Walking through the busy marketplace of Tightwood creek, Liam watched the hustle and bustle of people going about their jobs. Vendors shouted at the top of their voices, attracting customers. People haggled over the price of goods in loud voices. Small arguments between vendors and customers happened all over the place.

An old was carrying round yellow fruits in a bag too small to contain all of them. Not paying attention to her surroundings, she walked into Liam. The fruits on top rolled down, but Liam caught them before they dropped to the ground.

“Watch where you are going!” She opened her mouth to berate him when she got her first good look at him. The words died in her throat, and she hastily left without asking for her fruits. The surrounding people moved away when they noticed him. They glared at him through the corner of their eyes and gossiped in hushed voices.

Liam wore the army uniform and had his sword on full display. After the meeting with the trusk, he put an act like he was searching for clues to please Anya while making preparations for the upcoming battle. One of the lessons he learned in the past three days was that the uniform and sword acted as a deterrent against many people.

Carrying weapons without permission was a crime, but his affiliation with the army let him get away with it. Unless he caused trouble, no one wanted to warn him. The rumors of the covert war between two factions and Alisha’s actions during martial law made everyone cautious. Gone were the days where the town guard acted with impunity. Forget about doing wrong things, they were even afraid of upholding the law, worried about which party they would offend. Their attitude caused a spike in the crime rate which had been on a constant rise.

Jade snatched one of the fruits from his hand and bit into it.

“Delicious,” she commented with juices running down her chin. ”Why don’t we knock into more people and snatch their fruits?”

Her voice wasn’t low, and the words cleared the surroundings of people in an instant. No one wanted to be her victim.

Dunn snickered. "What're you going to do now?"

“Its not like the marketplace is empty.” She gazed at the shopkeepers. “Let’s go ‘buy’ it from them.”

“Just so we’re clear, we’re going to pay right?” Dunn asked.

Jade answered him with an evil smile on her face. “Of course.”

The troubled vendors hollered the town guard, but they were deliberately ignored. When no one came to help them, they stared at the approaching Jade in apprehension.

Dunn sighed. “We look like the bad guys.”

The sentence brought a deeply buried memory inside Liam to the forefront. "Stop spouting nonsense! Bad guys? What does a good guy look like? Show me someone like that? If you want to be good, go join the church and become a priest. I’m sure you can find all the goodness you want!

"This world doesn't have bad, normal, and good people. It contains evil, normal and stupid people. If you want to join the stupid group, feel free, but remember they are always the ones who suffer!"

His outburst shocked his friends. They didn’t expect the playful banter to result in such an intense reaction.

Even Liam didn’t expect the words to affect him, but they reminded him of someone he would rather forget. After the little episode, they proceeded towards the destination in complete silence.

They arrived at the street where blacksmiths sold their wares. It was less crowded compared to the marketplace, but the constant sounds of metal clashing on metal grated on his nerves.

He arrived at the largest store on the street just as another carriage came to a stop. The lady getting down from the carriage studied his dress, and her lips curled in disgust.

“Bren, where are the novice crafters located?”

One of her bodyguards came forward. “They’re clumped at the street entrance, fighting over customers.”

“Do they sell cheap weapons?”

“Of course. From what I heard, even soldiers can afford them.”

Ignoring them, Liam was about to step into the store when Bren walked into him.

“Oop…...”

He didn’t get to form the word before Liam punched him. Flying for ten meters, his head hit the sign of another store with a sickening thud.

Before the other guard could react, Liam made short work of him and walked in front of the lady.

“D-Do you know who …..?”

A scream erupted from her mid-sentence. Liam kicked her knee, breaking it, and stepped into the store unconcerned about the people he beat up. He knew he would regret the decision the moment he calmed down, but anger made it difficult to think rationally.

“What’s wrong with you?” Jade whispered. "I never thought I would see you react to a taunt like that. What happened to the Liam who remained calm and collected no matter the situation?”

Her words abated some of his anger, and he took deep breaths, pacifying his out of control emotions. Ever since he escaped the Rift, the control over his emotions slipped. Being in a safe environment made him relaxed, and he no longer maintained the strict discipline he always followed. Combining it with the crying incident, he became more prone to emotional outbursts. It was something he should rectify sooner rather than later. Regaining control would became harder with time.

The store was dead silent when they entered it.

Unconcerned by their behaviour, Liam said, “Show me your enchanted weapons."

When no one responded to his query, the manager berated the staff. “ A customer is standing in front of you, and you’re all daydreaming? Trent, go and attend to the clients!"

A short guy unwillingly approached him and tried to smile in vain. “This way.”

He led them to another room where only thirty weapons were on display, but all of them were enchanted weapons. “We don’t have a lot of enchanted weapons in our inventory. The number of people who can afford them in this small town is low and they rarely buy premade ones. If you prefer, there is a runesmith who can create custom-made enchanted weapons.

“Really? How long does it take, and what kind of enchantments can I get?” Liam asked. He didn’t expect Tightwood creek to have a runemsith.

“The order depends on the kind of weapon and effect you are looking for. I’ve to warn you, the smith is limited to five wind elemental effects. If you want more options, I suggest you visit a city.”

The answer disappointed Liam.

He understood the reason for the lack of shields on display. No one in their right mind would create a shield with wind elemental effects.

Using mana vision, he studied the enchantments present on the weapons. Calling them basic was being nice. They were all worthless. The daggers and arrows had an effect that either increased the speed or made them resistant to change in direction.

As for the close-range weapons, they had effects that added a little bit of slicing or piercing power.

Trent’s enthusiastic explanation managed to draw a yawn from Jade.

She patted her ax. “Don’t you have something like my glacial slicer?”

Liam disliked naming weapons, but he hadn’t said anything when she named it. The ax was one of the rare weapons that deserved it.

By Trent’s expression, it was clear he didn’t agree. Based on the outward appearance, the ax was worn out. There were nicks present all over the handle, and the grip was non-existent. Hardened blood and dust covered it, hiding its majesty.

Jade sneered at his expression. Sending mana into the weapon, she activated the first enchantment. The temperature in the room dropped and the ax took on an icy appearance. Ice gathered on edge, creating a ten-inch crystallized blue frame. It was thin as a razor’s edge but hard enough to withstand the impact from any weapon.

She placed it on the table beside her and the ax sliced through it with zero effort. Hitting the ground, it created a deep groove before coming to a standstill.

Trent’s jaw hit the floor alongside the weapons. He never expected the worn-out ax to be so lethal.

“I’m pretty sure you won’t have anything remotely close to my weapon, but I hope you can show me something better than this junk.”

Jade’s words managed to shift his attention.

He approached a rack and fiddled with a hidden cabinet. “We have better weapons, but only three of them.”