The sizzling sound of bull meat grilling on a hot stone was incredibly loud.
The smell of melting fat mixed with black pepper spices instantly made Kanos's stomach rumble brutally. The tavern waiter placed two giant wooden plates on their table.
Kanos grabbed a silver knife and fork. He cut the meat into thick slices and shoved it into his mouth.
It tasted like eating food straight from heaven. Kanos almost shed a tear from how good it was.
This was a worthy payoff for dozens of days chewing on incredibly tough raw hyena meat. The taste of spices and hot meat juice truly restored his sanity as a human.
Across from him, Belida had already finished his third portion. The giant knight chugged wheat beer from a jumbo sized wooden mug until not a single drop was left.
They were currently in the private dining room of the Golden Horn Inn. It was the most luxurious inn in the upper district of Marrath.
Renting a VVIP room here cost two pure gold coins a night. An insane price for normal citizens. But to Kanos who just pocketed a hundred and fifty gold coins, that much money felt like pocket change.
"Eat slowly, Illustrator," Belida said casually. The knight slammed his beer mug down with a soft thud. "You could choke swallowing meat that big without chewing."
Kanos ignored the warning. He finished the rest of the meat on his plate, then leaned back into the soft velvet chair.
Full. So full he felt like he was going to pass out.
An hour later, Kanos was soaking inside a wooden bathtub in his luxurious room.
The bathwater was scalding hot and mixed with stamina recovery herbs. The moment Kanos stepped into the tub, the clear water instantly turned dark brown in the first five minutes.
Kanos scrubbed his skin with a rough brush. All the dirt, crusts of dried blood, and leftover monster poison slowly washed off his body.
He stared at his reflection on the bathwater surface. His face looked much sharper. His jaw was hardened. His blue eyes no longer radiated the panic of a freelance painter chasing deadlines.
That gaze now looked incredibly cold and full of calculation.
Kanos lifted his right hand out of the water. Garrick's stab wound still left a really ugly scar. The serrated blade pattern bulged right in the middle of his palm. His finger muscles were still a bit stiff.
But Kanos didn't care. As long as his left hand could still pull a line, he would be just fine.
Done bathing, Kanos put on his new clothes. He threw away his tattered t-shirt and cargo pants for good.
Kanos was now wearing a very comfortable black linen shirt, a light leather vest, and thick fabric pants. He also bought a pair of black deerskin gloves. The gloves fit perfectly, covering the scar on his hand without restricting his finger movements at all.
Kanos stepped out of the room. Belida was apparently already snoring loudly in the next room. The giant knight really needed to sleep all day to recover his strength.
Kanos let his partner rest. He decided to leave the inn alone. There was something important he had to take care of.
The streets of Marrath's upper district were much neater and cleaner than the lower area. The buildings were made of white bricks. The people walking by wore silk robes and expensive jewelry.
Kanos walked casually down a row of specialty shops for alchemists and mages.
His first target was an ancient magic bookstore. Kanos stepped inside the shop that smelled like rotting paper.
He wasn't looking for spellbooks. He was looking for anatomy books.
Kanos spent five gold coins to buy out three of the most complete Yomalvara monster encyclopedias. The thick books contained illustrations of bone structures, muscle layouts, and nerve points of thousands of high tier monsters.
These books were his main ammo. Kanos's Shadow Puppeteer ability required him to draw monster skeletons out of smoke. The more he understood his monster's true anatomy, the stronger and more accurate the shadow pets he could create.
His second target was a rare materials shop.
Kanos entered a shop guarded by a long eared elf merchant. Without wasting any breath, Kanos slapped ten gold coins onto the glass table.
"I need mid tier earth dragon blood," Kanos said, getting straight to the point. "And pure mana crystal powder, plus spirit tree root extract. Give me the highest quality."
The elf merchant instantly smiled wide seeing the gold on the table. Kanos's order was prepared in a matter of minutes.
Kanos brought all his groceries back to the inn room.
He sat cross legged on the warm floor of his room. Five empty glass bottles were scattered around him. Kanos started mixing his weapons.
He mixed the sharp smelling earth dragon blood with the pure mana crystal powder. He dripped the spirit tree root extract in to bind the liquid. Finally, he crushed the rest of the gargoyle bat core and sprinkled its solid smoke into the mixture.
The liquid inside the glass bottles slowly changed color. From maroon to pitch black with a metallic shine.
Kanos dipped his left index fingertip into the new ink bottle. It felt cold and pulsed softly.
Kanos tried pulling one short line in the empty air. Slash.
A jet black steel needle was instantly created in the air, floating silently in front of Kanos's face. The needle was incredibly dense, sharp, and radiated a strong mana pressure.
Kanos smiled in satisfaction. Perfect.
He didn't feel nauseous at all. His blood wasn't boiling. This new ink mixture completely cut out the physical sacrifice cost. He could now create solid weapons without endangering his own life.
In the afternoon, Kanos went down to the coffee shop on the bottom floor of the inn. He needed a wider space to read his new monster encyclopedias.
The shop was pretty crowded with high tier adventurers and a few rich merchants. Kanos ordered a cup of bitter black coffee and sat at a quiet corner table.
Kanos flipped the pages of his book seriously. His eyes recorded the skeletal structure of a giant Minotaur. His artist brain automatically dissected the rib length proportions and the shoulder joint placements of the creature.
While Kanos was focused on memorizing the images, his ears caught an interesting chat from the next table.
There were three silver armored adventurers whispering seriously while holding their beer mugs.
"Did you hear the gossip from the gate guards this morning?" asked the buzz cut adventurer.
"About the two guys who came out of the hole?" his friend chimed in. "Yeah. They say one of them brought a monster made of pitch black smoke. The gate guards almost pissed their pants they were so scared."
Kanos stopped his hand from flipping the page. He listened in silence.
"It is not just the monster that is crazy," the third adventurer added in a lower voice. "The guy who brought it is still young. One of his hands is crippled. And he was walking with a gray haired giant knight."
The buzz cut adventurer tapped the table softly. "That has to be Belida! The exiled knight from the western kingdom. The bounty for his head is insanely high."
"We better not get involved in that," his friend warned. "People from the merchant guild said the crippled kid brought a full sack of pure iron ores from the sixth floor. And the rumors have already reached the city elites."
Kanos closed his book slowly. The coffee in his cup had gone cold.
News spread way too fast in this city. Kanos was fully aware that showing off Garrick's loot to the one eyed old man this morning would definitely draw attention. He actually did it on purpose to see how the city would react.
And the reaction turned out to be incredibly aggressive. In a world tightly controlled by the system and guilds, an anomaly power like his was clearly going to be a huge trouble magnet.
Kanos stood up from his chair. He tucked the thick anatomy book into his cargo pocket. He had to wake Belida up right now. Their leisure time was up.
The moment Kanos stepped out of the coffee shop and entered the rather quiet cobblestone alley leading to the inn's side door, his footsteps stopped.
The air inside the alley suddenly felt different. Heavier.
Someone was walking behind him. The person's footsteps were almost completely silent, as if blending with the shadows of the buildings in the late afternoon.
Kanos didn't look back. His left hand slipped into his pocket calmly, touching the tip of his new ink bottle.
Someone suddenly stepped out of a narrow alleyway in front of him, blocking Kanos's path.
The figure was wrapped in a dull gray cloak that blended perfectly with the color of the city's stone walls. Their head was covered by a hood.
"Rare monster anatomy books, earth dragon blood, and high tier parchment," the figure spoke. The voice was raspy, economical with words, and sounded incredibly cold. "Not the usual shopping list bought by a beggar from the lower floors."
The figure lowered their hood.
Revealing a young woman with messy short hair. There was a long scar at the corner of her left lip. The woman's gaze was completely dead. Dark and empty. Just like a professional killer who had long lost whatever humanity she had left.
Kanos's instincts instantly screamed. The person in front of him was dangerous. Extremely lethal.
"I am Papuyu," the woman said quietly. Her hands rested casually on the hilts of the twin daggers at her waist. "You are the guy who brought the shadow monster this morning."
Papuyu tilted her head slightly.
"The royal Sensor Bureau is willing to pay a high price for your head, anomaly," Papuyu continued in a completely flat tone. "And I happen to need money."
Kanos turned his body fully. He stared at the hitman with an equally stiff expression. The afternoon wind blew softly against Kanos's black clothes.
The first battle on the city surface finally began.