DISCLAIMER: I don't own this stuff. But if you, as a peer, want to use someone I created, you gotta ask first, mmkay?

Featuring Hideval, a creation of my good friend Karma Duel. Go read his stories if you know what's good for you.

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"Buying Dark Crystal Ores!"

"Trading Fame! I don't Scam people!"

"Level 45 Cleric looking for a Party to train with Jr. Pepes!"

I stepped out of the portal to several cries of other people, looking for adventure or Experience Points. Or just money. This was something nearly everyone did: Jump around a crowded place yelling your prices for certain items or promising whatever to whomever would give you an elusive weapon or such. I did it sometimes, if rarely; Usually when I was looking for a new set of throwing stars or if I find rare equipment that doesn't work well with me. I peeked inside my pack for a second and added my own shout to the rest.

"Selling Over-Average Red Guiltain, accepting offers...!" I yelled half-heartedly, lazily strolling through the marble city. All of Ossyria was beautiful, but if I ever wanted to settle down and buy a house it would be located in Orbis. There was a huge assortment of different people: Fairies, normal humans, soldiers, scientists, beefed men, kids all about, even a large dog everyone called Moppie. An assorted orchestral group played all day in the town square, and personally I've found that their music never seems to get old. Vines grew everywhere, but they were obviously trimmed and controlled. There were floating platforms placed around the higher parts of the city, and though I'm terribly afraid of heights I didn't mind these. Since I've obtained Nimble Body and Haste, I can twist myself around in the air so I land more peacefully.

It's still scary as all hell to slip, though.

Nobody seemed to want the hat, so I sped up my pace to normal. My destination was the General Shop, and after a bit of a walk the smell of Potions mixed with food overwhelmed me. I closed the door behind me, savoring the near-silence. The music could still be heard, through hidden speakers in the shop, but of course I didn't mind that at all. In fact, I decided that once I was done with exchanging supplies I'd wait here for my mana to come back to normal.

I sold the metal shellpieces that Sentinels dropped, and asked that the woman behind the counter refill my weapons' packages. It intrigued me that though they carried large amounts of every throwing star, they were near-impossible to carry. In fact, the most intuitive thing I had ever seen was a high-level Hermit who had asked that the store-owned fill his Pumpkin Basket with Ilbis. It seemed to work fine for him, though he couldn't use a claw to throw them. As we all know, in order to insert the stars or knives into a claw, you need to fit in the plastic case. The spring mechanism holds the small weapons and releases the plastic case, but nobody knows how to insert the stars manually.

So this guy reached into his Pumpkin Basket and had to pull out a star and throw it between his fingers. I'm not sure how that went but fighting in such an old-fashioned manner can't be worth 40 Ilbis...

I didn't really need anything from the store besides the stars, so I walked to the side of the store and sat on the floor near the wall, relaxing. After a few minutes, another guy walked in. He had spiky purple hair and sunglasses, a large intimidating Maple Staff and a long black Robe. He nodded to me and did his biddings with the Shop owner, then sat next to me and began to apply a powder to a long gash on his leg.

"Leatties," he said with a smirk, noticing my gaze. "They're painful little fuzzies."

I snorted, holding a hand to shake his. "Well met, mate. I'm Dan of Kerning."

"Hideval of Ellinia," he replied, shaking my hand and finishing his work. I couldn't help but notice his uncovered hair.

"Oi..." I muttered after a second. "Bychance, you interested in buying a Red Guiltain? I've had this thing for ages, it's overaverage but I've had the worst luck in selling it."

"Eh," he grunted, looking at it uninterestedly. "It'd be good to have for a few levels from now, but I'm only level 36. Anyway, I don't really like wearing Red." He handed it back and I couldn't help but yelp out a "GAH!" He laughed and shrugged.

"I swear, I'm just gonna sell it for 30,000 mesos," I said dryly.

"Don't go and do that, mate," Hideval said, putting his hand on my shoulder. "They'll sell for plenty if you have the right buyer. Just be patient."

I knew he was right, and sighed. "Yeah, yeah, I know," I mumbled.

"Like, I've had this set of Steelies for about a month now. I hear they go for about six million mesos, and-"

"Seven million!" I gasped, moving my pack in front of me. "I need a set of those, I'll buy it for Seven Million Mesos in cash."

He took out the plastic case with a smirk. "You carry all that money with you?" he asked.

I shook my head. "It's all in my account, I've got about half a million on me now," I explained. "We could take a short walk to Teeny and I could withdraw it in person, or we could do it all digitally."

"I'd rather the latter," Hideval said with a laugh. "As I'd probably just put the money into my account anyway."

We both took out our personal ID cards and made the transaction, then he handed me the case. We thanked each other and left, him going up to the Jr. Cellions and me going back down to the Sentinels. I inserted the new Steelies on the way, their weight feeling very different from the flat Kumbis I was used to. On the way down, I tried out a Lucky Seven on a Jr. Sentinel. It was broken after one Lucky Seven and one normal throw.

Ecstatic, I picked up a Luck Ore that it dropped and continued my way to the lower levels, wondering if today would be a good day after all.

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Roughly an hour into training, I was firing away at a normal Sentinel, not bothering to use Lucky Seven. My mana was down and it healed slowly. Since I had plenty of time, as this area was generally empty, I never bothered to use any healing potions or anything.

I was just about to kill an enemy when lightning struck it from above. I turned angrily, knowing that the experience points that the robot held would now be split between me and someone else.

That someone had no hat, but his purple, spiked hair fit well with his black robe.

"Hideval!" I said in surprise. "What brings you down here...?" For he was level 36, and it was no place to be training for a Mage of such a level.

"I need Wisdom Ores," he explained. "I was on my way down to the Ice and Fire Sentinels and there you were. Sorry for stealing that kill."

"It didn't drop anything important, so I don't mind," I said with a laugh. "Sometimes there're Cape Scrolls inside them, but yeah." Scrolls were magical objects that were used to make armors or weapons more useful. By reading the Scroll you gain a huge amount of mana in your body, and the next thing you touch that applies to the scroll) becomes the target for the power. The mana is released into it and voila, a more powerful item.

"That'd be how you get all your money, then?" Hideval asked. "It's not normal for an assassin to be carrying so much."

I silently agreed. It was indeed costly, this job. Mana and Health potions, as well as buying and recharging stars. Also, the armors and claws asked for much more than they were worth.

"I've got a few friends," I explained. "One Chief Bandit who retired to work with his family, he gave me all of his old stuff. A really cool Hunter who calls himself The Just Owner, he helps me out with quests. He's kind of slow, but charitable. A couple other guys, high-leveled... A sarcastic Cleric who's easy to like, a caring Warrior who prefers giving to taking."

"And of course the scrolls."

I shrugged. "Yeah, mostly the scrolls," I laughed. Some people in town will pay one-and-a-half million for a 60 Scroll for Cape's Intelligence... Maybe they'll think it'll make them smarter. I still don't know.

"Anyway," I continued, shifting my pack and opening it to my side. "I've got a few Wisdom Crystal Ores in here. I'll give them to ya for cheap, but I still need money-"

"Of course, of course!" Hideval said as if I was insulting him. "Never would I ask for charity, It's not like you owe me anything."

I shrugged. "Well, there's four here that I've picked up," I said. They were useless to me, mostly stuff that others have dropped or that I've taken and made in my rare encounters with Ice or Fire Sentinels. "So how many do you need?"

"Three, one for my brother and two for me."

"Okay," I said, calculating. "They go for 85 thousand, usually. So I'll cut off 10 each. 225 thousand for all three sound good?"

Hideval lost his balance. I faltered, but he looked up with a grin. "Uh," he muttered. "How about two for 150 thousand?"

I paused for a moment, befuddled, before laughing. "What'd you do, spend all your money on scrolls?" I asked, not malevolently. "I just gave you seven mil!"

Hideval blushed. "One of my friends helped me out with all of my equipment," he said, looking to the side. I stopped laughing. "At least, I thought she was one of my friends... As soon as she'd given them to me she gave me a receipt. I owe her twelve million for all of my stuff. She just walked away and told me to bring the money to the bar in Kerning in a month. She said that I'd regret it if I swindled her out of her money."

"How long ago was that?" I asked. I'd heard about this kind of thing happening, especially near Kerning. This did sound serious, but it could turn out that Hideval was the con artist here, and that I was the victim.

"It was a day and three weeks ago, I have until next Monday. Eight days left."

I thought for a second, jumping onto a rope and hanging there while the Sentinels floated aimlessly below me. They would never attack except in self-defense, and as long as I didn't fall on them I could hang here all day without a worry.

"What'd happen if you tried to run away, you think?" I asked, leaning off the rope casually.

Hideval killed the two Sentinels with Ice Magics, ignoring the broken metal shellpieces that clattered to the floor, dead.

"I'm not so sure I want to find out," he said through gritted teeth, glaring at the shellpieces. "She was a part of a Guild."

All was silent for a few seconds. I didn't even need to ask.

"The Maffiya Guild," we said in unison, and my eyes widened as I gasped. At the same time he looked down, to the side. It wasn't for dramatic effect but anyone watching would've thought so.

The Maffiya was notorious for luring people into their sordid deals or loans. Often they would render an upcoming Warrior or Mage useless, stripping them of any money or power through contracts and deals. Hideval had probably agreed to paying this girl without realizing it, under watch of another Maffiya member. There had been appeals in the past, but the Officials knew that there was nothing they could do. Lawfully, they had the right to do most things they did, even if it was morally evil.

"...Take them," I said, pitying him. He pushed my hand away, and the Wisdom Ores dropped to the ground. I picked them up irritably, swearing at him. "...Just take them, please, damn it. I don't need them and you do."

"I refuse to accept any charity."

He glared at me and I knew at once that this man would not be swayed. I smirked.

"Okay," I said. "150 thousand for two."

He nodded his thanks and reached into his bag, pulling out the necessary wad of cash. I handed him the four ores as he handed it to me confusedly.

"These are worth 85 thousand each," he said, annoyed. "And you can't-"

"I'd drop them anyway," I said, fitting the forgotten shellpieces into my bag. "I had no room for anything because of those, and I need these-" I quickly killed another Sentinel and stuffed the money and Shellpiece into my pack as well. "I need these for a quest," I lied.

He saw through it, I'm sure, but I'm sure he gave up then.

"...I'd just drop them anyway, really," I reassured him.

He smiled and thanked me one last time before bowing and falling to the lower levels, landing gracefully next to a large group. He took them all down with a few waves of his staff and picked up all of the money before going below again.

I gazed after him, wishing I could do more. But his soul was strong, and he would make sure that he wouldn't accept any more charity from me. I frowned, closing my eyes in thought.