Chapter 11: Introduction

"Snap!"

A small snapping sound came from underneath a tree; a small boy could be seen walking the forest.

His dark hair reverberated in the bright forest, and as he walked further and further, the sound of crunchy leaves and snapping sticks could be heard.

The sun gleamed high in the sky, and the air was cold and chilly. On the boy's back was a small backpack, filled to the brim with something.

"Took me a bit longer than usual," the small boy murmured himself.

Lorian took a deep breath as he kept walking towards the city of Meryl.

He encountered some wild beasts in the forest and had to take detours around them; it was dangerous, but Lorian finally got a good number of Runic materials.

Tomorrow he could finally start accepting the quests from the viscount, which will be extremely beneficial towards him.

Lorian kept walking as he saw a long line forming outside the city gate.

Lorian looked around as he started to walk beside the line, skipping towards the front of the line.

After all, he had permission to do this; the token from the viscount allowed them to have all sorts of benefits.

Lorian usually concealed his Rank 1 Path Master aura; after all, when he walked around the city, and the mortals would sense it leading to reactions that could damage his reputation.

The inn that Lorian stayed at was quite rundown, it was extremely cheap and usually considered unsafe.

Lorian didn't mind because he could easily protect himself from any intruders, and Path Masters would not even consider going to such a dirty place to live.

Even though the money provided by the Viscount could allow him to eat and sleep extremely well, such benefits couldn't move Lorian.

Lorian had long decided what he was going to do with the money; he couldn't waste money on stupid things such as food and a soft bed.

As he kept walking towards the front of the line, skipping all the people around him, he could hear the conversations of these mortals.

"Have you heard? The Viscount has been gathering Path Masters to attack the Castle of Detachment!"

"I also heard that there's an artifact within it that will drastically increase his strength!"

"I wonder if the Viscount will succeed this time?"

Lorian walked past them as he quietly listened to these conversations.

Once he got to the front of the line, he showed his token to the guards and walked inside the city.

The city was bustling with people all around him; the sun was shining in the sky as he walked towards the inner city.

It took him quite a long time before he arrived at his destination.

The place was a small building strictly made for people that had been contracted under the Viscount; inside you could trade for materials and get your daily silver coins.

Lorian showed his token before quickly entering inside. He found a receptionist and quickly handed her the token that he had on him.

She scanned the token and gave him the silver coins back along with the token. Lorian quickly left the receptionist as he walked towards the main part of the building.

There were maybe around 50 people around here, each giving off an aura of a Rank 1 path master or higher.

In the very center of the room held a small area with a table that held Rank 1 artifacts that contained information. 

Path Masters around here could choose an artifact that seemed interesting to them and imbue their mana within them to see the quest information.

There was a wide array of relics on the table; each one of them could range from gathering information to killing beasts.

The area was not opened just yet; tomorrow would be the day when it opened, allowing people to choose the quests they wanted.

The Viscount was indeed quite smart; most Path Masters would avoid people of the higher positions in power due to them not wanting to get grouped into politics.

But the Viscount created this contract that not only guaranteed that Path Masters would be safe from political power, but it also allowed him to expand his power within the city.

The quests that were on the table were just a way for the Viscount to gain reputation and have these Path Masters do his bidding without them noticing.

Lorian had a stern gaze as he walked in; most Path Masters here were just discussing and establishing friendships to gain a higher power.

Others were also selling materials or trading with other people.

Most of the people here had been here since dawn; they knew the power behind establishing connections in order to boost their chance of getting better rewards from the quests.

Lorian was quite a surprise to them; not only did he walk in alone, but he had also joined during the middle of the day.

Lorian looked around the room before quickly sitting down on a table; he didn't seem like a Path Master; all his equipment was low-level and didn't attract much attention.

Right as everyone started to shift their focus away, Lorian suddenly grabbed a bunch of Runic materials and set them on the table.

A lot of Path Masters looked over with an interested expression.

Although they were on the lower side of the Rank 1 Runic Materials, it was still useful to the Path Masters here as they were still Rank 1.

Most Rank 2 Path Masters ignored Lorian, but the Rank 1 Path Masters quickly surrounded him, asking for a price.

Lorian gave them an extremely good price; it was slightly below the market average for it, and Path Masters quickly started to buy them with money.

It was common knowledge that runic materials were usually only traded for other runic materials, but that usually only applied to rare and high-rank materials. Lower and more common runic materials could easily be bought with money.

Most people wouldn't bother to exchange low-rank runic materials and would usually only trade them if they were in an extremely large quantity.

Lorian gained quite the amount of money during this time, which he safely and quickly stored away.

Some materials weren't bought by others; most people didn't have a need for Runic materials that weren't of the same path.

The most common path in the city of Meryl was the Water Path. All of the water path runic materials were all sold out, while some other paths still remained.

Even though Lorian had gained some money, it was still quite pathetic compared to the usual saving of a Path Master.

After selling his materials, Lorian decided to stay around and gain some useful information.

Lorian was extremely friendly; it gave off a feeling of trust to other people. He walked around talking with other people and making some useful connections.

Of course, some people weren't fazed by this and just simply shrugged him off, while other people enjoyed his company.

Most Path Masters welcomed him; Lorian had just sold a bunch of Path Materials for cheap; if they could establish a good connection with him, they could easily gain a fast way to gain path progress.

Lorians main goal was to obtain information to check if anything had changed in this regression.

Even if Lorian had done this numerous times, he had personally witnessed the profound power of the butterfly effect.

Not to mention that 'they' could also do something.

Lorian had to be constantly on guard and be ready and prepared to adapt to any change that could happen.

By talking to the people around the room, he could confirm that nothing had happened just yet, but Lorian couldn't be sure just yet.

Leaving the room, Lorian looked around the city as he walked through the city.

It was around the late afternoons; the sun had started to slowly set, and the winds were blowing cold winds throughout the city.

The ground in the city was covered in a thin layer of orange and yellow, making it quite an extravagant sight.

Lorian started to head towards the market where Path Masters usually gathered. 

Unlike the mortal market, which mostly contained day-to-day necessities, the market for Path Masters was different.

Everything ranging from weapons to information could be sold here; if a Path Master was powerful and rich enough, almost anything could be bought or found.

Of course, higher ranking materials were not seen; after all, Meryl at best was a medium-sized city on the edge of the country.

Most people usually stay at Meryl before moving on to the bigger cities away from here, but even then, Meryl was quite the prosperous city.

Because they were the first ones to receive merchants traveling from other countries, they wouldn't lack many resources.

Lorian looked at his current funds; he had around 45 silver coins. Compared to mortals, this was quite a good amount of money.

In this world, 100 copper coins could be exchanged for a silver coin.

1,000 silver coins could equal a gold coin.

while 10,000 gold coins would equal a platinum coin.

The list just goes on and on.

45 silver coins was incomparably little in this world. Lorian had been saving up for a long time and sold Runic Materials but could only gain so much.

As time ticked by, Lorian slowly but steadily approached the market within the inner city.