While the town had been all too empty yesterday, the closer we came to the shopping district, the more lively it became, reminding me of the hustling and bustling of the cities back home in my old life that I had seen on the rare occasion that I left the house. Rebecca was still pulling me behind her by my hand.

  Most of the stalls were filled with people bartering for fruits and vegetables, sunburnt men and women trading poultry and other meats for coin or other wares. Children begging their parents for candy and elderly men showing off a level of craftsmanship that must have taken a lifetime to cultivate. But Rebeccca didn't lose time looking at any of them, pulling me down a maze of streets and passages before stopping in a much smaller alley.

  “Wait-. Stop. I- I gotta- gotta-.”, I gasped as Rebecca stopped. She chuckled and let go of my hand to allow me to catch my breath. “Honestly I thought you'd be winded a lot sooner. But, uh, sorry for the dragging. My toughness is pretty good so my stamina is good too. But it's impressive that you managed to last this long, I doubt most people would've been able to keep up.”, her tone was friendly but her expression reminded me of a husky that had just been stopped by its owner.

  “I can't wait to look around.”, she said, her ears pointed up and twitching, her tail barely contained.

  Here, armorers were showing off how their wares held up against weapons, directly opposite to weapon manufacturers showing off how well their weapons could take on armor, while a fletcher showing a variety of specialised arrowheads in dozens of shapes and materials yelled over the crowd.

  “Need something to decapitate a cocatrice?” he yelled in a tone that reminded me of telemarketers. “We offer crescent arrowheads in silver, salt, mithril and many more, depending on the beast's realm of origin.”

  Rebecca looked around, head quickly twitching in all directions. “Is everything ok?”“, I asked her. “No, it′s all fine. I'm looking for someone.”

  I felt her tail hit me in the thigh, wagging in excitement. “Found him.”, she grinned. She grabbed my hand again and made her way through the crowd like an icebreaker through the arctic.

  We approached a demihuman, half a head smaller than Rebecca, with reddish horse ears poking from his skull. “Rebecca?”, he asked. “Yeah.”, she said and he didn't hesitate to embrace her. “It's been a while.”, he repeated cheerfully. Something in my stomach twisted slightly. Did I not stomach breakfast well?

  “This is my cousin, Pip.”, Rebecca said, causing Pip′s eyebrows to furrow.. She ended the hug and pointed at me.

  “This is Henry Vide, my husband.", she explained.

  Pip′s eyes widened. “Henry Vide? Like, of the Vide Family?” Rebecca nodded. “The very same.”

  Pip let go of Rebecca as well and the twist in my stomach lightened. Maybe I had imagined it. He bent down to look at me.

  “You said husband?”, he asked.

  “Yes she did.”, I answered. I offered him my hand to shake it. “Henry Vide, at your service.”, I said.

  Pip took my hand and shook it before he looked between me and Rebecca.. "How'd she housebreak you? You're so polite for a noble.” He rose and looked at her. “How did you even MARRY a noble no less?” He looked at her ears and tail. “You weren't DnC′d either. How′d you trick them into-” Rebecca waved him off.

  “We can talk about this at another time, I'm looking for uncle. Is he working today?”

  “He′s working on a custom project today so the store isn't open. But if you need something I can help you with that too.”

  “Thank you Pip."

  He turned around and we followed him.

  “Why does he have horse ears and you dog ears?”, I whispered to Rebecca.

  “My uncle is married into the family and Pip inherited his ears.”I saw Pip′s ears turn as if he was trying to listen in on us. I wasn't sure if he could though. “And mine are wolf ears, thank you very much.”, Rebecca added pointedly.

  The blacksmith's shop was filled with the sound of a hammer slamming onto pieces of metal, the heat of the forge strong enough to be felt outside. Pip opened the front door and stepped behind the counter. “So, Beccy, what do you and your hubby need?”, he asked.

  “Im looking for some pure steelbreath gauntlets and boots for me and Henry and a cuirass for me.”

  “Steelbreath you say? That's gonna cost you.”

  “How much?”

  “6000 Retrae per piece”, he said.

  For a few moments the cousins looked at each other. Rebecca took a deep breath.

  “If you want you can take a look around for a bit, I'll be here for a while making Pip see sense. Don't go too far please.” She handed me a bag with money.

  “I won't”, I promised and stepped out of the heat as I could hear them argue over prices.

  The alley Rebecca had dragged me in was a lot smaller yet felt like it contained more people than the market we had left. I managed to squeeze myself between people, looking from stand to stand. Arriving before a small stall with golden bands and rings I asked: “What are these?”

  The seller, a chubby man with a pencil mustache and the face of a potato grinned toothlessly. “Premium enchanted rings and bands for all purses and purposes. He picked up a small one. “Need a quick getaway? Turn this one thrice and you′ll arrive in the last bed you slept in. But only beds count.”, he said before placing it down carefully. I looked at a small band of intertwisted golden snakes with ruby eyes.

  “What does this one do?”, I asked.

  “Ah, the viper band. It imbues your blood with poison, making you immune to natural poisons and allowing you to use your blood to poison those that would try to drink it, only sixty Retrae for you my friend.

  I looked at a silver flower covered band big enough to fit on my thigh.

  "What's that one?”, I asked.

  “Ah, you must have a very good eye indeed, this is popular among the ladies in lesser noble houses, it hides any feature of your body from view that you'd like it to. It does not allow for you to become invisible by just saying “I dislike how I look at all” or something like it, however. Many make this mistake.” I thought about Rebecca and her ears and tail. If they weren't visible, would she be left alone from all the insults?

  “How much?”, I asked.

  “6000 Retrae.”, he said.

  “Thats a huge jump from the other band.”, I said.

  “Much more complicated magic, sir.”, the merchant said. “And most that buy it are adventurers that wish to retire and hide their scars, or lesser nobles that can't afford the magic to change their bodies fully so they could afford the high price. It also shifts size to fit onto your wrist which is an expensive spell in itself.”

  “Hmm. I might be interested at another time.”, I said. “I don't have the funds for that one with me.”

  For a third time my eyes fell onto an item, a small wristchain with stylised arrowheads attached to it.

  “What is this?”, I asked

  “A flickchain, sir. Very popular for young nobles and budding adventurers.” He put it on his wrist and picked up a small button. He clenched his fist around the button,causing the chain to glow. He then opened his hand, revealing that the button had begun to glow as well. He tossed it away with a flick of his wrist and the button zipped from his hand towards a nearby rotten log, piercing it and getting stuck halfway inside.

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  “The higher your Mental Stat, the faster it goes.”, the man explained.

  “How much?”

  “A hundred Retrae.”, he said.

  In the end, I bought both the viper band and the flickchain, as well as a small clip of night vision for ten Retrae that I could attach to the flickchain before wandering on.

  As I continued making my way through the market I bought a small bottle of anesthetic that I immediately added to the first aid kit in my backpack as well as a wound closing salve for very little compared to the magic items.

  Looking through the stores some more my eyes finally fell onto a bookseller. In hopes of acquiring a skill book I began a conversation, only to realize soon that the seller was not a native speaker of whatever language Rebecca and I were speaking. It took a while before I could get him to explain the books, as I was unable to open them to check, since they were bound by complicated knots that he refused to open before selling the books. I realised that the books were sorted by shelf but I could not figure out what the last of them contained.

  “So please explain to me again what you're selling on this shelf.”

  “Im selling books on how to use body.”

  “My wife and I are looking fo-”

  “Yes, book is good for wife too.”

  “Yeah but good how.”

  Rebecca approached us from the right, a puzzled expression on her face. “You look like you've been here for a while, what are you doing?” She was wearing a plain cuirass as well as a pair of gauntlets.

  “I am trying to figure out if this man is trying to sell me a book on martial arts or marital arts and everytime I think I figured it out he says something that makes me rethink it all over again.”

  “There is chapter on how to use feet too.”, he said proudly

  I pointed at the man. “SEE?”

  Rebecca pressed her lips together before breaking out in laughter. She counted out a few coins and handed them to the man who handed her the book with a friendly smile. “Just buy it, figure it out later.” She handed me a pair of gauntlets. “Try them on.”, she said, and I did.

  They felt more like gloves than armor, moving along my skin like a second layer. “Thats impressive.”, I said as my Grace opened.

  The steelbreath infused iron in your gauntlets attunes to your chainmail (high quality) and grants you a new effect:

  [Overlapping Protection]

  This skill protects an area around the armor the user wears as if they wore armor of far lesser quality.

  Wearing more steelbreath infused armor will increase this effect, making the protection around those areas stronger, up to being equal to the strongest material its user wears.

  Have a wonderful day.

  “Glad to hear that. My uncle works hard on these alloys.”, she said as she gestured to me to follow her.

  “Is there another place you'd like to visit?”, I asked. “I got a few things I think you might be interested in.”

  “Yeah I'd like to look around some more, I heard there was a place that sold magic items nearby and you can recharge them.”, she said. “I know you're insisting that you don't need any combat related items, but I'm gonna have an easier time focusing on fighting if I know-”

  Suddenly a fireball ripped the wall beside us apart, showering us in pieces of brick and plaster and ripping us of our feet.

  “Overlapping Protection prevented damage from occurring in sixteen potential points of contact. Overlapping Protection has been compromised.”

  Rebecca groaned and I felt like I was hit by a truck myself. I blinked a few times as the bright blots in my field of view vanished slowly. “Rebecca?”, I asked. “Are you ok?” Rebecca rose to a sitting position. She had been closer to the wall before the attack and I could see her new armor already halfway shattered from absorbing so much of the explosion.

  “I′ve been worse.”, she coughed.

  “You broke the wall you idiot.”, a voice complained in the same tone as if whoever had blown up the wall had done nothing worse than spill some tea.

  “I didn't expect the [Flamestrike] Enchantment to be this strong.”, the other, deeper, voice retorted.

  Rebecca stood up, patting the dust of herself. The complaining voice continued. “Look at that you almost killed that mutt, what are you gonna tell the owner?”

  The other voice sounded congested. “That I'll buy it off them for half market value?”

  "We′re talking about a potentially beloved pet here, you can pay at least full market value.”

  Rebecca pulled me up, letting me see the edge of where the alloy′s effect had protected her and where it had stopped doing so, a deep gash formed by one of the rocks under her left jaw but had either been deflected or missed hitting her neck.

  “Shit.”, I cursed. I pulled some of the gauze from my first aid kit and pressed it to the wound. “Thanks.”, Rebecca croaked. Seeing her like this while the two voices acted like that I could feel the rage bubbling in my stomach.

  “What is wrong with you two?”, I yelled. “You almost killed us.”

  “Yeah yeah that happens.”, the first voice said. It belonged to a tall, spindly man with pointed ears. He wore light leather armor and golden bracelets. “Even if, that's what, a 150 Retrae fee for you and a 50 Retrae fee for your mutt?” The bigger guy giggled. “Simon, we reached D-Rank this month, you forgot?” Simon looked up at his companion.

  “Right we did, didn't we? A 250 Retrae fee for you and a 150 Retrae fee for your mutt.”, he corrected himself. The other man was almost Rebecca′s size, his skin a greenish gray tone wearing nothing more than heavy boots and a chainmail loincloth with an axe over his shoulder, still glowing red yet growing dimmer by the moment.

  Rebecca growled but didn't move from the spot, her ears tucked flatly to her head as she clenched her tail between her legs.

  “That's my wife you piece of sh-”, Rebecca's hand covered my mouth almost instantly. I could feel her hands trembling through the gauntlets as she did so.

  The man I presumed to be an elf stepped closer. “Apologies, did you just say, wife?”

  He casually gripped Rebecca's wrist and she let him pull the hand away. He tilted his head. “Care to repeat yourself?”

  “That's my wife.”, I pressed out curtly, thoughts racing.

  “Gross.”, the elf said and something between the tone he used and the single word response snapped something in me and I slapped him. He didn't flinch, didn't even move but I could feel the pain spike in my wrist.

  In response he slammed his fist into my stomach with a force that made the earlier explosion feel like a toddler swinging a pillow at me. I could feel my body break, my stomach turn and my legs no longer carrying my weight, if they were still there that is.

  “Henry!” Rebecca yelled, higher pitched than I'd ever heard her before.

  A hot, burning mass travelled up my throat cascading upwards as I went down, retching onto the ground.

  A foot hit my back between my shoulderblades. “By Roland what makes you think Adventurers have to take this disrespect.” Simon asked.

  I could hear heavy boots stomp as someone or a group of someone′s approached.

  “Halt. In the name of the King stay your hand.”, a deep masculine voice demanded.”

  The boot did not move from my back. “David, what rank are guards?”, Simon asked like he was asking for the specials at a restaurant.

  “Guards are Rank B at the very least.”, David said.

  “Then we surrender.”, said Simon and his boot left my back. I felt Rebecca pull me up, holding my head. “Henry?”, she whispered. “Stay with me, Henry. Please.”

  “I'll try. I promi-”, I whispered, darkness claiming me as I broke the promise before I could even finish making it.

  _________________________________________________________________________

  Current Status:

  Stats:

  Power 2

  Agility: 1

  Toughness 3

  Mental: 2

  Perception: 3

  Mana: N/A

  Effects:

  Adrenaline

  Dislocated wrist

  Overlapping Protection  Lvl. 0 (Compromised)

  Internal Bleeding

  Shattered rib(s)

  Shattered spine

  Skills:

  [Behind every great person, there's their spouse] Lvl. 1

  [Emperors Gaze]  Lvl. 1

  [New World Mental Block]

  Known Ritual Spells:

  [Determine Value]

  [Simple Transportation Magic]