The Treasure Pavilion

Devotion drifted back to sleep, then woke up to the sound of banging on his door. Victor's voice rang out from the other side.

"Hey, Devotion, time for us to get up. We should head out if we want to get back to the Guild at a reasonable time." Victor's voice called from the knocking. Damn, that kid really held a grudge.

"I'm up, I'm up." Devotion called, crawling out of bed.

"Come on Devotion, we all need our beauty sleep, but it's really pretty late!" Victor continued calling, in the exact same tone of voice Devotion had used earlier that night.

Devotion quickly threw on his clothing, called Ysmir to his shoulder, and covered it with that cloak.

"Don't worry, Ysmir, it's only until we get out of town. Then you'll be able to breathe." Devotion comforted. It still didn't stop the fox from pouting. If you didn't know that Ysmir had just killed a man on its own, you'd think it was a harmless pet. "We'll have to use that cuteness to our advantage one of these days, Ysmir." Devotion schemed out loud.

Before he could dwell on it any further, the knocking on his door grew even more intense. "Alright, I'm done being polite, wake the fuck up right now Devotion! I didn't get any sleep due to your shit." Victor called, an unusual aggression present in his voice.

"Alright, I'm coming. My god." Devotion said, trudging over to the door and swinging it open. He was greeted with an angry looking Victor, his eyes with dark bags under them and slightly bloodshot.

"Let's just get on the cart so I can sleep. You owe me big time for what you made me do yesterday." Victor was, for lack of a better word, pissed. In fact, he was REALLY pissed. It as pretty understandable, considering he'd been stabbed the day before. "I know, Victor, I'll make it up to you. I found something in the professor's research that might mean something to you. Let's look at it together when we get back, huh?"

Victor seemed to calm down for a second, hearing about new research, but then quickly remembered he was angry and snapped. "Fine. Better be good." He said, storming downstairs.

"He is hilarious when he tries to be mad." Devotion said to Ysmir. The fox nodded in agreement. With that, the two of them headed downstairs.

After a quick breakfast, Devotion, Alex, and Victor went outside and walked to the outskirts of town. Once they were a sufficient distance away, Victor reached into his pocket and pulled out a glass bottle. Within it was a miniature version of the carriage and tiger-like magical beast that pulled it on their way over there. He removed the cap from the bottle, spoke some words of power, and the carriage once more grew to its regular size. After hitching the magical beast to the front, they all climbed inside and began the long journey back.

Within a minute of sitting down inside the carriage, Victor drifted to sleep, and Alex followed suit. It seemed both of them were still pretty exhausted from the day before.

The trip home went by slowly for Devotion, as he had nobody to really talk to, but they got there eventually. Devotion gently woke up the other two when they reached the Summoner's Guild.

"Come on, guys. We're home. Let's at least collect the reward first, before we pass out again." Devotion called, shaking Victor and Alex awake. They both groaned and stretched, stepping out of the carriage. Victor groggily returned it to its shrunken form, placing it into the bottle once more. "We have to remember to turn this back in, too. Otherwise it's a fine." Victor explained. "Now, let's go get our points. Might as well make getting stabbed worth something."

"Fair point. Mission desk is over here, if I remember correctly." Devotion pointed. The other two followed him, heading over to the desk. Ysmir was now free to breathe, not constrained under the outer cloak. There was nothing for Devotion to hide, now that they were in a city of immortals.

They went to the mission desk, turning in some of the professor's notebooks to the desk as proof for completion of the mission. Devotion conveniently withheld the page from Rydel's journal from this research. There was no way he would be giving that up. Besides, nobody would really be checking if all the research was there, since the man who had placed the mission was dead. The attendant transferred forty points to each of them. "Thank you for assisting the guild with this mission. This takes care of your requirement for this period." The attendant said, calling the next people in line immediately afterwards. It seems they had picked a good time to take a mission. The desk was now packed with new disciples, trying to get the good and rewarding missions.

Victor's eyes shone, knowing that he had forty merit points. "That's so much money. I really have to think about what I'm going to spend these on." Victor said. "I'm going to go catch up on sleep and recover from getting stabbed." Devotion coughed, hearing that brought up again. Victor continued. "I'll see you guys soon. Thanks for the help." He smiled, turning and heading to his dorm.

"I am also going to go recover. It was nice to meet you. I hope we can work again together." Alex said, heading out to her own dorm as well.

Just like that, Devotion was alone. "Well, Ysmir, I suppose we should head over to the Treasure Pavilion. Let's see what these points can buy us." Ysmir nodded, and the two of them headed over.

The Summoner's Guild's Treasure Pavilion was immense in size, appearing almost like an auction house. The entire thing was made of a reinforced glass material, making it shine in the sunlight. The Pavilion itself wasn't very busy at the moment, since no one really had many points at that time.

Devotion found an attendant, asking them a question. "I have forty points, and I'm looking for an offensive magical item. Most likely some sort of weapon. What would you recommend?" He asked.

"The weapons section is right this way. Forty points could get you a low grade magical item, but that is not as bad as it sounds. Low Grade magical items are most useful for cultivators from the First to Third Ranks. Something you purchase here will last you quite some time." The attendant said, leading Devotion to a section of the Pavilion filled to the brim with weapons. There were all sorts of weapons: swords, sabers, spears, whips, and anything of the sort. There were even things that didn't appear to be weapons, like candles, torches, and even a chair! Seemingly reading Devotion's mind, the attendant explained: "Not all offensive magical items are weapons in the way you imagine. Sure, there can be magical swords and things of that sort, but for example, this chair. If one were to sit in it and cast, their spell powers would be augmented, due to the rare materials that make it up. The drawback is that one is stationary while sitting, but with the right set up, it could be lethal. This is thirty five points. If you don't like it, feel free to look around and ask me any questions."

Devotion carefully browsed the weapons section, looking for something he liked. He settled on a glowing, blue short sword. "How much would this be?" He asked. It gave off a cold aura, and he seemed to resonate with it.

"That is a Frostbrand Short Sword. While they are relatively common, the frost power contained in every slash could catch unprepared opponents off-guard. That will run you about thirty points." The attendant explained.

Devotion grimaced at having to spend nearly all his points at once, but resolved himself. "I'll take it. What other sections are there? I know I probably can't afford anything, but I'd like to browse."

"Certainly. Seeing what items you'd eventually want is a good way to build up a goal for yourself to reach in points." The attendant explained, showing Devotion all sorts of different sections to the Treasure Pavilion. It truly was immense in size.