The city was slowly waking up, as if a giant beast waking from it's slumber. One door after another were slowly being opened and people barged out from their houses minding their own business. More and more lights started to shine in many different colors, the characteristics - color and intensity of lamps depended on what kind of crystal was used as it's core. Nobody really paid any attention to this detail, it was once in a lifetime revelation to Arath who had never noticed it before. Walking down the main, but still empty and quiet, street back to his apartment, he had a lot of time to observe and think. Although he hated it's guts and everything connected to First City, there was no way someone could deny the city's weird and complictated charm.

Everyone went their own way and left Ben and Arath alone with their task. They had to report Meton's death and explain the circumstances as family would probably want to know what had happened. The Healer's Guild quarters was a high building which succumbed to the wall behind it like a hungry mosquito. Ben was still grieving the death of the companion while Arath couldn't stop thinking about the money. What he had spent on the healer were almost his entire savings, he could still get by for few weeks but that was it. That also meant that he didn't have enough money for an alchemist to create a cure for Clara.

Usually two scenarios would take place in case of being attacked by a Giant Cave Spider - if the person was wealthy there was no problem whatsoever. In case of a poorer adventurer, he was most likely to be given up on, too much hassle for too little profit. Death was something that would eventually meet all who entered the Tower, it was barely a matter of time.

A female clerk received the two friends and after being informed of Meton's passing away she just nodded silently and crossed something out behind her desk. No questions asked.

"How can you all treat life with so little respect? He was her accomplice and she didn't even bat an eye, what's wrong with you people?" The clerk's behaviour gave Ben quite a shock.

"You will get used to it." Arath answered and didn't open his mouth for the rest of their trip back home.

'We need money, desperately. The market is already full of resources from first and second floors, the best option would be the front lines but it is hell out there. I still have my crystals but I doubt they will be worth anything for at least two years. I should get more info about the current state of market, maybe Ruby will help me.' Arath pondered on his options but the situation was not to his liking.

After returning home they both took a refreshing bath and checked on Clara, she was paler and skinner than ever and her pulse was so weak she gave Ben a heart attack when he couldn't feel it at all for a minute. Arath took out the body of the blood bat and hid it in the deepest, coldest part of the house, so that it wouldn't start to rot. Although it was still technically inside, it was just as freezing as in deep parts of the caves outside the city as no fireplace nor crystal could reach this deep in the basement.

After that he just closed himself there and decided to continue cultivating his body. He entered some kind of trance, nothing could break his focus. Although cultivation in harsh environments such as this cold basement was said to have positive influence on one's body and spirit, it wasn't actually proven by any official studies, but he still decided to try it out.

Arath didn't feel how time around him passed by, all of his attention was focused on adapting his body and the flow of magical energy. No matter how hard he tried his hand was still leaking, little bits were slowly getting lost on their way there resulting in a loss of energy. This could be interpreted in two ways, an optimistic and pessimistic. The first one was that his output increased and he could unleash enormous amounts of power without any restraints, of course such an action would even further damage his body and cause more problems in the future, but speed of casting his spells would increase too. The latter way to interpret was that controlling magical energy and keeping his powers in shackles would be much harder, nobody knew how much would escape if he tried to do anything precise.

At the end of the session almost every inch of his skin was awakened and he was forced to take a break because of building up fatigue which slowed down the process. Not only that but also he managed to break through for the oficially second, and non-oficially third time, this time without fanfares or life-threatening situations. Proudly, he walked into the living room where Anga was explaining to Ben her sister's condition with great detail, and the elderly couple were eating their breakfast. As he looked at the delicious food, a loud rumble could be heard throghout the room. Arath looked at his stomach with disdain and embarassingly prepared food for himself, which he wolfed down before even anyone noticed.

'How long has it been? We returned in the morning, got here at noon, and they are eating breakfast now. Don't tell me I have been sitting there for a whole day.' He looked in terror at his image on the plate. 'I'm so diligent I don't even recognise myself.'

With that in mind, he left his home and headed for Ruby's. The shop was the definition of 'busy', clients flowing in and out like a river, a face of a new shop attendant appeared on the other side of the door and helped clients make their decisions.

'It seems Ruby hired a new helper to relieve Anga from some pressure. I wonder if in this case she saved them from certain death too.' With a smile on his face Arath entered the shop from the back, greeted Clementine and waited until the owner took a break.

To his surprise it took over two hours before the clients' influx finally calmed down and Ruby went to the back to count her income. Upon seeing her friend she smiled bitterly and took a seat.

"From the look on your face, you need money again, what offer do you bring today?" She asked straightforwardly.

"Your eye is indeed a merchant's one. I need money so I decided to consult you, whose knowledge of the market has no match and who I can put all my trust in.

"You flatter me too much, stop it." She replied but contrary to her words, a sincere smile bloomed on her face. "So, what exactly do you need?"

"Is there anything that could bring profit to both of us? I mean something with great demand but no supply?"

"Let me think." She scrached her chin and made a loud 'hmm' sound. "There are a few things that come to my mind, but probably Grey Mouse's fur would bring the biggest profit. They live on the third floor and not many people hunt for them as they are small, hard to see and when left with no escape they fight fiercely until their last breath. But the thing is, they are one of few creatures beneath fifth floor with soft fur that is nice to the touch, that is why nobles are searching far and wide for any supply of them. Bring me twenty and I can assure you, you won't need to worry about finances for a while."

The two smiled mischievously and shook each other's hands.

"When you get back home make sure to tell Anga to move her ass over here, her shift begins in half an hour."

With a heart full of hope and optimism he returned and wanted to share the good news with his roommate.

"I know where we will go next time. I got myself a pretty good deal." Arath began talking as soon as he entered their room. "But first things first, where is Anga?"

"What do you mean? Didn't you meet in the shop?" Ben turned around and asked confused. "She left ten minutes after you, she was hoping she could catch up to you."

The two looked at each other and the longer they thought of the situation the bigger the terror in their eyes grow.