"Dress for the job you want, not the job you have. Especially when the job you want involves beating up nobles." — Unknown.
– – –
The Syndicate’s premium armory was located on the fifth floor, behind a vault door that was thicker than Micah’s entire bunk back at the academy.
Chloe led him through the door with a keycard, a retinal scan, and a four-digit code that she entered so fast Micah couldn’t catch a single number. The door swung open with a low hum, and the room beyond made Micah stop walking for a full three seconds.
It was smaller than the trading floor but infinitely more impressive. Glass display cases lined every wall, each one containing a single item illuminated by its own dedicated light. Weapons on the left. Armor on the right. Equipment and accessories along the back wall. Everything was catalogued with small digital plaques that displayed the item’s name, specs, and price.
Chloe handed him a sleek tablet. "This is the full premium catalog. Take your time. I’ll be outside if you need anything."
She stepped out and the vault door closed behind her with a soft click.
Micah stood alone in the most expensive room he’d ever been in, holding a tablet that contained enough firepower to outfit a small army, and he had the money to buy all of it.
’Two weeks ago, I was reading NovelPhoenix in my underwear. Now I’m shopping in a VIP armory with fifty million credits. Life comes at you fast.’
He sat down on a leather bench near the center of the room and started scrolling through the catalog.
The weapons section alone had over three hundred items. Swords, spears, axes, daggers, hammers, whips, and things that didn’t fit into any category he recognized. Each one came with a detailed spec sheet listing the material composition, Flux conductivity, edge retention, and weight distribution.
He skipped past the heavy weapons entirely. Two-handed mauls, war hammers, great axes. They were built for people who relied on raw strength to overwhelm their opponents. Dexter would love that section. The guy probably dreamed about swinging something the size of a telephone pole.
Micah’s fighting style was the opposite. He was fast, adaptive, and built around evasion. His Shadow Step Boots and Kinetic Disruption talent both relied on speed and precision, not brute force. Heavy armor would slow him down, and a heavy weapon would telegraph every swing from three meters away.
He needed gear that complemented his strengths. Lightweight, fast, and lethal.
He moved to the armor section and started filtering.
The first thing that caught his eye was a full suit of reinforced titanium plate armor. It looked impressive in the display case, all polished metal and articulated joints, but the weight listing made him wince. Forty-three kilograms. He’d be a walking tank, but he’d also be a walking target. Every dodge would be half a second slower, every pivot would carry extra momentum, and against someone like Dexter who already outclassed him in raw power, half a second was the difference between a clean dodge and a broken jaw.
He kept scrolling.
More heavy armor. More medium armor. Some of it was decent, but nothing felt right. Everything was a compromise between protection and mobility, and Micah wasn’t interested in compromising.
Then he found it.
**PHANTOM CARAPACE**
**Classification: Lightweight Tactical Suit, S-Rank**
**Material: Refined Mutant Spider Silk, Flux-Infused**
**Weight: 2.1 kg**
**Kinetic Diffusion: 87%**
**Flux Conductivity: EXTREME**
**Special Effect: Distributes kinetic impact across entire surface area, reducing localized damage by up to 90%**
**Price: 8,500,000 credits**
Micah read the specs twice. Then a third time.
Two kilograms. The thing weighed less than his academy uniform. But it diffused eighty-seven percent of kinetic impact across its entire surface. That meant if someone hit him in the chest with a sword, instead of the force concentrating at the point of impact, the suit would spread it across his whole body. The blow that would normally crack his sternum would feel like a firm shove.
’This is it. This is exactly what I need.’
The price was insane. Eight and a half million credits. That was the kind of money that would bankrupt a minor noble family. But Micah had fifty million in his account and the promise of exponentially more after the auction.
He added it to his cart without hesitation.
Next, he went looking for boots. His current Shadow Step Boots had been incredible in the vault, but they were a mid-tier pull. The thrusters were powerful but not calibrated for sustained combat. They overheated after extended use, and the lateral burst range was limited.
He found the upgraded version almost immediately.
**SHADOW STEP BOOTS — MARK II**
**Classification: Tactical Mobility Footwear, S-Rank**
**Upgraded Features: Enhanced micro-directional thrusters with 40% increased output. Extended lateral burst range. Improved thermal regulation for sustained combat. Flux-assisted grip system for vertical surfaces.**
**Price: 3,200,000 credits**
The Mark II version had everything the original had, but better. Stronger thrusters, longer range, better heat management, and a new grip system that would let him run on walls and ceilings without slipping.
He thought about the wall-run he’d done in the vault, when his left boot had slipped on the dented titanium and nearly sent him tumbling. With these boots, that wouldn’t happen.
He added them to his cart.
Now for the weapon.
He scrolled past the broadswords. Past the spears. Past the axes. Past everything that was designed for people who wanted to hack their way through a fight with sheer force.
His eyes landed on a katana.
**VOID FANG**
**Classification: Precision Blade, S-Rank**
**Material: Compressed Dark-Steel, Micro-Vibration Edge**
**Weight: 1.4 kg**
**Edge Sharpness: EXTREME**
**Special Feature: Micro-vibration technology along the blade edge oscillates at 40,000 Hz, reducing friction on contact and enabling the blade to sever mid-tier mutant armor with minimal resistance.**
**Price: 6,800,000 credits**
He tapped the image, and a 3D model of the blade appeared on his screen. It was beautiful. Pitch-black from tip to guard, with a subtle curve along the edge that caught the light like oil on water. The hilt was wrapped in dark grey cord, and the guard was a simple circular design that wouldn’t snag on anything during fast draws or quick rotations.
The micro-vibration edge was what sold him. Forty thousand oscillations per second meant the blade didn’t cut so much as it passed through things. Standard iron swords relied on force and sharpness to penetrate armor. The Void Fang relied on frequency. It would slide through mid-tier mutant plating like a hot knife through butter.
He picked it as his primary weapon and added it to the cart.
For mid-range options, he browsed the throwing weapons section. He didn’t want to rely solely on close combat. There would be situations where closing the distance was too dangerous, and having a silent, lethal ranged option could mean the difference between life and death.
He found a set of twelve balanced throwing knives made from the same compressed dark-steel as the Void Fang. They were small, lightweight, and came with a magnetic harness that attached to his thigh or forearm. Each knife was perfectly balanced for rotation throws or straight-line flicks, and the edges were sharp enough to punch through standard military body armor.
He added them to the cart, then looked at his total.
Phantom Carapace: 8,500,000
Shadow Step Boots Mark II: 3,200,000
Void Fang: 6,800,000
Throwing Knives (Set of 12): 1,100,000
Total: 19,600,000 credits.
’Nineteen million for a shopping trip. If my mom could see me now, she’d faint.’
He still had over thirty million left in the account, plus whatever the auction would bring in. But he wasn’t done shopping yet.
There was one more thing he needed.
Advanced Flux Breathing Manuals.
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