Author's note: Internet is up and running again... changed ISP for a speed times 10 I used to have.

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The market square was even busier than usual, as a large amount of users were fully preparing themselves to head out of Virul. While the most had merely level to 45, the highest monsters that the average user knew of were only level 40 and the experience they were receiving from those monsters was no longer enough to satisfy their needs. Thus the users were forced to head out further away from their starting city to find better hunting grounds.

If the sewers were open to the public again, the users would have another hunting ground that allowed them to reach level 50, much like Zaran and his party did. However the major still had not released the sewers to the public again and thus the users that chose combat classes were forced to leave Virul if they wanted to keep growing stronger.

Zaran casually strolled around the market. He did not have a set merchant to sell his goods to, so he talked to a few merchants and checked the prices he would receive for his goods. After having compared the prices a few times, he started selling his spoils of war to different merchants. Some merchants would give more for ores while others would give more for equipment and thus he had to sell to quite a few different merchants to get the best price for all his goods.

Quite a few of the merchants raised their eyebrows after looking at the items that Zaran brought. With the quality of the items he had on him, he certainly was a high-end user but you could not tell that if you looked at him as he was a middle-aged man with very plain clothing. The merchants quickly recovered as it was not all too uncommon in other games to have other people sell your items for you and it was something they had experienced many times before.

He picked up some reinforced iron ore and then walked to the area were Pantheon's stall was usually set up. Even though Pantheon was online his stall was not at the usual place. With a mere thought, Zaran opened his friend list and messaged Pantheon. "Were are you at? I was hoping to acquire some more of your food."

A few seconds later pantheon replied. "I am at a nearby hunting ground."

"Can you sell to me later? Give me a list of what you are selling now and I will send you the list of what I wish to buy."

"Sure. Give me a second. I will tell my party to rest for a moment."

A minute later Zaran received the list of goods that Pantheon was currently selling. After making his selection, Zaran sent the list back to Pantheon.

"Where do I deliver it?"

"The winery east of Virul, I recently bought the place."

"Oh I am hunting relatively close to that place! I will drop them off right after I am done!"

Zaran closed the private message window and started to walk towards Henry's place. While he did say that he was going to Eoric's first, Henry's place was closer so he changed his plans and decided to first pay a visit to Henry. He soon stopped in his tracks and sent another message to Pantheon. "I created a guild, if you are willing tell the lady at the mansion that I told you you can just be invited to the guild on the spot without needing to go through a test. It would be my honor to have you as our guild's cook."

"I will think about it!" Pantheon replied.

Closing the private message window, Zaran resumed his way to Henry's place, only a few minutes passing until Zaran was in front of it. He knocked on the door and a few seconds later Henry opened it.

"Ah my boy! It is good to see you! Come in Come in!" Henry said as he opened the door to his home and beckoned Zaran to enter.

A smile appeared on Zaran's face as he stepped forward and entered Henry's humble abode. Compared to the last time the two met, Henry's house looked the worse for wear as bottles littered the floor, his sink was filled with dishes that had not been washed in days. Needless to say... the house absolutely stank. It was almost so bad that the stank could be compared to the sewers. He had no idea what happened to Henry but this... was this not a tad bit too sad? How could someone live like an absolute pig?

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

"Please take a seat!" Henry said as he quickly used his feet to kick away some bottles to create a small path to walk on, so that Zaran did not need to walk on the rubbish to be able to take a seat.

With a deep sigh, Zaran quickly moved forward and took a seat. After Henry gave brought over two cups and a bottle of wine, he sat down. He let out another sigh and asked. "What is wrong Henry? Why is your house such a mess?"

Tears started to well up within Henry's eyes and with a downcast expression he said. "At first they took my pavilion so I took my Hellbeasts over to my house and hid them in my basement... Now they want to get rid of my beasts in my basement. I have until next week to get rid of them. I have raised them like they were my children for the entity of my life... and now they want me to get rid of them just like this? Beside that one time they have not hurt anyone! My children! Why do they want to take my children Zaran! It is unfair! What is a beast master without his beasts? Nothing! There is so few of us in Liberiu already..."

"I am very sorry to hear that Henry. However I think I might be able to help you." Zaran said as his expression turned a little sour. He too felt it was unfair for Henry to get rid of his beasts especially since they do not cause harm to befall anyone.

Henry bent forwards and grabbed Zaran's hands. "Boy if you can help please.. please, this old man begs you from the depth of his heart! Tell me the way to save my children!"

Zaran softly said. "I bought the winery at the east side of Virul the other day. The basement is extremely large. With a few modifications it should be able to house all your beasts... However I currently do not really posses the money to undertake such a renovation, so it is only possible if you have the money to do so. Moreover even if you have the money to do so, we would need the renovation to be done within a week. On top of that, if you wish to live there, I will make sure that we have a room for you in the mansion."

"I got more than enough money. When they took away my pavilion they did buy it of me, since I was the one who bought it in the first place. I should still have more than enough money to pay for it." Henry said as his expression turned into a hopeful one. "If I drum up some of my dwarven friends we should easily be able to finish it in less than a week! As for the room, I shall take you up on that offer! But no need to give me a good room, I will just take a simple servant room. That's enough for me. Just look at this place. I am not suited for a fancy room."

Zaran nodded. "As you wish. I have some more business to attend to in the city but as your money will pay for the necessary renovations, you should head to the mansion ahead of me. I will send a message to the person who is currently managing it for me and tell her to let you renovate the basement as you see fit.

"Her?" Henry asked with an intrigued tone.

"My lover. It is a long story." Zaran grinned as he winked at Henry. "Regardless... I will tell you are coming." He quickly sent a few messages to Florance and told her what was going to happen. Because he could just open the message box with a simple command of his mind, the npc a player was talking to would not notice it if a player was sending a message. This was especially true because a player did not need to type to sent a private message, it was enough to just think 'my message must be: ' followed by the message and it would automatically enter the message field in the private message window. It was a very convenient system.

"But surely you have not come to listen to the worries of an old man. Now what brings you here my boy?" Henry asked.

"Well I was going to ask if you have some Hellbeasts which could serve as guards for my mansion but I guess I no longer need to ask that question." Zaran said with a wry smile.

"No you do not. I shall let you attend to your business then." Henry said as he laughed, the worry long gone from his heart.

"I will let myself out. I shall see you at the mansion!" Zaran said as he stood up and left Henry's home.