I sigh.

"I guess skins can work. " I say hesitantly as I observe the pelts

They're well preserved to be sure. However, pelts aren't exactly rare in the town.

Indeed, now that we had with ease gotten our permissions, obviously the nec step was to determine what we would be selling.

There was a rather huge issue of course and that was: what do skarpans have to sell exactly?

A truly difficult issue to ponder. They weren't resourceless per say, but they weren't exactly holding unique resources.

Pelts? Common

herbs? Plenty sell those.

Potions? People are more likely to buy those from a trusted pharmacist than random street sellers. Same for herbal pastes.

They didn't really have anything hugely worth selling, but everyone's gotta start somewhere right?

I am fulfilling my promise I suppose, given that without me, they'd probably never have gotten this far.

Still, this would likely be a lackluster session to say the least.

At the very least, it should serve as some helpful insight for them. Everyone's gotta start from somewhere.

----------------------------------------

"Was it that bad?" Lenore asked as she picked up a sword.

I sigh. "It wasn't bad, and they certainly managed to sell things, but it also felt far from satisfactory."

It wasn't like I had promised to make them rich, but still, to only make a few coppers on the first day was rather sad.

Was it cause I was used to being rich? The skarpans seemed pretty happy. I suppose for them, the act of selling was more exciting than the actual money made.

I suppose if it makes them happy, then that's all that really matters.

After a day of such sales, and seeing them content to continue like that, I felt it was fine to let them work on their own from then. They weren't children after all. Well, kind of. Skarpan culture is weird.

As for me and Lenore, we went out and took the kids with us.

The two of us had taken Leo and Willow to the training grounds at the adventurer's guild.

We were there more so to let Leon train than Willow, but took Willow with us since Willow could use more time going out.

Well, that was my reason. For the elves, its because she'd be safer on adventurer grounds than in a random hotel. All guilds have a minimum B, if not usually A-rank guild masters, which acts as a deterrent against troublemakers. In our case, it'd be a good defense against any elven saboteurs.

We haven't seen any, but you never know when any will show up.

Currently Leon's resting. We had him train for the last hour or two in endurance and in dagger techniques. I might teach him how to make smoke bombs amongst other things, given the role we're trying to mold him into, but he also has that weird mental ability, so I'm not sure.

But we can't help him train that mental ability either, so we should probably teach him stealth skills, hmm...

"Hey!" Lenore shouts, causing me to snap out of it.

"Yes, what is it?" I ask, as she cheerfully waves her sword. "Wanna do that spar now?" she said playfully as she pulls out her sword. Not a wooden one, but her real one.

I don't care, mind you. "Sure, I've been sitting on something for a while anyway." Calling ore, I mold him to my preferred shape, as he chirps happily in my mind.

In my hand know is a metal hammer, simple in its appearance, but well suited to my needs. There is also a tall bump on the top of the hammer, meant to represent a spike, but blunted to avoid any serious danger.

"A hammer? I didn't take you for the type." she said, eyebrows raised.

I shrug. "I'm better with a spear mind you, but I prefer hammers."

Because of our families famous spear, I as heir had been trained in the spear my whole life, which was stupid, given that no one had ever found that spear and I'd never even used it until the day I died.

I personally preferred hammers, even if conventionally speaking, swords and spears were better weapons.

"Very well then." She said, before stabbing her blade forward.

Clang!

I block it using the hammer, sidestepping before driving the hammer forwards, using the tip to attack.

Even when using a hammer I treat it like a spear.

SHe quickly knocks away the hammer with great effort before taking a step back.

I advance quickly as I swung my hammer downwards, and Lenore quickly responds, using her blade to deflect my blow, and using the momentum to slide past my defenses, and thrust forwards.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Bang!

Her eyes widen as she sees the blade hit my arm, and bang off effortlessly.

Of course if it were hardening magic, perhaps she'd disregard it, but the fluid form of ore forming an arm guard is what has surprised her, though she quickly regains focus.

"Experimenting, huh?" She asks playfully, and I respond in turn with a grin.

"You were right. There was a lot to explore in this direction."

The hammer was raised again this time, but it was different.

It had become two smaller hammers before I began my assault again. This time I charged in close, planning to get inside her range, and bypass the blade, as our positions reversed.

She was a smart fighter, capable of moving with the blows, and weaving along in our dance of swords and hammers.

She was good, but lacked oomph. Lacked a special characteristic to her fighting style.

A flaw in her sword style, perhaps what held her back at B-rank.

Something to tell her perhaps, but for now, for now it was time to indulge.

----------------------------------------

They both chuckled after the spar, resting on a bench to cool down.

It had been a good spar, one that had even attracted some attention from the other adventurers at the training ground, watching with curious eyes.

In battle, I had proven capable of multiple forms of combat, using not only hammers and spears, but blades, maces and halberds to Lenore's surprise and admiration.

"That trick was amazing." She admitted. "The ability to surpass the elven limit is definitely something worth praising." she said, before shooting me a funny look. "Well, maybe a wrong choice of words." she admitted as the both of us chuckle.

I'll admit, it was fun to use ore's ability to morph in this way but it still faces some problems, primarily in the realm of using it for my primary form, the turtle.

Would I use it as a turtle and in what form? It's arguably not going to have great variety. A hammer requires mobility, as do other weapons, they need the whole body, something a turtle can't really do. I've been using a bat, sure, but even that had limited effectiveness, and using it to cover my shell wouldn't change much from what I've already done.

Maybe weapons for my arms? Hmm. Something I''v got to develop, but on the brightside, I can use it human form. It's clear I underestimated how useful ore can be.

I wonder if the metal is replenishable.

Actually, if I can use Ore in human form, what stops me from manifesting other parts of my body? Druids are known for shapeshifting after all, so partial transformation shouldn't stand out too much.

To quietly test this, I channeled my will into a finger nail, and to my delight it indeed changed, taking the form of a turtle's claw.

I did so quietly of course, but Lenore still noticed.

"Whoa, creepy." She muttered, and I raised an eyebrow at her.

"Creepy? I've seen druids do it before?" I inquire, and she shrugs. "Still creepy."

I roll my eyes, whatever. Turning to Leon, whose eyes are sparkling, I ask him. "How was it?"

"It was so cool!" He exclaimed with clenched fists, and I chuckled. Of course, using so many weapons in one fight would inspire any child with passion. Weapons are cool.

"Very good then. Are you ready to start again then?"

"Yes!"

Poor Leon ended up gasping on the floor an hour later, as Lenore looked on in sympathy.

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Ridley guided the elf through the underground warehouse.

The pair of them, alongside a small group of C class elves had finally arrived as per the request of the annoying human child.

Ridley was continuing the blather on, as the old elf listened in silence, unwilling to interact, but humoring him nonetheless.

"And everything is here?" Came the chilling voice, silencing even the talkative and rude Ridley.

"Yes. The mayor doesn't dare to investigate as long as I'm here!" he said, as even his fear could not suppress his own arrogance.

Underneath the mansion he had purchased was a large, dark room, undetectable to the observing spell of others, and no one could infiltrate the house because of his status as part of a bigger family.

Even if they did suspect the true nature of his mansion, they could do nothing about it.

The warehouse was filled with things, from valuable materials to people, many of whom were elves, and a weird group of kobolds as well, among a miscellaneous of living beings.

Even a monster ant queen could be found.

Valuable commodities, as far as the eye could see.

Looking at the chained up elves, the older elf snorted disdainfully.

"Traitors." As he threw the latest acquisition in with the rest.

Ridley did not understand the elf, but he continued to speak anyway.

"Even traitors have their uses though. And now, they'll help serve our cause right?"

The thin elf looked at him mysteriously and nodded.

The assistant next to him scoffed quietly, but Ridley did not dare to respond to it, or perhaps he did not hear it.

Perhaps he had more important things to ask for.

"So about those elves-"

"Not yet" The thin elf interrupted. "We must not be too obvious, lest we get caught. You may be granted immunity to investigation by your status, but if they find something your status, and your value will be rescinded. And if you're no longer valuable to us..." The thin elf left it open ended, but even the fool can understand the implication, and swallowed quietly.

"You're dismissed." He said with finality, and Ridley could only bow his head before the man's presence.

The guards had claimed their leader was an A-rank, and the thin elf felt like an A-rank.

He felt dangerous.

He left quietly cursing his inability to stand before this man, even though he'd seen the A-ranks under his families command.

The thin elf and his watched as the man left.

"I hate his type" the aid commented, and the thin elf snorted.

"Nigel, you will learn as you get older that everyone has their use. Even the most vain, stupid, and snobbish of pigs can produce fat in the end. This pig lends us protection from the law and allows us to do our thing. Speaking of which, let's go inspect that"

The aide nodded. "Yes, commander Vertigo." He led the way through the "basement", which had an unnatural and ethereal feeling to it, which compounded as they headed deeper into the "basement" and the packages and "merchandise" faded, replaced with traps and locks.

Soon they arrived at the core of the false basement, which glowed ominously and it felt alive.

Perhaps some adventurers would liken the room to a dungeon, but weaker. Less like the heart of something alive, and more like the tip of something.

The room glowed as the runes etched across the room lit up and faded in equal measure.

A giant root was the focus of the room, protected by a formation of sorts.

The root was huge, twice the size of the elves in the room, twisting and curling in the room.

The real focus of their efforts in skip town was this, one of the most important parts of their organization.

A root of their great tree.

The operations going on at this moment were merely a cover, to hide their real plans.

Arguably, it could be said to some, what they were doing here was far more sinister than a mere slave tracking ring.

The root was digging into the massive teleportation formation in the center of the town, siphoning off its energies, something strictly forbidden by the empire .

Were it to find out, this could be considered a great offense to the empire and its Gods.

The elven kingdom could not afford such an offense.

But the empire would turn a blind eye to a save tracking ring.

"How is it doing currently?" The commander asked, and Nigel responded after analyzing the root.

"Good sir, very good. If we can maintain this growth for another year or two, the root will have gained a good foothold here, and blend in seamlessly. Not even the gods will be able to find it."

The older elf smiled sinisterly. "Good, and then we can properly pull out of this damned mess." He chuckled. "I'm in a good mood today. Now, let's go see these traitors that are bothering our benefactors."