As we rode our cart back towards the city, Nix and Morganna were telling me what they had been up to while I was away. Morganna really didn't do much aside from meditate and train. Nix found a trainer from the Guild to improve her sword and sheild technique. Apparently the Guild could provide trainers or teachers for certain fields or professions, if one could pay for them. Ofcourse you could train with a none Guild master, these independent masters usually study a specefic style of their trade.

 And they were notably more expensive, their reguirements were very high, and the training was hellish to some people. Nix said the best place to find them was at the Arena, they could find potential disicples there or by recommendation of scouts. Neither of them had been to an Arena fight yet, though there was one a week most of the time, excluding special events.

Most of the Arena fights were between criminals, bandits, adventures, mercs or debt fighters. The first two fought for a chance at freedom, or as a sentence for their crimes. Everybody else usually fought for other reasons, money being the likely choice. Sometimes they would have fights with animal, monsters or rare variants.

We also discussed what we would do once we got to the city. We all agreed to attract as little attention to ourselves as possibly, a monumntous task considering we were hauling about 200 heads in a cart. The only thing we could come up with was to do our best to hide our features, so we put on cloaks and hide our faces as best we could. People would still be able to make out some of Morganna's features, but given her height there wasn't much that could be done.

We also decided to discuss how long we planned to stay at Junction City, and where our next destination would be. Since we didn't know what was going down in the other area's of Agar, we would hold off and do some research. I told them about the map shop in the inner district, and that I would see about getting some maps.

We passed a few other travelers when the roads started merging near the city, they saw what we were hauling and what our attire was they scurried away. Sometimes after they lost their stomachs or fainted. So needless to say getting to the front of the line at the gate was easy.

The guards were startled and very suspicious, so it took a bit longer to get inside than I would have liked. But after showing them our adventurer ID's and the bandit quest card, they agreed to let us in , we even got an escort to the Guild. They ended up taking us to the back of the Guild building, to a warehouse of sorts,  where goods and other bulkier items were stored for/by the Guild.

There were Guild guards there, so the city guards left us  while we waited.

"Are these for a quest?" asked a guard, motioning towards the cart.

"Yes, they are. Though this is my first time completing such a bulk quest. Could you tell me how we proceed from here?" I responded. We had dismounted from the cart and were just kinda standing there a bit uncertainly.

"Sure. You wait here, till one of the administrators check your quest card, which we've already called for. If your cargo checks out and is in the appropiate amout, your quest is then validated. They'll take you inside to finish the paperwork and payment. Any questions?" the guard asked.

"No, but thanks." I answered. The guard went back to standing around.

A moment later the scarred lady came out,followed by a kid scribbling on a peice of parchment. The guards and other Guild staff stopped what they were doing, and silently stood at attention. She was apperently either very important or very scary to them.The scarred lady asked the guard some questions, nodded towards the kid, who scribbled even faster,and then approached us.

"Well,well the hunter returns... and he brought such a wonderful trophy back. Oh,and you brought friends too! Tsk,tsk. The quest was to be done alone, you know?" She said seriously,shaking her head. She must of done something since our last chat, she was speaking with less difficulty, and her vioce, while still whispy, wasn't as harsh on the ears.

"Technically, you never said I had to do it all alone. All you said was for me to complete them. I checked the quest out, I'm turning it in, so technically I completed them." I answered just as seriously. We stared at eachother for a moment, the other glancing between the two of us nerviously and with confused expressions. Then she smiled again, causing the staff to cringe a bit, and began to lightly chuckle.

Well, atleast whatever she did to her vioce didn't mess with her lovely smile.

"That is all true... Come, payment is inside. You men take the heads to the city lord, and inform him the bandits will no longer be  problem." she said to the guards, who snapped to and began escorting the cart out of the Guild complex. She motioned us inside, and so we followed her through alot of hallways. Fenris obviously stayed outside.

We soon found ourselves going down a couple flights of stairs, until we arrived at a heavy looking metal door. If the sight of a big metal door doesn't scream vault, then the dozen or so guards did. unlike the guards up top who wore leather and mail armor, these guys wore full plate armor. And my hunters sense told me there was others in hiding.

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 The guards gave a nod to the scared lady before stepping to the side of the door, she however walked to the door and fumble through a key ring with a lot of keys. The sound of several large bolts being triggered souunded out from the door, as well as gears clanking, after she found the right key. The guards that were to the side guickly pulled the door open for her.

The room beyond the door was dimly lit, but the gaurds entered and began lighting torches along the walls. Bathing the room in a new light. As we entered I looked around, the front of the room was filled with chests that sat on shelfs in row after row. Each had a paper nailed on the front of the self, a list of numbers, the chests had those same numbers engraved on them. So it would be easy to find what was where.

We continued further into the room, following the scared lady and the guards, till we came to a round table with six chairs. There were three doors around the little sitting area, one to the left, the right, and one behind it. The words above the doors were, Knowledge, Tools, Rarities.

"Now here's how this works, Alec. You may pick one item from one of the rooms, or you may take four of the chests behind you." the scared lady said, pointing to the rooms, then the chests we passed by.

"Whats in the rooms and the chests?" I asked. One choice, gotta pick something really good.

"And if we find something, could you tell us about the item?" asked Nix. Well thats a good question.

"Fair questions, the both of you. The chests you passed by contain gold, gems, and other monetary items. The rooms contain items that fall under a specific category or perform a certain function. Knowledge contains, books, recipes,and scrolls covering a vast array of subjects. The knowledge to be gained in there is much, few, if any of those items could be found elsewhere.

Tools contains , well just that, tools. Weapons, armor, and tools crafted by master craftsman, all made from many different materials. Strange designs and rare materials, its all in there.

Rarities, is a bit harder to explain. Generaly most of the items sold or recovered by the guild fall into the formentioned categories, but the items in there are the execptions. They are either so rare that there is only one or the are too powerful/dangerous to be with the others." said the scarred lady.

"But aren't all weapons technically dangerous?" asked Morganna.

"Technicall, yes, if placed in the right hands. But these items are on a different level. All their previous owners are dead, or pleaded with us to take them away. But you may still pick them if you desire. I will do my best to inform you of the items bring to me." said the scarred lady. She took a seat while we talked amongst ourselfs. It was decided that we would look at the three rooms before deciding on something. The chests of gold were ignored, money being something we weren't short of.

We looked through the rooms, starting with Knowledge, the Tools, and finally Rarities. Knowledge wouldn't do any of us much good, as none of us had a professions other than killing. Still some cool things though.

Tools was where things got interesting. Enchanted armor, flaming sword, knives that are always sharp, and so many others. The amout of expertly crafted, and dangerous weapons were tempting. Of course there were some things in there that were of a silly design, or inpractical in nature. Still we would be coming back here if the other room didn't have anything.

Now our browsing has brought us to Rarities. How to discribe this room?... Oh, right. It had a weird feeling when you went into it, like there were eyes watching you that you couldn't find. 

Most of the items were behind cases or in cages. When I asked why, the scared lady said it was to prevent people from grabbing them on accident, and getting cursed afterwards. Still we split up and browsed around, asking questions about things, but nothing in here stood out as something that would be worth the risk of carrying it around. That is until we heard the sound of metal being ripped apart.  I ran to where the sound was coming from, only to see a orb of liquid metal rip the cage it was in and launch itself at a stunned Nix. 

I activated my armor form as I leaped toward Nix, but as I reached toward her in an attempt to move her away from the orb, it let loose an inhuman shriek.  Not even a second after that it shot a condensed black bolt at me. I was unable to dodge it, its speed was so fast I barely could see it anyway. The bolt of  energy sent me flying into the far wall of the room, it also disentegrated my right arm, shoulder and most of my chest. 

'FUCK! THAT HURTS!' I screamed to myself.

 Morganna and the guards were moving towards Nix, but there wasn't anything they could do at this point. The orb of liquid metal was now attached to Nix, squirming around as Nix tried to pull it off. 

"Stop! Don't go near her!"  the scarred lady shouted from the door.

Everyone(not Nix) turned towards her, wondering why she would stop Nix from getting help.

 "That item is cursed and extremely dangerous, but for some reason it seems to have choosen your friend. It will kill you if you try to stop it." she said. Hearing her words everyone stood alert while watching the orb squirm around. Nix too seemed to be less distressed, and was no longer fighting it. Though that was probably because she seemed to be in some kind of trance like state.

" Though that doesn't seem to be a problem for you does it?" she whispered while looking at me. She had walked towards me as I was regenerating my arm from the elbow down.

"Yeah, quess it isn't." I said as I stood up, my new arm having regrown the last missing fingers." So, is this the part where I either threaten you into silence or kill you outright, just to be sure?"

"Neither, I think. As both one touched by Choas, and a follower of Choas, I would never be stupid enough to try and hold something over his champion. Though I would advise showing others such gifts. Oh, the item seems to have finished whatever it was doing." said the scarred lady.

The formerly liguid orb had now solidified into a simple cuirass and pauldron set. The only thing that made it stand out was its ashen like color, and a vampiric fang emblem on the front. But even that was only visible because of it glowing, a glow that was dampening by the minute. The few seconds it took for Morganna to get to where Nix was kneeling the mark had faded. 

"Nix? Nix, are you ok? NIX!" Morgann asked, worry was evident in her voice. Though the shaking of Nix may not have been a smart choice.