Adam felt he had a fruitful few days traveling. He didn't make much progress in his mana sense but he wasn't entirely sure how to improve the skill. It felt like he was trying to do the equivalent of trying to improve his eyesight to see better. Wasn't going to work. His Mana Absorption he was able to improve by a small amount. Normally he was able to increase his mana by an additional eighteen in six minutes. Now he could manage nineteen.

His biggest accomplishment was getting his mana manipulation maximum to one hundred. This let him use his entire mana reserves at one time. Allowing him to create Kovarium ingots that were six centimeters long by two and a half wide and a little under two tall. Given that his mana was full.

He continued to use his Absorption skill periodically for fifteen minutes at a time. Along with his natural mana regeneration, he managed to make twenty five smaller ingots using fifty mana, which came out at five centimeters long by two wide and a little over one high. Once he maxed out his mana manipulation he made five ingots of the larger size, using one hundred mana each. If he was able to sell it all for the same price, that would be over two thousand six hundred gold. Enough for two mithril coins.

If people knew what he was doing they would think he was like most people. Wanting to be rich and live the easy life with delicious foods, beautiful women, fancy parties and living life however he wanted. They would be wrong, of course. He didn't care about money all that much. It was just the tool he would need to accomplish his goals. He wanted to get stronger yes, but he liked fighting just as little as he did parties and social events. If not more since he had to kill something by the end of the fight or be dead himself.

He had been shown some of the cruelties of this world, and someone who created them. Gerald Enault. He wasn't exactly sure how yet, but he would return and free the city from his grasp. He didn't know how many people from Earth were there, or how many more would be in the future to be enslaved. There were unknown hundreds if not thousands of people starving and dying in the streets. Someone had to help them, and he couldn't do it alone. He knew he wasn't a fighter at heart, so he would use what he had. He would use the money he could create to make allies, and bring an army back if that's what he had to do.

Of course he would have to be careful not to make friends or get noticed by the wrong people. So how does one make friends, powerful friends, without getting people who simply want to use him for his money instead. This was a big challenge for Adam as he didn't even know how to make friends in the first place. Back on earth he had zero friends growing up, and as an adult he continued to entertain himself. He was ok with that though, as he was content on his own and found he never felt lonely like his family expected him to be. Unfortunately he was left without the capacity of making friends nor did he understand people in the slightest.

He needed to focus on leveling up, no matter how little he liked the process. While getting a decent foothold in Karhu City. So like always, he needed information. The strong breeze coming off the water was exceptionally warm as they approached the large metallic gateway to the city. The walls were made with a combination of stone and metal, rising fifty feet into the air.

Two guards were positioned inside the large gateway, one giving entrance to the long line that stood out front. A second line of carts and carriages were being handled by the other guard alongside the first. So they got in the appropriate one. As they moved along he could see people staring at them and Basil, clearly bored from waiting in line. By the time they reached the front of the line, the sun was beginning to set.

“Purpose?” The tired looking guard asked him.

He was wearing plate armour but had his helmet removed and placed to the side.

“Selling goods and settling down here for a while.” Adam told him

“What goods?”

“I have some Kovarium ingots.”

“Kovarium, Really? We could really use that here. Mind if I take a look?” he said looking more interested.

“Sure thing, its stacked in the back beside the door.”

The guard nodded and walked around, opening the door and peeking inside, then coming back.

“I don't know how you got your hands on that much of it, only dwarves from Kelvar come through here with it as far as I know. It's in high demand. Are you selling it all or using some yourself?” The guard asked.

“Selling it all once I get inside the city.”

“Excellent. Go on through then.” he waved them by.

“This is my first time here, would you mind directing me to where I can sell the Kovarium?” Adam asked.

As it was starting to get dark, Adam wanted to sell the Kovarium then check into an Inn and sleep in a bed. He missed his bed, and couch, both were great for sleeping on.

As they passed through the city streets, they had to wait and work their way through crowds of people. As it was a human city, the majority of people he could see walking around were human, but there were many who weren't. Elves, Dwarves, and some he wasn't sure what their race would be, with horns and various animalistic features. The colour of their skin, hair, eyes, horns, and every feature varied widely. Some he noticed had scales and looked reptilian. Adam would be curious how bad racism was in this world but he was pretty sure he had a good idea already.

Everywhere had shops and housing intermixed in this area, all the shop buildings looked busy with people inside, coming and going. Clothing styles and colours varied extravagantly. Adam still noticed a variety of slaves following behind a portion of the people in the streets but some looked a little less beaten and broken to him. Not that it made the slavery any better.

Using the directions given to him, they managed to find a tall circular metal building with many large windows and smoke coming from all eight chimneys extending past the roof. The metal of the building looked to be thick steel which was polished to a mirror like shine. He could literally see the reflection of everything around them on the walls. A metal sign hung above the door by chains, with a hammer and anvil depicted and Sul’s written underneath.

The place looked to be completely packed with people. After finding somewhere to park the carriage, Adam grabbed the one and a half kilograms of Kovarium ingots, wrapping them in one of his shirts. With Lianna locking the carriage door, they made their way inside. The building was massive, reminding him of a stadium as the center of the roof was open to the starry sky.

All kinds of weapons, armor, tools, and different contraptions were being sold by various people throughout the building. Adam noticed that none of the weapons, armour or anything being sold looked to contain any kovarium whatsoever. Underneath each of the chimneys was a sizable forge and workstation with people working at them. The temperature was significantly higher inside, making them instantly start sweating.

Adam saw a large iron desk at the center of the building managed by a young looking dwarf who appeared to have only started growing a beard. Only two people were in line. He headed over as he saw Lianna go her own way to look around. His turn came quickly as the young dwarven man greeted him.

“What can I do for you?” he asked in a much deeper voice than was expected.

“I'm looking to sell some Kovarium.” Adam said.

Which he quickly regretted as three of the people working at the Forges somehow heard him and instantly stopped what they were doing, running to him. The two dwarves were easily outpaced by the much taller elf woman who got to him first.

“I'll buy it all!” she said before reaching him, nearly running into him before coming to a stop.

“umm..”

“No I'll buy it all and I'll pay more.”

“I'll pay double!” The two dwarves came up next, demanding his attention.

Adam wasn't sure what to do, he didn't like the situation but knew having high interest by multiple parties would drive up the price. The three of them were bickering who should get his Kovarium and why. One needed it more than the others. He wanted to end this quickly. Slamming his metal filled shirt on the counter to get their attention, he then opened it to show how much he had.

“Four mithril coins and it's yours” he told them.

“Done” The elf was first, placing four blue metallic coins in front of him.

Did she already have exactly four mithril in her hand he wondered, as he wasn't sure where she got them. She hadn't reached into any pouch or pockets but simply placed her hand on the table. She quickly inspected the Kovarium ingots, and after only raising a single eyebrow at him, she took the metal along with the shirt back to her workstation.

Grabbing the four coins, Adam retreated back to the carriage after finding Lianna. They made their way to an Inn called the slumbering giant and found their way to bed after eating a quick meal and washing up.

Sitting in his bed Adam finally had a Mithril coin. It had cost him fifteen hundred mana to make the Kovarium over days. Now he hoped he could make the mithril coins himself for little mana like the rest of the coins. Gold has been the most expensive at ten mana per gold.

One hundred mana was drawn out of his body, hovering above the palm of his hand. He began to form the coin and once it was complete it fell into his hand and he reabsorbed the remaining mana. He was left with seventy one mana. The mithril coin used twenty nine mana to make. This was almost three times the cost of gold but when it was worth one thousand times the value, it was a completely unfair cost.

Forming two more he now had seven mithril coins. Then he went to sleep, mentally preparing for the next day. It would be a day of shopping and preparing for the upcoming days. He needed to find out more about the dungeon obelisk and become stronger with its use, once he found people to party with him and Lianna. While dungeon diving he needed to work on making allies, and learn how exactly to take over a city.

Creating three more mithril coins upon waking up, Adam got ready for the day wearing his best clothes. Lianna had to be woken up but didn't take long to get ready when he told her they were going shopping for skill coins, and better gear.

After asking around, they found out the best place to go was the dungeoneers shop. It required registering with them to be able to buy and sell anything but they had the largest and best selection around for anything related to dungeons. Getting directions and told it was impossible to miss, they made the thirty minute journey in the carriage, having to work their way through throngs of people in the streets.

The dungeoneers shop was enormous, much bigger than the term ‘shop’ would indicate. It was a three story white marble building with large windows and magnificently designed doorways. Tall circular pillars surrounded the building, with steps extending upwards and a grand water fountain at the top before the entrance. It was beautiful but Adam thought the number of steps was unnecessary as he stopped to catch his breath after reaching the top of the stairs.

The many people around them going up and down the stairway had no trouble traversing the steps even those wearing heavy looking armour and weapons hanging on their sides and from their backs. All the people looked very much like warriors, and magic users Adam would expect to fight in the dungeons.

Inside the building was just as extravagant as the outside would suggest with fancily carved pillars, and every opportunity to show off wealth, various gems used in the ceilings, and statues. The entrance area was fairly large but much smaller than the building itself, many doors leading to other areas, and a large stairway leading up to the second floor across from the entrance.

To each side of the stairway stood many people wearing the same black uniform, busy helping those who need it. Adam and Lianna walked up to one of the uniformed people who was quite tall and featured cheetah like features. After hesitating on what exactly to ask, the man spoke up first.

“First time here I take it. Do you both need to register?” He asked.

“Umm yes, we do.”

“Follow me.” He said leading them through one of the doors, down a wide hallway and into a small private room.

The room had a rectangular wooden table with cushioned chairs surrounding it. Paintings hung on the marble walls showing different scenery, including one of the dungeoneer shop itself on the wall opposite the door.

“Please wait here.” he told them before leaving further down the hallway.

“Geezus this place is fancy” Lianna spoke up first.

“Indeed. I guess these dungeons are a very good source of income.”

Their assistant returned with papers and pencils in hand. Getting them to sit at the table.

“My name is Thierry. I will assist you with registering and help you with anything you may need. If you could each fill out this form.” He said in a professional tone, placing a sheet of paper and pencil in front of them.

The form simply got their basic information for identification purposes along with skill info and their levels. A section asked for expected uses of the dungeoneers shop with a large list of options to check off. He checked the buying, selling, information, and a few options that caught his attention like being paired with other fighters interested in attempting the same dungeon. It also had an optional area to fill out completed dungeons, but as that amounted to zero it was left blank.

Handing the forms back, Thierry placed a hand on each of the pages and a slight glow passed through all the lines of writing on the page, turning the text black.

“Thank you Adam and Lianna. Now what business can I help you with today?”

“First I'd like to know, once a person's skill slots are filled, is it no longer possible to learn a different skill?” Adam asked

“It is possible to replace a skill with a new one but you lose all progress in it, and would have to find the same skill coin and start from the beginning to learn it again.” Thierry answered

“Good to know. Alright can we see what you have available for skill and spell coins, as well as weapons and armor?”

It took a couple hours to sort through the large lists of products they offered, but was largely narrowed down with Thierry's help. Adam was looking for something more defensive for a skill or spell. As he couldn't handle the pain and wanted to reduce the risk of dying. What he found which was affordable was a skill that increased his physical toughness by 2. Apparently this was a static skill that couldn't be leveled and existed in various degrees.

Lianna decided on a static skill coin that increased her mana by two levels, since she needed more mana to maintain her void flame dagger longer. This gave her twenty additional mana.

Adam kept his current spear, but got a full set of plate armor that was manageable with his strength and only limited his movement a bit. It was made of steel with no enchantments or anything special. Lianna didn't hold back, getting a new dagger that had Kovarium at the tip and along the blade as well. Her new armor was made of a very durable leather with thin and light metal plates in vital areas. The metal pieces were enchanted, giving them a two percent increase to their hardness.

“Thank you for your business. Is that everything I can help you with?” Thierry asked them.

“Actually, what would you recommend for us entering a dungeon, which we have never done before?” Adam asked

“Well I’d advise you to get additional party members that are at least a little experienced. I can put in a request for you. Party member requests are free for all customers.”

“That would be great, thank you. How many party members would we need?” Adam asked.

“That would depend on the dungeon of course, but the minimum is usually four for beginner dungeons. When are you looking to go?”

“Tomorrow morning would work for us.” Adam said looking at Lianna and getting a nod of approval.

“One moment please.” He told them leaving once again.

Upon returning he handed them a sheet of paper.

“This group of three is leaving tomorrow morning to do a level one dungeon. They put in a request for one to two party members to join them. This is the information on the dungeon as well as the party.” Thierry told them.

Adam and Lianna looked at the paper. It listed three People. Two men and a woman. The First Man named Gen was listed as a healer at Level two. The second man named Felix was listed as a fighter, using a sword and shield at level five. The woman was named Diane and listed as a fire mage at level 3.

“Seems like it could be a decently balanced party with us.” Lianna said, with a nod from Adam.

The Dungeon they were going to was a Level one dungeon as Thierry stated, A list of monsters was included which were Kissa, and Koira. They weren't sure the name of any of the creatures of this world so didn’t know what they were but figured they could ask before entering the dungeon.

“Sign us up.” Adam said, handing the paper back to Theirry.

“It will be done.” He told them with a smile. “If there is nothing else, your cost today will be seven hundred and seventy three gold.”

Paying for their new equipment, they made their way out of the room, following Thierry. Thierry explained to them the standard meeting rooms for parties to gather together and told them they were to meet their new party members at meeting room thirty seven at sunrise. After being shown its location, they left the grand building.

“So, Now what?” Adam asked.

“Well maybe we should practice with our new gear if we’re going to be using it in a dungeon tomorrow.” Lianna suggested.

“That sounds like a good plan.” Adam agreed.

With a bit of asking around, they found a training yard that could be used for one copper an hour. It was a large open area that had various sized areas zoned off for people to fight against each other. As well as basic dummies to be used along one wall. A small building had all kinds of basic wooden weapons that could be rented for people to practice with.

Adam and Lianna decided to spar against each other with wooden weapons. Adam put on his full set of armor and rented a wooden spear. While Lianna wore her armor and grabbed a wooden dagger. The plate armor did not weight as much as he would have expected, or at least not with his new strength. Unfortunately it still limited his movement more than he expected. He faced Lianna in one of the circular sparing rings.

“Ok, I’m ready.” he told her, readying his spear.

Lianna stood at the ready as well and gave her confirmation. Adam charged at her, thrust his spear towards her chest, only holding back his strength slightly. Without even seeing her react, his spear was knocked aside by her dagger. She quickly circled around him and gave him a gentle shove on the back with her hand, continuing his momentum and causing him to trip and fall forwards hitting the ground hard.

HP - 1

Adam heard Lianna laughing. Standing back up with some difficulty, he looked at her, seeing a big grin on her face.

“Are you sure full plate armor is a good idea?” She asked him

“Well no, I'm not sure about anything being a good idea. I do know that im not as agile and quick to react as you and figured it would be better to protect my body.” He said.

“I suppose. Well I don't know much about fighting with armor like that but I’m sure you need to work on your ability to stay standing.”

“Yes. Ok let's try again.” Adam said, readying himself again.

After an hour of practising, Adam had learned a few things. To let his opponent come to him, and give himself a wider stance, bracing for his enemy, keeping his center of gravity a bit lower than usual. He wouldn’t say he was good at it yet, but understood the idea behind it and wasn’t being knocked over as often. He also learned to trust his armor, at least against a wooden dagger. Lianna wasn't able to actually penetrate his armor so he didn't have much to worry about.

At least until she managed to knock him over with a few quick movements and somehow had managed to get his helmet off, holding the dagger point in front of his eyes.

“I win again.” She stated.

“Yes. You're just too fast. No matter how strong or well protected, I can't keep up with your movements.”

Adam saw Lianna looking past him, so turned around to see two men approaching them.

“Care to fight someone else?” One of them asked, looking at Adam.

He was a fairly muscular man with short blonde hair, standing a few inches above his own height. He wore chainmail armor with a wooden sword in one hand and a shield in the other. The other man was about the same height as Adam with long black hair to his shoulders. He was similar in physique as well, and held two swords, wearing leather armor. Adam and Lianna looked at eachother.

“Ya, Maybe I can have a challenge then.” Lianna said, smiling at Adam.

“Ha ha.” was all he said.

“My name is Trevor.” the larger man said to Adam “Lets go over here.”

“Adam.” he said, following Trevor to another sparring area.

Glancing back, he saw the other man shaking hands with Lianna and face off against each other. Turning back towards Trevor, the man stood at the ready.

“You both have some expensive looking armour for newbies.” Trevor told him. “I hope you have the skill to go along with it.”

“Sorry to disappoint, but no.” Adam told him honestly, readying himself as well.

Trevor took a few steps forward, swinging his sword at Adam. He was noticeably slower than Lianna was, but that didn't mean he was slow. Adam barely managed to block the sword with his spear, but smiled upon doing so. Only to receive a blow to the side of the head with the small wooden shield. It didn't knock him over but did cause him to take a few steps to the side.

“Ouch.” Adam said, his ears ringing a bit.

Trevor smiled at him, still ready but giving Adam a chance to collect himself. Adam decided to try to go on the offensive this time, Stabbing his spear for Trevor's sword side. It was knocked aside easily by his sword and Adam was pushed back by the shield again, much harder this time causing him to fall backwards.

Sitting up, Adam looked over at Lianna to see if she was at least doing better than him. His eyes widened as he saw the two figures moving quickly, attacking and blocking faster than he thought was possible. Lianna only had one dagger but she kept pace with the two swords attacking her in a flurry of motion. She was doing well but she was completely on the defensive. He could see she was struggling to keep up. With a strong swing, the man knocked the dagger from her hand with one sword, then brought the other to her throat. Adam heard Lianna curse at the loss.

“Your fast, and have good reflexes. Fortunately for me, you have little training. If you did, I doubt I would stand a chance.” He told Lianna

“Thanks Liam. I doubt that though. You were going easy on me.” She retorted.

“True.” He said with a smile.

Lianna walked over and got another wooden dagger. Then stood in front of Liam again with two daggers.

“Lets go again.” Lianna said, clearly motivated to do better.

Adam focused back on his own opponent. He clearly had to get a lot better.