A smile couldn't leave Stella's face. Merchants and adventurers alike kept looking at her, giggling every now and then.
"You're really happy, aren't you…?" Dexter asked, holding her hands.
"Of course I am… because I'm with you…" She smiled at him brilliantly.
Swaying their hands as they walked, they proceeded to a fancy restaurant for lunch. Stella once again ordered everything on the menu, while Dexter only ordered a simple dish.
"Dex… are you not going to hunt today?"
"Not now… I plan to build our house first, then set up a crafting station near it so I can craft and sell…"
"Is that so… Then I could help you build our house!"
Dexter laughed, rubbing her head as he said,
"It's okay… You can just fish on the island and cook our food."
"Is that island the same one we stayed on with Gridlock?"
"No… Gridlock's island doesn't have a Traveler, and we can only get there by boat — rowing it ourselves."
After waiting a few minutes, the waitress placed all the ordered food on their table, making Stella salivate. She immediately grabbed a roast chicken without a care for etiquette.
"Seriously, Stella, you're the only one who's proclaimed herself a princess without a graceful act."
"I'm not in my kingdom, and you're the only person who knows me here. Who cares about grace? I can be graceful at night, right?" she teased.
"And a perverted princess at that…" Dexter added.
After eating their fill, Dexter went to buy the materials needed for their new home, while Stella headed straight to their island to fish. It was a good thing Dexter had given her the Mythical Fishing Twig back in the Starting Area — otherwise, chaos could have spread in Eldrion if he'd accidentally dropped it upon dying.
…
A week passed, and Stella stared at the house in front of her — a simple but spacious bungalow, wide enough to hold all their necessities. It had one multipurpose room only curtains dividing it, designed just for the two of them.
"Do you like it?" Dexter asked.
"Of course I do!"
They stepped inside their new home and gazed out the window, where the curtains swayed in the gentle breeze.
"It's really peaceful here…" he said. 'I hope we can stay like this forever.'
"I love it here. It feels like we're back at Mr. Blacksmith's beach…"
"Do you think he's okay?" Stella asked.
"Yeah, he is. He's my master, isn't he? He can take care of himself — he's lived long enough."
Stella turned to face Dexter, smiling as she cupped his face in her hands.
"Are you really not going to hunt anymore?"
"Depends… but I'd rather stay here with you. I'll focus on crafting and buying Combat Mastery Tomes for us, so we can level up safely," he said, kissing her forehead. "Besides… I want to cherish every moment with you."
…
When Dexter woke up, he left Stella — still murmuring in her sleep — after a soft kiss on her forehead. He headed straight to the kitchen to prepare for breakfast.
After they ate, Dexter traveled to Sunscar Kingdom to refine his gathered materials. Using Gridlock's Jack-of-all-Trades Crafting Station he made in his island, he mass-produced various equipment. While quantity came easily, quality suffered unless he dedicated extra time.
He crafted a hundred sets of Tier III gear and sold them at Sand Worm Oasis, where new players constantly arrived. The sales boosted his Crafting Mastery, allowing him to make Tier IV equipment.
Three months of relentless crafting, buying raw materials, refining, and selling finally paid off — his Crafting Mastery reached Level 60, unlocking Tier VI gear.
"At last… Now I can craft the minimum equipment for war."
"What I've really needed from the start is a mammoth… But thanks to my bracers' infinite weightless storage, I can use a fast mount to travel the Warring Kingdoms and sell gear."
"Or should I smuggle everything to Blackreach Throne and sell it at the Obsidian Bazaar?"
Lost in thought, he barely noticed Stella approaching with water.
"Dex, are you really not allowed to wear anything besides that… loincloth when you're crafting?"
"It's a limitation. The system blocks me from equipping anything else, but I can change its appearance to regular clothes, so it's not a problem."
"But… it's hard for me to control myself when I see you like that, you know…" Stella blushed.
"Saying that just makes me want to tease you more, do you want me to remove it?" Dexter replied.
…
The next day,
Dexter bought a Tier V Sabertooth mount and a hundred packs of rolled dry leaves. With the remaining millions, he purchased thousands of Combat Mastery Tomes, giving half to Stella and instructing her to wear his Healing Set before using them.
Stella's level skyrocketed to 43 with the Healing Set equipped, allowing her to use Tier V equipment — matching the set she now wore.
Meanwhile, Dexter only rose to level 84, leaving him sixteen levels short of upgrading his equipment to Tier VIII.
The downside of the Tomes? Their Specializations didn't level up, since those only progressed through repeated use of the desired gear.
After mounting the Sabertooth, Dexter said goodbye to Stella. Of all his plans, selling at the Obsidian Bazaar was the most promising — high risk, high reward.
'Hopefully, those PKers will mistake me for a newbie… even if I'm riding a Sabertooth.'
...
Dexter rode his Sabertooth across the sandy regions of Sunscar Kingdom, heading toward the heart of the Warring Kingdoms' continent — Blackreach Throne, a haven for bandits and criminal wannabe players in Eldrion.
Unlike other kingdoms, where players could teleport by paying a fee based on their inventory weight, Blackreach Throne banned teleportation entirely, forcing merchants to rely on caravans to reach the Obsidian Bazaar — the black market that controlled Eldrion's loot distribution.
Items sold here would magically reappear in random chests across dungeons, world bosses, and even the Abyss Realm, keeping Eldrion's economy somewhat balanced.
'Damn it… It's only been three zones since I left Sunscar Kingdom, and there's already twenty PKers chasing me?!'
Dexter glanced behind him while reining in the Sabertooth, only to see a flying mount gaining on him.
"WHY THE FUCK THERE'S A TIER X CHASER HAWK HERE?!"