Zero walked down the familiar path covered in yellow and hardened dirt, with four large bags over his shoulder, down to one of the nearby towns of survivors of the war ten years ago. The purpose for his trip today was to stock up on more supplies before he continued his wander West. He figured it was about time, since he had finally deciphered the manual, and had been settled near the village for the better part of six months. When he had finally been released from that suffocating laboratory, he had been wandering around the remains of the city, when he was found by a native to the village. The native had given him some food and showed him to the town, where he taught Zero about how to hunt, gather and fish for the village. The native was an older woman named Grandma Li by most of the village. She had passed away a few months after she had met Zero, but as she had no relatives of her own, she left her small cottage outside of town to Zero. In an effort to honor the old woman Zero continued to give what little he could to the village. In return they helped him with things like clothes, and even left him a small Gathering Ring, which helped with gathering energy to cultivate with. He hadn't gotten a chance to use the ring yet because the manual was completely encrypted and had little use for Zero until he finished deciphering it. As he trotted along the path he saw the gate to the village appear over the next hill. He pushed his gray hair away from his eyes and pushed the hood of his cloak off his head, so as to not startle the guards as he approached. He wore his usual attire, a long tattered cloth cloak that hid his mechanical arm and most of his tanned body, over a white long sleeved shirt with dark brown pants leading into iron tipped boots. He wore a long dark strap of cloth with a pointed crown on it over his dark red right eye, with the mechanical gray pupil that made his cybernetic enhancements obvious. His other eye was light gray with gray pupils, a detail that if thought over could lead people to discover his special cultivation technique in which he had barely started just the other day. As he thought back to when he followed the first step of the technique he felt his eye burn and he had passed out, only to wake up realizing he needed some supplies before he would be able to wander West. Zero felt his eye as was his new habit since this morning, looking for some sort of new feeling. As he kept walking and reached the gate he bowed and showed a small token. One of the guards called down to him, "Go right on in." before giving zero a faint nod in approval at his respect. Zero continued in through the gate while putting away the token, a sign of being a member of the small settlement of survivors. He looked around at the ruined stone buildings that had been slightly recovered, and the people who rested in them. As he looked through them he stopped in front of one of them, before giving a quiet ring of the bell. A middle aged man dressed in common clothing opened up the door before studying him for a moment. After a small while he grunted and nodded his head to the house, indicating for Zero to follow him before ducking down through the doorway. Nodding Zero followed behind the shopkeeper until eventually coming to a stop in the middle of the house. The man gruffly asked him, "What would you like this time, kid. Some new shoes? Or just the usual seasoning and repairing of your gear?" The man seemed to know how Zero would answer and preemptively reached behind the counter. "Ten. Usual. Boots too. Storage ring." Zero spoke in a deep voice slowly and quietly. The man seemed immediately surprised. He looked to Zero for a minute before sighing. "It's time for you to go, isn't it." Cutting off Zero as he prepared to shake his head he said, "Don't bullshit me. Tell me straight and I'll give you what you want and even through in a quiver of arrows as long as you pay for the seasoning that is." Zero looked at the man before nodding. The man grimaced and said, "Yeah I figured. You wouldn't be coming to me for ten times the usual, boots, and a Storage ring unless you were preparing to leave. Anyone could tell that. What I'm surprised by is the fact that you need enough supplies for 10-12 months, and have enough food to pay for it. Zero waited patiently for the man to finish before reaching for two of the bags he had been carrying over his shoulder. He dropped them on the ground with a loud thump. He then looked to the man as if waiting for something. The man reached behind the counter grabbing three large bags himself and a small hoop. He handed them to Zero and took the two bags behind the counter. As Zero turned to leave the man spoke once more. "Here, I wasn't kidding about the arrows." He handed a quiver to Zero before motioning to the ring. "Picture the bags and quiver moving into the ring, gradually getting smaller until they enter the ring." The man said motioning to the ring he had just given Zero. Zero did as he was told and watched in amazement as the objects disappeared. "Now take a drop of your blood and place it on the ring. Once you feel a small connection between you and the ring you will be able to take those things out of your ring whenever you feel like it." Zero nodded and grinned in gratitude towards the man. "Many thanks." He said before turning around and cutting himself with one of the knives he had in his cloak. As he saw the dark red blood drip from his finger onto the pitch black ring, he felt a small connection form between the ring and himself. He turned around and bowed one more time to the man before swiftly leaving the shop and heading back to the gate. As he passed through the gate he knew he might never be back to the small town. As was the way of a wanderer.

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