"Well, we can work with this," Borin Stonebeard said slowly, looking down at all the items splayed on the floor, while his hands twirled down his beard. "How much d'you want for it?"

  Damien waited for a few moments, eyes trained on the small hill of bones, metals, hides, and many other stuff, calculating the amount he could get for them.

  Making sure to keep his voice calm, he answered. "Five hundred golden Vicari."

  As expected, the dwarf spluttered, his face turning red and widened eyes snapping up to Damien in an instant.

  "Fi—Five hundred Vicari?!!" The dwarf glared. "Who do you think I am? The sovereign?!" He visibly took a deep breath and then bent down, sifting through a few bones, scales, metals, and even hides.

  "All these are good. Great, even. But they're also things I can get for less than half the outrageous sum you're calling."

  Damien raised an eyebrow. He understood what the dwarf meant. Back on Ra, Spirit lord monsters—Calamity monsters—weren't exactly rare, but they were uncommon enough that materials gotten from their corpses were very high priced and always in demand. On the other hand, here on Ver... Damien didn't really know much about the world since he hadn't really gone out to explore—to see the wilds and the average kind of monsters that dwelled in them—but he had a high suspicion that average realm of monsters were going to be higher than those on Ra.

  It wasn't that absurd of a conclusion to come by. Spirit lords, especially the wielders, on this World weren't as rare as those on Ra. There were so many that the entire Spirit lord population on the inner continent alone surpassed those on Ra thirty to one, and that was minus those on the other continents, or the other World.

  Looking down at the hill of treasure lying at his feet, Damien had already understood beforehand that they weren't going to sell for the exact same price as back on Ra, but that didn't mean he was going to accept them for the counteroffer the dwarf had brought forth.

  He turned his eyes back on the dwarf.

  He had been quickly summoned from a room at the back when Damien had emptied his Spatial space. His son—the little dwarf that'd been behind the counter when Damien had walked in had rushed off to call his father.

  The owner of the shop, Borin Stonebeard, had appeared within a few seconds of his son rushing through the doorway behind the counter. The dwarf wasn't that much of a dwarf, rising to a height of five feet and then some. He had a brown mane that ran down both sides of his head in a heavy wave, and a stiff, pointy brown beard that reached down to his chest... Which, now that Damien really thought about it, was probably where the name 'Stonebeard' came from.

  A hammer hung down the right side of his chain-made robe, which loudly jingled as he marched into the room, his metal boots thumping on the floor with each step.

  "These are prime treasures from the bodies of uniquely powerful Spirit lords," Damien pointed out. "Look at those blue scales over there. Those are from a sea dragon I'd killed a few months ago. And those iron fists are from an extremely powerful titan. All this stuff are from powerful creatures—Unique powerful creatures, and I'm not selling them for anything less than four hundred Vicari."

  He folded his hands and waited, face neutral with a raised eyebrow.

  Stonebeard ran his hand down his stiff beard and then sighed. He looked up at Damien. "You say you got this scale from a blue dragon," he picked up the scale, which was shaped like a pearl, with a beautiful liquid blue shine on the surface. "Judging from your realm, these would certainly be from a nest, the lowest kind of draconic society. They won't sell for much here where better scales can be found."

  "Better scales?" Damien said with obvious doubt. "What kind of scale can be better than that of a dragon?"

  "Compared to those from a nest dragon, the scale of a star serpent easily triumphs."

  "I don't know what a star serpent is, so I don't accept your argument. How 'bout we go for three-fifty and I get that exquisite spear over there," Damien pointed over to the spear he'd seen when he'd walked in.

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  Boring shook his head. "That 'exquisite' spear over there costs ten black Vicari. Besides, it's not for sale."

  That was a lie and they both knew it. Damien had been to the stores of up to a dozen craftsmen at this point and he knew the universal rule they all followed when it came to selling their goods: the average stuffs were the ones kept in the open, while the truly elite ones were all locked up in a safe somewhere out of sight.

  "We both know that that spear doesn't cost that much, else it wouldn't be sitting in the open like this. Also, why put it on display when you don't want to sell it?"

  The dwarf shrugged, silent.

  Damien took the little serpentine creature from his shoulder to keep it from falling as he leaned forward.

  "Look, I'm a Tower Climb participant—" he smiled as he saw the dwarf's eyes widen a little. Though the man quickly hid it, but the damage had already been done. "—and you know the type of monsters we tend to come by. How'bout we settle for three-fifty, that spear, and you get a supply of the good stuff from me."

  Damien knew he'd gotten the man when, instead of coming up with a counteroffer immediately, he paused.

  Borin tried to fake how interested in the deal he was, but Damien had already seen through it. He didn't have much skill in the arts of bargaining, but even with the little he knew, he understood a fair deal about how to hook someone, especially with a deal that was too good to refuse.

  After a bit of back and forth, a little dose of heeing and hawing, they both settled for three-fifty, the spear, and Borin having to get first pick of any materials Damien didn't need.

  They shook hands on it, and the dwarf walked up to where the spear was hung, pulled it out with visible effort, and then carried it to where Damien was standing.

  With slow gentleness, he took the spear from the large hands of the dwarf, grunting a little from how heavy it was. Now that he was holding it, he saw how heavy and unwieldy it was. The alloy that the shaft had been made from wasn't from any metal that he knew. The blade, as he slowly drew his finger down its length, was dull and somewhat rusty.

  This thing wouldn't be able to cut through a piece of bread.

  Damien looked up at the dwarf with a glare. "You cheated me!"

  Borin smiled. "No, I didn't. You cheated yourself. If you remember correctly, I didn't want to sell you the spear, yet you insisted. It's not my fault that you ended up with some prop."

  "Some prop? Who hangs a prop alongside real weapons?! Why would you even create something like that?!"

  "I didn't. Why would I create a weapon like this?" Again, he shrugged and then dug into his pocket. "Here, take this. It's your money. Thirty-five black Vicari. Count it if you want."

  Damien couldn't shut his jaw, and it wasn't from the dozens of black Vicari sitting on his palm. He looked at the man and then at the spear.

  "You cheated me and you know it. How am I supposed to deal with you in good faith when there's a likely chance I'll be cheated again?"

  Borin shrugged. "Not my fault you didn't check the product before offering to buy it."

  Damien took a deep breath, containing the anger that was threatening to boil over right now. He threw the spear into his Spatial space, fuming at the space it was going to take up. If not for the outrageous price he'd paid for it, he would have left it here and be done with it. Now, he'd either have to find a way to get rid of it and recoup his loss, or let the thing gather dust in his spatial space.

  Without a word, he turned around and left, the little serpent riding on his left palm.

  He knew that if he'd opened his mouth to speak, what would have come out might have been a threat or an insult. Damien had seen what a loose tongue could do and didn't want to delve back into such a situation again.

  Without intent, he simply took the first corner that met his eyes and walked towards it.

  In his mind he was swearing at the little shit for cheating him and he falling for it. The dwarf had been right. Had he checked the weapon physically before purchasing it, he would have known to stay far away from it. Now he was going to have to find a way to get rid of the overpriced worthless spear.

  Damien lost track of time as he walked, turning onto multiple streets till he became fairly certain that he was lost. Still, he continued. He could always find his way back through the sky-surpassing library that hung over the entire city like a tree in a sea of grass.

  Eventually, he found himself standing in a square. There was a running fountain in the middle, with the statue of a large, alabaster bird rising from it, water spewing from its sky-facing beak.

  There were black wooden benches in every corner, situated in between the black granite walkway and road where multiple hover constructs were riding past.

  There were multiple buildings in the square, most of which intrigued him, considering the kind of people walking in. But there was one other building that captured his attention more than the rest.

  Opposite Damien, on the other side of the alabaster colored fountain, was a large black gate which rose for over twelve feet. Behind the gate was a building that wasn't too large— a two-storey building. It was unassuming, with black roof tile and made from rich, brown wood.

  Through the bars in the upper side of the gate, Damien could see beautiful green trees rising to half the height of the building. Some even rose past the roof.

  But those weren't what drew his attention. What drew Damien was that there, on the gate and the fence beside it, was a simple inscription of two crossing spears, made from the same alloy as the gate and likewise, from the granite fence.

  Damien didn't know how he'd gotten here, and didn't see any reason to refuse his intrigue, so he crossed over, watching left and right even though he was certain those constructs couldn't do him a thing.

  Maybe, this day could be salvaged, after all.