Sitting behind his desk, a middle-aged man had his hand frozen midmotion. The pen he was using had long fallen from between his fingers. His eyes were wide open as he stared at the four mercenaries before him. The stiffness of his catlike ears clearly showed his current dismay…

“Did you just say that Marguse’s group was forced to retreat by a wondering human Sorcerer that gave you a helping hand?”

Fagor, not knowing what was going on by this reaction, further explained. “Indeed, Guild Master. Even when he helped us with Lithe Por-”

But the man in question, the guild master, just raised his hand for Fagor to stop. “A Sorcerer helped you? And didn’t ask for anything in return?” He then focused on Zunna. “Did he cast some kind of curse on you?”

Zunna shook her head. She then showed a necklace with a brown crystal in it. “My teacher gave me this artifact specially made against curses and other intangible attacks. It never showed any signs of activation…”

Fagor couldn’t wrap his head around why the fuss was raised due to their benefactor. Neither can the other two on the side.

“Zunna can you explain what is going on?” Fagor urged.

Before she could answer, the guild master intercepted her. “First of all. Are you certain he was a Sorcerer? Many classes might look the same.” He then stood up, slightly adjusting the nameplate on his chest, which said: Trihuis Ab. D.

“At first, we all thought he was a skilled assassin,” replied Zunna. “However, his lack of runes and bursts of mana clearly showed he wasn’t just a melee class user with exceptional movement spells.”

“Hmm, you might be wrong there,” Trihuis assumed. “Some assassins mastered movement and hiding spells where they don’t need runes to use them.”

Trihuis took a few steps to the window, looking below at the bursting street filled with numerous mercenaries going in and out of his guild. He treated Zunna’s words like an amateurish guess, so he felt the need to give them a small lecture. “Sorcerers are known to possess innate gifts giving them an abstract understanding of various natural forces. They don’t need to incorporate runes of power into their craft. They can just wave their hand and create a desirable effect just by willing it. No need to temper their bodies like Warriors or to learn and understand complex runes as Mages are required to do.”

Trihuis then looked at the group seriously. “They are extremely rare, and that is the reason why they are considered dangerous. There is no book to teach Sorcerers how to use their power or at least a guide to point them in a certain direction. So, all their life they could only depend on themselves to gain knowledge…”

“This makes them selfish eccentrics who possess an unfathomable thirst for knowledge. Nothing would stop them from gaining something they find interesting. And all the incidents surrounding them were caused by their little experiments. They don’t value other people’s lives. I highly doubt you met someone like that and came back in one piece.” Trihuis finished his talk.

Taking a few moments for every word to settle in, Fagor asked. “You talk like you have previous experience with them, Guild Master.”

Trihuis nodded. He then rolled his sleeve, showing a nasty burn scar on his right forearm. “When I was still in the military, we were ordered to take one down. Kingdom was turning a blind eye to his behavior, but he managed to cross the line. Apparently, the bastard was kidnapping people with different affinities just to check how his flame would react to bodies tempered by various elements.”

He then added bitterly. “He was Flesh Strengthening Stage. It took forty trained soldiers at the same Fifth Stage to take him down. That day we lost twelve, with five scarred for life. Luckily, I just experienced minor burns…”

Before he could finish, he noticed Zunna fidgeting. Squinting his eyes at her, he asked. “What is wrong Zunna?”

“Mmm, Guild Master… You see… he is Spatial Master and a Psychic…”

Hearing this, Trihuis’s posture doped, and he blankly stared at Zunna. “What did you just say?”

Gulping due to the guild master’s intense stare, she replied. “He can travel through the fabric of space. The sound of space tear was hard to miss. A-And…”

“There is more?” His eyes were already as wide as they could.

“Yes… He said he came from further South. And his attire suggests he came from Situs Tundra…” Zunna visibly envied the three teammates who looked at her exchange with Guild Master with ignorance, not understanding what was actually going on…

Trihuis rubbed the sides of his forehead. The situation now turned serious. “Why do Heavens have to test me like this…” After a deep inhale and exhale, he firmly walked toward the door.

Forcefully opening it, he addressed his secretary. “Trista, move all the appointments I have for the next two days. Double out security for storage warehouse and especially vault, put some people inside to look after goods too.”

Caught by surprise, the girl sharing his features just looked at him in wonder. “Uncle, what is going on?”

“I don’t have time for this, Trista.” He already wore his coat, ready for hours of hard work. “When you are at it, if anyone complains about a black-haired human with silver eyes causing trouble, just ignore it.”

“Wha-” She didn’t even have time to ask questions. Trihuis just rushed, ignoring her and four mercenaries standing in his office…

***

Veles looked at the woman napping on the counter in front of him. How she managed to do that while standing was a mystery, almost making him bad for what he was about to do.

Leaning forward, he tapped at the wooden counter not so gently, jolting the woman awake. She instantly stood straight with her groggy eyes wandering around. When she finally saw people in front of her, she rubbed her eyes, then put the glasses lying on the counter. Afterward, she just stared at Veles grumpily as she adjusted her hat to fit her goat horns and ears.

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“A Human here, that’s rare.” Her voice transferred perfectly her unfriendliness and annoyance. “How can I help you?”

“I was thinking if you cou-” But he was rudely interrupted.

“Stop! First of all. Are you a mercenary?”

“No, I’m not.” Replied Veles, not bothered by her behavior.

“Good! Are you here to sell or to inspect plants?” She leaned her head forward and focused her gaze on Veles. It seems like this question was of most importance.

“I’m here to sell.”

Skeptical about his answer, she further asked. “That means you have prior knowledge of plants? You are not going to show me Lower Grade apple and say it has an aura of mystical treasure that can cure all diseases? Or perhaps you have a radish capable of removing curses, which you are one hundred percent certain works because your grandmother says so?”

“Oh!” Veles exclaimed. He now understood why this place looked abandoned and why this woman was so unfriendly and annoyed. The idiotic mercenaries probably drove her crazy with their ridiculous ways to scam some money.

“No, no, don’t worry, I know my plants.” Veles chuckled. But she didn’t quite believe him.

“Is that so?” Her glare intensified.

Instead of answering, Veles raised his hand, palm facing upward. He then poured a little bit of mana into his ring—to give the illusion of a standard storage ring.

A small spatial crack appeared, spitting out a small bundle of stick-like plants.

“Shit…” Goat woman quietly cursed while straightening her alchemist robe. All the laziness from her posture vanished. She went from a slothful clerk to professional in a second and said without shame. “Welcome to the Alchemist Branch of Koria. How can I help you, Sir?”

Looks like owning a storage ring was big of a deal.

Veles just smiled and reassured her. “No need to be tense around me.” After taking the first bundle, he proceeded to take five more plants and placed them on the counter in front of her.

When she looked at the plants in front of her, her eyes shined. “May I, Sir?” She asked for permission, to which Veles just nodded.

Putting her index finger to the side of her glasses, mana flowed from her finger, directly entering the strange artifact. Numerous miniature runes shined on the previous empty frame. Veles then saw different information being written on the glass itself…

Frowning slightly, Veles readied his mana, ready to interfere if this woman found something she wasn’t supposed to.

“Let’s see. Azure Grass, Glant Poisonous Wood Flower, Pond Titu Grass, Bettle Knee Flower, Tree Nusun’s Grass, Flaming Lilly Flower.” After she went through everything, she just gulped and looked at Veles.

“Do you perhaps have more of these, Sir?”

“In fact, I do.” Before Veles could list everything, he was interrupted as she raised her hand.

“Can you give me a minute, Sir? I can’t handle all of this alone.” She then just looked as Veles gave her a confirming nod.

She then walked around the counter, rushed to the entrance doors, and locked them. She also closed the curtains that were showing inside the shop. Having finished with that, she ran to the stairs leading to the second floor. As she climbed them, her yell echoed through the shop, “Father! Get your ass down here!”

Not even a minute later, two voices argued with each other amidst their hurried steps. “Did you say he has a storage ring? A storage ring? Are you sure?”

“Yes, you old fool! I’m not stupid. I know what a storage ring looks like. But who cares about that?! He probably has a ton of real stuff we could buy!”

Hearing this, Veles’s caution vanished. It looked like she was just excited about the goods. He also gestured for Davis—who was already grabbing his spear tightly—to calm down.

Just as they descended the stairs, Veles saw an old man with goat-like features scanning him. Then his gaze went to Davis. As if figuring something out, he neared the counter and introduced himself. “I’m Gragot, Head of the Alchemist Branch of Koria. I hope you can forgive me if my daughter disrespected you. We had a little trouble with mercenaries as of late.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that, Sir Gragot. I understand that dealing with mercenaries can be troublesome, and I don’t mind her behavior. Truth be told, I found it entertaining.” With his usual smile, Veles faced the old goat.

It appeared like the old man had experience dealing with people like Veles. So, he went straight to the point. “Can you tell me, Sir… How much of each are you willing to sell?”

Veles then started pointing at plants on the counter. From left to right, he said the amount he had. “Three hundred seventy-two bundles. Two hundred ninety-one of these. Four hundred and twenty-two bundles. Twenty of this one. Two of these. Three of the last one.”

Despite a large number of bundles—the first three had. The old goat’s features were focused on the other half, with the real magical plants used for serious magical concoctions.

For example, the Azure Glass bundle was finger-sized ten pieces of lime green grass—used mainly to cure common cold symptoms. Not a very interesting piece.

However, the Flaming Lilly Flower was the main ingredient for a classic boost potion. It was used primarily by melees to boost mana flow through their bodies, thus enchanting their performance.

The difference between their use was obvious. And Gragot’s enthusiasm was to be expected.

As Veles finished pointing out what he had. The old man had his jaw dropped. “Sir, I’m not sure if I could afford to buy everything from you.”

“I don’t mind if we bargain. However, I must inform you that I’m not willing to sell just portions. But first, could you estimate the value of all this?”

Nodding, the old goat stared at the ceiling for half a minute until his gaze returned to Veles. “Three thousand seven hundred and fifty-five Acelia gold coins.”

Impressed by man’s quick and precise calculation. “And how many coins do you have on hand, Sir Gragot?”

The goat instantly replied. “Two thousand eight hundred.”

“Almost a thousand less…” Veles rubbed his chin.

“We have numerous goods if you need them, Sir. Among them are rare Medium Grade potions that can clean your body of impurities,” said Gargot. This deal was too sweet for him to miss on.

“No, no. I’m not interested in potions or other medicine. I’m more interested in knowledge.”

“Knowledge?” Gargot face turned wary.

“Yes, I have a little sister at home who is really passionate about alchemy, so every time I have the chance, I will try to get something useful for her. If you have some books about potions or plants that I don’t know about, we can trade with that.” Then Veles smiled gently and looked to the side, acting as if he were reminiscing something nice. While Davis almost visibly cringed at Veles’s ridiculous fake act.

“You must understand, Sir. I can’t give you knowledge that belongs to my guild just like that. However, there is the knowledge that the general public can look into and also some that those with deeper pockets can buy. Please wait a moment.” Replied Gragot, then hurriedly turned around to fetch what he was looking for.

Coming back with his hands full of books. Gragot placed them on the counter.

“I can allow you to take these five. I’m not sure how much you know about the prices of books. But most of the alchemy books are far over a hundred gold coins…” Old goat trailed the last part of the sentence a little bit more, empathizing that the books could be quite expensive—another interesting detail for Veles.

“I understand. I’m fine with this arrangement. Let’s first proceed with our transaction.”

“Of course, sir. Please follow me.”

He led Veles to their storage since it would be easier to take them out there, while Gragot told his daughter to fetch the coins…

It didn’t take them long. A few minutes later, Veles was jiggling a pretty heavy bag of coins in his hand, smiling as he exited the building.

But he and Davis froze as they saw the man who seemed to be looking for them. He was dressed in light brown attire, with a coat over his shoulders. His stature clearly showed he was a man who already experienced numerous ups and downs in his life.

“I presume you are the Sorcerer that helped one of our guild teams. I don’t want to come across as rude. But would you mind having a little chat about some details of the incident?” Asked Trihus.

Veles went fully alert. He could tell this man in front of him was strong… very strong.

“No problem, Sir. Any specific place?” Asked Veles, his face placid.

“It would be best to do this at the Mercenary Guild.” Trihuis then gestured for them to follow.