Year 2, Spring, First Month, Fourth Week.

Sania walked slowly towards the dark alley. After killing the man, she ran around for two hours before she finally found the old-looking bakery with a big D on the store sign, which meant that her destination was the alley in the left corner of the store.

She swallowed dry, took out her dagger and placed the crystal in the holder inside her coat before continuing to walk carefully until her surroundings became too dark to see walls around her.

“Are you gonna stay hidden? You wouldn't attack a little girl like me, would you?”

Her voice echoed in the apparently empty ally but didn't cause any changes. She couldn't help but give a bitter smile. She wouldn't mind fighting against the hidden foes, but the expectation was weighing on her nerves.

Fortunately, her attempt at drawing someone out was successful when a shadow appeared around 20 meters in front of her and said:

“Why is a “little girl like you” doing here?”

She couldn't see the shadow's features, but she would bet that it's a man and he was smiling at her.

“I'm here to talk with your master, could you please lead me to him?”

“You see... I'm not used to following little girls' orders, so no... You should go away and come back with your parents...”

“That won't do, mister... Could you please step away and ask your hidden friends to do the same?”

Sania displayed an innocent smile, not that it could be seen through the darkness. However, her voice tone was enough to make the man displeased, he didn't like being mocked by a child.

“Hey... Since the girl is talking about you 2, why don't you go out to “greet” her?”

The shadows moved again, forming the silhouette of two big men. Sania didn't react or made any apparent reactions, which made the men even more displeased and resolute to teach her a lesson, they weren't against beating up a girl.

Actually, Sania wasn't that confident about winning against them, but how could she go back without completing her mission? She could only steel her resolve and draw them out.

The two men started to move towards her, an instant shine revealed to her that they held weapons, something she already guessed. When they were about four meters from her, she finally moved.

Sania dashed towards them, leaving them so shocked that they didn't react fast enough. Her first attack slashed a man on her right in his thigh, he hissed and tried to pay her back with a slash of his own, but missed the retreating girl.

The other man stepped forward to attack her, falling on Sania’s bait to separate them. She slashed towards him but this time the attack was blocked. Fortunately, the magic enhancements helped to escape his follow-up attack.

But she wouldn't have it easy, the man procced attacking her while she had to move back and block more attacks. Sania was clearly at disadvantage, her only chance was to finish the man before the wounded one got to them, if they joined hands she wouldn't stand a chance.

Unfortunately, the man kept attacking her and she couldn't do anything but defending. The wounded man got out of his indignation and moved to join the battle, fuming with anger.

Sania saw her end nearing and decided to change tactics. She crouched and dashed forward using all her ability to ran past the attackers. She disregarded the upcoming attacks and only tried to dodge the ones aimed at her head or legs.

The leading man was surprised but didn't forget to attack, his slash aimed for her arm but only met her side. The slash pressed against her coat but failed to cut through the empowering effect of the Toughness Rune.

Sania didn't mind the slash and continued to run zigzagging her enemies. Unfortunately, she wasn't lucky enough to escape the second man’s attack, the slash met her right arm and stopped at her shoulder, which was protected by the coat.

She couldn't stop to check the cut, so she continued to run towards the last man, who was quietly watching the fight. He looked at the fast-moving girl and smiled, confident that he would finish her.

Taking the risk of stepping on something weak, Sania stepped on a barrel by the wall to get an impulse and jump over the man. He was so shocked by the unexpected move that he failed to prevent her jump.

Usually, Sania would try to dash to the sides, but the alley offered little space to do it. The Rune on her boots and her speed gave her the confidence to bet on the jump. Fortunately, her move was enough to pass over her last enemy.

Even surprised, the man turned around ready to defend against Sania's attack but failed to find any attack.

Instead of continuing the fight, Sania ran forward leaving the attackers behind. She only stopped in front of a store with a cart sign, quickly knocking on the closed door, using the specific pattern taught by her grandfather.

The door opened and the painting Sania didn't hesitate to dive in. When she realized the presence of a big man guarding the entrance she moved sideways from him until she was at a safe distance.

Finally, she turned around and saw a man sitting behind the counter looking at her inquisitively.

“I want to talk with Keller, I bring him words of an old friend...”

The man's expression changed quickly like he realized some hidden meaning in her words.

“As long as I stand, a friend will always be heard... You can talk freely here, I'm Keller. Who's words?”

Sania breathed a sigh of relief.

“My grandfather's, Old Bill...”

“Oh... So you're one of the twins... It has been a long time... 15, 16 years? I don't even remember anymore... How is he doing, and the others?... Don't be shy, come here. Let me see you!... We have to put some bandages in your cut... Where did you... How did you pass my Guards?”

Sania didn't hesitate to move because her grandpa promised that once she got to Keller she would be safe. In fact, the only reason why she dared to move against the Guards was that she didn't have to defeat them, only get past them.

“Yes, I'm Sania… They're fine... The men were a little brusque but I managed, grandpa trained me to handle difficult situations... He sent me here to make a deal...”

Keller laughed and said:

“You have your grandfather's sense of humor... A deal, not to retrieve a favor?”

Sania started to speak lower almost whispering.

“Yes... We want to buy weapons and other materials, shields, swords, daggers, arrows, bows, as much as you can deliver discretely to our village. And also crystals, MQ energy crystals and any elemental crystals, if possible some hybrid crystals...”

Keller's sweet expression turned bitter. Even ignoring the girl's unreasonable request, he was surprised by her bluntness. As a Merchant, he was more used to people beating around the bush before throwing something so big.

“That... Hehe... Ah, little Sania your request is a little too rich... Are you sure your grandpa asked for these things? I know he gets carried away but this seems a little exaggerated... I could arrange for it but the cost would be...”

“Take these... I'm sure you'll find them interesting...”

Sania passed him the dagger and the stone knife.

First, Keller ignored the drawings in the weapons and move to check their quality. As a Merchant specialized in weapons he was very good at appraising weapons.

“This... The quality of the craft is lacking but... How can these be so sharp?”

He continued to test the weapon's sharpness until Sania urged him to test the weapon's resistance. He decided to trust her and brought them to an anvil, he started with the stone knife, expecting it to lose some chips once he started hammering it.

Keller couldn't contain his disbelief while the knife resisted the hammering. To break it he had to put a lot more strength than he was supposed to. He didn't care about breaking the knife, he could easily give her a better replacement.

He continued to test the dagger, incredulous of its resistance.

“How?”

“It's called Alchemy... It uses magic energy to enhance things... It can be used in other things...”

Sania took out her coat and boots and showed their effects to Keller.

Before coming, the Council discussed how much they should reveal to him. Even though they didn't feel comfortable with sharing their secrets with an outsider, Chief Omero guaranteed he was trustworthy. Also, they would need an aggressive approach to improve their chances before the end of the year. Whatever the choice they made, they would have to fight for it.

Keller tested the coat and boots while hundreds of ideas passed his mind. Sania knew what he was thinking and thought she should remind him of somethings:

“You know that this technique can't be made public, at least not for now... The Alchemy effects are great but very difficult to make... ”

How could Keller not understand what she was implying? The cost to enhance weapons and tools wouldn't be low. He clenched his teeth thinking how much he'd have to pay for it. Unfortunately, the crafter or better seeing, Old Bill, knew exactly how much these enhancements were worth it.

“For the weapons, I can give you two weapons for each weapon you enhance...”

“Hm... We can accept two weapons for each enhancement, but you have to provide some MQ beast's blood, one liter for every four weapons...”

Keller's teeth clenched and his head started hurting, which was a forecast of him losing money...