We touched down in an old quarry I knew about. It wasn’t as big or as deep as I would like but it did the job of hiding the fortress.

We were preparing to leave and I was getting a feel for my new hand when Frathsar’s reply arrived.

Good tidings old friend. Much has changed in your absence but the city still stands and is safe to enter. Ask the gate guard to point you to Frathsar’s Fine Goods. I remain open until sundown. I hope to see you soon.

Well, it's good to know he was still around and had apparently opened his own shop. I doubt he would expect us tonight though. I looked at the sky and estimated we had three or four hours until sundown.

We approached the city by the same bridge we had used the last time Fiona and I had entered. I was riding Bella and Martin had purchased an Arabian horse. It was quite the equine, its mane was silver gold and it had a dappled hide to match the coloring. I would have mistaken it for a regular horse if it wasn’t for the blood-red eyes.

Abyssal Thoroughbred

Unlike Bella, this was a summoned creature. Ska walked as he normally did but he gave the horse a wide birth. Bella chittered at him in amusement as he hissed back at her.

We approached the gate at a slow trot, not wanting to spook the guards. At least ten sets of eyes tracked us as we crossed the bridge. I guess traffic at this time of day was light as we were the only group coming across.

A guard halted us.

“State your name and business for visiting Durbinton.”

I wanted to roll my eyes at the name change to the town but I replied with my name and that we were here to visit the Bazaar and meet with old friends.

A magical item noted our information and the guard told us not to cause any trouble while we were here.

He didn’t look put off by our levels, then again maybe they didn’t use identify on us. I know Fiona had said it was rude to do so in her world. That didn’t stop me from using it on the guard though.

Valiencis | Bulwark Guardian | Level 15

It was a respectable level going by Fiona’s country's standards. She had been what, level twelve when we met.

What the group didn’t notice was someone had used Identify on them and was now running to report to their boss. This boss was someone Fiona would have instantly recognized.

***

Lord Durbin lounged in his reading room, glass half full of some vintage local wine that was rather delightful. At first, he had been incensed at being ordered to come to this backwater planet for the sole purpose of contacting a few city guards that had been pulled over.

The indignity of it was almost more than he could stomach. But upon arriving he found that the town around the Bazaar had been sacked and his guide missing or dead. Seeing an opportunity he contacted his father and after expending sizable resources, they managed to teleport a decent-sized force to secure the city and fortify it.

While he still felt it was a backwater, he wasn’t blind to the untapped resources that abounded. He was now magistrate of the city, after bringing all the remaining malcontents into line. The final remaining hurdle had been some old hag. But she was won over eventually. Everyone wanted something and he was able to offer that to her.

Durbin was happy, the land was fertile, and other than the winters was rather mild. The Orc tribes that roamed the areas around the city were easy enough to deal with for his men and usually enough to get the rowdy adventurers to leave and cause trouble amongst them. So when his butler knocked on the door, Durbin frowned.

“Why are you disturbing me, Gunther?”

“Pardon, my Lord. One of your watchers is here with a report.”

Durbin sat up in his chair, setting his glass on the table off to the side. There were few reasons a watcher would disturb him, and none of them were usually good. “Very well, send him in.”

“At once, my Lord.”

A minute later a guard entered. He was wearing the standard leather armor of his scout forces but this man was also a part of the watchers, a group of men he had personally picked to keep an eye out for possible issues.

The man saluted before coming forward.

“Report.”

“A group of three people entered the city around an hour ago. All above level eighteen.”

This got Durbin’s interest. People of that level were rare from his world, besides himself being level twenty-two in his main class and level twelve in his second class, there were no guards that had been over level fourteen when they arrived.

“Give me specific levels and classes.”

The guard passed along the information and Durbin understood why the man had come to him immediately. He had to wonder why a man at level twenty in his main class and fourteen in his second class was up in this area. The local dungeons sure weren’t high enough to bring someone of that level, let alone the monsters.

“Thank you, you may return to your post.”

“My Lord,” the man replied with a stiff salute as he exited the room.

“Gunther, fetch the messenger.”

***

The guard had given directions to Frathar’s shop. It took a good twenty minutes to get there as it was in the old downtown area. The same area that housed the Bazaar and where the battle for the city and subsequent capture of myself, and the death of Fiona had occurred. We did ride past the building where she died. All signs of damage seemed to have been cleaned up, even that rampant magma elemental was gone, although those scars still remained.

The city was quite a bit more lively than the last time we were here. Even the undertone of hopelessness and despair was long forgotten as people seemed to move on with their lives after the system.

The shop in question wasn’t hard to spot. Like his old cart, the shop was covered in colorful flags and signs. Another surprise was the lights. It seemed that someone had managed to partially repair the electrical grid as the street lights and buildings all started to come alive as evening arrived. I dismounted and stored Bella - much to her complaint - before our group walked into the brightly lit store.

A magical chime dinged, letting the proprietor know that someone had arrived.

I heard a familiar voice from a few aisles over. “I will be with you in a moment, please feel free to browse.”

I couldn’t help smiling. This had been the first person, well dragonkin, that had shown me any hospitality after the System arrived.

A few minutes went by before the other customer left. “Sorry about the wait, what can I- … by the gods, Paul, I didn’t expect you here tonight. How are you?”

“I’m good, Frathsar. This is Martin and Ska, good friends of mine.”

“Well, any friend of Paul’s is a paying customer,” he said with a toothy smile. “What about Fiona Clark, I must say Commander Smithson has been quite irate about not hearing from you in so long. I managed to talk him out of sending a contractor to retrieve you, but just barely.”

I winced at this news. “Yeah, I’ll let her tell you about that, perhaps after you’re closed up?”

“Well, no time like the present. I have no more customers in the store… unless you three wish to purchase something?”

“Perhaps later,” I added, cutting off any other reply.

“Fair enough. Give me a minute to lock up. We can head upstairs to my home.”

Frathsar’s home was quite nice. It was a converted three-story building with the bottom two floors being part of the store. I didn’t recall what used to be housed in this building, not that it really mattered.

“Please, sit. Would anyone like refreshments?”

“Water is fine with me.”

Martin asked for water as well, but Ska asked for milk.

The house was decorated much like his store. Colorful items were everywhere, leaving little living space. The sudden thought of creating a show called System hoarders popped into my head and I chuckled internally.

“So, is Fiona going to be joining us?”

“She's already here,” I replied.

“Oh, must be a powerful stealth ability to get past my items.”

Fiona became visible a few seconds later, standing behind Martin.

Frathsar didn’t seem fazed by her appearance. “Oh… so not invisibility. Well, I certainly see the issue. Sorry about your death, young one.”

Fiona nodded, then began to recount the story about how she ended up this way.

It took around an hour for Fiona to tell the story and Frathsar was attentive the entire time. He didn’t seem surprised in the least. Or if he was I couldn’t tell.

“That does make things difficult. I assume you are planning on visiting the Commander?”

We nodded.

“I can’t imagine this will put him in a good mood, but with your levels, I don’t see him making too much of a fuss. When Lord Durbin took control of this town-“

“Wait… Lord Durbin took control?” Fiona asked.

“Oh, you weren’t aware. Yes. He arrived shortly after the battle, or so I heard. With his father’s assistance, he brought over twenty guards and five Earth mages. By the time I arrived, he had already forced most of the locals to capitulate to his rule. Not that it harmed them any, they are actually doing quite well, but you know how it is, some people resent being seen as conquered. That was where his little watchers came in. Spys and assassins mostly. They helped keep the fighting to a minimum. After that, the walls went up.”

“Weasly little bastards,” Fiona hissed. “they told me it was too expensive to send more than one person through.”

“It is rather pricy, but the cost of controlling a city of this size as well as access to a Bazaar was seen as a worthwhile investment. I can’t say that I would have done anything differently, had I been in the Lord’s shoes.”

“So, is the Commander here then?” I asked.

“Um… no. The thing is when Lord Durbin took the town, he sent a messenger to Commander Smithson. Essentially he wrote off the entire Garrison and told them they were on their own. I fear part of that was my fault. The Lord asked me to tell him about the conditions of the town and the route to get there. As far as I know, the Commander still flies the flag of Asharon, and who knows what will transpire in the future. The Commander is extremely loyal to the kingdom and Lord Durbin is really only representing the Duke, not the King.”

“Politics,” I muttered.

“Indeed. So, now you know what happened here, how about you fill me in on your adventures.”

I did, but I left out the really dark parts. Nobody wanted to hear about or relive those.

“Are you four planning on staying long?”

“No, probably only for a few nights. Then we will head north to see the Commander. After that, we have to return to Texas.”

“I must say, I am fascinated with the thing you call the Fortress. Would you mind if I tagged along with you to see the Commander? Perhaps my influence will help soothe his temper.”

“Sure. Let's say the day after tomorrow.”

“Excellent, excellent. I recommend the hotels down the street. With the return of electricity, they are fabulous. I must say the comforts of your world are divine.”

“Thanks… I guess. By the way, who managed to restore the power?”

“I’m not entirely sure. All I know is it is someone local the Lord hired.”

Ska and Martin had been mostly quiet, letting me catch up with my old friend. They did chat a bit with Frathsar and he somehow talked them into buying something. I had a good chuckle at this. Frathsar was Frathsar, and he wouldn’t be a Merchant Extraordinaire if he didn’t at least try. I was pretty sure the only reason he excluded me from his attempts at making a sale was that I had saved his life.