Looking over the old man's items, I was once again surprised. Though there were some I failed to recognise, the ones I did were all of a brilliant quality. Oddly enough, lots of the items were consumables.

Though it was suspicious and I wondered if he knew I would want stuff like this. If he did then it was far beyond me to stop him. Someone that could have such detailed insight was not someone I could antagonise. In the end, I decided to leave it aside for now.

Solomon: you've outdone yourself this time old man. Even compared to last time this is amazing.

Old man: hoho, it's not that much. Really, these are some of the worst weapons that exist in Domain.

Though what he said was true, especially when you considered that these were the lowest ranked weapons available. But to me right now, each and every one of these tools could be a lifesaver.

For example, he had a bundle of stim packs from the fallout universe. These could heal extreme injuries, even to the extent of repairing broken bones. He also had a poison bag from Danmachi. reading the description it seemed very powerful, any enemy under F rank would be killed within seconds after being poisoned. Even F ranks would die within an hour or so if they remained untreated. Even then, the treatment would require a costly antidote or the personal attention of an F rank healer.

Other than them there were many other items, each extremely useful in their own way. After perusing for a while, I decided upon 2 items. Mainly because I was saving the majority of my points for elsewhere.

The first item was a set of BIMS explosives from Btoom. It was a container holding an assortment of different BIMS, each with unique effects. The other item was a controller from Gantz. It had the basic function of showing allies and enemies on a map. Though it did have a separate function that lets the user become invisible for a small time.

Solomon: how much for these two?

Pointing them out, I asked the old man.

Old man: they're both 400 each.

For items of such high quality, he was still selling them for a fraction of the price.

Solomon: I'll take them.

Ourous: 400 points deducted.

Picking up the items, I said my farewell to the old man.

Solomon: I'm on a tight timescale at the moment, so I'll take my leave.

Old man: okay, it's always good doing business. If you're lucky we might do business again.

Leaving the old man, I made my way out of the weapon market. the reason I had left quickly was because of the risk the old man had. Something about him felt off. When we conversed it was like he could see straight through me. I felt it would be best to leave before he learnt something that I needed to keep quiet.

Having finished in the weapon district, I moved on to my only other port of call. The skill book district. I had undoubtedly found a great fortune here before. So now I hoped to find something else. Though I wasn't betting on finding something like dragons fire again, it would be nice to buy some skills. It's never a bad idea to have more skills.

Walking through the entrance gate, I was greeted with the bustling market. Rows of stalls, all vying for the attention of passing customers. Just like inside all of the other districts, there was a pleasant atmosphere in the air.

Walking among the stall, I looked for anything that could be useful to me. As I had learnt, the skills here are all items from missions. If the reward can't be used by the person who earned it, usually they would sell it here. It was quite an interesting area.

Looking at all of the different types of skills opened my mind to the truly massive variety that existed. From skills for one specific enhancement to any of hundreds of thousands, they all existed here. Though I'm sure that what I'm seeing are only the dregs found in one of the weakest neutral cities, it was still an eye-opening collection.

After an hour or so of wandering, I had seen only two skills that interested me. Though there were thousands of skills here, only a fraction of them could be learned by me. And even then, only these two would actually fit well with my fighting style and enhancements. The first skill was called Chunbu outer Ki technique. It was a skill that used energy to enhance the body, improving all stats except insight and longevity by 10%. It also had an effect on the recovery of stamina.

The other skill was called move objects. Like with my verdant mountain gale, it let me move objects without touching them. However, unlike my other skill, there was no limit to what could be moved. As well as this it was listed as a nature spell.

After hearing from Pluvial that all skills are unique, I figured the method of movement was different for this skill. Knowing this, I wondered if I could combine them when I had enough proficiency in both. Seeing this as I possibility, I brought it.

After buying these skills I was left with 4 and a half thousand points. Looking at the sky I saw that time had moved on. If I didn't leave soon I would be out after dark. Though I wished to stay and look for more skills, the time had constrained my options. Turning to leave, I noticed the same pet skill shop from before. Being as it was near the exit, I decided to have a quick look before leaving.

Ruffling through the skills, I noticed a few that were interesting. Being as I had recently got my silver wolf race, skills that were meant for canines could be learnt by me. Looking through I found one skill that stood out.

It was only a generic skill called dash of the silver wolf. But the fact that it specifically mentioned my race piqued my curiosity. Though I had no clue, I thought that maybe the skill being specific to my race would give me some type of bonus. Though it was only speculation, for the abnormally low price associated with pet skills, It was definitely worth trying.

After finding this skill, and paying the tiny cost I left the market with a bunch of new goodies. As well as the astonishingly huge 4,378 points.

As I made my way through Thervil, the sun gradually started slipping downward. When I reached the city centre it was just disappearing below the horizon.

Not wanting to risk being out at night, I sped up my pace, jogging towards the mansion. As it was only on the edge of the guild district it would only take me ten minutes to get there. But even so, I spent the whole time vigilant to the possibility of an attack.

Luckily though, I made it to the mansion without incident. Walking into the double doors, I was surprised by the eerie silence in the mansion.

Solomon: HELLOOOOO!?

The only reply to my voice was the distant echoing it made down the hallway. Feeling that something was deeply wrong, I began to walk forwards. Entering the living room, I saw that everything was as it had been. Moving onto the dining room, I was surprised to find it was also completely unchanged.

If something had happened then it would be odd for the mansion to be fine. Though I had only been in a few rooms, so I was unsure about the state of the rest of the place. Walking into the hallway, I checked in the bedrooms on the ground floor.

like everywhere else, they were the same. Walking back into the hallway, I looked towards the back garden. Though the glass doors were covered with a blind, there was an ominous red light flickering around the edges.

Cautiously walking down the hall, I stood before the door. Using my enhanced hearing, I tried to listen out for anything. Obviously suspicious that something had gone wrong, I wouldn't just walk straight into a trap.

Though it was muffled, I could hear the sound of a crackling fire. Other than that I would occasionally hear the sound of light breathing.

Unsure as to whether it was enemies or allies, I neglected the idea of coming out guns blazing. Walking up to the blind, I pulled a tiny sliver to the side, peeking through the revealed opening. From what I could see, there was a fire burning just outside of the door. Though it was partially obscuring my vision, my enhanced Eyesite allowed me to see past it.

Hiding behind a tree a few meters from the door, was a dark figure.

Though I couldn't see others, I was fairly certain they were there. Not seeing much of an option, I walked out through the door. Though I could attempt to go around to another exit, it would put me at a disadvantage. Whereas I knew what was behind me here, I would be blind by entering from another direction.

Opening the door and stepping outside, I stood directly before the fire. At this point, I was surprised that the person behind the tree had not attacked me. Though I heard his breathing elevate when I exited, he had not made a move.

With a quick movement, I raised my hand, shooting a small flame lizards head at the nearby man. Reacting quickly, the man jumped up into a tree.

At this point, two other leapt at me from the behind other trees. They were both dressed in full body dark clothing, stopping me from seeing any detail about them

Though I didn't know where they were, I had already planned for this. drawing my sword, I dashed towards these two. From the speed at which they approached, I doubted they were even G ranks.

With a lunge, I stabbed towards the larger of the two. Though at this point I was holding most of my power back. I wanted to keep these two alive for questioning later.

Using a sword of his own, the man diverted my sword to his side. Then with practised movements, he shifted his shoulder towards me. having the whole power of his weight and momentum pushed onto me, I was forced back.

From this it was clear that these were not common fighters, at the least, they had a moderate level of skill.

Taking a step back, I became more serious. As I had been occupied with this one, the other man had looped around to behind me. Seeing me back up he tried to stab me in the back. But when the blade reached me, he felt no resistance. Because of this, he fell forward a few steps. Then from behind him the back of my blade came down, knocking him out.

When he had come up behind me, I used the afterimage technique to appear behind him.

Slightly deterred, the other man hesitated. Using his brief indecision, I attacked.

With a slash to his side, I forced him to block my blow. Then when the blade met, I used a tendril of qi to reach behind his head, hitting him. Like the other man, he slumped to the floor.

Just as I returned my focus to the surroundings, I noticed a faint swish of wind behind me. Trusting my instincts, I threw myself forwards. Doing a roll, I turned to look behind me. As I did the first thing I saw was a huge flaming boulder flying towards me.

with no time to dodge. I use another of my skills. lifting my sword up, it becomes cloaked in a red light. Then bringing it downwards, the light flashed out, splitting the rock in half.

Looking towards my attackers, I was dumbfounded.

Solomon: Gareth?