Unable to repay my student loans, I had no choice but to work part-time as a demon hunter.

No. 9 Knights Road.

Tonight's dinner is cabbage stewed with beef, simmering over low heat, the lid occasionally trembling.

Gordon carefully put the spiritual crystal into a box lined with black velvet; it glowed with a fluorescent green that gave off a sense of great wealth.

We're one step closer to our goal.

He wants to be a superhuman, a superhero everywhere, an investigator, investigating people all over the place. And hopefully, he can make a fortune along the way.

These wishes are like several ropes, ultimately tied to the same practical problem:

Too weak, lacking power.

Gordon knew very well that without the support of a second source, he would still be just a roadside nobody.

The Unbroken String is excellent, but even the best small-scale source material cannot support a person to rise from an unknown nobody to a world-renowned figure.

This is clearly not a long-term solution.

"Spirituality," Vera glimpsed. "Where does it come from?" She cut her hair back to short, mainly for ease of fighting and to save time washing it. If it fell into the soup, she could say it was Gordon's.

"What was once a historical muddy mess beneath Land Wharf has now become a treasure; that's the power of wisdom."

"The power of wisdom." Vera nodded solemnly.

She now finds that using her brain is very beneficial.

"Next, I need to go to the Blackwater River to dig out more spiritual energy," Gordon explained.

"You will be discovered."

"I will avoid those test-takers who are queuing up to take the test."

"I'm not talking about the people in the academy, I mean, be careful of anyone who knows anything," Vera warned.

Vera spoke very seriously, and Gordon couldn't help but concentrate.

"...So far, the only one who's got a rough idea is Sinclair. He only knows we're building a strange reactor. He doesn't know the raw materials or the products," Gordon thought for a moment.

"Also, be careful of the Blackwater Order. There are always people sniffing around. The closest one I encountered was only two blocks away from here; I killed him."

"...Understood." Gordon needs to resolve the Blackwater Hermitage issue as soon as possible. It has nothing to do with killing some nobodys; it needs to be elevated to the level of a public crisis.

"We must be fully focused. In fact, I've already started treating this as a war of source matter." Vera looked directly at Gordon.

  

"...The Source War." Gordon stopped what he was doing.

"Small to medium-sized source material is enough to attract greedy hunters, while large source material will cause many people to die without knowing why."

"What about extra-large?"

"The teacher didn't mention it."

"It seems none of the teachers who participated in the massive Source War came back alive." Gordon then thought of something else, "...But how did you know Source would 'appear'?"

"Sometimes it's an alien demon, sometimes it's a disaster or some kind of anomaly. Some people encounter it by chance, some set the conditions, and some plan decades in advance. It's a bit like what you're doing now. In any case, once the news leaks out, it's all over. Nobody knows how big your lentils will become," Vera warned.

"You participated in the Source War, didn't you?"

"Yes. We won." Vera pressed her stomach and said nothing more.

The cabbage and beef stew was ready. Vera poured Gordon a bowl of soup and then poured one for herself.

Gordon took a bite, thinking about the Source War and how Vera could make the beef taste so good.

"The first priority now is secrecy. No one else is allowed to know except you, me, and Sinclair. The second priority is to find a safe place." Vera finished her soup.

A safe place...

Gordon took out a map of the underground hydrology of Lundnium, which showed a dense network of underground passages.

"It won't work inside the city. No matter where you hold the ceremony, 'The Shadow of Aston Street' might just crawl out from some sewer and eat both the lentils and us."

"Outside the city?"

"The advantage of being outside the city is that a complete defensive perimeter can be established, there is ample space for combat, and it is easy to clean up afterward," Gordon pondered.

"The downside is that the enemy can act with impunity," Vera added.

"What about leaving Lundnium?" Gordon pondered.

"No, further away there might be other cults, other hunters, and local bullies. At least in Lundnium we know the way, and if we die, someone will collect our bodies."

"That makes sense." Gordon nodded.

"I suggest we go to the mountains."

"It won't work in the mountains. The 'Cradle of Life' is a large piece of equipment and must be transported by horse-drawn carriage."

They came up with some more plans, rejecting each other's ideas for a while. Warehouses, factories, hotels, churches. They even considered going out to sea by boat, but felt the danger of rough seas was greater.

Finally, Gordon took out a pen and paper and listed several conditions in order of priority.

We must stay away from the Blackwater River.

It must be able to transport the equipment and materials required for the ceremony.

There must be existing defensive features; there is no need to build from scratch.

There must be an evacuation mechanism.

Ideally, there shouldn't be any overly concerned neighbors craning their necks to see what they're doing.

"Even if there's such a nice place, we don't have the money to rent it." Vera looked at the terms and conditions.

"It's alright, I happen to have a big business deal on my hands." Gordon glanced at the box containing the spiritual crystals. "I can talk to the Earl. They own too many houses, so many that even they can't remember them all."

"If any enemy invades, I'll stand guard outside while you watch the ceremony. If I lose, we'll leave immediately."

"I'll send Gray. Although his character seems both good and bad, he usually keeps his promises, otherwise he wouldn't have earned the reputation of being the fifth hunter in the city." Gordon took out the ivory-white business card that Gray had given him.

"There's no need to let him get close to the ceremony; let him stay nearby. His source essence combination is more complete than mine, and he can also expand his domain, which can increase our chances of winning to 60%." Vera glanced at the business card and returned it.

"Only 60%?"

"How much more do you want?"

"I believe we will win." Gordon leaned forward. "Because you're on my side, Vera."

Several possible responses flashed through Vera's mind.

One could argue that battles shouldn't be based on emotions. One could point out the risks and have Gordon prepare contingency plans for failure. Or one could even ask Gordon to retract his statement.

But none of these answers were good enough, at least not at this moment, she didn't want to say.

Finally, she lowered her head.

If Gordon is going to win, then she will win.

"Eat your food," Vera said softly.

After finishing her meal, Vera suddenly had an idea.

She raised her hand.

Give me your hand, Gordon.

"What are you doing?"

"When a Source Hunter establishes a temporary covenant, there is a gesture of commitment."

"I never knew."

"Now you know." Vivi stretched out her right hand, palm up, "Press it on."

Gordon suspiciously reached out and placed his hand in Vera's palm; the hand was much warmer than he had imagined.

Vera took Gordon's hand, first touching their fingers together, then slightly separating them, slipping her fingers into the gap, one by one, slowly bending them, until finally interlocking her fingers with his.

"This is..." Gordon felt the warmth of Vera's fingers and palm, and her fingers tightened a little.

"Make sure we don't abandon each other in times of danger," Vera said earnestly. "You promise."

"I promise."

"Forever," Vera said. "Say it after me."

"forever."

Vera held Gordon's hand for a while longer before letting go.

She withdrew her hand, turned and left; tonight would be busy.

"I still haven't heard of this... gesture." Gordon was completely baffled, feeling for the first time in his life that there was something he didn't know.

He had no way of knowing, of course, because Vera had just made it up.

The power of wisdom.

Back in his bedroom, Gordon opened Winslow's book to study the conditions for the appearance of the source matter, because he clearly remembered that the professor had written some about it.

Winslow's descriptions are rigorous and restrained, yet somewhat cynical.

According to Winslow, when a certain phenomenon in the mortal world meets certain specific conditions, it may resonate with existence in the realm of truth.

Some people, with hostility, called it pollution, which was also Winslow's idea.

That is to say, a completely malicious... erosion of reality.

Regardless, this resonance will create an abnormal environment and turn creatures into demons. If the concentration of "resonance" or "contamination" is high enough, it may even form a complete source substance.

Since extreme phenomena can give birth to the source of quality, people naturally learned to actively create extremes.

War, industrial expansion, colonization, famine, disasters, fanaticism...

Source material is being incubated all over the world, and even the Logris Empire will drive this.

No one can guarantee that it will condense into anything, but it can certainly increase the probability of a certain type of source material appearing.

Many scholars believe that...

This phenomenon is essentially a result of mortal behavior aligning with certain ideologies, ultimately attracting the attention of beings in higher positions.

Gordon stopped reading when he got to this point.

"...However, if that is the case, are all human actions on earth merely theatrical performances? Striving painstakingly to accomplish certain feats, playing the roles of heroes, madmen, or geniuses, simply to please some extraordinary being and earn their glance? How pathetic would that be?" Gordon read Winslow's somewhat impassioned words, "Humanity should fight for its own dignity and worth."

Gordon closed the book.

He realized a problem: if the source material came from extreme situations... then the powerful individuals who were keen on collecting source material would definitely enjoy creating disasters everywhere.

Compared to the relatively peaceful capital of Logris, the outside world was undoubtedly in dire straits.

The constant warfare, expansion, accidents, and otherworldly calamities breed terror.

This is the peace under Logris's rule.

Gordon looked at the hydrological map.

What did the emperor want to gain from war, colonization, or the Blackwater River?

Gordon thought for a moment, then closed the book. Unless he himself became a high-level ability user, he wasn't qualified to concern himself with the emperor's affairs. Right now, he hadn't even settled his own student loans.

……

Time passed day by day.

By mid-May, the new Montfort house was ready.

By this time, Charlotte had been feeding the mice for a long time, and Earl Montfort had finally reserved several candidate source materials for his daughter to choose from on her birthday.

The first source material is very important; it might make Charlotte more outstanding, or it might give her a lifelong incurable disease.

Charlotte stroked the source card that Earl Monford had given her.

This is an extremely rare testing method offered by the Lundenim Source Exchange. By recording the unpurified spirituality of the Source, it can partially reflect the nature of the Source.

Under the constraints of the indeterminate law, this is the closest that human technology can come to the truth.

Three colors were applied to a card.

After the first color touched her, she vaguely sensed a huge eye, devoid of emotion and malice. At that moment, goosebumps rose all over her body.

The second color made her head feel very heavy, as if something was pressing down on her, giving her an urge to "say something" or "do something".

The third color... she felt only instinctive fear and quickly withdrew her finger.

Her body reacted almost to the imagery before she even encountered it, nearly fleeing.

"How is it?" Earl Monford asked, looking at his daughter.

"I don't understand. I see many illusions, but none of them make me feel comfortable."

"It's alright. This is just the most vague verification, not the answer."

"Then why did you take so many pounds from us?"

"Because they know we can afford it."

"Oh dear..." Charlotte sighed. She was still choosing among the three clouds of mist and really didn't know which one to choose. This was already the best source material that the Earl's great power could cover. The selection and transportation of these materials were kept highly confidential.

"Miss, Mr. Vic has arrived," announced Butler Evans.

"Hey!" Charlotte folded the Source Card, stuffed it into her pocket, lifted her skirt, and ran out briskly.

"..." The count glanced in the direction his daughter had left, then chose to continue drinking his tea.