After spending a few more minutes lying on the ground, Goldie decided it was time to leave. He stuffed the remaining items, including some of the puma's fangs, into his pack and commenced the arduous journey back to the city. He would have gladly rested for longer, but the possibility of further unknown predators made him reconsider. He couldn't magically heal himself since his Inexhaustible Will had exhausted his Energy regeneration for the time being.

I'm not sure if I should be happy or mad about that last encounter.

I reckon you should count yourself extremely lucky. You leveled and got yourself some valuable monster parts.

I did nearly die, though.

Meh, as long as you come out on top, does that really matter?

Of course it does! Why wouldn't you warn me how dangerous dire pumas are? Speaking of which, it would have been great if you told me the puma I killed earlier was not the correct kind.

Nono, both of them were tainted. The second one was simply an elite.

Which is?

You know, one of those stronger variant monsters Alvon told you about.

Splendid.

Goldie pondered that next time he went into the forest it may be a smart idea to bring some bait. Then again it was unlikely he would survive multiple monsters ganging up on him. He knew his final attack against the giant feline creature was a fluke and with how much Energy he used, he probably couldn't repeat that stunt multiple times per hunting session.

He hazily stumbled his way back to the adventurers' guild and deposited the quests' desired objects. Thankfully he did not have to personally deliver the items to the people who ordered them. Xander's hunch turned out correct, as Goldie got awarded bonus payment for bringing such elite fangs. He also asked the receptionist about spending the night at the guild.

Even though Goldie originally wished to accept Alvon's offer, at this point all he really wanted to do was rest and wait for his body to heal.

"Of course, sir. As a registered adventurer you may spend the night in the common area free of charge or reserve a room for 25 gold per day."

25 gold seemed quite expensive to Goldie, but he valued his privacy. He tried handing over the payment, but the cashier told him the cost would simply be deducted from his quest payment and gave him his room key. He therefore ended up with 68 gold for the number of monsters slain and the gathered materials. Goldie figured if he wanted to increase his income the best method would be eventually buying an enchanted storage container. He would then be able to transport entire animal carcasses.

Interestingly the rooms were located in the basement as opposed to the upper floors. The whole building more closely resembled a bunker than an inn.

He finally entered his room and undressed himself for bed. His clothes and especially his cloak were in tatters. He would need to get them fixed. At least he did not receive any strange looks for his disheveled appearance. That is to say, he did not notice any strange looks thanks to his blood loss and exhaustion.

He woke up lying on the wet ground of the forest. He stood up and tried cleaning the mud off his clothing, however, the moisturized earth stubbernly clung to him.

"Well great."

After trekking along the uneven ground for a while a thought struck him: Why was he here? Did he pick up a new quest? He rationalized that must have been the reason. What beast was he looking to slay? Possibly he came to gather some sort of plant. Goldie instinctively knew he would find out his reason for coming here as soon as he saw it.

The forest was strangely silent. None of the usual birds or insects could be heard. Even though the woods were bright, he could not find a single lightsource. The sun was nowhere to be seen. Goldie wondered how this was possible as he stumbled upon a ferocious dire puma tearing into a boar it had hunted. Anger for his previous wounds welled up within him as he stormed at the beast.

"I'll get you, you monster!", Goldie shouted. The puma did not react.

His body moved on its own and he embedded his weapon in the puma's head. After having slain the animal, only more arrived and encircled him. To his horror, the animals began eating their brethren's corpse to empower themselves with its life force. This act of cannibalism enraged Goldie.

"Don't you care about your fellow kin!? If all you do is feast upon anything you get your hands on you don't deserve life!"

Instead of using his dagger, goldie telekinetically flung rocks at the creatures. However, no matter how many were slain, more and more monsters arrived. Their appearances morphed from the original dire puma into hideous combinations of puma, boar and viper. These chimeras constantly devoured their dead kin and continuously gained power. Eventually they all combined into as single gigantic writhing mass of flesh. Its strength was far too much for Goldie to handle and the amalgamation consumed him.

Within the pits of its stomach he was surrounded by darkness. The tangible black miasma encased his body and pressed the air out of his lungs. As he gasped for oxygen the shadows flooded into his open mouth. Goldie tried pushing them away by virtue of his Will, but it wasn't enough. It only took a few minutes for him to suffocate.

*BEEP BEEP BEEP*

He really wished his watch's inbuilt alarm had a less annoying sound. At least it quickly woke him from his nightmare.

For a moment, Goldie pondered why he kept having such terrifying dreams. Did they have any meaning? Was his subconscious warning him of something? The only meaning he could discern was that he shouldn't become overwhelmed by bloodlust lest he get himself killed.

Whether the dreams were some sort of premonition or just his psyche reacting to the drastic changes within his life he wasn't sure. In the end there was nothing he could do to stop himself from having them.

Having decidedly fretted enough, he made his way upstairs to get breakfast. While he ate a large serving of scrambled eggs and ham, he reviewed his path screen.

Open Paths (92p) Assassin I 0/50, Augmenter I 0/25, Soul-thief 0/???, Telekinetic I 0/25; Current Paths Unshackled 17/75 Completed Paths Apprentice (Agility), Ascendant, Intermediate (Willpower), Shadow Walker; Gained Benefits +1 Agility per 5 levels, +10% Anima gain, +10% Agility;

He had stayed away from further increasing his stats before now, as he was extremely close to the theoretical limit. However, now that he'd increased that cap by a sliver, he could finally invest some unspent points. He used the first 58 to finish his Unshackled path.

Many of your feelings had not been your own.

+1 Willpower.

Over time an inkling of doubt spread throughout the back of your mind.

+2 Willpower.

You realized that although you were free in body, you were enslaved in spirit. By virtue of this realization you have broken free.

+10% Willpower.

Your resistance to being mentally impaired is greatly increased. You are now able to lightly sense the origin of mental influences upon your mind.

Those were some extremely valuable bonuses. It turned out being mentally enslaved for most of his life had some upsides to it after all.

He now needed to decide on his next path. Soul-thief sounded as ominous as ever and stood in the triple digits. He had enough points to complete another cheap path. His telekinesis combined well with his high Willpower, but to make it truly devastating he needed more strength. The augmenter path had the same problem. Goldie's Agility may have been high, but because of his low Strength and Constitution he could not overuse augmentation.

However, the temptation of instantly completing a path before going into a dungeon was too great to pass up. In the end he decided to complete the Telekinetic path and save the remaining 9 points for another time.

Willpower is an abstract quality. It allows you to face hardships without succumbing to mental fatigue.

Enough of it is even able to reinforce the connection to your soul.

+0,1 Energy per point of Willpower.

Enough skill allows to transform this abstract strength into a tangible one.

The usage of telekinetic powers has eased.

All in all he was quite impressed with those benefits. They would surely help him in today's dungeon delve.

Before that, however, he needed to do some shopping. He had gotten up at precisely 7 o'clock, so he could arrive at the market as soon as possible. As nice as his cloak's ability was, it didn't offer very much protection. A fact that was reinforced by the sorry state it was in. He also needed a few other essentials, such as rations and a waterskin.

Before that, however, there was one important task he needed to get done first. He quickly finished his meal and proceeded to the quest counter.

"Pardon me, yesterday I heard mention of additional services. Would one of those perchance be slee- *ahem*"

XANDER!

"storing valuables?"

"Ah, a foreigner like you must not know about the bank. Once you walk out the front door turn right and continue moving down the street for around ten minutes. It should be obviously recognizeable as it looks equally distasteful as this building from the outside."

It slightly irked him that she assumed he was some uninformed foreigner. Then again, that's exactly what he was.

He put on his best smile before answering, "Thank you kindly for your help ma'am. Have a nice day!"

And with those parting words, Goldie walked out of the building.

The walk took him a while, but he had no difficulties recognizing his destination. True to the receptionist's words the building was a big, bland, concrete cube. Even the inside reminded him of the guild's common room, only there were a lot more clerks and no glass orbs. He walked up to one of the unoccupied counters and gave his best smile.

"Excuse me sir. Would I perchance be able to store some of my personal belongings here?"

The clerk gave him an evaluating look, before answering.

"These items were not acquired illegaly were they?"

"Of course not! That is a preposterous assumption", Goldie replied.

The clerk narrowed his eyes, clearly unconvinced. "Just to be sure, we need you to sign this waver so we won't be held legally accountable if it ends up being the case."

Goldie was angry to even be accused of such a thing. He was a successful merchant and had never broken the law in his life! Well, that wasn't quite true anymore, but he hadn't stolen anything! Actually, his cloak and dagger are technically stolen goods. And his watch wasn't acquired legally either, but he wasn't going to store that anyway.

"I assure you the state of my attire is simply because I've recently done a few quests in the Lîngva forest."

"Of course sir, I never doubt any of our clients reputability. This is simply a precautionary measure", he assured. "Seeing and adventurer with a chambayang skin cloak is quite the rarity after all."

Oh wow. This guy sure knows his stuff.

Hearing that comment, Goldie finally relented and signed the waver. He then pulled out his pair of fuzzy slippers, silverware, his large clock, comb, some clothing and 400 of his 1000 gold. The clerk was visibly holding in his laughter.

"Have a nice day mister Jefferite", he said as he accepted the items and placed them into a slot that had appeared in the wall behind him.

I'm surprised he managed to say that without bursting.

I'm surprised I managed to hold myself back from smacking him.

That issue sorted, his bag now had room for extra supplies. He got out his booklet and started work on the shopping list.

- Repair Cloak

- Full body protection

- Rations

- Waterskin

- Potions

Anything I'm missing, Xander?

Other than years of experience? I don't think so.

Goldie jokingly wrote down 'years of experience' and made his way to the market.

First off he needed to repair his torn cloak. Since it was magical fabric, he needed to find an experienced for the job. Xander had no idea where specific shops were located, which meant Goldie was on his own.

Instead of working down his list top to bottom as he usually would, he chose to simply wander around and enter any store that sold what he needed. The first shop he entered was called 'Simply Survival' and was filled to the brim with different kinds of wilderness survival gear and camping supplies. He was somewhat tempted to buy a tent and sleeping bag as well, but he was not planning on spending the night inside the dungeon.

Wouldn't spending the night inside the dungeon be more efficient? That way we can cut down on travel time, and time is a valuable resource right now.

As much as Goldie hated to admit it...

You have a point.

However, spending the night inside monster-infested territory was not very thrilling.

The tent would need to have some kind of safety system.

It was probably best to ask the store's attendant for advice.

"Pardon me, ma'am. I may need a bit of advice."

"What do you need?"

"I would appreciate if-" he clamped his mouth shut.

Xander you need to stop trying to make me sexually harass every woman I meet!

"Sir?"

"Please excuse me. I have the bad habit of letting my thoughts drift away from me", Goldie explained. "In any case, I would greatly appreciate your help in picking out a tent."

"Of course, are you looking for anything specific?" she inquired.

"Indeed I am. I need a single person tent with inbuilt safety features", he replied. "You see, I'm planning to spend a few nights inside a dungeon."

"I see, If you would kindly follow me to the back."

Seriously man you're such a buzzkill, loosen up a little.

Forcing your words through my mouth is not exactly warming me up to the idea of helping you out.

Really? I figured being annoying would make you want to get rid of me as soon as possible.

Get rid of you, yes. That does not necessarily include your soul surviving the process.

Okay, I'll shut up.

"We have a multiple options. From unfoldable bunkers to deployable force fields", she glanced at Goldie's baffled expression. "Of course, that may be a bit outside of your price range. Perhaps I could interest you in an invisible tent?"

Goldie perked up when he heard that.

"Invisible you say? Perhaps that explains why I was unable to find them", he joked, which earned him a giggle.

"No, they aren't permanently invisible and require a bit of energy to maintain their effect", she clarified. "We simply don't have them on display in the front."

Goldie gave the tent a very thurough inspection. Though they may be able to turn invisible, the materialy seemed quite cheap. Not to mention the shopkeeper did not elaborate much on the energy consumption rate.

Xander what do you make of this?

Seems like a perfectly good investment to me.

I'm fairly certain we're getting scammed here. Let me test something first.

"How high is the price?"

"Usually it'd be 500, but we make special exceptions for adventurer's like you. That means for you it costs..." she hesitated. "You know what? I like you, I'll give you an extra special added discount."

Oh boy, she said she likes you.

Don't be daft!

"How much for it now?" he asked with false interest.

"175 Gold."

"No thank you, that's a bit too high for my liking."

Her facade crumbled. "What, why? I've already reduced the price by so much I can't afford to reduce it by any more."

"There are no prices listed in the back of the store, which means you can name whatever you like", Goldie accused. "I assume the original cost was nowhere near 500 Gold. The fabric is flimsy and the generator is impractical to carry around. Not to mention this doesn't stop me from being detected by any other senses."

"Sir, I can assure you of the quality of my goods!"

"My father... was a merchant. I've seen him use the exact strategies you have to sell off low-quality items he'd bought on impulse. I'll have you know this won't work on me."

Oho, and here I thought you were way too much of a goody two shoes to scam people in your own store.

I was not always as honorable. It took time for me to learn that fostering goodwill was a lot more important for the long term than making extra money.

A frown painted the woman's face. "You're right. It's been difficult getting rid of these..."

"Might I suggest you simply cut them apart and sell off the fabric?"

"That wouldn't work. It needs to remain stationary and be constantly supplied with energy to function."

"I see, that's a shame. Nonetheless I still need safe and portable shelter for the night. Perhaps some sort of alarm system would suffice?"

"Ah, we do have something like that. But not built into a tent, and I should warn you it's quite expensive."

"It's not the expense I'm worried about. As long as it protects me I see it as a worthwhile investment."

The merchant nodded in agreement and led Goldie to a different section of the store and brought out a small orb. According to her explanation the item measured fluctuations in the anima concentrations of the surroundings when switched on. As soon as it detected a change it sounded a high pitched alarm.

Sadly, Goldie would not be able to use it as a mobile creature detector since the sound would not only alert everything to his presence, but also because the object had a twenty second calibration period, after which it should not be moved.

"How much energy does it take?"

"If you're planning to use it in a dungeon you need not worry. It will simply absorb the surrounding anima."

"Splendid. And the cost?"

"150 Gold."

"Are we sure about that? No special price reductions for an adventurer?"

"I already knew you'd want to haggle. 150 is my final price, take it or leave it. It is a magical device after all"

"I accept. I'll still need myself a sturdy tent, however."

After a bit of haggling, Goldie managed to purchase the tent, a sleeping bag and other supplies for an additional 100 Gold.

He crossed off the purchased items from his list.

- Repair Cloak

- Full body protection

- Rations

- Waterskin

- Potions

- Years of experience

Considering Goldie had already spent close to half of his cash, he decided to cross off the top two items first, and spend whatever money he had left on a few potions.

The next forty minutes were spent wandering from one tailor to the next. Each one telling Goldie about a different store that might be capable of mending magical material. The biggest hurdle stemmed from the fact that most tailors were either focused on fancy, impractical apparel, or only sold and crafted cheap equipment and armor. Eventually he landed at the most prestigious armory in Siellous, quite far from the rest of the market.

Negotiations were going... poorly.

"That'll cost ya around 200 gold sonny."

"Two hundred!? For a patch job?"

"No less than that, boyo. You thinkin' just anyone can mend magical hide?"

"I'm not thinking anything. I know that you're ripping me off!"

Goldie was seething with anger at this smith's outrageous demands.

Calm down man! You wanna get thrown out?

This is unacceptable, he's obviously playing us!

We don't have much of a choice though. Either we buy from him, or we don't fix the cloak at all.

Much to Goldie's chagrin, what Xander said held truth. Multiple shopkeepers had told them "old Ken" would certainly be able to help. However, they had also warned him of the inflated prices.

"Rippin' you off, eh sonny? If you don't like it, the door's right there."

Goldie sucked up all his anger before giving the politest smile he could manage. "Good day to you, then."

"Pah, bloody adventurers don't know what's good for 'em." Ken muttered under his breath, just loud enough for Goldie to hear.

He ignored the further insult and walked over to the door, only for Xander to paralyze his body.

Don't throw a hissy-fit! Just pay the damm fee and we'll be on our way!

No way in all the hells am I turning back now! So let go of my body!

No! You and I both know you need that cloak. Not to mention you'll still owe it to me after we fix this "two heads one body" routine!

Goldie grit his teeth as he concentrated fully on his right leg.

Indomitable Will has risen to Lvl 13!

He slowly raised his leg and pushed it forward.

Come on, can't you see how ridiculous you're being? Shouldn't you be the one talking about how investing into your personal safety is always worthwhile?

I won't buy from a shopkeeper like him!

"Go on then, what's takin' ya so long?" the old smith grumbled. "Reconsidering my deal are ye?"

Goldie did his best to press his words through the mouth that Xander was desperately trying to keep shut.

Indomitable Will has risen to Lvl 14!

"No way... in hell... would I reconsider!"

Can't you just shop like a normal damm person! *Sigh*

Goldie slowly raised his arm to reach for the door handle, when a young man popped out from the back of the store.

"Pops? How often have I told ya to quit scarin' off our customers?"

"We don't need no rude, gutter rats like him, boy! And didn't I tell you to finish up your work in the back!?"

"I'm already finished, and just in time it seems like." The young man walked up to the still-fuming Goldie. "My sincere apologies sir. My father can be a bit surly at times." His accent was suddenly nowhere to be heard.

"Who you callin' surly boy!?"

"You, obviously. You ought to stop with that attitude if we wanna keep any client's 'round."

"Pah, that youngster was actin' disrespectful. I ain't got no time to waste on fools the likes of him."

The son turned to face Goldie, "he was ripping you off wasn't he?"

"I wasn't rippin' off nobody, boy!"

At this point Goldie's mood had shifted into trying his best not to grin at the bickering on display.

"Overchargin' ain't gonna pull us out of any rut, pops! And while we're talkin' bout manners, you ought to stop callin' everyone who ain't as old as you boy! I'm already 28 years old for ayal's sake!"

Old ken gave another derisive snort, before disappearing into the back of the store.

"Once again, I'm awfully sorry about all that, sir" the 'boy' said with a short bow. "You gotta forgive him a bit for his mood. The last months have been hard on us."

"Yes, I inferred as much. I'm partially to blame anyway, as I could have done a lot better keeping my cool."

"Yeah, but the customer is king. What is it you wished to purchase? The name's Kyle by the way."

Goldie pulled out his tattered cloak. "I need someone to fix this."

"Oh wow, Chameleyang hide? Let's take a look here." Kyle felt along the torn spots, his hands enveloped in a mysterious glow. "The tears weren't caused by a magical attack at least. Makes the job a lot easier." His hand's glow changed from a light blue, to a golden color. "A lot of work went into preserving the hide's natural stealthing ability. Truly a magnificent work of art. Wherever did you get it from?"

"A, uh, friend gifted it to me. I sadly can't tell you who he got it from originally."

"That's too bad, I would have greatly liked to meet such a fine tailor." Kyle mused. "I'm more accustomed to metal equipment, but I should easily handle fixing a torn cloak like this."

"That's good. I'm not sure your father would still be willing after our conversation..."

The men shared a light chuckle.

"Now let's get to pricing. Considering the magical properties remain mostly intact, patching it up shouldn't be too much of a problem. I reckon around 100 Gold should do the trick."

Goldie pondered for a moment before the younger man spoke up again. "I could lower it by another twenty, if you want to bundle the purchase together with some other items. You look quite underequipped at the moment after all."

"Yeah... I've been to quite a few stores before coming here, but they all seem filled to the brim with shotty weapons and armor."

"That's cause nobody values a good set of armor no more!" came from the back as old Ken returned to the room.

"I see you changed your mind 'bout leavin', eh?" he chuckled.

Goldie gave him a glare in return.

"No thanks to you, pops" Kyle interrupted.

"Hmph. You said something 'bout needin' some quality armor?" he questioned Goldie.

"Yes, well, I've had some trouble finding a good set" Goldie explained. "As you said, it seems like most people don't value good armor here."

"At least you have a good eye, I'll give you that" Ken complimented. "It's cause those darn adventurer's are all so lousy! Instead of takin' care of their equipment and being careful not to die and lose it somewhere, they all just keep buyin' crappy, overpriced goods! And you know what the worst of it all is?"

Goldie sensed there was a rant coming and interrupted the old man before it got out of hand.

"So, do you happen to have anything that goes well with my cloak? Preferably something lighter, that makes little noise."

"What's yer budget, sonny?"

"I'm willing to pay around three hundred, including the repair costs."

"Hmm, you won't be gettin' yerself anything fancy with that amount, sonny."

Goldie gave a dejected sigh, "What can I say, I'm not made of money."

The old man stroked his greying beard as he glanced at Goldie's hand. "Hmph." He walked up to the slightly taller Goldie and looked him straight in the eye. "Ain't you a bit old to begin adventurin'?"

Goldie suddenly felt like the man was twice as massive as before. He hadn't noticed before, but the old smith was extremely toned, as if someone had compressed a golem into the body of an old man. He could probably snap Goldie in half like a twig.

"Tell me, what is it yer plannin' to do with yourself in the future?"

For a moment, it felt like Goldie was about to get swallowed up, but he stood his ground and, with an audacious smirk, returned a piercing gaze of his own.

"Whatever I damm well please!" he said as courageously he could.

The pressure Goldie had felt isntantly disappeared. "Heh, I like this kid" Ken chuckled. "Come, follow me to the back. I'm sure we got somethin' that fits ya."

A few minutes later, Goldie ended up with a mostly leather outfit with a light metal alloy breastblate, kneepads, shin- and armguards. Ken even threw in a pair of special noise-dampening boots.

This all cost him a grand total of precisely 300 Gold. The old man's sudden shift in demeanor came as a surprise, to be sure. But Goldie welcomed it nonetheless.

"Once again, I'm terribly sorry for my rude behaviour earlier on" Goldie apologized. "And thank you for providing me with such exquisite gear."

"Bah, it's nothin' " the old man waved him off. "I see it as an investment. I hope you'll come back when you need an upgrade. Maybe buy another weapon while you're at it" he guffawed.

Goldie bowed in gratitude one final time and left through the front door in high spirits.

"Pops, you sure 'bout giving him such a huge discount?"

"Heh, you'll see. That youngin's going to the top!"

- Repair Cloak

- Full body protection

- Rations

- Waterskin

- Potions

- Years of experience

For his final detour, he visited an alchemist to purchase a few Health and Energy potions. Hopefully the taste wasn't as bad as Rhona's face during the tournament had suggested, but according to Xander it was.

He walked back outside and checked his watch.

9:27

Thankfully it was a relatively short walk and Goldie made it just in time to witness the vehicle roll into the station.

"By the gods, what in the world is that!?"