»Two, what about two?« The old woman pushed her hand forward with two fingers up.

»No«, Durant replied sternly. »My prices aren't negotiable. Pay three coins or leave my shop.«

The woman shook her head and revealed some of her missing teeth. »Young man, how can you exploit an old, fragile woman such as myself? Do you not have any mercy? Do you not want others to care for you when you become elderly yourself?«

»My lady, you must really be getting old«, Durant replied nonchalantly. »Has your brain already started to melt? Do you not remember that you have tried this before on me?«

After hearing these words, the woman's demeanor changed instantaneously. She straightened up her hung-down body, and the begging smile on her face vanished.

»Well, too bad.« She looked one last time at the pot she wanted to buy. »Young man, a word of advice. If you treat all your customers like this, you'll soon be out of business.«

Durant just smirked and watched her leave. As the door fell shut behind her, he sighed and took the pot off the counter to put it in its original place.

Why did he have to constantly deal with these kinds of people? Most were like this, and pure-hearted customers were rare – well, not that he had a lot of customers to begin with.

He put down the pot and looked at the clock. A smile appeared on his face. It was time to close up the shop for a few days. With one last look over his inventory, Durant assured that everything was still there and in its rightful place before he left and locked the door.

Another week of honest work completed, though as taxing as always, at least the annoying brat had kept his word and didn't show up again.

At a leisurely pace, he walked through the streets, turning his head left and right to see if anything significant had changed on this route. He had taken this way many times over many years, and yet there always seemed to be details he had been missing before. Like a complex painting, you can observe for hours just to explore the last intricate elements in the background. Although the city still evolved in comparison, for the most part, it stayed the same.

He came by the usual food stand that sold those spicy meat skewers. Some people looking like any other stood around it, wearing similar clothing. But there was one difference to last time. One of the women held a small bundle of cloth in her arms, with tiny hands sticking out of it that desperately tried to grasp for its mother. Seeing this, the woman smiled and lowered her head to kiss the baby on its forehead. A somewhat unique sight indeed. But still similar to what he has already seen hundreds of times.

After leaving the district his shop was located in, Durant put on a hood and moved a little faster. He didn't want to have the people's eyes on him as he entered the wealthier areas.

Eventually, he reached the backside of a fenced estate that bordered the residences of some of the wealthiest people in the entire kingdom. There was a small, barely from a far noticeable gate. Durant looked left and right, making sure nobody watched, and he entered through the unlocked gate.

The sky had already turned red, and Durant yawned, tired from the shopkeeping. It didn't look like hard work, but it was a very tough and demanding job, though he was lucky enough not to have to make a living from it.

He entered the mansion through the back door and immediately threw his cloak in the corner. Washing off the fatigue was all he wanted to do for the rest of the day. So he headed to the bathroom, and there it was – a bathtub filled with precisely the right amount of water. He undressed and held his hand in to test the temperature. It was lukewarm, exactly how he liked it.

He went in, taking a deep breath and letting his body sink into the water. With his eyes closed, his hand went to his heart, feeling the cold metal attached to his chest.

The amulet was always cold, no matter how warm his surroundings were. Under his eyelids, the darkness slowly filled with colors, images that blended together, and he could barely remember having seen them with his own eyes once upon a time.

His life didn't feel like an eternity. Only when he thought about the past, he realized how many years it had been. The first time he had met one of the Immortals, was one of those rare memories that hadn't paled.

They looked like humans but behaved so differently … so inhuman and arrogant. He wondered how they perceived the time they had lived. Did he think about the past now similar to how they did?

He opened his eye and started to scrub his body with a sponge.

Now he wasn't like them. He was human, not pretending to be one. He had protected the people and had not hidden himself.

A smile flashed on his face. While washing his body, he once again realized its elegant perfection – his strong hand gripping the sponge, the bulging muscles on his arms and legs. All the things he had gained and could keep forever. The beauty of existence was truly great, and reminding himself of it was always a joyful experience. Who wouldn't want to treasure this feeling forever?

After he finished cleaning his body, he got out of the bathtub. Then he dried every inch of his skin like he had done it a million times before. The bathrobe he put on was made out of thin silk, softly engulfing his most precious possession.

He headed to his bedroom and immediately lay down, no longer contemplating what had or could happen. The beating of his heart, the blood running through his veins, and the sensation of his skin rubbing against the robe were everything he perceived.

True beauty, the kind of beauty he would never get tired of enjoying.

When Durant opened his eyes again, morning had dawned. He dressed in proper attire and walked out of the room.

»Have you slept well, my lord«, Stanris asked as he met him in the hallway and bowed deeply. Then he immediately headed towards the kitchen. »Your coffee will be ready right away.«

»Yes, thanks«, Durant replied. »Just bring it to the gallery.«

He continued on his way and ended up in a room with various paintings on the walls. The morning sun's rays fell in through the window and made for perfect natural lighting – not too dazzling, just enough to gaze at these beautiful works of art. But now that he saw them, he wondered if he should rotate some of them out. While he tried to figure out which of them had to go, his coffee arrived.

»Thanks«, Durant said as he took the cup. »Any news worth mentioning?« He took a sip and walked toward the window to assess if the lawn needed some cutting.

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»My lord, an expedition into the bailiwick is currently taking place. They are on their way to deal with the expanding bailiwick that had been the talk of the town.«

»Hmm, I see.« As he lowered his eyes to the cup, he noticed something wrong with the window. He placed the cup onto the sill and inspected it closely.

»Ah yes, and one more thing«, Stanris added. »You had a visitor.«

»Oh really?«, Durant replied while he opened the window. »Who wanted to harass me this time?«

»Well, he didn't say his name and insisted he was in the wrong place. Not that I believed him with the way he acted. Very strange indeed. But by his looks, I am certain it was one of the Feuerstein's sons.«

»What?« Durant froze, and the window, which didn't hold in its bracing, fell onto his hand. »Ouch!« He pulled his hand out and stared at the window, a nagging suspicion emerging in his mind.

»Is something the matter?«, Stanris asked. »I'll make sure the window will be–«

»No, no, no!«, Durant mumbled as he rushed past his servant out of the room.

How did this brat know where he lived? He had always made sure not to be followed.

In his bedroom, he stopped abruptly and hoicked the carpet off the ground. He could tell immediately that the planks weren't in the correct spot, but he looked beneath them regardless.

This brat! Durant hurled one of the planks across the room. How the hell did he know?

But right now he hadn't the time to think about this and immediately headed to the door after picking up one of his swords. He crossed paths with Stanris again but didn't bother to explain anything to him. Instead, he reached into the hidden spot near the door and pulled out the last five mana rings he owned.

Putting them and his cloak on as he ran, he left the estate and headed to the closest stable renting out horses.

Maybe he should have asked if Stanris had more information on the expedition. But turning back now would just cost him precious time. And besides, he knew every inch of the encompassing area well enough. So if they headed into the bailiwick to destroy it, he could easily guess from which spot they would enter.

He thrust a bunch of coins into the stablelad's hand and mounted the closest horse.

Why hadn't this brat listened to him? It looked like he really needed to teach him a lesson he wouldn't forget.

He led his horse to the gate as fast as he could, switching into tantivy as he left the crowded city behind.

The first time the brat had visited his shop, he could already tell he would be troublesome. He should have just kept his sword at all times around him, even after the brat had found it. Durant vehemently shook his head. There was no point in pondering it now since he would have plenty of time for this while beating every last piece of information out of this brat.

His body passed through the barrier. It was a familiar feeling, though he hadn't experienced it in a long time.

After a few more minutes, he spotted one of the vacant border villages and guided his horses closer. Near the first house, he saw pieces of flesh sprawling across the ground. The smell of blood ascended into his nose while he quickly inspected the scene.

»Well, let's hope you'll survive«, he said and patted the horse on the back as he directed it toward the forest. »Be a good horsi, and I might buy you.«

Suddenly, a cloud of birds formed over the forest in the sky. Durant groaned. But at least he knew now he was in the right place. However, if he would be in time was another question entirely.

His horse raced across the path, and luckily, they didn't encounter any monsters that would slow them down.

A clearing eventually came into view where most of the action seemed to be taking place. He spotted several people fighting off monsters while the birds had mostly died off, littering the floor with their black feathers. However, he couldn't spot the person he had come for.

He guided his horse to the one who looked like him but wielded a different sword.

»Where is your brother?«, Durant asked Alvyn as he finished off one of the last remaining monsters.

Alvyn turned around and looked at the hooded men, visibly perplexed. »Who the hell are you?«

Before any more words could be exchanged, a distant bang swept through the forest.

Durant turned his horse around immediately and headed to its origin. The four people on the clearing followed closely behind him.

His horse navigated the dense vegetation to its best abilities, but Durant kept pushing it to go faster regardless.

Finally, they had passed through the last bit of thicket and arrived at a different clearing.

He spotted two other people close by, and then he saw Vern in the distance above the Eldritch that had a blade at its throat and its back to the tree. Durant breathed a sigh of relief as he descended from the horse.

At least the brat had managed to keep the sword successfully. Though he still wouldn't go easy on him.

Suddenly, the Eldritch lunged forward, straight into the blade. The sword flashed up for a moment, and Vern collapsed to his knees, still grasping the sword in his hand.

Everyone had arrived and watched it happen. The knight who had been here before them was the first to react and ran over to Vern. He put his hands on Vern's shoulders and shook him, saying some inaudible words as he tried to help him up. However, he abruptly went silent when a blade penetrated his chest.

Durant's face instantly turned blank, and the people behind him gasped in shock. Although he didn't quite understand what was happening, he knew it wouldn't end well.

He knew it. He should have never let that sword be unsupervised, even for a second. Durant drew his own sword and slowly walked closer, clutching his left hand the mana rings were on. Maybe, he didn't need to do this. Maybe it had happened by mistake and confusion.

The girl with the bow was the closest, standing in the middle of the clearing. Her hands were shaking at first but stopped when she aimed at her target.

»What are you doing?«, she shouted. Her words were laced with torment. Vern turned towards her and stood up as he pulled the sword out of the knight's body.

»Don't … don't move!« Durant was now close enough to see the tears rolling down her cheeks while she clearly hesitated to make a decision.

However, another sonic boom erupted in front, drowning out any more words she was about to say. And the very next moment, blood and flesh splattered across the floor as she flew several meters through the air. The bow left her hand midway, and when a bush caught her body, it remained lifelessly unmoving with a gaping hole in the chest.

»No!«, somebody shouted vengefully behind Durant, and he could hear his steps approaching.

Time seemed to slow down, as there was only one thing he had to do. His eyes fixated on the blood that had splashed onto his sword.

All these years he had lived, all the precious time he had preserved … would come to an end?

His mind couldn't comprehend this possibility as he had always told himself it would never happen to him. He concentrated on the mana of his rings as his hand moved up to his chest, grasping the amulet. It was all there. He could feel it but couldn't use any of it as of now. His hand tightened around the amulet, bending the metal until it shattered and unleashing the mana within him. It rushed through his body like a river after a crevasse, and he felt all his strength returning.

He pushed the one running forward at Vern aside and propelled himself at the enemy in his stead. In the blink of an eye, he had closed the distance but Vern matched his speed and moved his sword to block the strike.

On contact, Durant's sword shattered while Vern's kept traveling, totally unimpressed. But Durant had done this on purpose and didn't retreat when it happened. Instead, he just stayed on collision course while avoiding the blade coming at him narrowly.

His body slammed into Vern while he used all the mana he had to steel himself, and they both flew through the air. Durant grabbed Vern's sword hand, stopping him from striking at him. He had to use all his mana for strength to overpower him, but progressively, he felt how his body got weaker. They crashed into the ground, and he used Vern as his cushion, finally managing to fully rip the sword out of the enemy's grasp. Vern's body kept tumbling across the ground until it hit a tree trunk. Durant, who had disengaged after getting the sword, moved toward him, intending to strike him down.

›Don't do it!‹ He heard a voice in his head, and the fox appeared out of Vern's body, attempting to block his path forward.

›I am sorry‹, he replied, and breathing suddenly became difficult. ›I … I have no choice.‹

He lifted the sword, with his hands trembling a little.

›No, don't! He's back in control of his body now!‹

Durant didn't pay any heed to the fox's words. It would say anything to survive. He looked at the boy, lying in front on the ground, and hesitated. Should he still swing down the sword? He should if he wanted to make sure – and he had to.

Vern's body moved a little, and he opened his eyes, looking confused at Durant.

Punishing someone for one decision they had made … even though they didn't know better?

Durant's legs suddenly became very weak, and couldn't support his body anymore.

›Fox!‹, he exclaimed as he dropped to his knees. ›Come and take this!‹

»What's going on?«, Vern asked, looking perplexed at Durant.

»Well … I … can't …«, he replied, feeling his entire body stiffening. He reached out his left hand, and his fingers started to shrivel, right in front of his blurrier and blurrier eyes. »Take …–«

But he couldn't utter any more words. His body collapsed, and his vision faded entirely into darkness.