The city walls slowly appeared around a corner. No guards or anyone were checking the gates, as there were caravans and people walking from and into the city. Farmers, lumberjacks, and adventures could be seen anywhere.

This was not that impressive town, considering the size of most major cities within the continent. Just a regular town with few tens of thousands of permanent residents, with many more people traveling through the city every day.

It was considerably smaller than Allan’s city of Waan. The main reason was its position. It was in the vast wilderness, dozens of kilometers away from the nearest major city.

“I wonder where I can buy something like acupoint needles. I could probably ask mister Triston.” Sarey wondered as she walked through the gate with the idea of where to look for them.

As she walked into the town. Crowds of people, in a much more steady manner, were on the streets. The buzzing sound of the town directly greeted her. Sarey did not really like such an atmosphere, but she slowly got accustomed to it over time. Her work in the restaurant helped as well.

She walked through the streets. Rows of buildings were on each side. There were some carriages with goods and other things.
For some reason, there were no kids and not a lot of women either. Groups of men clothed in leather armors and sometimes with some steel reinforcements were standing and walking in the streets.

“What is going on here today? There are a lot of mercenaries.” She wondered.

It was fair to say that not a lot of families were willing to live directly in this town. They were mostly scattered around the suburbs, like Zigmund and Sarey. Another reason was that the town was, in general, the hub of trade. Hunting, agriculture, and trades of all kinds went through this town to other cities.

She continued walking to a familiar street. There were no signs of any kind, just rows of regular residential buildings.

Walking into one of them, there were rows of doors in a hall that stretched for a few dozen meters. Hight ceiling within the pillar made it a somewhat nicer-looking interior unlike the common exterior of the buildings. She walked to the second floor, which was also the same hall, where she knocked on the wooden door.

In a moment, Triston shoved his face.

“Oh, good day Sarey. What kind of problem can you have? It is not that long after yesterday’s session.”

“I am not here for that. I just need some help with some information.”

“Ask away.” Triston agreed with his common smile.

“Where can I get some good-quality acupoint needles?” She directly asked.

“Hmmm. What do you need that for? It is not an expertise of me and my master.“

“It is just some other business. Nothing much else. I am just trying to figure it out as it's not a usual item.”

“Alright. I won’t stick my fingers where they don’t belong. You can probably find some on 2nd Street. Some blacksmiths and jewelers are kinds who can have some ready for trade. Ask them as they usually don't display it for regular customers.”

“2nd one? Thank you very much, mister Triston.”

“No problem. Have a good day.“

As she walked back, Triston added. “Another will be in 2 days.”

Sarey just waved at him in confirmation behind her back.

On the 2nd Street, there were considerably more people here than anywhere else. This was the main shopping avenue for hunters, soldiers, and merchants who were trading their goods or buying new equipment.

She walked into a blacksmithing workshop which was in the middle of the venue. Hood covered her head while she tried to blend in. It didn’t seem out of place, as there was not as if she was hiding, and she wasn’t alone like that in the shop either. A lot of wanted people required these services, and shopkeepers were always happy to get some business done.

“Hello, mister.” She greeted one of the blacksmiths who was behind the selling of the wares.

The big man with sturdy and muscular stature looked at her questionably. She sounded very young to be in need of going to this shop, but, he did not care about one’s age.

“What can I do for you, miss? We have all kinds of goods. For killers to regular things for kitchen and repairs.”

Sarey was not surprised by this.

“I would like to know the quality and price of a good set of acupoint needles.”

“Hmmm. We have some readily available, while it is rather rare to meet a buyer for them. I don’t know what kind of quality you look for. As for the price, the cheapest is 8 gold.”

“What? How is it so expensive?” She asked, kind of surprised.

“It is a set, after all. Used for medical stuff. Of course, it is not cheap.” Man explained.

“Makes sense. Can I take a look at them? You can also bring more samples from other sets. The expensive ones as well.”

“Do you have that much money?”

“Hmph!” Sarey took a little bag with no regard from her pocket and opened it. Quite a bit of gold coins were seen inside.

“Alright, then, little girl. No need to get upset. I will get you a few sets to look at.”

Sarey stood there with crossed arms. Rather upset that he thought little of her.

In a few minutes, the burly man appeared with a few small boxes around his arms and laid every box in an orderly fashion in front of Sarey.
He then opened each one in the first section. Neatly, there were stacked needles of all kinds of sizes, with most of them being around 8 to 10 centimeters long. They were unnaturally thin. As if the smallest bent would break them apart, yet they were incredibly steady and firm.

Sarey looked at them and felt lost. She should have asked for more information before heading here. She knew little about what to want, or, to be precise, what 36 was in need of.

“There you go, little miss. These are the finest pieces. Do you need some help with choosing?”

“Will you swindle me?” She asked honestly.

“Hehehhehehehehe. You speak to an honest working man. I could. But not every day you see someone seeking this kind of stuff. I will help you to the best ability. They are expensive for a lot of reasons.”

“Low demand and expensive, precise work is needed. Am I right?” Sarey said as he was talking.

“Yes. That is mostly that, but there are a lot of kinds of ways you can craft in a world of blacksmithing. Acupoint needles are not very common, because their usage is not that important to pretty much anyone. What do you need them for?”

“I don’t know. I was tasked with gaining one. Some of better quality than the usual set.”

“That won’t help at all. Never mind, you can go with the middle path. Not something overly cheapest, nor most expensive. This set is for 16 gold and is made from alloys from the dwarf nation. As for the maker, I don’t know him, but this set went through a long history before being bought by this shop. Its quality is unquestionable.”

“What history?” Asked Sarey with curiosity.

“Uhhh.” The man paused for a moment. He just said it like that through his experience of exaggeration.

“Alright, you got me. Nonetheless, this set was appraised and its value is real. I swear in a name of Dusty Mike.”

“Good. I will take this.” Sarey did not care. 18 gold was a lot of money for her. Weeks of hard work. But, her father was generous to his employees and his daughter even more. Sarey never really took advantage of that. She always felt a little guilty for her mother’s sudden departure and the restaurant's work let her mind drifts to other problems. The same could be said of her father as well.

She gave him 1 bigger gold coin and 8 smaller ones.

“Thank you for your purchase. If there is an issue, you can get a refund within 2 weeks.” Said the man as he take the rest of the boxes with him away.

“Thank you. Have a good day, sir.”

Sarey walked out of the shop. Taking the same route towards the road. She was not exactly happy to spend so much money, but it was not that bad. Her expenditures were almost none as her father always had plenty of wealth to throw into their home and restaurant.

“I just hope it will help. Or mister 36 can deal with it somehow. If not?! Then I will kick him out.”
Wooden cottage appeared in about 20 minutes of walking. Opening the door, she noticed her father in the kitchen, who was making his late breakfast.

“Good morning, father.” Sarey greeted him.

“Good. Good. Have you been outside?”

“Yea. I had some business to do.”

“How was your learning yesterday?”

“Good. I guess. Do you have some work planned for today?” Sarey asked.

“Yea. I will go to town for a bit. I will be back in around lunch. Nothing really planned for you today, so you can do whatever you want.”

“Alright.” Sarey answered as she got to the living room. Zigmund did see her box, but it was her business, so he let it be.

In the living room, Sarey stopped as she glared at the room.
“Huh? 36 is gone? Is it about that time limit? Ach..” She sighed and sit beside Allan.

“What about you, boy? I wonder when will you wake up.”

Allan was quiet as ever.

“Now what? 36 said something about summoning him from that book. No one was here since yesterday. Father?” Sarey went back to the kitchen.

“Father? Did you check that boy yesterday or this morning?”

“No. I just took a brief look at this morning after I woke up.” Zigmund said as he was snuffing a piece of bread with ham in his mouth.

“Have you noticed anything out of place?”

“No.”

In his denial, she left the kitchen and got back to the living room, where she sat down.

“This is a problem…” Sarey took the book in front of her and watched it with a piercing gaze. This was precisely what was the second strangest thing about everything that occurred.

“Where can I even begin?” She went through the motions of recalling everything she knew and done since discovering it under Allan.

“I can say that this book was always close to him. I forgot about it ever since I tried to read it. Is it something specific? How to summon him?”
Sarey felt lost.

“What about that glow? I did not ask about it. What changed before that? I found it below a bloodied blanket. Hmmm? Blood? Is it about blood? It was under his bloodied body when we found him, and there was that blanket. Right!” Sarey enthusiastically cheered.

She quickly checked for any of Allan’s wounds, but unfortunately, his body had no visible injuries. Even the terrifying eye wounds were now healing up. They were now an empty socket with no eyeballs. Sarey rather kept them under the bandages, since it still looked terrible.

“Well then. Excuse me, boy. It is for your own good.” Sarey muttered as she took out a small knife and made a minor cut over his finger. Drops of red liquid slowly fell to the book she prepared.

After a few moments, nothing changed at all. A small stain of blood ended on the brown leather cover.

“Is it not right? It was not blood? Then what else it could be?” Sarey was surprised that her deduction was wrong. It made some sense to her.

“Is it the insides that are needed to be bloodied? 36 said it was him who he was here for. What else? This boy did not summon him by himself…” She dropped the book in frustration at the table. Sarey did not forget to treat the little cut on Allan’s finger.

“Is it about that time limit 36 talked about? Maybe I should have not rushed like that.”

Suddenly, the wind blew through the book as it was opened. Light shot into the ceiling and a vortex, like the previous night, appeared once more within this room.