We traveled through the store, and the number of items that resided within these walls never ceased to amaze me—magic tree logs for mages, trinkets for summoners and priests, and carefully crafted swords for rouges and fighters! It was the adventurer's dream shop! Multiple vendors set up their own shops within this huge building, a haven for the marketplace.

"Here we are!" The man introduced himself with a proud grin.

"Here you'll find everything that you need."

Our mouths fell slightly agape at the sight of it—intricate metal trinkets and tools, screws of all different sizes, and Metal sheets to boot!

"Take your time." And with that he walked away, leaving us to our devices.

Racher looked at all the possible options, his eyes scanning the screw sizes to see if they'd even work.

We stood there for minutes, comparing screw sizes over and over again, the lack of movement eating away at my psyche, time running thin and my patience even thinner.

"Hey, Racher, I'm going to look around more if that's ok," I stated.

"huh? Oh yeah sure, go ahead." He murmured, not even giving me a glance, though I wasn't complaining. I walked around, and my eyes landed on all the different trinkets, though none were made out of wood, all were either leather or steel. Wood only came in plies and logs for you to carve yourself.

"Strange," I commented, stopping to look at some of the logs. My hand brushed against their rough exterior; the mana that leaked out from just their bark was hard to ignore, and my mouth fell slightly agape in wonder.

"Didn't you hear me!?" A roar knocked me out of my daze; my eyes panned over to the man from before, his hood down, screaming at a woman who was running one of the shops.

He seemed to be the muscular type, his hair white just like mine, thought tainted by its black undertone, and his and his emerald green eyes staring at the woman.

"I said, give me the talisman!" He demanded, a sword in his hand pressing against her face.

"Hey!" I shouted, turning his attention to me.

He gritted his teeth in annoyance at my interjection, turning fully towards me, the sword hilt gripped firmly in hand.

"Listen, kid, this has nothing to do with you, so I suggest you leave." His patience was running thin, but I didn't care, this was the exact excitement I needed!

"I'm not going anywhere." I declared.

"You're not going to cause any more of a ruckus in this market."

The man huffed at my threat, slightly amused but paying me no mind, his eyes panned back to the woman.

"What did I tell you! Get the talisman-" His words were cut off as he heard me approach him in a steady sprint.

Quickly he retaliated, swiping his sword at my feet to somehow immobilize me. My feet pushed off against the ground in a soft jump, landing on his blade and delivering a solid blow to his jaw.

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The man staggered backward, his blade swinging wildly to cover his blind spot as he desperately tried to catch his bearings. His eyes darted over to me, his feet digging into the ground, getting ready for a charge.

I stepped back, my eyes watching his every move as he charged towards me, dodging out of the way, my feet stumbling on themselves.

The man abruptly halted his advance, his boots skidding on the polished floor. In a swift motion, he executed a perfect 180-degree turn, unleashing a powerful swing of his blade in my direction. Anticipating his move, I executed a low crouch, bringing myself closer to the ground than he had expected. My hands reached for his arm, pulling myself up in one quick swing and twisting my hips to deliver two kicks to his face in rapid succession. Though he groaned in pain, his body didn't waver. My hands reaching to grab my foot and toss me across the room.

My back slammed against the wooden wall, face colliding with the floor soon enough. I looked up with narrowed eyes, watching the man approach me his blade in hand as he stared down at my body.

I tried to get up but the wind was knocked clean out of me. My hands clawed at the wooden floor, my back arched to get any hope of leverage, but it was too late, the man raised his sword to the sky and struck down at me. I closed my eyes, bracing for impact, but it never came.

"Seriously-" I heard a familiar voice, my eyes opened to see who it was, and I saw an energy field above me, Racher standing right near it, his staff in hand and his eyes narrowed in frustration.

"If you'd used your sword, this fight would've been over a long time ago." He mutters, an awkward smile forming on my face at his point.

"Yeah I know, but, I was bored."

"Who the hell are you!? You want what he's having?" With a roar, the man swung at him. However, his sword never reached; the mana shield that saved me now protected him from the man's advances.

"Are you sure you want to continue this?" Racher asked, and the man stepped back in fear at his quick reaction.

My eyes caught something on the man's robe as he stepped back—something familiar but elusive.

"Screw this-" He muttered, running away from us, our eyes remained on him as he pushed past the crowd to the exit.

"Thank you so much." The woman exclaimed, her gratefulness evident in the cracks of her voice, hands held together in a sign of prayer.

"I thought I was going to die for a minute, but you, you two saved me."

I got up from the ground, looking at her with a curious look.

"Hey, what did he want to steal anyway?"

The woman paused for a moment, looking at the talisman in question and showing it to us.

"A talisman that reverses time."

"Time?!" we both exclaimed in shock, looking at the leather talisman.

"Yes, place it on an item and it'll be as good as new!" She grinned, proud of the product she pitched to us.

"Though I apologize, even if you saved me, I'm in no position to offer a gift; all I have is my thanks."

I smiled at her honesty, hands dug into my pockets as I retrieved the gold.

"No need we'll take it off of your hands with a fair trade!"

Racher nodded at my claim, the woman smiling at our understanding.

_______________________

"Eighty!?" I exclaimed on our walk back to the forest. My hands grabbed my hair in frustration, still processing the price we paid for it.

"I can tell now why that man decided to resort to stealing," Racher murmured, looking at the talisman, his fingers holding onto the string as the leather twirled freely in his hand.

"Tell me about it." I groaned.

"Guess we won't be eating for a while," I whined. My eyes raised to the path ahead, seeing the man sitting by the broken cart, waiting for us.

"Oh, hello again!" he greeted, his hand waving at us.

I gave off a weak smile and waved back.

"We got what you need." Racher declared, kneeling by the cart, and resting the talisman on it, his hand hovering over the contraption, a blue light emitting from his palm.

The talisman glowed and the parts started to shake around it, slowly coming together once more.

I cheered in excitement, Racher and the old man letting out a soft smile at the results.

"Hell yeah!" I shouted, my arms pumping to the sky.

"We're back on the road!!"