Marcus was mad. Pure hatred seethed through his body as he imagined several ways in which he'd make the Anguis suffer.
He set out from home in all black clothing, wearing a thin layer of armour underneath his clothes. The armour was one of his best works, ranking in at Silver II, which was an extremely impressive achievement for someone of his origins at his age. The armour would probably shatter very quickly if he came into contact with any of the Anguis powerhouses, but it comforted him to wear it and he needed all the help he could get.
His first target was the man who came into the shop earlier that day, who went by the name Salvius Pontius. The name was unique, and he already knew the man was affiliated with the man called Master Pontius, the third seat of the Anguis Family.
He didn't have a skill book yet, so he knew he couldn't do much on the fronts of combat, but if he could manage to poison the man with something to weaken his natural defences, killing him could be possible.
Marcus made his way to an alley on the main road, and leaned on the wall, sliding on a red hat before quietly muttering "Foxy sent me". This was the password to enter the market, however, it was actually a façade. The only way to get in was to lean on the wall whilst wearing a red hat.
Many tried to sneak into the market, guess the password, or even use skills to spy on the conversations and several other ridiculous ideas, but nobody had guessed it was due to the hat. The object and its colour that had to be worn depended on the day and the year, with the year cycling through a 5-year cycle and the date cycling through a 14-day rotation. Marcus had been invited to the market through his father, who he was never actually told the authority of, and often sent over weapons to be sold by the vendors representing him, in exchange for a minor tax.
Upon entering, he scanned for the nearest market coordinator and requested to see the poison aisle. He had brought most of his life savings and was prepared to spend a good chunk of it if he could find his sister. He knew trying to save her today would be unrealistic, but if he could find out where she was being held, that would be a step in the right direction.
Also, and probably more importantly, he just wanted to vent his anger on the one who did this to him.
The coordinator guided him to the poison stall, leaving him in the care of an old woman with silver hair and a wooden walking stick with runes engraved in it. She had a mysterious aura and seemed a lot stronger and wiser than she let on.
He couldn't see how much Vis she had in her but seeing how low ranked he was, that didn't mean much. Through his trade, he had acquired a small fortune of monster cores, which can be absorbed for Vis energy. Using these cores, he reached the rank of Silver I, meaning she had to be at least a Gold I. This would be very impressive for a regular shop vendor, however for someone selling expensive poisons on the black market, she could be anywhere from Gold I to Platinum III, the highest known rank you can achieve.
With this in mind, Marcus was careful not to offend or get on the bad side of anyone else, as he already had enough enemies as it was.]
"Ma'am, I'd like the mot weakening poison you have that could dispose of someone at roughly the Gold I rank"
"Ah, so you're looking for the Terra Cobra's Venom. I can sell it to you at the affordable price of 8 gold pieces".
"..."
'8 gold?!?!? That's ridiculous! I could live comfortably for nearly a year on that money! Oh, the simplicity of the rich.'
Marcus swore to himself then that he would become a millionaire in his lifetime, or die trying.
"I'll do it for 4 gold," I replied, hoping to cut down the price
"You think this is a charity? 7 gold."
"That's crazy! I'll do it for 5 gold, last offer."
"You're crazy! Final offer of 6 gold."
"5 gold 50 silver and I'll take it."
"Fine, you stingy bat!" she refuted, holding back what seemed to be laughter.
Begrudgingly, I handed over the money, taking 3 flasks if the Venom. I didn't have to worry about fake products, as the market was protected by a higher authority and every purchase was written down and signed by both parties to that it could be referred back to later.
Now that I had the poison, I would have to track down Salvius Pontius and dispose of him.
Holding my newfound possessions, I scurried over to the exit, formulating plans in my head as to how I was going to interrogate Salvius.
Back at the stand where Marcus had bought the poison, the old woman was packing up her items, throwing them into a space ring worth several hundred thousand gold pieces. She hummed to herself softly, before taking out a piece of glass and holding it up to her face to see her reflection. She clicked her fingers, and her appearance changed, her aged face being replaced with one of beauty. She still had her silver hair, but rather than seeming aged, it seemed to glow with vigour, and if any fighter were to see her, they would bow down in submission and beg to become her student. The Vis in the air seemed to wrap itself around her, embracing and supporting her rather than resisting her like it would to a regular person.
She was what specialists called a "Blessed One", a person who was chosen and loved by the Vis in the air. These people were rare, with there only being 6 in history, and they were superpowers protected and endorsed by the Kingdom they came from, as their presence could single-handedly changed the outcome of wars. They rose above the regular means of power, and could easily fight people well above their rank.
A young girl dressed in imperial maid robes ran around the corner, arriving in the poison aisle, looking for someone. People politely moved out of her way, as they had no intentions of angering the Imperial Family of the Gridian Kingdom.
Whilst the city they were in was in the Halon Empire, the Gridian Kingdom had close ties to the Halon Empire and carried a lot of authority in these areas. Also, they sold many things quite cheaply to the Halon Empire's people, doing things like Annual grain sales and importing furs from their Northern Kingdom.
"Lady Sophus, where did you go? You can't keep leaving me like that or I'll die young from the stress," exclaimed the girl who had just arrived.
Lady Sophus's age was a mystery, but she had been present since the creation of the Kingdom, so it was guessed to be in the high 200s. Nobody dared to call her old, however, as she had a terrible temper when it came to her age and appearance.
"Well, it's not my fault you couldn't keep up, Sophie. Come along now, I have done what I came here to do," she replied, lightly chuckling.
The two had a very close relationship, with Sophie basically being the adopted daughter of Lady Sophus. She had been picked up from the streets when she was young as the nature of her Vis was pure and compatible with Lady Sophus.
Although she might appear weak, she was a figure that could challenge countless superpowers and was a prized asset to the Gridian Kingdom.
The pair walked towards the crowd, blending in with the people browsing the market and haggling with the vendors. Although some of the things there could be considered treasures, they were nothing special to the two, so they walked past without sparing even a glance.
They entered an alleyway, then disappeared, transported away through a reflective white portal.
Now that Marcus had the poison, he only needed to find the man in question. A good start would be to go the Anguis Base in Savaria, as that's where most Anguis Family members and representatives lived.
It's also next to the Anguis Family store where the Family Alchemists sold their own poisons, albeit a lot weaker than ones required to paralyse and slowly kill Salvius.
Marcus strolled towards the base, preparing himself for what he was going to do. He had never liked to fight people pointlessly and considered himself quite a caring person, but today he'd have to change. His sister was the last person he had since his parents died in their travels, so there was no way he'd let anyone take her away from him. And if they harmed her in any way?
He'd have his revenge, even if he died in the process.