Lord of the Karmic Fate

Raven's whole body froze up the instant his eyes fell on the description of the necklace, his fingers even starting to twitch as if electricity was running through them!

"Reverse... Star-Crossed Necklace..." mumbling the name of the item Raven shifted his gaze at the necklace to get a better look.

Its chain was thinner than a human nail and was seemingly made out of silver steel which also had a hint of a gold cluster. However, the most interesting part about it was not that but the pendant connected to the chains which was a small star with its five edges curved toward the left while half of it was black while its other half was white!

"Hm? Oho? I know those eyes. You want it, right?" Dinas chuckled as it was as clear as day what Raven was thinking. In fact, it would not be an overestimation to say that at the moment he looked like a little kid before his favorite toy, wishing to buy it.

"Though, I must say, your taste in relics is rather... weird."

"How so?" Raven asked as he took the necklace into his hands and watched that the item cost not even 30 Astral Cores, 28 to be precise!

"How should I put it. That necklace was given to me by a young man a very long time ago and it had numerous owners but each of them brought it back shortly after they bought it, saying it was cursed. Just like how you can read it in its description."

Raven became silent as he touched the pedant and asked, "How cursed it is?"

"Well, there was a young lady who said after she bought the necklace just under a week almost died five times, lost her house, was robbed, and broke an arm. However, the moment she got rid of it, she no longer experienced hell." Dinas explained before adding, "Similar events and stories happened with others who got their hands on the necklace, hence why I advise you to think over your ch-"

"I will buy it!" Raven quickly said.

"You... Did you even listen to what I have just told you?" Dinas was stupefied.

"I did, but if what this thing says is true, that it also works the other way around, then..."

Then he has just hit the jackpot and gained a priceless treasure for almost free!

"Hmm... You are quite the interesting one. Well, whatever, don't blame me for not warning you." Dinas said and even before Raven could have blinked twice he saw as from his 101 Astral Cores 28 vanished, leaving him with 73.

"Do you wish to buy anything else?" Dinas then asked.

Putting the necklace around his neck Raven nodded and asked, "Is there any relic or item that is similar to this one?"

"Luck-related items?" Dinas mumbled as he fell into deep thoughts, "While unfortunately on this floor there is none, on the higher floors there are some."

"And how can I get access to the higher floors?" Raven asked while he kept examining several things around him.

"There are a total of ten floors in my Realm Shop. You will be able to enter the second floor if you have surpassed Rank 10. As for the other floors, you get access to each of them after every 10th Rank."

"And what about the others? Like, those who became Rank 1 but didn't get permission to enter the first floor? When or how will they be able to get here?" Raven asked as this question made him curious a long time ago.

"Oh, about that... I won't tell you as that would spoil the fun, hehe."

Raven's mouth twitched upon hearing Dinas' reply, but as he could do nothing he just sighed and grabbed a bottle and a ring from his side, one being an Avatar Flask increasing his Vitality by 3 while the other being a relic increasing one's Constitution by 4 points.

The former one was for him which cost 25 Astral Cores while the latter one he bought for Luna for 20 Astral Cores, hence leaving him with 28.

Of course, he would be able to buy another Avatar Flask or a cheaper relic, but as he already said he didn't know when he will need them in the future or how hard it was to get a single Astral Core he decided to keep some just in case.

"It was a pleasure to do business with you," Dinas said with a joy-filled voice.

Raven nodded his head and before walking toward the door on the side which was the obvious exit, he asked, "Will I be able to come back here?"

"Unfortunately, until 'that' time you will not be able to do so. This time it was just an exception, a little reward for your hard work for reaching Rank 1 before others."

"I see." Raven mumbled and while he wished to ask what Dinas meant under the word 'that' he knew he would not get an answer.

Thus, after giving one final glance at the scenery around him he turned around and grabbed the handle on the door, allowing himself to get teleported.

And the very moment his figure vanished, Dinas began to speak, but this time in a rather deep and serious voice;

"Your path has just begun, little bird. Things will only become harder from this point on. Let's just hope you can become strong fast enough or else..." after Dinas reached that point he just sighed and fell into silence, no longer talking.

Meanwhile, back in the luxurious hotel room, Raven appeared out of thin air, immediately welcomed by a shocked gasp and a warm hug which was carried by a violet scent.

Of course, it was needless to say that the one jumping onto him and hugging him tightly was Luna, who after waiting for half an hour anxiously finally could let out a sigh of relief.

"Young Master..." while Raven showed a somewhat guilty smile for making Luna feel worried because of him, a familiar voice appeared from beside him.

However, when Raven looked to his left, except for Thomas who had just spoken there was also Old Dan, Lucas, and Darwin, each looking at him with eyes filled with confusion, disbelief, and wonder.

'I guess I will have to explain everything to them, huh?' Raven sighed bitterly in his heart before gently patting Luna's back to let him go, who while being reluctant to do so did as he asked.