After Oz revealed the fiery red orb, the cloaked man's arms seemed to subconsciously gravitate towards it, a trace of greed and envy emanating from him, yet Oz pulled his hands away, distancing the orb from the man.

"You say you can offer me a way out, let's see it." Oz spoke with a grin as mind raced, 'For even someone as strange as this bastard to be desiring this thing, I need to play my cards right and maximize my benefits.'

The boy could feel the man grimacing from beneath the robe, yet this only further spurred Oz on, 'No matter how mysterious any bastard is, human greed still plays a part, and I seem to hold the keys.'

Finally, the man pulls out a rugged cotton bag.

Oz looked at it with disgust before asking, "What is this?"

"A way out." the man responded while holding the bag tenderly with both hands.

Yet Oz, not trusting it spoke once more, "Explain."

The man was silent, yet his body slightly moved, looking between the sack and the boy, obviously being persuaded by the orb in Oz's possession.

So with a heavy sigh, the man explained, "Your destiny is to enter the Academy tournament, yet danger will befall you."

Yet, Oz didn't budge, "Go on."

"And..." the man teetered before revealing the rest, "You will fall to your Death, but this item is your way out."

Oz smiled and nodded his up and down as the man reached his hand out to take the orb, "No."

The man paused, "What?

"I don't find that to be an acceptable trade, I'll be fine without 'A Way Out'," Oz smirked as he began playing with the orb, tossing it in between his hands.

All the while the cloaked man sputtered, "But, but-"

Yet, Oz silenced him by putting his hand up, "However, I will trade for information. You claim to sell anything, so I want you to write down things you know, and then I will give this to you."

While he said this, he was inwardly grinning, 'I don't even know what THIS is, so just acting nonchalant should help things go in my favor for now."

Begrudgingly the cloaked man, nodded his head as he took out a thin notebook and Oz began giving his questions and requests.

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{Many Hours Later...}

Oz was atop the roof in a downtown area, far away from the TradeSquare and in what could be considered the "slums" of the city.

However, considering his torn and dirty attire, no one would disturb him as he fit right in with the crowd, yet despite that he still chose to stay on the roof above, 'Guess old habits die hard,' he chuckled to himself as he recounted his time sleeping in the forest trees at the Dung Den.'

The dark sky was dimly illuminated by the floating green lamps overhead, and using the poor lighting above, Oz continued to read his notes and reflect on his experience.

'Hmm, interesting.'

{Flashback}

After the trade had been completed, Oz had contemplated his next step, 'Should I just snap his neck right here and see if I can get experience? But, then there's the issue of his backers...'

Yet before he could finish thinking the entire room around him vanished and he was left standing in the middle of the street, with the people going about their days as if he hadn't just popped out of nowhere.

Even the alleyway he had run down originally was nowhere to be found with only a solid wall in its place with bustling shops in between.

A cold shiver went down the boy's back, 'If they have the ability to do this, what's to say killing one of their employees wouldn't carry any consequences?'

With that, the boy checked his surroundings before blending in with the crowd and walking towards a quiet part of town.

{Back to Present}

With the slum rooftop being as quiet as it could get, Oz looked around cautiously before recounting the items he had traded for, a notebook containing notes and sketches of various details including those that this body most likely knew or was related to as well as a black and golden card with the word VIP on it in gold.

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The boy set aside the card for now and took a look at the notebook.

The name Zee and Nana, came up with their portraits being realistically drawn into the notebook.

Nana had a massive stature, especially for a woman with fiery red hair, a bonnet on her head, and deep brown eyes, yet some inner feeling was warning Oz to be cautious of her, choosing to listen to this feeling he then took a look at the next person, causing him to peel his eyes and smirk.

Zee, 'That boy...' he thought, as his memory recounted the kid he had fallen onto earlier.

'Interesting, very interesting.' According to these notes, this body of Oz had stayed at the same orphanage as Zee, with Nana being the caretaker with a mysterious origin that even the shop owner knew very little of.

He took note of the location of the orphanage, situated in the grassy patch of land, within the walls, away from the danger of the Dung Den, yet an adequate distance from the town.

Oz took note of this before looking at the other people in the notebook who were of less interest, old classmates, and so forth.

However, the boy had asked for other information as well, and as he flipped through the pages. he came across the date of this upcoming 'Academy Tournament.'

'Hmm, a week away.' Oz briskly read through the details, 'So this tournament is basically all for the opportunity to attend some Academy where students can acquire and further hone their abilities.'

His legs hung over the roof ledge and yet he placed the book on his lap and took a look at his hands, 'But why would I confine myself underneath watchful eyes when I can sunder that power from others.'

Oz then looked up to the moonless sky, only pitch-black hanging above amongst green lanterns that blanketed the town sky, giving the feeling of protection, yet also surveillance, 'Yet, since waking up today my body feels strange...'

After some time he slowly exhaled through his nostrils and then flipped through the final pages of the notebook, reading the details of a smuggler who could sneak him out of the city and back to the Dung Den.

That was the final piece of information he asked for from the man.

As he read the details of the book he couldn't help but think, 'The Dung Den is the last place I want to go to, so why is it like something is calling me back there.'

Oz shook that thought out of his head before shoving the notebook and his "VIP card" into his pocket.

There wasn't much to look at regarding it, it was an invitation to VIP seating at auction houses run by the Mysterious Shop organization.

'Maybe sometime in the far future,' he thought as he gave the card a passing glance before storing it away.

His body felt heavy and after days of running and after what felt like he could finally rest in warm sheets he had once again, run off.

'Sigh, hopefully, I sleep alright tonight,' the boy murmured to himself as he backed away from the building ledge and curled up resting his head onto his arm and closing his eyes, drifting into sleep.

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BUM

BUMBUM

Black, the sky was black, the floor was black, the air was black, and he himself was... well, he couldn't even see himself in this extremely dark space.

All around, there was nothing but darkness without even a tinge of light for as far as the eye could see.

'W-where?' Oz mumbled to himself.

Oz shook his head, attempting to clear his thoughts as he looked around the dark space once more, 'Is this another dream?' He gritted his teeth, 'Or a damn memory?'

Fear twinkled in his eyes as thoughts of that golden-eyed creature flashed in his mind.

'I-I gotta get outta here.'

That bad feeling rinsed over Oz, and choosing to trust that premonition, he slowly walked forward, step by step maneuvering through the darkness, unable to even see his own hands.

However, as he walked, his body felt slow and unresponsive, as if each step was through a knee-high swamp and his arms swung slowly at his sides as if they had nearly frozen into blocks of ice.

'This is no good.' Oz thought to himself, a look of worry on his face, 'That feeling...'

BUM

BUMBUM

As his premonition had foreseen, a sense of danger quickly overtook the boy, sending his mind into a frenzy as he entered a state of panic, panting quickly and whipping his around in hopes of at least coming face to face what he expected to be his demise.

BUMBUM

BUMBUM

That drumming, whether it be his beating heart or that creature's anthem, was getting faster and faster, louder and louder, and then...

Silence.

Huffhuff...

Oz's breathing was rapid as if he had just run for hours and his heart felt as if it were on fire, yet he knew, somehow, that he had taken no more than a few footsteps in the span, he had been here.

Huffhuff...

"How?.." yet before Oz could question this plane's logic, a bright golden light burst forth, caking the world in a golden glow and flipping the world into a blank white space, devoid of even the tiniest smidgen of dirt or color.

"Woah..." the boy let out as he looked around at the blank white space that seemed to stretch on forever into endless nothingness.

Up ahead, he saw something that made his eyes nearly drop out of his sockets, and his jaw unhinge at the sight.

Up ahead was his ol' reliable black box.

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