When I came to, I was floating in a sea of darkness and souls. A golden lasso of energy appeared, and began dragging me forward. I spent a few moments adjusting to my situation, before I checked my surroundings. To my left were three other golden lassos. I relaxed. We were returning to the Market again.

But this time, there was something different about our journey. The journey back to the Market was usually quiet and depressing. We couldn't communicate, because we had no mouths. We were silver blobs of mana with no way to interact with our surroundings. This made each return trip to the Market quite dull. This time would have been no different… if we didn’t have the communication bracelets.

Said Anise, as another patch of distorted scenery whizzed by. Anise paused, as if she was thinking about her words.

Felix sighed.

I said.

said Sallia.

said Felix.

said Anise.

said Felix.

I thought about Felix’s words. They made sense. But that also posed a new problem. The one time we had gotten near one of the ‘inner districts’ of the Market, it had been very dangerous. Were we strong enough to mess with the dangerous side of the Market right now?

said Felix.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

I said.

said Felix. Felix paused for a moment, before I felt a wave of excitement flood the communication bracelet.

At Felix’s words, I started to feel a twinge of excitement as well. There were numerous things I wanted in the Market, but had yet to see. With any luck, we could find them this time. On top of that, I also faintly remembered an advertisement from the first time I had returned to the Market. There, I had seen ads for bodies that we could rent or buy… which should let us stay in the Market for longer. The Market was a goldmine of Achievement, but one that we could only stay in for a few months before things got dangerous. If we could find a way to extend this time, that might provide us with a critical edge in our fight for survival. I couldn’t help but think about the other things Felix had mentioned. Skill modification shops. Soul manipulation shops. Bodies. Lives. Information about evolving my abilities the way I wanted to develop them. All things that should exist in the Market, but that we hadn’t come across yet. I hoped Felix was right, and that we would find them in the inner districts of the Market. If so… as long as we could raid the inner districts of the Market, we could grow exponentially faster after this.

said Sallia. Then, she paused, and I felt a twinge of embarrassment flow through the communication bracelet.

said Felix.

I said.

said Felix.

said Anise.

The four of us continued talking about what information we needed, what opportunities we wanted to capitalize on, and so on. It was a far cry from the lonely, silent voyages to the market that I had endured the past few deaths. And as we continued making plans, I felt that we were moving forward. Our first few explorations of the Market had been incomplete. We had barely known what we were doing, or what we needed. We had been grasping at straws as we tried to search for a way to survive. Now, we had a plan. It was risky, and it might lead us into trouble... but I felt like things were finally moving in the right direction.

I couldn’t help but wish I had a mouth to smile with as we voyaged through the ocean of souls.

Time passed. Finally, a giant, seventeenth-century pirate ship came into view. As we got closer, it grew larger and larger, until it was clear that the ship was the size of the galaxy. Perched upon the deck and railings of the ship were various ruined cities. I felt a stirring of both excitement and anxiety as we drew closer.

We had returned to the Market.