Marked Ones: Advent of the Demon Prince

"Next!" the line to get into the city gates was massively long and they had been waiting for about four hours despite showing up before first light. Normally Adventurer's Guild passes would let someone into the city and bypass the lines, however, Lelvern was different in that respect.

The guards were extremely meticulous regarding the inspections and even temporarily confiscated the storage rings to check their contents. Since part of the magic was for the wearer to instantly know what was inside the ring, they only had to put it on to examine the contents.

One guard who was chosen to examine Rena and the party's things could not hide the minor look of disgust when he saw the amount of Quillow Beast meat they possessed. Guards and the military were well aware of the flavorless food since it was used to extend meat supplies for making what they had last longer. It was a cost saving method that was necessary, but unpopular.

"Pass."

They were quickly waved through having nothing on them that was banned from the city. In the past, Adventurers could just slied through, but merchants who served the black market were using them to smuggle illicit materials, potions, and substances through the checks. It was stupid to assume that this stopped the flow of these goods, but it at least closed one avenue of possibility.

Once inside the city, Rena was immediately overwhelmed by the sights. The streets were crowded with people despite being fairly early in the morning. It wasn't even noon yet.

Almost all of the buildings were a mix of stone, brick, and wood which was a massive difference to Pelith where most buildings were primarily made of wood, save for the Adventurer's Guild Hall and a few other buildings around town.

Each of the buildings were squeezed together so tightly that the gaps between them almost couldn't be walked through in some cases. There were even buildings that seemed to have multiple residences inside of them that dwarfed the size of her father's manor.

Since they were near the gate, there were also a number of inns and with that, it also meant lots of food. A multitude of smells permeated the air from the different kitchens preparing their menus for the inevitable lunch rush in a few hours. A lot of the stalls by the entrance were also selling different kinds of street food that she had never seen before.

One was a strange sausage that was coated in a weird looking batter before being dunked in a pot of boiling oil. There were also other stalls serving boiled corn on a stick that was coated in a white-colored sauce and then sprinkled with a red spice and some crumbly looking cheese. All in all, it smelled like heaven had descended.

Rena glanced at her party which had started to leave her behind because she was getting distracted by all the different kinds of food. They only had a small breakfast so it was hard to not feel hungry from all the food on display.

"Rena, come along, you can… spend some time with Lucius after we stop at the guild, that way you two know where it is. The guild has rooms we can rent for much cheaper than the inns nearby, so we will also be staying there while in town." Jen let out a small giggle at the 'spend some time' part, which made Rena blush a little.

Lucius seemed to have a clueless look on his face at what was happening, which only served to add a level of annoyance to what she was feeling.

While traveling to the Guild Hall, they had to dodge hundreds and hundreds of people who were doing things from transporting goods to buying groceries, to simply taking in the sights and sounds the city had to offer. Thankfully the roads were nearly twice as wide as those in Pelith, which they had to be to accommodate the population of residents and visitors.

It took them about twenty minutes or so to get to the Guild Hall, which was closer to the center of town and was surrounded by a bunch of other important buildings. There was also a building for the Merchant's Guild, several different courier companies, the city guard headquarters, and different buildings for the city leadership.

The Adventurer's Guild building here was easily five times the size of the one she was familiar with and housed nearly ten times the amount of adventurers. Unlike Pelith, she saw people of all races in this guild, including several beastmen.

There were some with lizard tails, tiger ears and tails, one that looked like a fox, and even one that had ears and a tail that resembled a black and white bear from a large country to the east she had read about.

Just like the one they knew, the entire first floor was an open concept with several pillars supporting the second floor. There was a reception desk that easily accommodated a few dozen different receptionists.

Over in one corner there was also a massive harvesting area and in the opposite corner was where the quest boards were. This guild had a different set of boards that separated the quests based on rank. There were stairs on either side of the reception desk that led up to the second, third, and fourth floors.

"Well, here we are. We will turn in the quest items and sell off the other goods to the harvesters over there. We will get the receipts for the exchange and split up the funds when you guys get back."

"Got it. Thank's Jen. Rena, let's go." Lucius stated quickly.

Rena looked down as the boy quickly grabbed her hand and led her out of the building and back into the chaotic streets. She could tell he was nervous about the crowds, but he seemed to be playing it tough for her sake.

"Where are we going?"

"Shopping?"

"Oh, okay." Was all she could respond with.

He brought her to a part of town that seemed to be filled with stalls for weapons, armor, and various tools. Suddenly Rena realized what they were doing; they were finding him a new weapon. Of course! He broke his!

She quickly took the lead from him. "I have a nose for these things, let me look for the store with the best stuff!"

Lucius simply smiled at her and nodded, but kept looking around at the different stalls and stores. Rena was looking as well, but found herself slightly distracted by the hand that was still intertwined with hers. She told him it was to make sure they did not get separated in the crowd so he would not pull away.

It was not untrue, but it also wasn't the only reason she wanted to keep his hand in hers.

Rena kept her ear out for the different conversations people had and spoke to a handful of warriors and residents as they popped in and around the different smithies and stalls. It took a few hours, but she eventually picked up on exactly the kind of lead she was looking for. As someone who frequented Karl's shop back home, she wanted to find someplace similar, a diamond in the rough, so to speak.

They walked down a less populated street than the main one they had been on. It was still extremely full of people, but it was much less crowded than before. A little way down the road she saw the shop she had heard about. It was a shop called 'Ironvein' though the sign had the 'ei' scratched out and above them was an 'ai' so it now read, 'Ironvain'.

"This is it! Let's go!" She pulled Lucius into the doorway.

The owner was a woman named Molly and her shop was affectionately renamed Ironvain by the locals because they thought she viewed her work as too important than the customers. Essentially…she was the smith version of Karl, which was exactly what she wanted.

"Who're you?" A deep voice called out from behind the counter. The sounds of hammering had stopped when they entered the shop and the woman manning the forge had stepped up to the counter to see who it was that had come to bother her.

"Hi, I'm Rena, and this is Lucius. We are here looking for a weapon. Doesn't need to be enchanted, but it does need to be…unique. I heard this was the best place to find something like that."

"Pft! Right, you probably heard this was the worst shop in town, get lost you little liar, flattery doesn't loosen my pockets."

Rena smirked at her. "You're right. I heard you are a pain in the ass that likes to work with customers on a whim. That tells me, you are the best around here. I'm not going till you sell me that."

The woman, who Rena had heard was named Molly, turned around and followed where her finger was pointing. The moment Molly's eyes landed on the dark-gray blade of a machete that was hanging off the wall she smiled.

"Now why would you want a farmer's tool. You need to cut down some brush?"

"No." Rena answered. "My friend uses the Forsaken Arts and he broke his last sword when using his Thunder magic."

"Rena! Why are you telling her about my abilities?!" Lucius shouted.

"Honesty is the best policy, girl. Alright, you can buy stuff. Since you are with her, you can too kid." Molly placed the machete on the counter and wiped it down to remove some of the dust that had settled. She looked it over for a moment before heading back to her forge and sharpening it up on the grindstone.

While she was doing that, Lucius stepped away from Rena and began to look at the other items in the shop. Rena watched Molly's work closely. She could tell the woman was a bit of a perfectionist, wetting the stone, cleaning the blade, sharpening it, and repeating it for several minutes before finishing the process. Molly brought the weapon over and held out her hand, waiting for the money.

"Twelve-hundred gold."

"That's a bit much for a farmer's tool. I could buy twelve potions in of the Intermediate Rank for that. Eight hundred."

"Fine. Are you buying your things together?" Molly directed the question at Lucius who was eyeing something in a display case. His body was in the way so Rena could not really see it.

"No, separate." Lucius said.

"Well what you want over there will be…"

"Deal. I see the tag." He interrupted.

"How much was it?" Rena asked.

Neither of them answered her question. Molly simply handed Rena the weapon, went over to Lucius, who dropped a rather large sack of gold into her hand. Molly turned her back and counted out the money so Rena could not see how much it was. She appeared satisfied with the number, so she handed Lucius whatever was in the case.

After he received it he walked over to Rena and asked her to turn around and close her eyes. She did as he instructed and felt his hands gently slide around her neck and clasp something around it. He then moved around a little more and finally said she could open them.

In front of her was a small mirror. In it she saw a beautiful young woman with Crimson hair, green eyes and a gorgeous black, chain choker with a pendent hanging from it in the shape of a cat. She couldn't help but giggle at the implication.

"A cat from a cat, how cute!" She smiled.

"Happy Birthday, Rena." Lucius said while returning her smile.