Chapter 33 - There Was More Than One Monster
The second Hollow was smaller.
That did not make Eli feel better.
Market elders sealed the Trial Hall while vendors evacuated tunnels. Ren stood beside Victor as if they had not tried to imprison each other six hours earlier.
"Temporary truce," Ren said.
Victor nodded. "We can resume hating each other afterward."
"Healthy."
The creature beneath the Market was called a Craving Shade.
Unlike the Maw, which accumulated broad human appetite over generations, Shades formed around one concentrated desire.
This one had been fed for decades by the Market itself.
Ambition.
Thousands of cultivators came here wanting rare ingredients, higher realms, secret manuals, status, recognition.
All that wanting had condensed beneath their feet.
Ren smiled bitterly.
"And you wonder why I hate systems built around progression."
The Shade pushed into the hall.
It looked like a person made of mirrors.
Everyone who looked at it saw themselves as they wished to be.
Eli saw a restaurant empire.
His mother healthy.
His father free.
His name on buildings.
A Hearth Core shining like a sun inside him.
The image whispered, "You deserve this."
The system flashed.
[Craving influence detected.]
[Defense unavailable: target is using host's authentic desire.]
That was inconvenient.
Victor attacked first.
Gold chains passed through the Shade.
Ren's fasting blade cut it in half. Both halves became larger.
Madam Sato swore.
Eli realized violence fed ambition too. Every failed attack increased the desire to win.
"Stop fighting!"
Nobody listened.
So Eli threw a pot at Victor.
It hit him in the shoulder.
The room went silent.
"Thank you," Eli said. "Now stop."
He approached the Shade with empty hands.
His reflection offered everything.
"I do want that," Eli admitted.
The Shade smiled.
"I want Dad free. I want money. I'd love a restaurant where the hood doesn't leak grease on my head."
Its mirrors brightened.
"And I might never get all of it."
The reflection cracked.
Ambition did not require denial.
It required limits.
Eli took out one of Reggie's ugly merch shirts.
FEED PEOPLE, ANNOY BILLIONAIRES.
He laughed.
"Honestly, this is already more than I expected last week."
The Shade fractured.
Market cultivators began lowering weapons.
One by one, they acknowledged desires without obeying them.
The creature shrank into a silver seed.
[Craving Shade pacified.]
[Insight Qi +300]
[New Ingredient: Ambition Seed]
[Warning: do not eat raw. Obviously.]
The market elders stared at Eli.
The Trial registrar cleared his throat.
"Technically, pacifying a Hollow during intermission is not part of the exam."
Tasha shouted, "Extra credit!"
The elders conferred.
They granted Eli automatic passage through the Covenant Gate because he had demonstrated voluntary group coordination under spiritual pressure.
Only Shared Table remained.
Then Victor quietly approached.
"You want to know why I sponsored you?"
Eli waited.
Victor pointed to the silver Ambition Seed.
"The Trial attracts Shades. I knew one was forming. I needed someone compatible with Hollow essence to harvest it."
Eli's satisfaction vanished.
Victor had used his breakthrough as bait.
Again.
Worse, the Ambition Seed was exactly the ingredient Victor needed to complete Sovereign Authority.
And it now sat in Eli's pocket.
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