I settled with Yupow that I would train with him for a year before I headed out towards Will City.

Although Yupow would’ve preferred for me to train with him longer, he didn’t object, and just made sure to train me more efficiently, and as best as possible.

In the beginning my days with Yupow were very boring.

All I did was train through breathing, in an attempt to feel my Inner Energy.

On bad days he only had me meditate and breathe.

On good days he had me doing simple exercises and breathe.

Either way it was boring as heck.

Eventually I decided to take long breaks in between the training to clear my mind a bit, although Yupow didn't look thrilled he didn’t object.

Ever since he rescued me from the City’s Experts, no one had come to bother us.

Before I fully healed, I decided not to stray too far from Yupows house and neighborhood.

Although the breathing had helped, I still felt an ache here and there.

Yupow lived in a very crappy neighborhood; it was located in probably the worst slum in the City.

Why such a powerful Expert like him lived in a dump like this, was beyond me, but I didn’t want to pay for a room every day that I was here, and Yupow was letting me live with him rent free, so I couldn't complain.

Regardless, the first few days I roamed around his neighborhood I saw just how bad it really was.

It was worse than the outskirts that were in my hometown full of hoodlums, thiefs, traffickers and illegal substance dealers.

I kept my guard up, but I really wasn’t too afraid of them, besides it seemed like everyone knew what kind of person Yupow was, so seeing that I also lived in that house they also left me alone.

Seeing some of the transactions, and actions that I saw happen around the neighborhood, got my mind thinking of many things.

I started making plans, on how to execute my main plan, of making wealth from the City's Experts for the Ranker Gathering.

I started talking to some of the neighborhood youths, to find what it was that they noticed everyone in the City was most interested in.

To my surprise my initial hypothesis wasn't too far off from what the reality was.

The City Experts put a lot of value on a few things of dire importance to them.

First on the list was Martial Medicine and Nutrition Programs.

Most people knew that achieving a perfect body for Martial Arts wasn’t just dependent on training hard.

It also depended on consuming the necessary materials that would bring out the best results.

Medicine to improve, maintain, or heal the body were highly prized, as well as food’s that brought out the best in a training regiment, or were known to improve a certain quality, or physical trait.

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To my surprise Performance Enhancing Substances were the most popular of these consumables.

They could often be found in Medical Shops but some of the most effective and sometimes dangerous PES’s could only be bought in the streets or in the Black Market.

People in the City were crazy for PES’s, and would often do whatever it took to get their hands on them.

It was obvious that the most respectable and skilled Experts in the City looked down upon these substances, but many youths cared little about their opinion and despite certain bans imposed on many PES’s, the market was hot with these kinds of substances.

The race to the top was ruthless.

The road of a Martial Artist was already hard; to many, there was almost no choice but to take these substances if they wanted a chance to make it to the top.

I knew PES’s weren’t for me, but who was I to judge these Experts methods.

Everyone had a path.

The second item on the list of importance were obviously weapons.

As I had correctly surmised, despite most duels in the City having a no weapons clause, most Martial Artists once they were outside the City, and on the Ranker Path were recommended to carry and wield weapons.

Weapons training was almost always one of the most important lessons, and training regiments a Martial Organization would teach.

Without a weapon Martial Artists were putting themselves into a foolish handicap.

For those who could use Inner Energy, Inner Energy weapons were of even more importance to them, as oftentimes after they hit their power cap, that was one of the only ways they could keep on powering up.

Third on the list was an unexpected list of items I hadn't thought were available in normal markets, at least not good ones.

It was Techniques.

Good and profound Martial Techniques were highly coveted in the City, and many Martial Artists from prestigious Organizations, would sell their Organizations closely guarded Techniques in secret in order to gain profit.

Technique Manuals, Manuscripts,Scrolls, Documents, Art Books, Moveset Scriptures, Martial Illustrations, Martial Skill Scrolls, whole Inheritances all could be bought and sold in the streets or Black Market and many Experts in the City had collected so many of them they even used it as currency.

After gaining important information from the young Experts in the neighborhood, I decided to visit the Black Market of the Citadel once I was fully healed.

While that happened I continued my training, and in between, continued to make some moves around the neighborhood.