The sun filtered lazily through the massive glass dome above Hunter Academy's central courtyard. For once, the Academy was quiet. No alarms, no dungeons, no duels. Just Sunday.
It was a holiday—a rare break after the chaos of midweek tests. Students lounged under trees, browsed enchanted snacks, and some sparred casually in open spaces. Even Zian allowed herself a moment of stillness, sipping cold tea beneath the academy's Sacred Tree.
Kaen, meanwhile, had other plans.
Beneath a parasol near the dueling platform, he'd set up a folding chair, a cooler of ice cream at his feet, and a glowing orb atop a stack of wooden crates. Beside it, a hand-written sign read:
> 🔮 "Betting Booth — Pick the Duel Winner | 100 Academy Credits minimum | x2 Return" 🔮
Zian raised an eyebrow as she approached. "Seriously? Gambling?"
Kaen twirled his ice cream cone with a lazy smirk. "Call it… statistical investment."
---
💰 What are Academy Credits?
Hunter Academy used a point-based economy.
Academy Credits (AC) were earned through:
Clearing dungeon gates
Scoring high in class assessments
Winning duels
Completing faculty tasks
Credits could be used for:
Buying potions or weapon upgrades
Renting private training rooms
Accessing restricted archives
Skipping certain classes
Exchanging for real-world currency (if licensed)
Most students scraped by earning a few hundred a week. Kaen? He made 3,400 credits in two hours.
---
Professor Drayven, silently observing from afar, placed 500 AC on Mira Valen.
Zian watched, unimpressed. "You're exploiting students."
Kaen shrugged. "I'm rewarding intuition. Besides, I'm not forcing anyone. They bet. I just know how this ends."
"Do you rig the matches?"
"No fun in that. But I can see their weakness… even before they do."
Sure enough, duel after duel ended just as Kaen predicted. When someone bet against his suggestion, they lost. Mira destroyed her opponent in two clean strikes. Kaen handed over winnings with a smug smile—minus a 10% "processing fee," of course.
Mira passed by afterward, throwing him a sharp look. "This better not get you expelled."
Kaen winked. "I'll donate some to the Academy. That makes it charity, right?"
She rolled her eyes—and dropped 200 AC into the betting orb anyway.
---
By sunset, Kaen had packed up and disappeared, leaving no trace. His winnings were safely stashed in his private dimensional vault—a shadow pocket only he could access.
Zian received a scroll notification.
> 📜 Urgent: Report to Blood Gate Trial briefing. Tomorrow, sunrise.
She stared out the dorm window. Across the yard, Kaen sat under the moon, eating ice cream alone.
Today, he'd conquered the economy.
Tomorrow, they'd enter war.