Discovery

The shock was great, and Ryu was not prepared for it, as in a single purchase, Nura spent a huge sum of money. Until now, Ryu had only heard that inscriptionist was an expensive job, but now that he saw it with his own eyes, he could not believe in that price.

For Nura, as the heir of a rich family, that amount of money doesn't mean anything to him. So he paid the coins and dragged Ryu out of the store since Ryu froze in place when he heard that value.

"That was a lot of money on a single purchase." Ryu commented when he returned to himself, and then he remembered something and continued, "By the way, I have found something you need to see."

Not even had Ryu finished speaking, and he began to walk fast through the market, avoiding the stores and customers with proficiency. Nura followed, struggling to keep pace, but the other, for some reason, was so impatient that he didn't slow down even after Nura asked.

A couple of streets later, Ryu took a turn, leaving the main street. Despite still containing some stores, this new street was almost desert, without any customers walking there. Finding it strange, Nura tried to ask, "Where are we going? An how did you discovered this place?".

"Shiiiiii." Ryu said, placing his index finger in front of his mouth, indicating to nura don't speak. "I came here looking for a store that people indicated me at the main street."

At the end of that street, Ryu suddenly paused and made a discreet gesture for Nura. Noticing his friend's behavior, Nura covertly looked to the side, where he saw a large two-story building, this one unlike the others, was made with quality stones and had an elegant architecture.

With a single glance, Nura identified what that building was, which wasn't a difficult task, as the fancy metal plaque above the entrance door read, 'Merchants' Guild'.

After a single moment, looking at the building, Nura returned his eyes to the street and continued walking. Then he whispered to Ryu, "Don't stop here, keep walking." and he hadn't even reduced his pace to say this.

Without destine, Ryu and Nura walked in silence, and though they tried to hide, their faces transcribed concern because at the side of the entrance of the merchant guild lays a symbol, and that symbol is the same as the hexagon carried by the higvale gang.

"Things don't stop in this town. Now they are associated with the merchant guild." said Nura when they got far from the merchant guild.

"Look on the bright side. At least we know who's behind this now." said Ryu.

"Yes, but what gets me angry is that they are not even trying to hide their identity." said Nura, "They are so confident in their power that they carry stumped their emblem at the front wall."

With this new piece of information, Ryu and Nura continued to scan the city in search of the highvale member. And their hard work succeeded as they found several places in the whole city that operated as a base for them.

Returning to the inn at the end of the day, Ryu and Nura ordered food with Grace and then, after eating, went to their room to wait until late at night to go hunting.

In the room, Ryu and Nura had plenty of free time until it was time for action, however, neither of them planned to spend time lazily lying in bed, waiting for time to pass in boredom.

To make better use of his time, Nura went to the small table and retrieved the recently acquired brush, a pot of ink, and a dozen papers, and he began to write, practicing his inscriptions. Ryu decided to meditate to get more qi, as in just two levels, he consumed all the precious essence he got after so many days of hard and painful work.

At the rate that the quantity of qi raised from each level when Ryu reaches level 13, he would already be in deficit. Thus, meditate became an emergency for him that needed to raise his level fast to fight against the whole gang controlling this city.

Sitting in lotus position on the bed, Ryu controlled his breath, closed his eyes, and let all of his worries aside. A single moment later, Ryu's mind disconnected from his body, and he felt a dozen threats of qi permeating throughout his flesh, going all the way to his dantian.

Sometime later, Ryu slowly opened his eyes, and when his consciousness returned to the mundane subject, he planned to take one hour to prepare and discuss strategies with Nura. However, as soon as his eyes focused, Ryu found Nura staring at him from centimeters away.

"What are you doing?" Ryu asked.

"I was worried about you." said Nura, getting away, "It's six hours since you sit there immobile. I was starting to think that we would have to delay our plan."

"Si- six hours already? I thought that only two hours passed. Sorry." said Ryu.

"No. No. We are still on time. But how can you meditate so profoundly knowing that we will be fighting in just a few moments?" asked Nura, impressed with Ryu's concentration.

"It's thanks to that sadist, self-entitled my master. His meditation program is really encouraging." explained Ryu.

"Nice. Maybe I will try it later." said Nura.

"I highly recommend it. But how went your inscription lesson?" asked Ryu.

To answer this question, Nura pulled a piece of paper from his ring and showed it with a face of disgust. Then he said, "Look at this, and protect your eyes.".

So the paper in Nura's hand lit up, emitting a blinding flash, forcing Ryu to close his eyes, and in the next moment, the light went out, leaving only a candlelight glow, and then a second flash with half the power of the first one.

"It's great. Why are you so unhappy about it?" asked Ryu.

"Seriously?" sarcastically asked Nura, "It should emit an incapacitating flash, something that blinds the target for at least a couple of seconds. And it definitively should not have this blinking function."

"Nah, you are too hard on yourself. It should work this way, and even this unintentional effect can help." Ryu tried to raise his friend's mood.

"That's kind of the problem. Not every talisman has this same effect. The talismans are a box of surprise with different power." Nura said.

"This will be fun." Ryu said, laughing.

"Shut up, you idiot. It's late, do you want to wake everyone when we are about to leave?" Nura said.

So Ryu covered his mouth with his hand and shallowed his laugh, which was not an easy task as nura had a face of anger. After this relaxing break, Ryu and Nura raised to put their plan into action.

Of course, before leaving the room they changed their clothes, abandoning the traditional robes for a more suitable black garment for the stealth mission at night, something like a ninja's attire. And they also covered their face, which was necessary for Nura since everyone who saw his gray hair would identify him immediately.