Chapter 12: Path Master's Market

"This place sure is a drastic change from the mortal market." Lorian sighed to himself as he walked throughout the Path Master's Market."

In the mortal market, they only had small wooden stands selling items and sometimes had traveling caravans from time to time.

The market here was completely different; the area was clean and was bustling with people.

It had multiple buildings and big taverns selling items; anything from information to raw materials could be bought here.

There was an endless number of options for one to choose from if they had the resources.

The most abundant resources in the market were Water Path resources; although others were sold, Water Path were mainly sold here.

The people born here in this city naturally had an affinity for the Water Path; although other paths could also be seen, they were uncommon.

Although there were numerous amounts of paths in this world, there were naturally paths that were more common than others.

If one path was more mysterious than another, it didn't mean that it was weaker. Every path had its unique uses and purposes.

Time Path was a relatively mysterious path; not many people had an affinity for time, making Time Path resources and information scarce to find.

Lorian didn't need information on Time Path; he knew Time Path better than anyone in this entire world. What he did lack was Time Path Resources.

Even if Lorian knew where to find and how to obtain the resources, that required power that he does not have right now; the market didn't sell Time Path resources either, which leads to a major disadvantage.

Various buildings and people surrounded Lorian as he walked around the market. Chatter and sounds of coins could be heard all around him.

Lorian looked around the market before heading into a relatively unbusy shop; inside the place was bright and filled with weapons.

The weapons here were relatively high quality; each one of them was made out of Runic materials, each having a special property of their own.

But even then, this shop wasn't sought out much by others; at most, it could be considered a secondhand shop.

As Lorian walked in, a man that was on the older side could be seen wearing gray and black clothes. He greeted Lorian as he walked in.

"Welcome in; if you have any questions, please ask me."

Lorian nodded at the man before looking around the store; the walls were plastered with weapons and tools that one could need for almost any situation.

Even though they weren't the highest quality, the price was reasonably affordable, and the weapons were quite durable.

Lorian had enough money for only one weapon for now. He looked around the room before quickly choosing a small dagger that he could use.

A moment later, he arrived at the front of the store with a dark blue dagger. Lorian took out 40 silver coins that he had and gave them to the owner.

The man quickly counted before handing the dagger over to Lorian, thanking him for the business.

Lorian quickly grabbed it before walking outside; once outside, he looked around before he decided to head back to the inn.

It was getting late, and most shops were getting ready to pack up and close, not to mention that Lorian had basically no money left.

He had to save money just in case anything could happen; after all, he wasn't so naive as to think that everything would go perfectly for him.

Heading back to the inn, he quickly grabs something to eat before quietly heading upstairs. Once he was upstairs, he entered his room. Like usual, he checked his room before quickly gathering his thoughts.

Lorian pulled out the dagger that he had bought earlier today. The dagger had a dark blue handle, covered in black fabric that made it easy to grip.

The blade itself is dark blue in color and has streaks of black running through it like lighting. He was quite familiar with this blade. He had used it many times before.

Like most weapons in this city, the weapon was made out of Water Path Runic Material, making it cheaper than others. Weapons made out of Runic materials could have special properties if crafted right, but not often.

If you wanted your weapon to be created with special albitites specifically, then you had to look into Runic Imbedding, which was an entirely different conversation.

A weapon made out of a runic material has a small distinctive trait that makes it different from regular-crafted weapons; they are also often more durable.

This dagger's trait was very small but also geared very well towards Lorian's needs; it had the special trait of having an easier time cutting through materials that were part of the Water Path.

Although it was quite nice, it still didn't have the capability to cut through Rank 2 Water Path Materials. It simply allowed Lorian to have an easier time finding Water Path Materials and selling them for profit.

This way, Lorian could easily earn the money that he had spent today and easily gain more, not to mention that the blade was also extremely sharp and durable, making it useful for multiple purposes. The Water Path trait was just an extremely convenient thing to have.

Lorian looked at the blade before strapping it to himself and taking it to bed with him. Although it seemed like a stupid way and sleeping and felt like a good way to accidentally stab yourself, Lorian had done this countless times before.

For regular people, they might have ended up killing themselves if they did this, but for Lorian, he had always slept with a weapon. It was simply better and safer.

If he got attacked, he could easily wake up and defend himself; if he were to leave it somewhere else, another person could find it. Keeping it to himself was simply the best option Lorian had and by far the safest one.

With this, Lorian decided to head off to bed; his body was dirty, and he needed to wash himself, but that could wait for now; he needed to wake up early the next day to pick up quests for contracted Path Masters.

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Cyrus walked throughout the street; he was the same person that had ruthlessly burned the couple from the apothecary.

He wore a black robe and was out walking at night again; this time he wasn't at an old rundown apothecary but rather in quite the extravagant place.

He was at the bottom of an extremely big mansion; the building was beautiful but was also shrouded in a fog of darkness, making it hard to see.

The lights that surrounded the mansion had gone, which led to this eerie feeling that covered the area.

Cyrus was waiting until he got the opportunity; he had a strict look and was quite concealed within the spot he was hiding in.

He waited before multiple men quickly rushed out to find what was wrong with the lights. As they were trying to figure out what had happened, a small explosion could be heard towards the side of the house, away from Cyrus.

When this happened, all of the men ran towards it like a flock of birds before Cyrus quickly entered through a window that he had melted through.

Because he didn't break the window but rather melted it, nobody in the house had suspected anything just yet.

But it was a matter of time before the smell of smoke would provoke them, leading to them having to investigate the cause of the matter.

Cyrus was cautious when he entered the mansion; the floor had a dark red color, and golden chandeliers hanged above him, showing the wealth of the landlord.

He looked down the halls as he carefully treaded within the mansion, his eyes checking and surveilling the environment as he quickly but carefully inspected the house.

He looked around the mansion, his eyes looking for the right room. Every single time he could hear and see something out of place, he would quickly change direction and choose a different path.

Time ticked on as he hurriedly roamed the place; finally, after a couple of minutes, he finally found the place that he was looking for.

Once outside, he quickly used some mana and melted the door handle off; afterwards, he quickly pushed through the door, making sure the door wouldn't wall to the ground.

Once inside, he was surrounded by a dark place. He once again used a skill and set a small part of the room on fire, making the room more visible.

The room was a grand office; it contained drawers, and some bookshelves, letters, and documents decorated the main table at the center of the room.

He quickly looked around the room; he headed towards the main table in the center of the room. He quickly rummaged through every document, looking for the right one.

Suddenly voices could be heard in the background; it was quite obvious after all that the person here would not just let their office be an open book for intruders.

Having a guard inside would've been a bad idea; who knows if the guard inside could've looked through the documents and stolen important information?

So, the next best option was to use a method to alert everyone when someone had forcefully broken into the room.

Cyrus was running out of time; this mission was extremely dangerous; it was almost guaranteed that he would get injured or even die.

Finally, at long last, he found the document; he took an artifact out that quickly shone a bright light on the document.

Several seconds later, a bunch of people arrived, heavily armed and ready to kill. At the lead was a person armed in glamorous armor and holding a spear.

He had golden hair and stared at Cyrus with heavy killing intent; after a moment of silence, he spoke to him with a deep voice.

"A person so daring that he comes alone here to steal important information, don't you think you're a bit too cocky?"

Cyrus looked at the man without saying a word; his eyes were blank; his gaze was unwavering.

After another moment of silence, the golden-haired leader once again broke the silence.

"It's fine if you're not going to talk; we'll make sure that ugly mouth of yours will after you see what we do to you after we capture you."

The man charged forward with a Rank 3 aura and everybody else with Rank 2.

Cyrus looked at them calmly before he evaded, his body also releasing the aura of a Rank 3 Path Master.

Cyrus and the Golden-Haired man both locked eyes, deeply staring at each other, probing the next actions of their enemy

Suddenly Cyrus released a skill that covered the entire room in flames; all the books and documents were being burned.

Everyone in the room quickly activated their own defensive methods and quickly started to move forward.

Cyrus quickly held his ground as he was surrounded by multiple people; he had a hard time defending each attack and guarding back.

The biggest problem was the golden-haired man; he had lightning fast speed, and his spear was razor sharp. He also used lighting path abilities to increase his fighting potential.

The room was burning down and getting hotter as the fight stretched longer; time was running out for both groups. 

Right before Cyrus could be completely overpowered by the onslaught of men before him, he took a quick glance and launched a powerful skill, creating an area of leeway for Cyrus.

This sudden action took them by surprise, leading to a link in their defense. Without hesitation, Cyrus quickly took this opportunity and rushed past them; he quickly crashed through the wall and ended up inside another room.

He quickly smashed through another wall, taking the quickest route; now that he was caught, it didn't matter how loud he had to be.

He left everyone else behind with his Rank 3 speed, but the Golden-Haired man was right behind him; the only reason Cyrus could stay further ahead was due to him launching attacks back at the Golden-Haired man.

The Golden-Haired man had great strength and speed but seemed to lack in the range department. Cyrus knew this from the information he obtained before this mission and used it to his advantage.

This continued on as he quickly escaped the mansion, heading outside. Once outside groups of guards surrounded him, but Cyrus quickly took care of them with a quick sweep of his hands.

The Golden-Haired man was still chasing relentlessly behind him. Cyrus quickly headed towards the forest near the mansion, running as fast as he could.

The fight was extremely close; if he even messed up once, it would be over and massive consequences could've happened.

He felt an extreme sense of pressure as he ran towards the forest. Eventually, with enough diligence from Cyrus, he finally entered the forest; once inside, he could now easily lose the Golden-Haired man.

The Golden-Haired man was an extremely strong person if you were to face him head on, but why would any reasonable person do that?

Cyrus had naturally used the weak points of his enemies against him; you had to use whatever it takes to win.

With a final skill, Cyrus launched a huge attack against the Golden-Haired man, causing him to stop and defend against it with all his strength.

The attack lit up a good chunk of the forest, creating fires everywhere around the Golden-Haired man.

Once the flames dissipated and the smoke cleared out, Cyrus was long gone. The Golden-Haired man was cursing in anger but knew that this was inevitable.

Cyrus, on the other hand, was long gone, hiding in the shadows as he traversed the forest. As he was running, he grabbed his face and pulled off an extremely realistic skin mask.

The mission this time was a success, but it came at great consequences. Cyrus is extremely injured, and his mana was almost completely empty.

But either way, Cyrus was happy that everything went according to plan, just like what one of the leaders had predicted for him.

Time ticked on as Cyrus silently headed back within the shadows of the night sky.