As Kael walked out of the Hunter Association building, he didn’t even bother looking back.
To everyone else, today’s encounter might have seemed like nothing more than a minor dispute.
To him...
It was something entirely different.
The Dark Viper Guild.
That name occupied a rather unique place in his memories.
Not because they had ever done anything worthy of admiration.
Quite the opposite.
Before becoming one of the largest guilds in the Third District, they hadn’t even been a guild.
They had been a gang.
The Viper Gang.
A criminal organization notorious throughout the district for extortion, armed robbery, illegal trafficking, and countless other crimes. Wherever their members appeared, trouble was never far behind. Ordinary civilians feared them, while even awakened individuals preferred avoiding conflict with them unless absolutely necessary.
Everything changed after their leader, Arthur White, awakened.
His talent had been extraordinary.
Within a relatively short period of time, he had climbed all the way to A-rank, transforming himself into one of the strongest hunters in the district.
With overwhelming strength backing him, the Viper Gang seized the opportunity to wash away their criminal identity.
They changed their name.
Changed their image.
Established the Dark Viper Guild.
On the surface, they became a perfectly legitimate hunting guild.
Behind closed doors, nothing had changed.
The only difference was that their crimes had become far more organized.
Over the years, countless independent hunters had suffered at their hands.
Within Rifts entrusted to them by the Association, they would station members near the entrance and demand additional entrance fees from anyone wishing to enter, despite those hunters already having paid them for official permits.
Those who refused were often denied entry through intimidation alone.
If that wasn’t enough...
They had another favorite method.
After hunters returned from clearing a Rift, exhausted and often injured, Dark Viper members would force them to sell their harvested materials at prices far below market value.
Anyone unwilling to cooperate quickly found themselves targeted during future expeditions.
It was blatant exploitation.
Unfortunately...
Proving any of it was another matter entirely.
The guild was careful.
Everything they did remained just within the boundaries of what could be explained away.
Even the Hunter Association found it difficult to gather enough evidence to act against them.
Kael himself had crossed paths with them several times in his previous life.
Nothing particularly life-threatening had happened.
Still...
Each encounter had left an unpleasant taste in his mouth.
That was precisely why he hadn’t bothered showing Morgan even the slightest courtesy.
Truthfully, had they met anywhere else he would’ve beaten every one of them until they couldn’t even crawl back to their guild headquarters.
He was more than capable of doing so.
The only reason he restrained himself was because they were inside the Hunter Association.
Fighting within Association grounds was strictly prohibited.
More importantly...
That building was an enclosed environment.
If he truly released his strength without restraint, innocent people nearby could easily become collateral damage.
That wasn’t something he wanted.
So...
He simply left.
Some people weren’t worth wasting his time on.
Stepping into the parking area outside, Kael climbed onto his motorcycle before starting the engine.
A low mechanical growl echoed through the air.
He adjusted his helmet before twisting the throttle.
The motorcycle shot forward like an arrow released from its bow, smoothly merging into the bustling streets of the Third District.
Time to go upgrade his equipment.
He had been postponing it for several days already.
There was no reason to delay any longer.
The roads gradually became wider as he sped through traffic, weaving effortlessly between vehicles while maintaining astonishing control over the bike.
Roughly fifteen minutes later...
The surrounding scenery slowly began changing.
The worn buildings of the Third District disappeared behind him, replaced by cleaner streets, newer infrastructure, and noticeably fewer pedestrians.
He had entered the Second District.
Almost immediately...
Kael’s expression changed.
Ever since cultivating the Primordial Genesis Sutra, his perception of the world had transformed completely.
In the past, he couldn’t sense Ambient Mana at all.
To him, it simply didn’t exist.
Now however, he moment his motorcycle crossed into the Second District, he felt it.
The surrounding Ambient Mana plummeted.
Not gradually.
Not subtly.
It was as though an invisible wall separated the two districts.
The mana density dropped by nearly sixty to seventy percent in an instant.
Kael couldn’t help narrowing his eyes.
’That’s... a much bigger difference than I expected.’
Although everyone knew that higher districts possessed lower Ambient Mana concentrations, he had never personally experienced the transition while possessing mana perception.
Feeling it firsthand was entirely different from merely hearing about it.
If the Second District was already like this...
Then what about the First District?
How little Ambient Mana existed there?
Thinking about it, Kael could only shake his head.
To ordinary people, this environment was considered ideal.
The lower the Ambient Mana concentration, the higher the land value.
After all, prolonged exposure to Ambient Mana could cause Mana Sickness in normal humans.
Wealthy families naturally preferred living in areas where the concentration was as low as possible.
To Kael, however...
The exact opposite was true.
The Primordial Genesis Sutra demanded an enormous amount of energy to cultivate.
The amount of Ambient Mana present in the outside world was already pitifully low in his eyes.
In fact, he had long since abandoned the idea of cultivating outside altogether.
Instead, he focused almost exclusively on cultivating inside the Tower, where the mana density exceeded anything the outside world could offer.
It was far more efficient.
As that thought crossed his mind, Kael suddenly frowned.
His fingers tightened slightly around the motorcycle’s handlebar.
’...Wait.’
His eyes gradually brightened.
’Why didn’t I think of this sooner?’
A business opportunity.
An enormous one.
Currently, property prices throughout the city followed a simple rule.
The closer a piece of land was to a Rift, the cheaper it became.
The farther away it was, the more expensive it became.
Safety certainly played a role in that difference.
But only to a limited extent.
In today’s world, Rifts were monitored around the clock by both the Hunter Association and the major guilds.
The chances of a Rift Break spreading into civilian areas were incredibly low.
Most disasters were contained before monsters could ever leave the Rift.
The real reason land values differed so drastically was the Ambient Mana.
Nobody wanted to spend years living in an area saturated with mana that slowly damaged the bodies of ordinary people.
But...
That wouldn’t remain true forever.
Dun’s potion would change everything.
Once it entered the market, Ambient Mana would no longer be viewed as a poison.
Instead, it would become a resource.
The potion could refine Ambient Mana into a form the human body could safely absorb.
Ordinary people who had never awakened would gradually strengthen themselves through continuous refinement.
Their physiques would improve.
Their speed would increase.
Their strength would surpass normal human limits.
Even their lifespans would likely become longer.
The moment that happened, the value of land throughout the entire world would be rewritten overnight.
Places overflowing with Ambient Mana would become the most desirable locations imaginable.
What everyone considered worthless today, would become tomorrow’s treasure.
Kael’s lips slowly curled upward.
’If that’s the case...’
’Wouldn’t it be better if the Mothlight Guild owned those lands before everyone realized their true value?’
At present, properties near Rifts could practically be bought for scraps.
No major corporation wanted them.
No wealthy investor looked twice at them.
Which meant...
He could quietly purchase them one after another without attracting attention.
By the time the world realized what Ambient Mana truly represented, every one of those worthless properties would have transformed into gold mines.
The Mothlight Guild would become the largest beneficiary of that change.