By the distant stares around him, the announcement had to have been global, and soon enough a couple of people started cheering. Unfortunately, what could have been almost a clean victory, turned out to be clutch with another dozen wounded and their wall breached. The worst part, they were well aware of how close to losing the whole shelter they got.

John, being both physically and mentally drained, decided to find a secluded place to summon the archway, visit Al'drul's emporium, and get a room in the Desperate fool's inn.

"Hey," a familiar deep voice came from behind him, making him turn and see the bear-like form quickly approaching him.

"Wanted to thank you for what you've done. Others might have not noticed, but your quick response saved a lot of lives. Oh, name's Marcus Blackwell, but err… everyone calls me the Blackfist." And he offered his meaty hand for a handshake.

"Thanks, I am John Miles," he replied, accepting the handshake and seeing a short moment of surprise on Blackfist's face.

"Oh? Are you by chance the one Josh mentioned?" Seeing his annoyance, he continued, "don't misunderstand, I am interested in capable people joining my parties, but I am not going to force you into anything."

Waving his hand, he added, "just know that I appreciate your assistance and hope to see you at the wall tomorrow."

Huh, that was… not exactly the reaction I expected, he thought while walking through the square. To be frank, John wasn't stupid and figured out who Blackfist was during the assault, but still had this instinctual reaction to keep his cards close to his vest.

Perhaps I was wrong to judge him for being interested in meeting me.

The other thing to think about was the seemingly random note below the congratulatory announcement. It was applauding him for defending his spot on the Fate-ladder, and with the rare monster also being named a fatebreaker, it all drew an alarming picture.

Was I the reason behind the Deathfiend's appearance after we wiped out the pack of Rothounds?

Lost in unpleasant thoughts, John wandered into one of the abandoned shops lining the square, walked into a small room on the side—likely a broom closet—with a solid wooden door that automatically shut behind him, and closed his eyes.

Inviolable escape.

The archway materialized after a few minutes of uninterrupted concentration, and then he stepped through.

"Hey Al'drul," John said in a cheery voice, making a beeline to the shelf on the back.

"Wow, are all the rare cards already sold out?"

"Indeed they are. But a better question is, what brings you here today? Maybe I can interest you in some good cards to link with your Storm wisp, and depending on your budget, perhaps invest in the uncommon ones?" Al'drul was trying to entice him with the promise of new cards, and by the expression on John's face, it was working.

"Hmm, can you show me what cards you have in mind?"

Smiling, Aldrul snapped his fingers and eight cards appeared on the glass counter in small flashes of golden light.

"Take your pick, these are uncommon, but except those three," he pointed at the third, seventh, and the eighth with his obsidian-like hand, "I can also offer them in the common variant."

[Increased projectile damage

Can be linked with any ability bearing a projectile tag to increase its projectile damage by 20%]

[Heavy impact

Can be linked with any ability bearing a projectile tag to cause a small knockback on impact.]

[Minor split-shot

Can be linked with any ability bearing a projectile tag to fire two very weakened projectiles on each use/attack instead.]

[Empowered projectiles

Can be linked with any ability bearing a projectile tag to increase its projectile damage by 30% at the cost of lowering the attack speed by 15% or increasing the cooldown by 20%]

[Increased minion movement speed

Can be linked with any ability bearing a minion tag to increase its movement speed by 20%]

[Increased minion attack speed

Can be linked with any ability bearing a minion tag to increase its attack speed by 15%]

[Increased minion combat distance

Can be linked with any ability bearing a minion tag to increase its maximum combat distance by 10%]

[Increased affinity effect

Can be linked with any ability bearing an affinity tag to increase its affinity effect by 10%]

"Huh, I don't want the first five, but the last three are very interesting. How much do they cost?"

With a simple wave of his hand, Al'drul made the first five crumble into golden sparks, and three white numbers appear above the remaining three.

The attack speed showed three-fifteen, the combat distance three-seventy, and the affinity effect four-eighty, making John open his Apocalypse deck and check his disposable funds.

Two yellows, eighty-eight blues, and three thousand seven hundred whites. When did I get so many whites? I… oh, the second Fate-ladder rewards, yeah now it makes sense.

His previous plan was to spend only on the permanent attribute boosts, but with the siege and also the offer of those exact bonuses, he wasn't certain.

"Can you tell me, when you'll get cards of rare or higher rarity?"

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

"That would be after you buy an upgrade for my emporium in your shelter."

His tone made it clear this was as much as John would get on this topic, making him list through all the unused common cards he got.

Unfortunately, the two cards from Rick and Tamara were not fitting for his deck, and the one he obtained from the assault was just as bad, leaving him with five if he counts the bleeding and the melee impact. Pulling all five out, he placed them on the counter and asked how much he could get.

"I can offer you one hundred and sixty-nine white ash. The Staggering blows and the Increased area of effect cards are valuable, but the remaining three are barely useful."

This made John frown. If this was yesterday, he would have sold them without any thought, but one-sixty-nine wasn't much, and he was certain the Valiant's stand could find a use for them.

Maybe I could let them have it.

He obtained two yellow piles, getting the equivalent of over a thousand whites, so donating a couple of unnecessary cards felt like a good trade-off.

"Hmm, you know what, I'll take the Increased minion attack speed, the Increased minion combat distance, two of the cards called Increased affinity effect, and a common single-use attribute boosting card for Strength, Dexterity, and Perception."

At first, Al'drul's smile stretched as John started listing his items, but after getting to the single-use cards, his smile morphed into confusion.

"You are aware, the total amount would be four thousand six hundred and forty-five white ash, and there is no quantity discount, correct?" His cheery expression was now gone, overtaken by a stoic indifference.

"Yes, thirty-eight blues, and the rest in whites," John said, placing his hand on the yellow crystal and willing the payment to go through.

In a very short time, the merchant's face turned into surprise, confusion, anger, and then back into confusion, and caught John off-guard by the uncertainty and reluctance in his voice.

"I… know… it's not my business… but I am now very confused, John. I take pride in my ability to read people but with you, I… I am lost. I can't observe anything outside the walls of my shop, and the explanations I can think of make no sense or do not fit. Would you… mind breaking the established rules and sate the curiosity of an old man?"

The strange request made him put more thought into it before blindly agreeing, but at the end of the day, Al'drul have helped him before and offering a little bit of trust to a merchant he was likely to deal with in the foreseeable future felt like a smart idea. Giving a nod, he gestured for him to continue.

"You… were able to collect enough funds to build my emporium less than a day after the Apocalypse began, but ever since then, no one else has visited this shop. Now, a couple of hours later, you are able to spend almost another five thousand white ash on a couple of cards which will not make any significant difference… Are you aware that those who take everything from the others living in their shelter are almost always doomed to fail?"

As Al'drul spoke, he was very carefully observing John for even the minuscule reaction and was expecting to see either arrogance or maybe shame, but instead, all he observed was confusion, making him also even more confused.

"What do you… Wait, you think I am taking the ash from other people and blocking access to your shop?"

"Are you not?" Al'drul countered back.

"No, I… Hmm… I have a proposition... A question of my own, in exchange for sating your curiosity. Not about the Apocalypse, but about something that happened to me, and since you are the merchant… how about we make it into a deal."

"I cannot answer anything about what is going to happen, so if you ask about that, I will consider your question forfeit. Is that agreeable?" Al'drul got his merchant smile back.

"How about you answer as much as you are allowed? I can't guarantee it will not somehow link into the future events, and wouldn't like for you to immediately dismiss it." John countered.

"I suppose… that is reasonable, but I will get your explanation first," Al'drul demanded, making John nod and offer a handshake.

"The deal is struck."

A strange feeling rushed through him as he unclasped his hand from the iron-like grip of the obsidian merchant, and he felt compelled to explain his side of the deal and unable to lie or misdirect the incoming questions about anything directly tied to his part of the deal.

Al'drul first asked about his shelter, where the other people were, how it worked, and after that, he continued with questions aiming at where he obtained the funds to afford the cards. Finally, after five minutes of intense questioning, the compulsion lifted, and John was able to stop talking.

"What you shared with me… especially your shelter… don't let anyone else know about it. You are lucky you kept that to yourself, and I am unable to explain why, but know that your shelter has the greatest value only as long as no one else knows about it. I must say, I wasn't expecting this valuable of an answer, so depending on what you ask, I might give you some extra advice to make it more even."

John nodded and smiled. It was time to get some answers of his own.

"What I want to ask is somehow linked to what happened earlier in this shop. I am currently staying in another shelter filled with people, and an hour earlier as I was leaving the Zagratix's hoard, I felt something off. At first, I believed someone was following me and wanting to steal the items I'd bought, but the feeling of danger was getting stronger the closer I walked to a building called the House of healing and respite and making me nearly collapse in pain when I was about to open its door. This shut off the sense of danger, but leaving me with the strained pain deep within in the same exact way I felt after leaving your emporium. So my question is, why was it so wrong to enter that damned tree, and what would have happened if I did."

The satisfied expression was quickly wiped off from Al'drul's face, and the longer he listened to John's speech, the more troubled he looked.

"John… how high is your Fate attribute?" He seemed almost afraid of the answer.

"After the second Fate-ladder, I have twenty-two, ranked as an E."

"That explains it. Whatever you do, avoid going in there. The one inside is… is…" he looked like a stuttering person trying to force the sentence out, but being stuck halfway and unable to speak.

"You need to get all the… the… I… I can't help you anymore. I am sorry."

Damn it Al'drul, you didn't explain anything.

"John, listen to me very carefully now. What you asked me is even more dangerous than the knowledge about your shelter. The only thing I can offer you as a token of apology for my unsatisfying answer is a twenty-five percent discount for your next common card purchase, and a suggestion to keep everything you figure out about Fate to yourself."

"Mhm, well thanks for the offer, I'll put it to good use later."

"One last thing before you go," Al'drul asked with a mischievous grin, "if the servant in Desperate fool asks why are you the only one visiting, maybe reply along the lines of no one else in your shelter being interested in eating there?"

Remembering the prank with the door, John chuckled and headed out."

Going inside the inn, he was greeted by the same youth, but having dinner before the siege, he rejected his offers of food and asked to be shown into his room instead.

Using a wooden stairway, he entered an L-shaped corridor filled with rooms on both sides and was given access to the very first one on the left.

"Touch the green crystal here to unlock the door please."

Doing so, a flash of green passed over the door's surface, and with a light push, it opened and allowed him access to his room.

"Is there anything else I can help you with sir?"

"That would be all, thank you," John replied, closing the door behind him.

It was an unexpectedly luxurious room, filled with ornately carved wooden furniture, a king-sized bed, and decorations made out of stuffed trophies, painted skulls, and bone jewelry, and most importantly, in an adjacent room a big wooden bathtub filled with steaming-hot water.

Quickly removing all his dirty clothes and piling them in the corner, he lowered himself into the bath, enjoying the heat and the sweet herbal scent of the steaming water.

"Ahhhh, this was exactly what I needed."