a faint, polished silver sheen. It was incredibly sharp.
He swung the blade in a short, tight arc. The heavy steel cut through the hot air with a sharp hiss. The balance was perfect. The folded iron was dense and designed to hold its edge even after striking thick bone.
"I will take this," Jin stated flatly. He did not ask the price yet. He lowered the heavy blade and turned to the armor mannequins.
He examined a thick, dark leather vest reinforced with small, interlocking iron scales across the chest and stomach. It was light enough to maintain his mobility, but the iron scales would deflect glancing blows from sharp claws. He pulled the Silver Tier vest off the wooden mannequin. It was a highly practical piece of equipment.
He turned around. Luna was standing near a different rack, looking completely lost.
"Did you find the chain-sickle?" Jin asked.
Luna shook her head slowly. She had checked every single peg holding flexible weapons. She found spiked whips, heavy iron flails, and simple iron chains. But the specific combination of the sickle and the weight was completely missing from the showroom.
Jin turned to Lily, the counter girl in the soot-stained apron.
"We require a Silver Tier kusarigama," Jin ordered. "A chain-sickle. It is not on display."
Lily offered an apologetic smile. She adjusted her wooden ledger.
"I am very sorry, dear customer," Lily explained. "The chain-sickle is a highly complex and dangerous weapon. It is simply not commonly used by frontline warriors or Academy students. It takes years of dedicated practice to avoid hitting yourself. Because the demand is practically zero, we do not keep pre-forged Silver Tier chain-sickles in our standard inventory."
Jin frowned slightly. It was a massive logistical flaw in his preparation timeline. If they could not find the weapon, Luna's entire spatial distortion strategy would collapse in the jungle.
"However," Lily added quickly, sensing the lost sale, "our senior blacksmiths can easily forge one for you from scratch. If you place a custom order today, the weapon will be ready in exactly two to three days."
Jin ran the timeline in his head. The preparation leave was one week long. Three days was an acceptable delay. It gave them enough time to practice with the live steel before the carrier ships arrived.
He looked at Luna. He nodded once.
"We will order it," Jin told the counter girl.
Lily's smile returned instantly. She reached behind the long wooden counter and pulled out a thick, bound leather book. She flipped it open and placed it on the table in front of Luna.
"Excellent," Lily said. "Since it is a custom order, you can choose the exact specifications. The chain-sickle has many historical variations. Please, review the menu and select the design that best fits your combat style."
Luna stepped forward and looked down at the large, detailed ink drawings on the thick parchment pages.
The first page showed a standard design: a sharp sickle on a short wooden handle, with a long chain ending in a heavy, round iron weight. It was identical to the dull practice weapon she used in the arena.
She turned the page. The next drawing showed a brutal variation with two sharp sickles, one attached to each end of a shorter iron chain. It was designed for rapid, close-quarters slashing, completely abandoning the long-range throwing aspect. She ignored it. She hated being close to the target.
She flipped to the third page.
Her blue eyes stopped moving. She stared intently at the detailed ink lines.
The main weapon was a standard, sharp Silver Tier sickle on a medium-length handle. The chain was long and forged from tightly interlocking steel rings. But the end of the chain did not have a heavy, blunt iron ball.
Instead, the chain ended in a small, incredibly sharp, aerodynamic throwing knife.
Luna traced the drawing with her finger. Her tactical mind processed the upgrade immediately.
If she warped space to hook a heavy iron ball into a beast's leg, the blunt force would bruise the muscle or maybe crack the bone. But if she warped space to hook a razor-sharp throwing knife into the exact same spot, the blade would sever the tendons entirely. It changed her attack from blunt force trauma to lethal lacerations.
She tapped the drawing with a soot-stained finger.
"This one," Luna said quietly. Her voice was firm. "I want the knife at the end."
Lily looked at the drawing and nodded. "A very sharp choice," she complimented. "The blade is forged from high-carbon steel. It will penetrate thick hides easily."
She quickly jotted down the order details on her wooden ledger with the piece of charcoal.
"That will be one Silver Tier falchion, one reinforced scale-leather vest, and one custom Silver Tier chain-sickle with a throwing blade modification," Lily calculated rapidly. She looked up at Jin.
"The total comes to exactly twenty-eight mid-tier Aether cores," Lily stated with a professional smile.
Jin's face remained a completely blank mask. He did not flinch. He did not try to negotiate the price. Silver Tier equipment was incredibly expensive, but it was a necessary investment for survival. You do not cheap out on a parachute.
He untied the heavy, grey spatial pouch from his belt.
He reached his hand inside the folded pocket of space. He grabbed a handful of the glowing blue stones. He pulled them out and placed them on the wooden counter. He reached in again. He counted out exactly twenty-eight mid-tier Aether cores. The stones clinked softly against the wood, radiating a clean, dense light.
Lily's eyes widened slightly at the sight of the raw, unrefined capital. She quickly swept the glowing cores off the counter and into a secure iron lockbox behind the desk.
"Payment confirmed," Lily said, bowing deeply. "You may take the sword and the armor now. Please return in three days to collect your custom weapon."
Jin tied the grey pouch back onto his belt.
The heavy, comforting weight of the bandit loot was completely gone. His spatial storage felt completely empty. It was just a hollow pocket of air now.
He felt a sharp, profound ache in his chest that had nothing to do with the physical bruises from the tournament. The massive startup capital he had secured through violence was entirely liquidated. He was officially broke again.
He picked up the heavy Silver Tier falchion and slung the dark leather armor over his shoulder.
The investment was made. Now, he had to survive the jungle to earn the returns.