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  The city of Richmond was big! It was easily three, maybe even four times the size of their city back in Colorado, and it was packed with people. They were everywhere, walking, biking, taking buses. It was, for all intents and purposes, a proper modern city.

  Lindsay had to drive slowly as she manipulated the large Overlander RV through the cramped roads of the city.

  Angie was sitting in the passenger seat at the moment while Nate was dozing lightly behind them. Aura had her paws on the dash and was looking around, constantly taking in the sights.

  “This city is so different from all the other ones that we have visited up to this point,” The kitsune said excitedly.

  “Do you have the location of the ‘Merchant Guild’ pulled on your phone yet?” Lindsay asked as they enjoyed the sights of the city.

  As soon as they had neared Richmond, their access to the cellular network had come back online, and with it, the internet. As soon as she had been able to, Angie had pulled up the Richmond webpage and located the information on the various guilds.

  The young woman in question was eyeing the road signs carefully, while her finger traced their route on the paper map. “Yeah, I have it all pulled up. We need to go down another three streets, and then take a right. After that, it’ll be on the left after a mile or so.”

  “If you know where it is, then why do you look so worried?”

  Angie nibbled at her lower lip, her finger tapping on the map. “Merchants can be annoying at times. I’m used to dealing with the ones back home. But the ones here? They’re all unknowns and part of an even larger city than we’re used to. I’m just psyching myself up for how annoying this all is going to be.”

  “Isn’t your family some big name?” Nate mumbled slowly, half-listening and half-sleeping.

  She rolled her eyes. “Just go to sleep, Nate, and our merchant business is indeed fairly large, sure, but that is only back in the middle of the country. To my knowledge, we have no major holdings or operations in this part of the country yet. That is part of what my father wanted me to look into and potentially get set in motion. Not stores, but new supply routes.”

  “Whatever. I’m not even going to try and pretend that I understand how all of that stuff really works. I’ve picked up a few things over the years, sure, but all the real specifics are still beyond me.” Lindsay took her foot off the accelerator as the heavy RV neared the intersection. It began to slow and by the time she needed to turn, she only needed to barely tap the brakes.

  A little while later, Angie pointed to a large building on the left with a massive, multi-level parking garage right next to it. “Just pull into the first level for now, and park wherever there is room. We’ll go inside through the attached tunnel.”

  Aura pounced on Nate, waking him. “Up, get up. It’s time to go inside, so Angie can do her business.”

  Nate yawned and scratched her behind the ears. “It’s not just her business that we’re here for. Part of the group we’ll be traveling with is here as well, though we’ll have to get the rest of them at the Licensing Bureau when we leave. Since we were coming here anyway, Angie had volunteered to meet up with them and then coordinate everything.”

  Ever since they entered the range of the city, the girl had been on the radio working to find a group they could travel with. Then once she found one, dealing with all the various logistical issues that had come up. Now all of that work was about to pay off. He just hoped, for her sake, that it was worth it. He would feel bad for her if, after all of that work, these other merchants and cultivators they would be traveling with were absolute nightmares.

  With their newest changes, he felt that they had good odds of getting away from anyone should something happen. Lindsay and Angie could enter one of the dungeons through him, along with Aura, if needed. The RV could be stored, which would only leave him as the sole person who actually needed to still get away. However, he did have a dirtbike in his storage for occasions when speed was needed, and he was alone.

  Regardless, all of that was merely what-ifs for circumstances that would be far better never encountered.

  The Overlander rolled into the parking garage and Lindsay quickly found a spot to park the RV. She took a few seconds to properly shut everything down and then turned to the others.

  “Alright, we’re here. Let’s head inside and get this taken care of. I want to see what sort of stores this city has.”

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  Angie rolled her eyes. “Anything they have at the stores; I could get for you at a better price.”

  “You see, Angie, that’s your issue. You’ve never really enjoyed shopping; it’s always been related to work for you. Sometimes it is just meant to be something relaxing. Besides, we have made plenty of money during the last few weeks.”

  After locking up the vehicle, the four headed through the tunnel and into the main merchant guild building. The inside of the building was bustling with people moving every which way. Carefully, they wended their way through and to a line in front of one of the main counters.

  Aura’s appearance drew a few stares, but not as many as it would have had she not been maintaining her illusion. Companion beasts were far more common in this section of the states than in their city. The average realm of the cultivators was also several degrees higher due to the more difficult level of dimensional zones they faced in the area.

  The group took the next few minutes to watch the others around them as they slowly made their way toward the desk.

  “Hello, are you registering as new merchants, checking in from another city, filing a complaint, or something else?” The woman behind the desk asked in a polite but somewhat bored tone.

  “Checking in,” Angelica replied confidently. “We are also supposed to be meeting with part of our upcoming travel party here as well.”

  “Alright, well, let’s get you all checked in first, and then we can go over the other items.”

  The merchant check-in was only needed if you were going to perform mercantile activities in that city. If you were just passing through as a normal person, then you didn’t need to bother with the process. In their case, they hadn’t bothered with checking in at any of the previous places they had visited. There had been little reason to in their opinions.

  Now though, they were far enough out that the new supply routes would actually be long enough to mean something.

  Nate leaned closer to the counter as Angie filled out the paperwork. “Excuse me, is there a shop here that sells energy skills?”

  He still had the slots in his backup core that he needed to fill, more than that, though he was just interested in seeing what they might have. The school had possessed a decent library of skills, at least he thought they had. He had never taken the time to explore all the different energy skills listed on the internet, outside of some basic research in the beginning.

  Regardless, while he had chosen the best ones available to him at the time, it was obviously better to swap them out now rather than later. Assuming the option was there, and that better ones were available.

  She nodded and opened a drawer beside her, pulling out a printed map of the city. It had hundreds of tiny markings on it, and a legend up in the corner identifying what they meant. Around half of them were the same and were for grocery stores. The next largest number was for clothing stores. Then you had the tailors, armor, and weapon shops. After that came bookshops, pawnshops, and various smithy-based places.

  The woman’s pen hesitated for a moment as she tried to remember the location of the specific skill shops in question. Finally, she made three marks on the map. “These three generally have the best selection and if they don’t have what you are looking for, then they are usually willing to help their customers find it, assuming it is within the bounds of the city.”

  “Thank you.” He stared at the map for a couple of moments before reaching to take it.

  Before he could take it, the woman placed her hand on the map, preventing him from taking it. “There is one other store you might be interested in.” She made an additional marking on the map, this particular circle was closer to one of the Licensing Bureaus near the wall. “It is a companion beast emporium. If you are interested in looking at getting more companions to keep your current one company. They also have various specialty products for your companion beasts. Toys, foods, vitamins, anything you might think of them needing.”

  It sounded like a typical pet store to him. They weren’t really a thing in this world, at least not that he had seen, and now he had found the equivalent.

  Nate had no reason to get another companion beast, as Aura was not only strong, but also special in many different ways. However, the other two might like to have their own companion beasts. He had gotten a proper method for training them before, so they wouldn’t even need to worry about getting a copy of that.

  He was sure Lindsay would like to find a fluffy animal to cuddle constantly, just as he was equally sure that Aura would pretend to be happy about it, but secretly miss all the attention.

  Well, he could still pay attention to Aura, if that was what she wanted. It had just felt a little odd to him before because he had always known how intelligent the kitsune was. Due to that knowledge, he had been mostly treating her more as a person than as a fluffy animal, as Lindsay tended to do. Even though the girl knew Aura was intelligent, she either didn’t care or the initial first impression was simply that strong.

  If Aura wanted to be pampered, then he could do that… hopefully.

  “Oh, yes, that will be rather useful.” He carefully rolled up the map and stuck it in his pocket.

  Angie finished filling out the forms and pushed them back across the desk. “Here you are.”

  The receptionist quickly entered the information into the system and checked her in. “Sorry about that. Since it was the first time you’ve checked in at this location, there was a little more paperwork than normal. Everything is in order, and your family’s business is in good standing with the guild. The group you wanted to meet with hasn’t arrived just yet, but there is a message that was left a few minutes ago. It looks as though they were delayed at an accident site across the city and will be here as soon as possible.” She pushed her glasses back up her nose. “Was there anything else you needed?”

  “No, I-” Angie stopped talking and bit her lower lip. “Actually, there is one more thing. Would it be possible for us to speak with the guild master? I’m sure you saw that we live a fair distance from here.”

  The woman behind the counter nodded.

  “My family is interested in expanding our supply lines. As far as I’m aware, those sorts of discussions are typically handled with the guild master acting as mediator.” Angelica’s father had given her as much information on the process as he could before they left. It helped that she had been raised learning all of this as well. Everything her father had gone through with her weeks earlier had simply been a refresher, nothing more.

  “You are correct. Let me see if she is available.”

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