The difference was noticeable the moment Riven stepped back into the market.
It wasn't the noise or the movement. Those stayed the same, blending into the usual rhythm of trade and negotiation. What had changed was the availability.
He stopped at the first stall he had visited the day before. The selection was thinner.
Riven picked up a stone, glanced at the display, and set it back down without interest.
"Anything with movement?" he asked.
The seller shook his head without looking up. "Sold out."
"Stamina?"
"Same."
Riven didn't press further. He moved on.
The next stall gave him the same answer. The one after that didn't even bother pretending to have stock.
"Came in this morning," the seller said. "Gone within the hour."
Riven's pace didn't change, but his attention sharpened. He checked another row, then another, each time finding the same pattern. The useful skills were missing. What remained were either too specific or too inefficient to matter or didn't suit his needs.
At one stall, he paused longer than usual.
A cluster of stones sat on display, their glow steady but unimpressive. Riven picked one up, scanning it briefly before setting it down again.
"How much for this?" he asked.
The seller named a price.
Higher than it should have been.
Riven didn't react. He set the stone back and stepped away without negotiating.
By the time he reached the inner section, the pattern had become consistent enough to stop being coincidence.
Movement skills were gone.
Stamina skills followed the same trend.
Perception was thinning.
The categories Daris had mentioned were the ones disappearing first.
Riven didn't waste time searching further. He turned and headed out of the market, taking a more direct route this time.
Daris was where he usually was, leaning back in his chair as if nothing in the world required urgency.
He looked up as Riven approached, a faint shift in expression passing over his face before settling back into something neutral.
"I assume the market didn't treat you that well," he said.
Riven didn't sit immediately. "Movement skills," he said. "Stamina. None of the stalls have them."
Daris let out a quiet breath, more amused than surprised. "Yeah. That's not very surprising."
Riven pulled a chair and sat across from him. "What happened?"
Daris tapped the table lightly, as if considering how much to say. "Nothing unusual," he said after a moment. "Just the market doing what it always does."
"Can you explain it in normal people terms?"
"If you want to stay in this business, you need to understand how the market works. This isn't just brutes killing beasts"
Riven waited.
Daris leaned forward slightly. "There's no regulation here," he said. "No oversight. If someone wants to control supply, they can. And if they can do it fast enough, no one stops them."
Riven's expression didn't change, but his attention sharpened.
"A new dungeon opened," Daris continued. "Tight clear conditions. Movement matters more than anything else. Stamina right after that."
Riven thought back to the empty stalls.
"That's enough to clear everything out?" he asked.
Daris gave a small shrug. "Not by itself. But it doesn't take much when someone decides to move early."
"Bulk buyers."
"Something like that."
Daris leaned back again, his tone turning more casual. "Happens every time something worth clearing shows up. The ones who get there first pick up what they need before everyone else realizes there's a shift."
"And then?"
"They sit on it," Daris said. "Wait for demand to peak, then move it at whatever price they want. It's not like the government can regulate black market prices."
Riven didn't respond immediately.
The explanation fit too cleanly with what he had seen.
"This dungeon," he said after a moment. "What is it?"
"People are calling it the Glass Corridor," Daris replied. "Narrow paths, shifting routes, traps that punish hesitation. You move right, you clear it clean. You slow down, you pay for it."
Riven nodded slightly. His expression hardening into a decision.
Daris studied him for a second. "Thinking of going in?"
"I need supply," Riven said.
Daris rested his arm on the table. "Scavenging's going to be rough. Those places get picked clean fast once teams start running them."
"I don't need everything," Riven said. "Just what's left."
Daris let out a quiet laugh. "That's what you said last time."
Daris watched him for a moment longer, then gave a small nod. "Fair enough. Just don't expect it to be easy, the dungeon's new and in high demand."
The conversation ended there.
The streets felt more crowded than usual on the way back, though it might have just been the shift in direction. Riven moved through them without slowing, his thoughts settling into place with each step.
The market wasn't unreliable.
It was controlled.
That made it predictable in a different way, but it also meant he couldn't depend on it. Not for the kind of consistency he needed.
Buying full skills just to extract a part of them was already inefficient. Competing with someone who could clear out entire categories before they even reached the stalls made it worse.
He needed a source that didn't depend on timing.
Something that existed before the market touched it.
By the time he reached his apartment, the decision had already been made.
The Glass Corridor was just the place he was looking for.
It was where the supply started.
Riven picked up his bag, checking the contents out of habit. Empty stones. Basic tools. Nothing unnecessary.
He realized he should start creating some skills for himself for situations like these. He had been short-sighted with the skills he sold, but he wasn't regretting, it was a necessary step he had to take.
This will be his last time scavenging a dungeon, picking up scraps the assault teams don't even look for.
The next time he goes there, it will be for hunting.