At this point, I didn't trust anyone completely. So I made some preparations before our meeting. To prepare, I needed to make a trip to the Bazaar, which currently sat at the far edge of the city. Nobody controlled that area but both sides would send in raiding groups to try and kill off people coming and going, to prevent them from gaining more gear. The only reason it stayed sort of neutral was its out of the way location.

This one remained open all the time so I could hoof it there and back during the night. Even better I had Bella. I stopped in at the patrol building, to check the map of active patrol groups. Nobody questioned why I was there, this was a normal occurrence. I mapped out the path I would take to avoid any unwanted attention. Then headed back to wait for night.

When Sharla was fast asleep, I snuck out and headed to the closest border. I knew I couldn't exit via the gates so I had to do a little creative escaping. I looked over the ledge of the ten-story building. It was windy on the roof. The building across the street was only eight stories tall. I stored my collar and anything that could identify me as a Black Dragon member or slave.

I backed up to the far side of the roof and took a running start, enhanced halfway by Blink Step. Then I lept from the roof, propelling myself across the four-lane road. Halfway across I cast Area of Denial and tried to position myself to roll.

Well, I rolled alright. I rolled across the building's roof and off the far side, plummeting to the ground with a bang. Luckily my spell absorbed all the damage. I got up and ran down the alley before anyone came to investigate the sound. I kept running until my spell wore off. Then I pulled Bella out of her cage. She was a bit snappy with me at first. Can't say I blame her, she was cooped up for three months. It's a good thing I was able to smuggle food and water to her regularly.

I soothed her for a bit before I mounted up, then we headed off. We made sure to avoid any patrol zones and skirt the boundary of the Black Dragon territory. I was even wearing my old hoodie to help disguise me. It didn't take us too long to get to the Bazaar building. This one was three or four times the size of the one up north. I didn't see anyone watching the building but that didn't mean much. There were so many tall building it was impossible to check every window. I would just have to hope I got in and out before I could be stopped.

Bella and I rode straight through one of the entrances. The flash of light as I was teleported away blinded me for a few seconds. Eventually, my eyes returned and I was in a brightly lit Bazaar. This one was completely different than the one I visited before. Instead of haphazard stalls spread about, there were actual buildings and storefronts. Wide avenues between the stores on either side allowed the masses of traffic to flow by with ease. I appeared in a small clearing off to the side of the street. All manner of creatures were coming and going through the portal, teleported to whatever world they hailed from.

I took a deep breath, the smells and aromas of the Bazaar were unique with so many different cultures and species mixing together. I rode Bella slowly through the street, trying to get my bearings or find a map or something. At least the shops had easily readable signs stating what they sold. Garatt's Tile House, Shemugi's Livery, Fethoon's Apiary. On and on the names went until I came to one that might work, Granock's Smithy.

I stepped inside to see an unknown creature behind the counter. It had four limbs with three fingers each and stood on four others. Its skin was a semi-translucent teal color, and it had three large eyes on a bulbous head.

It let our a whistling warble that the system translated.

"Greetings traveler, what can Granock do for you?"

"Ah, yes, I was wondering if you can provide me with say two hundred small metal plates, with a hole big enough for a rivet to go through at one end?"

"You are crafting armor, yes? Why not use larger plates or have leather enchanted?"

"I can't afford the enchanting cost, and larger plates would reduce my mobility."

"What size plates do you require?"

I showed him one I had worked to the size I needed.

"Very good, what material would you like these made out of?"

"Something light but strong, stronger than steel."

"I have four options. I will list them from the cheapest to the most expensive. Titanium, Baricium, Alavantium, and Mithril."

"I'm not really familiar with those types of metal, other than titanium. Could you list off their properties?"

"Very well, Baricium is slightly stronger than steel at about half the weight. It is a blue metal commonly used in boat construction. Alavantium has about the same strength as titanium but is only slightly lighter than steel. It is a chalky white in color and resists heat well. Good for fire defense even in its non-enchanted state. Mithril is quite soft until worked into a shape. Then it is processed with magic to make it one of the strongest and lightest metals known to the system. It is perfect for anything magical as it takes enchantments without losing any of the potency. It is also the most expensive."

"And what about the prices for them?"

"For a hundred of the pieces you requested Baricium would be one hundred and fifty credits, Alavantium would be four hundred and Mithril would be around a thousand. Normal steel would run you fifty."

"That is a steep increase in cost."

"Indeed, if you wanted a simple ingot of mithril it would be cheap, but the work is labor and time-intensive to punch out those shapes."

I had to think about this. I really didn't want to keep having to upgrade my armor. Plus I wanted to finally use the mana heart I had been saving for so long. In the end, I had him do up two hundred plates, one hundred each of the Mithril and Alavantium. He let me know it would take two hours. That was fine, I needed to go purchase some other items. I asked him if there was a map of the Bazaar. He pointed me to an intersection and told me there would be a new one every ten or so blocks. I had to pay him upfront for the work since Mithril was hard to rework after it had been shaped.

I continued my ride until I came across the sign in the center of the street. It reminded me of the mall signs with the, you are here dot. Only this one had the names of the stores down each street. I found one that looked promising and headed that way.

Gimlick's Mystical Protection's was a small shop, down a side alley from the main street. Despite its location, quite a few people were coming and going. I stepped inside to be greeted by a much larger inside. There were dozens of different creatures browsing the wares locked behind magical domes. I was starting to think this place might be out of my price range when a small Gnomish man walked up to me.

"Greetings, how can we help you today at Fimlicks Mystical Protection's?"

"Well I was looking for something but I think your shop may be out of my price range."

"Nonsense, we cater to all types of clientele. What type of item are you looking for, hmmm?"

"Two items mostly. One that allows me to see through cloaking and illusions. The other to defend me against one attack."

"Good, good, both are quite common items. If you are on a budget we can offer a one-time use item for the single attack. Afterward, it would turn to dust. You would just need to wear it around your neck before you expect the attack. For the illusion one, there are many options. Do you have an idea of the spell's level you wish to pierce?"

I shrugged, "Under level twenty I assume, but likely over level ten."

"Hmm, we could offer a few options. Do you want to nullify the illusion or cloaking?"

"No simply being able to see through it should be enough."

"It sounds like a talisman of Shuma should be sufficient for your needs. It has ten uses so would be much cheaper than a permanently enchanted item."

"What's the price for both?" I asked hesitantly.

"Sixteen hundred credits for the two. I can assure you that price will be unmatched by our competitors."

I'm sure they would all say that if I shopped around but I really didn't have time. What I did have was a bag of gold coins. Maybe the man would be interested in a trade.

"I'm curious would you be interested in a trade, or partial trade?"

"It would depend on the items being traded, what would you offer?"

I pulled out one of the gold coins to let the man examine it.

He pulled out a device and waved it over the coin, "Fascinating, you don't see these very often anymore. For each coin, I could take ten credits off the trade. The bag held one hundred coins so knocking a thousand off the price was a deal in my book. I handed him the rest of the coin and the credits and he brought back my items. They went straight into my ring.

Next, I found a weapon shop and purchased another war staff to match the one I had. I wanted a backup, in case I ever accidentally destroyed mine again. Selling off the Justicar's Tunic paid for that as well as a case of six dwarven powder charges and timers.

After that, I hit up an armorer. I purchased a wyvern hide tunic along with some wyvern hide cord to use in crafting my next armor. I tried to get some mithril rivets but they had to be handcrafted while the armor was being made. I ended up going with titanium rivets instead. This way if I needed to replace them more people would likely carry the item.

The wyvern was pricy at fifteen-hundred credits but I purchased it for its special attributes. It was very resistant to magic and certain elements like lightning and fire. I also purchased a Trubar hide vest. This would be for my alternate set of armor. The Trubar hide was thick and squishy, able to absorb blunt force extremely well. Plus it was cheap at only three hundred credits. I managed to get him to throw in some crimson Hoar-spider silk cloth for trade. All those useless weapons I had been carrying around were finally put to good use.

There wasn't much special about the cloth other than dirt didn't stick to it. This would allow me to keep my armor cleaner.

My last stop was to purchase as many healing and mana injectors as I could afford. I managed five of each. They were a bit pricier but also restored 150 instead of the normal 100. After that, I was flat broke. That was fine if I saved money and it cost me my life I would feel really dumb. Checking my watch it had already been an hour and a half. I decided to head back to Granock's to finish waiting. I needed to be out of here as soon as possible.

As soon as Granock finished my items I rode for the nearest gate as quickly as the traffic would allow. I had one more stop in Chicago, the public library. I knew at least one was still standing as we patrolled past it numerous times. I expected the large building to contain many more books on runes and some on armor types. I needed to make sure my investment wasn't a waste.

As soon as I popped out of the gate I rode hard and fast, It was a good thing I did. I could hear shouts as four people waiting at the wrong gate spotted me. They tried to give chase and shot spells in my direction but Bella was able to dodge the incoming attacks. I took a few twists and turns down streets just in case they had mounts of their own.

After a few minutes and no sign of pursuit, I headed towards my objective. This was the second riskiest part of my journey tonight. The library was in an active search zone so I needed to be cautious. Once I got close I stored Bella back in her cage. She would attract too much attention.

Peeking out from the corner I saw the patrol. They were walking away about half a block up. I had gotten extremely lucky with my timing. I waited until they rounded the corner before I sprinted towards the library and up the steps.

Unlike the library I visited before, this one had its windows all broken out. I just hoped that the books I was looking for were not on the looter's agenda. The library was massive and I had to backtrack a few times until I found the historical section. There were books scattered all over the building but it didn't appear that any had been taken. I would have to search the floor to find the ones I was looking for.

The card catalog got me to the right area. I picked up and discarded books at a fever pace. I eventually found a book on medieval armor and blacksmithing. In my ring, they went. Another one on classical armor styles. If the cover said armor it went into my ring, I would sort through them later.

Next, I went to the section where I could find books on runes, paganism, and ancient magic. I tossed any book that I thought might be beneficial, into my ring. There were quite a few books the piqued my interest. I swear I cleaned out the entire aisle before I left the library. Time for the most dangerous portion of my plan.

Turns out getting back in was way easier than exiting the compound. I recognized the two idiots on guard duty at this little-used gate as the two I spoke with about the shadow faction. I put my collar back on and simply strode up to the gate, waving at them. They were inclined to let me in.

"We heard about your jaunt by our shadow faction contact. They were keeping an eye on you tonight."

I was caught off guard by that statement, "Oh, yeah. What did they say about my plans?"

"They said it was feasible. That they would track your progress and determine the best time for them to assist."

I guess that was about as good as I could expect. I left the two to their post and returned to my mistress.