Kael pulled out his phone and opened his banking app. The glow from the screen reflected faintly in his eyes as he entered the transfer amount without hesitation.
One million credits.
His finger tapped the confirmation button, and the transfer instantly went through.
At first, he had considered going shopping for Lyra himself. Buying proper equipment, protective gear, emergency supplies, maybe even a weapon or two for her upcoming tutorial. But after thinking about it carefully, he realized that was probably a terrible idea.
Knowing himself, he would most likely end up buying the heaviest armor possible. Thick layers of reinforced metal, absurd defensive capability, enough weight to cripple mobility entirely. The kind of equipment meant to survive explosions rather than actual combat.
He could already imagine it clearly in his head.
The first edition of the Lyra Iron Bucket Series Version 1.0.
Kael almost laughed at the thought.
No, letting her choose according to her own fighting style was definitely the smarter option.
That did not mean he had completely abandoned the idea though.
Just as he was about to type a message to explain the sudden transfer, his phone immediately began vibrating in his hand.
Lyra.
The corners of Kael’s eyes twitched slightly.
Does she ever put her phone down?
Still, he accepted the call. Thankfully, experience had taught him something important over the years. Whenever Lyra entered full panic mode, her voice could reach terrifying levels, so the moment he saw her calling after sending that amount of money, Kael already knew better than to place the phone directly against his ear.
So instead, he wisely kept it a few centimeters away.
The next moment, a sharp, panicked voice exploded from the speaker.
"WHAT THE HELL, KAEL?!"
Even with the distance, he still winced slightly.
"WHERE DID YOU GET THAT MUCH MONEY FROM?!"
Kael opened his mouth to answer, but Lyra did not give him the chance.
"What did you sell this time?!"
She suddenly paused for a second as though realizing something.
"...Wait, no. That doesn’t make sense."
Her voice became even more alarmed.
"You don’t even own anything worth that much."
A bad feeling immediately rose in Kael’s chest.
"What did you do?" she asked quickly. "Don’t tell me you did something illegal. Did you steal? Did you scam somebody? Did you—"
"Okay, Lyra."
Kael finally interrupted before her imagination got any worse.
"You’re panicking right now."
"I’m not panicking!"
"You sound very panicked."
"I am being reasonably concerned!"
Kael rubbed his forehead tiredly.
"Take a deep breath or something first."
From the other end, he heard her inhale deeply.
Then silence followed.
Temporary silence, but silence nonetheless.
Kael already knew calming her down halfway would not be enough. Lyra was smart. Too smart, honestly. There was no way she would easily accept a random million-credit transfer without questioning it.
"I didn’t do anything illegal," he said calmly. "Or anything dangerous."
"...Then where did the money come from?"
Kael paused briefly before answering.
"I got lucky during my first Tower trial. The rewards were better than expected."
The line instantly fell silent again.
This time, the silence stretched much longer.
Clearly, she did not buy it.
Honestly, Kael did not blame her. Rewards worth a million credits from the First Floor sounded ridiculous. Most newcomers would celebrate getting rewards worth a few thousand credits. Tens of thousands was already considered extremely lucky.
But a million?
Nobody with common sense would believe that.
Kael himself understood that much.
Unfortunately, he had no better explanation.
There was no way he could tell her about the strange entity that had interfered with his tutorial. Nor could he explain his Reward Multiplier talent. The entire situation was still filled with too many things even he himself did not fully understand yet.
There was also the Tower Master to consider.
A being capable of creating something as vast and mysterious as the Tower was not someone Kael wanted to offend carelessly. If another existence had truly managed to interfere with his tutorial right under the Tower Master’s nose, then who knew what kind of implications that carried?
Too many variables existed.
Too many unknowns.
Until he figured things out properly, it was better to keep Lyra in the dark.
The silence finally broke with a long sigh from the other side.
"...Okay."
Kael blinked slightly.
"If you say you didn’t do anything illegal, then I’ll believe you."
Her voice softened afterward.
"You probably have your reasons for not telling me everything."
A faint smile appeared on Kael’s face.
"But please be careful, okay?" she continued quietly. "Don’t do anything that’ll hurt you."
The concern in her voice was genuine enough that Kael could not help smiling a little more.
"No need to worry," he said lightly. "I don’t plan on dying anytime soon."
A trace of amusement entered his tone.
"I still have a cute little sister to take care of."
"You..."
Lyra’s voice immediately lost some of its seriousness, the earlier worry in her tone weakening almost instantly.
Then, under her breath, she muttered something that sounded suspiciously close to "dofus."
Kael chuckled softly before shifting the conversation back.
"As for the money, use it properly. Buy equipment for your tutorial. Protective gear first, emergency supplies too. Don’t try saving it for something else."
He paused briefly before adding,
"I still have enough left over to last us for a while, so don’t hold back when spending."
There was another short silence before she finally answered.
"...Okay."
"Good."
Kael nodded slightly to himself.
"Oh, and one more thing. I’m planning to do another Tower run tonight, so if I’m already asleep when you get home, don’t wake me up for dinner. I need proper rest before midnight."
The line became quiet again.
It felt like Lyra wanted to say something more, but after a few seconds, all she said was:
"...Stay safe."
"I will."
The call ended shortly afterward.
Kael slipped the phone back into his pocket before exhaling slowly.
Now that he was done dealing with Lyra, it was time for the next order of business.
Himself.
The previous challenge had shown him just how useless his current leather gear truly was, though honestly, that was expected from equipment bought from some low-end secondhand dealer.
Still, he decided to get some weapons first.
Kael had already decided not to limit himself to a single type.
Whether it was the current him or the future him, neither had ever been overly specialized. Their mentality was simple.
Use whatever gets the job done.
Sword.
Axe.
Spear.
Throwing weapons.
Anything useful was acceptable.
Maybe it made him a jack of all trades, but Kael never really cared about titles so long as the weapon killed efficiently.
Once he started shopping, he showed absolutely no restraint.
Combat swords.
Compact battle axes.
Long spears.
Even several throwable short spears.
By the time he finished, nearly half a million credits had already disappeared from his account.
Afterward came the essentials.
Potions and lots of other essential stuffs. He even bought reinforced climbing rope.
Why?
Because after the nonsense the Tower forced him through during the previous trial, Kael no longer trusted it to behave rationally. For all he knew, the next challenge might require him to climb a cliff again while being chased by monsters.
Better prepared than dead.
Once the shopping was finished, only one thing remained.
Armor.
Kael already knew exactly what he wanted.
After booking a transit ride, he began heading toward his destination.
As the journey continued, the atmosphere around him gradually began changing. The buildings became cleaner and more organized while the streets themselves looked far more refined.
Everything felt different.
That was because they had already entered a Second-Tier District.
Unlike the Third District where they came from that was filled with unstable Rifts and dense ambient mana pollution, the mana concentration here was much lower. Even the air felt fresher because of it.
Eventually, the transit came to a stop before a massive building covered in sleek silver-black metal.
A bright sign hung above the entrance.
Spectre Guild.
Hunters moved in and out of the building constantly, most dressed in expensive-looking combat gear. Some stood in groups discussing upcoming Rift expeditions while others carried massive weapons across their backs with relaxed confidence.
Kael ignored all of it.
He was not here to sightsee.
Stepping into the building, he headed directly toward the reception desk.
The receptionist looked up as he approached, maintaining a professional smile.
"Hello, welcome to the Spectre Guild. How may I help you today?"
Kael met her gaze calmly.
"I’m here for the Spectre X Nano Bracelet."