Access to Essence Shards is the main indicator of true wealth and power, especially among mages, scholars, and enchanters.

While national currencies vary in strength and inflation, Essence Shards maintain a stable and universally recognized value, creating an elite market class separated from ordinary economic life.

Commoners rarely hold shards directly, unless obtained through trade, scavenging, or illegal markets.

The Shrine Tower and nobility dominate shard circulation through mining rights, relic control, and black-market regulation.

This results in an extreme wealth divide, especially between non-magical citizens and the magically capable elite, whose access to shards enables both economic power and personal advancement.