Stella Continued, enjoying herself a little too much as she spoke.

"The Hollow Tide Puffer has an unusual internal organ system. It rapidly expands and collapses specialised gas chambers inside of its body, not only to alter buoyancy and physical size, but to create violent pressure changes. When threatened or cornered, it can trigger explosive rapid expansion or collapse that ruptures everything around it."

Rohan looked at the two small orbs, amazed that such beasts existed.

"That sounds unpleasant to face off against..." Rohan commented.

"It is." Stella said simply, not offering any further information.

"These Hollow Tide Burst Genetic Armaments replicate that mechanism, but on a far more self destructive scale. Once activated and lodged where you want them, they build pressure in an instant and then violently collapse it."

She moved one finger in a tiny inward-outward gesture, bringing a slight blush to Elane’s cheeks from the unusual move. "That causes a violent explosion that tears at the surroundings, decimating everything in a ten metre radius, including itself."

The duo nodded slowly, clearly imagining the ferocity of the effect.

"In simple terms, they turn enclosed spaces into the perfect death trap." Stella said.

That made the whole room go silent for a heartbeat — because all three of them were imagining the same thing now.

A penetrative strike to get through tough defence, and then throwing one of these inside the wound.

If both phases succeeded, then whatever beast they faced off against would have a hard time staying in one piece afterwards!

Rohan’s pulse quickened. ’...We might actually have a decent shot at this!’

He wore his emotions on his face, easy for Stella to take note of, but he wasn’t bothered by that at the moment.

There was no need to hide his excitement for the upcoming fight, after all Stella was still thinking they were facing off against a strong F rank Elite — little did she know that the duo had the capabilities already to take one down solo.

Even Elane could take one down solo now that she had her Elite Spike Beast Bow — though it would be a treacherous fight, similar to how Rohan’s first battle against the Soldier Ant went.

"...Amazing. We’ll take all four of them!" Rohan exclaimed.

Stella smiled with her eyes curved, looking in between the duo.

"Lovely! That’ll be $1 million per item, so $4 million in total."

Rohan felt his heart tighten just listening to that price, as it was far out of the realm of anything he could afford at the moment. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

He shifted his gaze over to Elane, watching her with anticipation.

They’d already agreed beforehand that she would be the one paying for the Genetic Armaments they were acquiring today. She was far better off than Rohan, for starters, so this wouldn’t make much of a dent in her finances. But more importantly, she jumped at the opportunity to finally pay him back — in her own way.

They both knew that in both the Origin Realm and the Spike Beast gate, Rohan had essentially been carrying Elane to success due to how much stronger he was than her currently, and that had been weighing on her mind a lot.

So this took some of that weight off her shoulders and let her loosen up a little.

***

After speaking their goodbyes and paying for the four new Genetic Armaments they now owned, Rohan and Elane departed Hathsworn Exchange and the centre of Primus city as a whole.

When they were alone back in Rohan’s still empty apartment, the awkward moment Rohan had been dreading finally arrived.

"So... how does this work?" Elane asked.

They both knew it would come to this at some point, and though it was awkward for the both of them, it was something that had to be done if they wanted their plan to be a success.

Rohan sucked in a deep breath as he prepared to face Elane.

"Huuuu... Elane, what I’m about to tell you, you can never tell anyone else, okay? If you do, it can implicate not just me, but also you in the ensuing trouble." He spoke in such an utterly serious tone that Elane felt a little shocked by the change.

But she buffed up and nodded her head in agreement anyway.

"I’m glad that you agreed, but that’s still not good enough for me. I’m going to ask you to do something for me, and if you can’t agree to it, then unfortunately we will have to part ways from this moment forth."

Elane’s pupils shrunk to pinholes the moment she heard what Rohan just said. The idea of leaving and never interacting with Rohan again was something she didn’t even want to cross her mind.

He was her path to higher power! She knew from the very first time she fought with him that if she stuck to his side, then his success would trickle down to her success.

But aside from those reasons, most of all, Rohan had quickly become a friend that she trusted the most inside and outside of the Origin Realm, and that was indispensable in a cutthroat world like this.

She already had an inkling about what he was about to ask her, so she prepared herself.

"I need you to swear upon something extremely important to you, something that you couldn’t bear to part with if you break this agreement." Rohan continued, fully knowing the severity of his words.

This was something that all Awakened learned of eventually — the weight of swearing upon something between two agreeable parties. If both sides agreed to be bound by the Origin Realm in this, then although it might seem like nothing much had happened, something very big would.

Nobody knew how it worked, but if one party broke their side of an agreement, then immediately after, whatever they swore upon would disappear.

Countless people have tried and failed to understand how that mechanism worked, but nobody could find an answer. Most Awakened just put it down to a power they can’t understand, and never will. Just like the Origin Realm and its mechanisms.

Elane didn’t hesitate in giving her agreement.

"I swear upon my talent, my strength and my life that I won’t spread word of what you’re about to tell me! Let the Origin Realm be my witness!"