Despite the late hour, the streets of Port Verago were still quite lively. A colorful mix of people from all professions and nations filled the broad, paved main street, that led from the city gates to the market square. Nathan even saw some people from the distant Faruk Desert at one of the stalls next to the street. If Nathan believed the advertisements, then he would be able to buy the best fruits and finest vegetables from all over the continent, authentic magical artifacts, dating back to the ancient times and the most modern tools, created in Moria. While Nathan was curiously observing the hubbub, Mark stood by and watched him. Then, he coughed loudly.

“Boy, I hope ya know that they only sell local stuff and fakes here, right?”

Nathan answered without turning his head, “I know, it's just... I never was in a city as big as this one before.”

“Just saying. If ya want to buy some quality stuff, go to the market square. There is an inspector that regularly checks if the goods are authentic. At least, as long as he isn't bribed.”

“Now then, my job is done. I wish ya good luck. If ya ever manage to become a mage, make sure to remember me. I wouldn't mind taking advantage of you.”

Nathan replied with a gloomy voice, “Of course, I will never forget the last 2 days.”

“C'mon boy, try to cheer up. Being all down won't bring back the dead, and its more likely that ya'll end up being killed because of that. Believe me, I have enough experience with dead comrades.”

Mark slapped his shoulder as a good-bye.

“See ya at another time boy.” A few seconds later, his body vanished in a dark gap, between the buildings. Nathan felt a bit lost. Marks presence had given him some confidence. Now that he stood alone, in the middle of the road and surrounded by strangers, he became unsure what to do next. He decided that it was probably the best to begin looking for the army's office. He took a few steps forward, before halting again.

“Damn it, I should have asked him where I can find the army.”

Sighting, Nathan examined his surroundings. The army had a pretty high standing in the Kingdom, so they should have a rather prominent building. All he could see, however, were two- or three-story-high, wooden residences, as well as a few taverns and run down stores. The houses were built closely together, so the alleys, leading to buildings that weren't next to larger streets, were narrow and dark. Nathan knew better than to explore them. His mother told him countless stories about how people from the country moved to cities, just to be robbed and beaten due to their carelessness. Even though most of her stories were probably exaggerated, they still served as a good reminder. While he was walking along the main road, he noticed a small store named 'Joan's Magic Tools'. So far he had ignored all stalls and merchants. After the last evening, he didn't feel like doing anything. But not this time. Magic fascinated him, and he couldn't resist the allure of the very first magic shop, he ever encountered. Curious he went towards the store, but when he wanted to enter it, a muscular man, at least 3 heads higher than him, blocked his way.

“Sorry?” Nathan took a few steps back.

The man mustered Nathan from head to toe, then he spoke with a deprecating voice.

“No beggars allowed here, piss off.”

“Beggar?” Nathan looked at his clothes. They were smeared with dirt and blood, and his skin was filthy from the night under the oak tree. He was embarrassed.

“I'm not a beggar Sir. I'm from the countryside and was robbed on my way to the city.”

“Robbed people have no money, I won't say piss off for the third time.” The man was stubborn.

“I got some money from my uncle to buy new clothes and replace the magic tools I lost.” Nathan tried to persuade him. To his surprise, the man didn't immediately retort but waited for him to continue. Nathan understood and pulled out one of the six gold thales he carried with him.

“See?”

Seeing the gold, the man stepped aside. “Hmpf, next time buy some new clothes first.”

Nathan lowered his head and entered the store. He felt that the man at the door was still carefully watching him, but he completely forgot about it, when he saw the goods exhibited. There was a multitude of orbs, cubes, and tools engraved with mana circuits. A few granite plates in a corner had a pattern that Nathan immediately recognized as oven circuits. While he went from item to item, examining the pattern on their surface and guessing which use they would have, a well-dressed clerk came closer. Nathan saw him wrinkle his nose, but his tone was quite friendly.

“What can I do for you, dear customer?”

“I'm looking for magic tools, Sir.”

“Well, obviously.” A hint of disdain could be heard in the clerk's voice. Nathan slapped himself mentally, what else could he want in a magic store? Quickly he thought about a reasonable question to cover up his inexperience.

“What kind of basic tools for adventurers do you have?”

“Well, we have everything an adventurer could need.” The clerk went to a display with small, grey cones.

“These are our most basic fire cones, when the customer activates their circuits, the flat surface will burn with a hot flame. Great to ignite campfires.” Nathan took a cone and looked at the pattern on top of it. They had many similarities with one of the oven patterns he knew. Carefully he put it back down. After seeing, that Nathan wasn't interested, he went to a different display, this time with fist-sized white orbs.

“Here we have illumination orbs. They are the perfect smokeless replacement for lanterns and torches.” He gave one to Nathan. The circuit was completely new for him, intrigued he asked,

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

“Can I try it out?”

The eyes of the clerk narrowed. “If the customer pays the mana, he extracts from it, sure.”

“Uhh... how much does this orb cost?”

With the friendliest smile he could muster, the clerk answered, “It is actually very cheap, just twenty silver.” Nathan swallowed hard, twenty silver was two golds, a third of his total funds. He immediately furrowed his brows.

“Are you joking? Who would buy an illumination orb for twenty silver? Do you think I'm some country bumpkin?”

The clerk immediately backpedaled, “Dear customer, you must have misheard, I said twelve silver.”

“More like eight silver, Sir.” Nathan didn't know how much an illumination orb would cost, but he thought it wouldn't hurt to try, and it seemed like the clerk indeed tried to trick him.

“Eight silver? Dear customer, if I would give my tools away that cheaply, I would have to close down next week. How about eleven silver?”

“I don't think eight is too few, but because you have such a nice customer service I'm willing to increase it to nine.”

“How about we meet in the middle, dear customer, and you buy it for ten silver?” Nathan was quite happy to haggle him down to ten silver, so he readily agreed. However, the speed with which the clerk took the money and handed him the orb, told him that he probably still paid way to much for it. He didn't mind, though, this was the first magical tool he could use aside from the old oven.

Immediately after receiving the orb, he tried to extract mana from it and channel it through the patterns covering its surface. The control of the mana was surprisingly easy, a lot easier than when he tried to copy the oven circuit. With a mere thought, a dense cloud of mana enveloped the illumination orb. He focused on the cloud and forced it into the mana circuit. But his expectation to see a bright glow was met with disappointment. No light escaped the circuit.

“What's up with this orb, why doesn't it work?” he asked the clerk.

“Dear customer, it seems like you did not use any magic tools before.”

“I'm quite used to use a magic oven, Sir.”

“With all due respect, dear customer, between using a mana essence driven tool and one where you control the mana yourself is quite a difference.”

The clerk took the orb out of Nathan's hand and focused his eyes on it. Again a cloud of mana formed above its surface, albeit with a much lesser density than when Nathan tried it. He observed how the clerk forced the mana into the circuits, and then, it started to move. The orb emitted a bright glow. The clerk smiled and gave the orb back to him. Nathan understood, he didn't just need to compress the mana into the circuit, he also had to move it in a certain way.

“Thank you, Sir. So I have to control the flow of the mana through the pattern.”

Surprised, the clerk asked, “What? You were able to see what I did? How is this possible?”

Nathan was confused. “But didn't you show it, so I can see it?”

“I wanted to show you that the circuit isn't damaged, how were you able to see what I did?”

“Am I not supposed to?”

“Of course not, its common sense that mana can only be seen if it's at most a meter away, there is no way you should have been able to see what I did.”

The clerk closely examined Nathan.

“Dear customer, I didn't hear your name before, from which family are you?”

“I don't think I told you.” Nathan started to feel uncomfortable and put the illumination orb into his pocket. “Sir, I thank you for your service, but I think I have to go now.”

He turned around to leave when the clerk grabbed his shoulder.

“Don't go yet, dear customer, for a talented person such as yourself I'm willing to give some nice discounts.”

Nathan twisted his body and escaped the hand.

“I really need to go now, but I will come back later today.” He went a few steps backward and prepared to run.

“Mor'kal, stop him, don't let him get away!”

The man, guarding the entrance, once again stepped into Nathan's way. He cracked his fingers with a sadistic grin. “Please don't run, I don't want to beat up a little kid.”

He slowly closed the distance between them with small steps and spread out arms. Nathan didn't have time to consider any options. Following his first thought, he grabbed a few magic tools with the most complex circuits he could reach and threw them over Mor'kal, out of the door. The clerk behind him screeched,

“Nooo! My accumulator spheres!”

He dashed past Nathan, pushed Mor'kal out of the way, and left the shop. Nathan saw his chance. With a strong thrust of his right leg, he propelled himself towards the distracted Mor'kal and rammed his left elbow into his chest. With a loud gasp, Mor'kal stumbled backward and crashed into a display. Seeing how the brute had a hard time to get back up, Nathan grabbed four of the magic tools nearby and sprinted out of the door. The street was in chaos. Several people were running away with an accumulator sphere in their hands, while the clerk was simultaneously trying to pick up his goods and to prevent others from taking more of them.

“You filthy scum. Don't put your hand on my wares! Return them immediately!”

When he saw Nathan running out of the store, with several magic tools in his hand, his expression became vicious. He pointed with his left hand into Nathan's direction.

“Hold the little thief, don't let him run! One gold for whoever captures him!”

Nathan realized that he wouldn't able to escape if he remained on the broad street. Ducking under the hands, which where reaching out to him, he turned sharp left and ran into one of the dark alleys. A few persistent men still followed after him. Seeing no other possibility, he threw a magic tool behind him and rushed towards the next junction. After a few more turns he finally stopped, heavily panting. Luckily, no one seemed to have followed him. His eyes searched the surroundings for potential threats, but everything seemed quiet. The run-down, wooden houses had their doors and windows shut, and no one could be seen in this alley. Considering the smell lingering in the air, Nathan could guess why. When he ran into the back-alleys, he had a hard time suppressing his urge to vomit. Nathan chose to enter one of the abandoned houses, sat down in a corner and calmed his racing heart.

“Gosh, that was close.” he murmured.

“What did this damned geezer want from me?!” He was annoyed, he just wanted to have a look at some mana circuits and maybe get one or two magic tools, before asking the authorities to investigate the attack on his village. And now he was dragged into such a mess.

“Guess I shouldn't go to the army's office now, who knows what the clerk told them.” Looking at his clothes, Nathan sighed deeply. “And I think I know who they would believe.” He stared at the ceiling and contemplated his next steps. His top priority should be getting on a boat to Gilsbeck. But before that, he had to get new clothes and probably some essential supplies. Even though his family paid the tuition for the magic school in advance, that only included lodging, learning and a basic supply with food. Not his daily needs. After making a mental list of what needed to be done, his mind shifted towards the magic tools laying in his lap. He bought an illumination orb and one of the tools he grabbed was an accumulator sphere. The other two objects were two bracelets made from different colored metals. Nathan studied the mana circuits of the latter three tools for a while, but couldn't understand much of it. He knew one of the patterns on the yellow bracelet from the old oven circuit, but he didn't know what it was supposed to do. Nathan hesitated. Trying to activate them, without knowing how to move the mana, would most likely only decrease its durability, without having much of an effect. Besides, he felt that it was rather unwise to test unknown magic tools in an unsafe environment. In the end, he decided, to just store them away for now. He took off his filthy shirt, knot the sleeves together on the inside and put the magic tools in it. Then he took his makeshift bag, swung it back and forth and let it spin a bit. He was quite content when it didn't tear apart.

“Perfect, now I need some new clothes, I guess.” After making sure, that no one was around, Nathan quietly left the abandoned building.