Mathew and his five men waited in line to go into the store. Mathew was skeptical he would find anything unique. What little talking he did to the citizens of New Watago showed that Di was truly a general goods store. A jack of all trades. This shop had no information for sale, no weapons that didn’t have a magical effect, nor anything mundane like poisons. Unless said poison was magical and affected a person's mana directly.

He was tempted to buy another Ability if there was one for sale he could both afford and use. All of the things Di had for sale were horribly low tier in power, unranked, or too expensive. The few things he had that could be increased in rank were listed in the six digits.

Then again, Mathew was almost Level 25. Whatever Ability he gained from reaching that milestone would be better than anything he could purchase. More resources for making rituals would be interesting, or even more rituals. Di only had the one book for rituals, and most of the supplies minus Mana Cores. A shop that specializes in magic could be interesting.

Soon it was their turn in line and a ‘small’ fee of 1,000 UC was paid by each of them. Mathew didn’t mind it that much, but the five guards seemed disgruntled about the steep price.

Once inside, Mathew found a respectable store. Compared to Di’s it was smaller and less modern. The smell of pine was heavy and the lighting came from a single source in the middle of the shop that was a floating yellow crystal.

Mathew saw sitting at the counter was a short green man. His ears were pointed at the bottoms and rounded at the top. While bald, his entire head was tattooed with lines of blue ink. His eyes were pitch black.

Mathew gave the shop owner a friendly smile, “Hello there. I’m Mathew, pleasure to meet you.”

The green man blinked a few times and spoke in a language Mathew couldn’t understand.

“Sorry, my language skill goes one way. I can’t understand your native tongue.”

The shopkeeper sighed defeatedly, “Ah, too good to be true. Here I thought a human with manners did exist, but you pass I suppose. You are new here ain’t ya? Where are you coming from?”

“Another zone. Our shop isn’t as specialized as yours. Anything unique you have to offer?”

The green man stuck his hand out, “You can call me Ni. Every other human does since nobody can pronounce my real name.”

Mathew raised an eyebrow, “What is it, if you don’t mind me asking.”

“Nythrquotisnodi.”

Mathew blinked. “I’m going to just call you Ni.”

“Ha, I appreciate you trying. As for what I have for sale, we have plenty of magical focuses with most of the elements. Anything high class or super specific we won’t have, like void, crystal, smog, or any of the specialized metals. We have Mana Cores if you want to recharge mana on the go. We have some pills, powders, and-”

Mathew stopped listening and held up a finger. “Did you say Mana Cores?” He said it carefully. As if the question itself could offend Ni.

Ni smiled fiendishly. “I sure did. I had you pegged as a mage. Robes are pretty basic for most battle mages. Let me guess, got a big spell that costs too much mana?”

Mathew’s lips slightly twisted upwards. “Nothing that large, I know some crafters who could use them, myself included. It’s a pain to wait all day for our mana to regenerate just to craft a single item.” He needed to ensure Ni didn’t smell the desperation coming off of him.

“Ah, well the standard price for a Novice tiered one is going to cost you 10,000 UC. Going up a tier multiples the price by 10 until Student rank. Don’t have any of those here. Doubt there are any Student ranked Dungeons on this planet, so finding one of those will be basically impossible.”

Mathew blinked once, twice then internally started to scream. His face was held neutral, but he found it. The solution to his ritual problem was right here. No longer would he need to ration for them. Even the prices were less than what he used to pay for them to others who acquired them. Di was no longer his favorite, no it was now Ni. “How about a bit of a bundle deal. 7 Novice for 50k.”

“What! That’s theft! I won’t take less than 65k.”

“Oh you poor little man. I would be offering more if you knew what they are truly worth to me. I’m going to milk you for every UC I can save.” Mathew put on a face of displeasure. “Really? How many people here are buying Mana Cores? They are just sitting on your shelves collecting dust. I can get more from my Hearth Crystal, but I’m trying to be a good person and help people out. Surely you can go...53k?”

Ni pulled out a picture, “Look at this. This is my second cousin's daughter. She wasn’t doing well last I saw her. Her left leg is shorter than her right. Makes it impossible for her to live her life long dream of dancing. You wouldn’t take the money from me that goes to get her the medical aid she needs would you? A mear… 63k woudl be enough for a treatment.”

Mathew chuckled, “Please, pulling the sick niece card on me is useless. For that, I’m going down to 51K.”

“No! okay fine. You have a good bargaining skill.” He stuck his hand out, Mathew reached out for it and just before he shook, Ni said “61k”.

Mathew pulled back at the last moment, “Oh, you almost got me with that trick! How about this?” Mathew pulled out his last Star Fruit. The one he had been saving for himself in case the few stat points it would give were needed. Ni eyed it carefully, possibly using a skill to examine it. “This is a Star Fruit. Boosts three core stats by 5. Give me a Beginner Core, and 8 Novice ones for this.”

Ni licked his teeth and was in deep thought. “1 Beginner and 5 Novice, if you want any extras they are 9k each only for this deal.”

“Jackpot!”

Mathew walked out of the store with ten total cores in his personal storage. Nine were Novice and the last being Beginner ranked. He noted that he didn’t pay the full 9k each when he looked at his UC. His [Contest] skill’s original power is still working, giving him a small savings for trade deals.

He was curious where the extra money came from. Did he keep his money and The System paid the difference to the other person? Or was it vice versa? Did it even matter?

The guards didn’t buy much, he did notice one buy a Mana Core as well, but for the full 10k price. Once they were back across the bridge Agnox came flying back to Mathew. He had a worried expression on his face, which made Mathew worry.

“Mat, are any of your guards good at stealth?”

Mathew nodded and looked at the guards, their scouts were back at their camp. “Why do you ask?”

“Don’t freak out, because I can’t confirm it. However, I think there are slaves and Necromancers working for New Watago.”

Mathew took a deep breath. “Tell me what you saw.” They continued to walk as Agnox explained what he saw.

“Once you were inside the zone, I stayed well out of sight of anyone. I flew around and tried to get a lay of the ground. “

“It's ‘Lay of the land’.” One of the guards corrected him.

Agnox either didn’t care, or ignored the correction. “The otherside of the zone is mostly blocked off. However I saw undead working along with people in chains. They were pushing cars and moving large sheets of metal.”

“That is something to note, but not our problem.”

One of the guards scoffed, “What do you mean not our problem? We can’t let them have slaves.”

Mathew turned to them, “Like I said, it’s not our problem. Let me ask you this, where does labor come from? Sure a few good people who wish to help can get work done, but they have just as many people as we do. Luckily we have the military members who have solid core values to do the manual work. However, here, they don’t have that.”

He turned to Agnox, “Were any of them the same race or gender? Did it appear to be for a reason?”

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“I didn’t hear much, nothing outright for a reason to have them like that. But I think it was slavery. They were a hard mix, but some seemed older. Mostly white or tan skinned. The guards were all different as well.”

Mathew nodded, “Thanks.” He turned his attention back to the guards. “We won't deal with it right now until later. Slaves are the least of our worries.”

“And the Necromancers and undead they have?” The guard asked, seeming to push the issue further. Mathew didn’t appreciate his tone.

“Who are we to determine what others can choose for their powers? Undead are just bodies that serve a new purpose. If anything it’s more humane than actual slavery. Unless they killed people to raise them as undead, then that might be a problem. But just any body they found? Who cares, it’s just a body.”

That caused a disgusted look from two of the guards. Mathew stopped walking and eyeballed all five of them. “Okay, you have two choices. You either not worry it about right now, we absorb New Watago, then resolve the issue once I’m in charge of those fuckers. Or, we cause a problem right now. A civil battle breaks out, then we have to fight even more people. Do you want to fight and kill other humans when we have bigger problems to solve? Do you?”

The guard slowly shook his head no.

“Exactly, I don’t either. This is why I fucking hate politics. But, just because I hate it doesn’t mean I can’t think ahead a little bit when it comes to it all. Tyrone is a self centered racist asshole who just wants petty revenge. My bet is those older people were the old judges, mayors, and possible police. Q was an officer, so he claims. So that idea doesn’t hold up very well. I doubt they can keep slavery a secret, so it’s either not slavery, or something we can’t solve with the small team we have right now.”

“So Let me make myself very clear.” He pointed at each guard. “Nobody is going to try and play the hero. We do things the correct way with the least issues possible. This is the real world, not a movie. If you were that worried about slavery, in the old world you would have flown to Africa or any other third world country and started to resolve the issues there. Considering you never did, then don’t complain now.”

He didn’t wait for a response and continued walking. Nobody continued to push the issue, so Mathew assumed they wouldn’t cause any problems in front of him. Upon returning to his place of old business he gave a report back to Samuel while Lindsey listened in.

Samuel seemed to appreciate the tactic of slow and steady alliance. Mathew made no note of his backup plans though. Those were for him to know only. A pair of scouts took off running with a report back to Mr. Melton and Henderson. They would rig up a third vehicle to start purchasing things from Di. A list of what was for sale was included in the report so if anyone wanted anything, they could either come, or ask others to buy it for them.

After the scouts ran off, Mathew stood up and started to walk out. “I’ll be back before dark. We have half a day left, and I want to kill some undead.”

“Who is all going with you?” Samuel asked with a slight hint of attitude in her voice.

“I’ll take two guards with me. Just in case.” Mathew didn’t expect any problems. He would be picking off smaller groups at a distance, but he had no clue what to truly expect.

Lindsey poked her head out of Leo’s old office. “Can I come?”

Mathew thought about it for a moment, “Sure, but I’m doing most of the fighting.”

She shrugged, “Fine with me. I just want to explore the city some more. Not the same as how it used to be.”

Half an hour later, the group started to run into undead. Mathew’s plan was simple. Gain experience for himself, and get his core powers to the next rank.

However, it was harder said than done. Even after four hours of only himself fighting, nothing would push over the edge to the next level. His [Share Sense] and [Channel Mana] both went up a rank, but that was it.

“Agnox, what am I doing wrong?”

“Whatcha mean.” Agnox was floating in the air, laid back as if in a hammock. Mathew had zero clue how that worked with his wings, but chalked it up to magic.

“Nothing I’m doing is improving my powers. [Knives] and [Mana Bolt] are both at Beginner 9. Nothing seems to be working on pushing them to the next rank.”

He shrugged, “No clue, but what are you doing with them?”

“Using them of course.”

“Using them how?”

“Well, with [Mana Bolt] I just use it. It’s a simple aim and fire spell. Occasionally I try to move it in the air, but it barely bends. I can move it a few inches, that’s it. [Knives] is weirdly less specific. I’ve done the holographic training to the point I can follow all the moves clearly. It’s just stabbing or throwing with the weapon. What are you getting at?”

Agnox hummed to himself. Lindsey was listening in as well. She made a little progress herself when Mathew was resting and regaining mana. The two guards enjoyed doing as little as possible, but were still alert.

“Well, I have no clue. I’ve never made it that far. If I were to guess, you need stronger enemies. Low leveled monsters give basically nothing in return for experience or UC if you outclass it enough.”

“If I may,” Lindsey interrupted. “I know you hate how real life is compared to fantasy, but let me think something aloud here.”

Mathew motioned for her to continue, willing to entertain her at the least while he recovered mana.

“The ranking of our powers has caused me to do some digging with Di. The higher the tier the more powerful the technique becomes.”

“I know that, I've read the information crystal too. Anytime it mentions improving a technique is to further improve it. How else can I improve other than using it?”

“That’s the thing. Improvement comes in many forms.” She continued. “In fantasy, sometimes a person improves upon a skill by using it in new ways. Finding new uses for powers. A pyromancer realizes his flames can do more than destroy. They can cook, give light, and warm a home at night. Maybe instead of using the powers the intended way, use them beyond just that.”

Mathew mentally chewed on what she said. It was almost like his own research with Mana Cycling and using non-system given techniques. Could he use a skill beyond what it was meant to do?

It was inline with what he was doing with [Mana Bolt] and trying to get it to curve. Manipulating the mana is difficult, but now that his Mana Cycling technique has started working, it is actually doable. He doubted he could get the spell to budge after throwing it before opening his mana up through his fingers to better control how it flows.

He thought of the reason he gained the ability [Channel Mana]. It was after he curved a bolt in the fight to try and avoid Henderson. He technically failed, but he succeeded in acquiring the ability in the eyes of The System.

Then he remembered one skill he upgraded without a choice. [Contest]. He received it as an upgrade. A bargaining skill became a skill of defiance. Resisting the influence of another and stood firm on his own belief.

Did he need to treat all his powers this way to improve them further? Would he just stop getting System aided upgrades? What about at the higher tiers such as Student or beyond that to the highest they know of which is Godly?

Mathew looked down at his rod. “Did Droozkora do the same? She was a summoner, how do you modify your summons? How do I get Wispy and Whis to the next tier? Can I manipulate them further like [Contest]?”

It was worth a shot to test out. He had an endless army of undead to practice on. He would need to get stronger, not just for Droozkora, but also for closer enemies. He wasn’t paranoid, just careful. Tyrone was an accident waiting to happen. Assassinations could occur as well.

He doubted Payne would let Mathew live his life over his old military base. That old man was planning something. Mathew would if he was in his shoes.

Mathew stood up and stretched, “Let's do a few more groups and head home. I need to have Leo prepared to talk to Bob and his people.”