The backyard of the main building had an open ground where most of the gang members came to train.

Edges had rows of pine trees planted, which provided shade from the sun, kept the air clean by soaking the dust which was common on a windy day as no grass would survive being trampled by grown men daily. They also acted as good training partners, as one would train their arms, legs and knuckles against their meters of wide trunks.

It was early morning and at the centre of the ground, Thomson was sparring against 3 guards who were finding it difficult to keep up and the heavy blows were really hard to parry.

Although he was already approaching his fifties, he looked good for his age. His body covered in scars demanded respect from his underlings.

Grey hair, with many strands of white,

were tied in a proper knot. After almost 2 decades of serving in the military, he had developed this habit of waking up early. Discipline was what kept one alive in wars, as years of fighting would make it harder to distinguish between man or monster, even sanity had to be practised. So many times had he seen his subordinates lose their lives after a night of heavy drinking. Being a tad slower, failing to dodge an arrow or a monster swipe which they would have easily dodged on a normal day. So he was hard on himself and even harder on the group of thugs he commanded.

But all those internal injuries do take a toll on you. But even after leaving the military, there wasn't much a man of his skillset could do and still be satisfied. So after beating the local thugs into submission, he became their boss.

As a rank 3 warrior, there weren't many who could threaten him in this town. He had even gathered a small fortune over the years. Everything was great except he had to scale back on the whoring, as he had a family now.

He would have been content on living like this, with some hope of reaching rank 4 in his lifetime if it wasn't for that orb. At first, he thought they were just rumours otherwise he would have gone himself.

He doubted anyone would know of its true significance here, but if it was the same orb, just the thought of having 30 additional years of life made his blood boil. It's wasn't just 30 years of life but 30 years of lost potential. He would have a chance to be young again. Rank 4, Rank 5, he didn't know how far he could go with it.

The sound of approaching footsteps pulled him out of his contemplation. A tall guy walked with a leisurely approach, unlike the boss he was thin but healthy, clothed in black with a matching mask made it harder for anyone to determine his age.

Thomson dismissed the three heavily sweating thugs who looked like they would collapse any second now.

As he reached Thomson, he bowed his head. "Raka, how did it go?", Thomson asked him.

He was the same old man who had been taking with Saho the previous night. " He is innocent. He didn't know how Philanders got there. One of the guys must have betrayed us. Show them a few coins and there goes their loyalty. As far as the kid goes there is no doubt of his loyalty."

Thomson looked at him for a few seconds before speaking, "it doesn't matter, this beating would make sure he stays a proper dog and that old weasel(head of Philanders), I would make him regret his whole life. Send our guys to look for any information they can find out about the orb and the movement of Philanders. We will make our move before this gets unwanted attention."

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"Also, send someone to get them for me, no matter the cost," he said while handing him the sheet containing a list of ingredients.

It was later in the afternoon Saho was released. He looked haggard. Torn clothes and bruised face made him quite a spectacle. Slowly, he made his way out of the base. Looking up he noticed the sun and squeezed his eyes. The glare hurt his eyes. Keeping his head down he let the rays of the sun soothe his body instead.

Hunters were already making their way back from the forest. Some carried corpses of monsters, but mostly it was rabbits and other smaller animals. Town guards were lazing around. Vendors were setting up their stalls to prepare for the evening. People from the nearby villages were coming in to buy meat and other necessary products to prepare for the coming winter. Fresh vegetables, herbs, and some extra grains they had hoarded would sell for a good price now that demand would increase.

Saho walked along the stone path avoiding the potholes. Instead of getting treated by the healer available at the gang, he made his way toward the alchemist shop available in the town. He needed to be alone and get bombarded with another round of questions from his colleagues.

"Regular healing bam and pills, please," he asked the guy at the counter.

The young guy looked at him and after guessing the extent of his injuries went inside the shop and after some time returned with a paper bag. "That will be 1 silver".

Saho paid the money without looking inside and moved onwards towards the meat shop. It was here the processed meat was available. Most high ranking monsters were poisonous for human consumption and thus had to be treated with special herbs and techniques.

It made them expensive, and normal people would only buy them on special occasions.

He paid a silver coin for 5 kg of Rank 2 monster meat. Although this would hurt his expenses, it was necessary for healing faster. Being a Rank 1 he could eat meat if monsters at Rank 1 without processing as this was the case for subsequent ranks also. Once one increase in ranks their body would also grow stronger and thus making the poison obsolete.

After another 10 minutes of walking, he reached his quarters. He had rented 2 rooms on the 2nd floor of this 3 storied house. He had to pay more for the water, attached bathroom and kitchen but the trade was worth it.

A small bed, with a table, adjoining it making sure he wouldn't fall off the bed in the night. It had some worn-out books, candles, a pen and an inkpot. The wooden cupboard at the corner of the room was the only other furniture. The next room was empty except for some knives and training weights.

He dumped his package in the kitchen and took out the medicine. He ate the pill with a glass of water. Putting the low-quality heatstone in the pile of coal, he placed a pot of water on the stove. Lighting it up he put several pieces of meat, salt and dark chilli along with several stalks of seafgrass in it. Then he moved into the bathroom. Filling the tub with water, he once again used a low-quality heatstone along with coal to heat the water. Although a little costly these headstones made sure the coal would last longer and reduced the need for firewood.

Taking off his clothes, he slowly laid down in the tub when the water was hot enough. He couldn't help but let a sigh of relief and pain escape his mouth as the dirt and blood were washed off his body. He let the warmth invade his body as he thought of the events of the last week.

It was after an hour or so he felt the cooling water. He had drifted off. Getting up he changed into different clothes. Moving into the kitchen he turned off the heater. The meat had cooked nicely and the sweet aroma finally made him notice his hunger. Taking a big portion into a bowl he dived into it. Taking big bites and drinking the soup he finished it in no time. After that, he applied the healing bam all over his bruised body. It wasn't a good experience as he had expected. It heated his body and then felt tingly and itchy. Ignoring the feelings he lay in his bed. It was not long after he went to slumber.