The back garden of Ket’s manor had a gate at its far rear that let out into the back streets. Ike headed out, travelling light for the day. He’d left the majority of his gear behind. Today was a scouting run to find out how dangerous the monsters were around Abyssal. Maybe make a few kills if he could. Maybe go find out how inactive the puppet army really was. Tomorrow, he’d decide whether to head out for the long term or not. He carried a day bag, big enough to carry back some monster parts and Rosamund’s head.

He didn’t feel safe leaving Rosamund’s head back for various reasons. First, it was his lifeline. Without it, he had no method of acquiring mana aside from hunting monsters, and at that point, he was stuck in a losing game. He needed to spend mana to kill monsters, and not all monsters gave as much mana as the rooster. If he hadn’t had Loup and a tried-and-true technique to hunt the chickens without using much mana, he would have needed to supplement with Rosamund to replenish his mana after hunting them. And the chickens were, well, chickens. Relatively easy to kill. It’s easy to see why most people who fall into the Abyss either turn to lunam or give up entirely.

Second, he had no idea how anyone would react to him carrying around a disembodied talking head. That, and given how little Rosamund liked him, she’d surely try to talk them into injuring him somehow. All told, it was safer to bring Rosamund along than leave her back.

He walked quietly through the streets. Keeping his head down, he surveyed the auras of everyone around him.

Most of the people he passed had weakened auras. Their mana had strength, but it was the remnant of strength. For the most part, few of them had stronger auras than Ike, in the weaker half of Rank 1. Those people had normal, but hollow, eyes. There was an emptiness to their motions, as if they were conserving their energy and waiting to die.

No wonder they couldn’t continue to absorb mana in the Abyss. If I was at the lower end of Rank 1, I would’ve struggled to kill the chickens, too.

Come to think of it, the hunters who fell into the Abyss organically would be weak hunters who didn’t know where the Abyss was—people even newer to hunting than I was when I jumped down. As for people banished here, with the city lord desperate for strong fighters, I have to suspect that he’s not going to banish many people like Ket. Not unless they really cross some line. So regardless of how you end up down here, you’re probably weak when you enter the Abyss.

I wonder if that’s why the Abyss has such a deadly reputation? If only weak people tend to fall into it, then naturally they’d have a high fatality rate.

Hmm. I didn’t think to consider peoples’ biases before.

A few of those walking around had stronger auras. Auras at least as strong as Ike’s, if not strong enough to be Rank 2, or even borderline Rank 3. All of those people had inverted eyes like Tana’s or Ket’s. Likewise, their auras possessed the same strange chill that Ket’s and Tana’s did. It was easy to guess how they were able to continue to grow in the Abyss: these people had learned to cultivate lunam.

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But they’re stuck in the Abyss. No longer able to grow as mages without lunam.

Ike did his best to mimic the hollow eyes of the failed mages. He reached out to the mana around him and pulled it close, manually restraining his aura. He wasn’t sure he’d succeeded at blending in, but he at least looked more like the other mages at first glance. After all, the last thing he wanted to do in a new city was stand out. People who stood out got targeted.

And on that note… He pulled his old oilskin out of his pack and threw it over his new clothes. He didn’t know how much Ket’s old clothes were worth, but he was willing to bet a Rank 3-on-the-verge-of-4 could afford a little more than most mages stuck at Rank 1 could.

Not many people headed outside the village. Most of them focused their attention inside, on the shops and market there. Ike wandered over, his rooster feathers tucked under his arm. Ket warned me that I won’t get the best price here, but I’m stuck in the Abyss for the foreseeable future. I might as well get some gold out of my efforts. It’s better than carrying around rooster feathers forever. Especially as delicate as the feathers are. I bet their price goes way down if they’re damaged at all.

Cold wind blew from a building near him. A large fang with a hollow center hung over the door. Ike pushed the door open and peered inside. A burly man wearing a red collar sat at the back of the room. Just like back in the outpost.

He walked inside. “Common setup?”

The man grunted. “Hot-cold exchange enchantment’s pretty easy to set up, and it keeps the meat fresh. What do you have to sell?”

Ike put the feathers on the counter. “How much?”

The man picked them up. He examined them, then shrugged. “Rooster feathers. They’re pretty, but that’s about it. Five gold.”

Right. Sure. Ket did say the prices would be low, but I think that’s a bit too low. Ike scooped up the feathers and went to walk out.

“Wait, wait, wait. Ten gold,” the man said.

Ike kept walking for the door.

“Alright, fine. Twenty gold, final offer.”

That’s probably still low, but it’s at least within reason. Ike turned back around with a smile. He put the feathers on the counter and looked the man in the eye. “Twenty-five.”

“You’re bleeding me dry, kid. Twenty-one.”

“Twenty-five.” As much as you tried to undercut me? Twenty-five or nothing.

The man sighed. He reached to his hip.

Ike raised his brows. Was that still an undercut? Damn. How much is this rooster actually worth?

He shrugged to himself and took the gold. Twenty-five gold is twenty-five gold. I’m not a genius salesman. This is close enough to a success to make me happy.

The man glanced at his face. “You new in town?”

Ike shrugged.

“Better watch your back,” the man grumbled.

He paused. In the middle of the room, he turned back. At his hip, Loup growled. He tilted his head, looking directly at the man. “I’ll watch my back. Will you watch yours?”

The man narrowed his eyes. He harrumphed and turned away.

Ike walked out, shrugging internally. No idea if that’ll keep him from siccing his friends on me, but it was worth a try.

Loup at his side, he headed out of the city and into the forest.