"Information, eh?" Rosr stroked his beard, the more he spoke to this strange kid, the more he liked him, he was quickly understanding that nothing came free here.
"Yes. I want to learn some Mana Techniques, but I don't want to join a clan or guild."
Rosr sighed and shook his head at David.
"Kid, the only place you can do that is Atlantis. And no offense, you're far too weak to make it there in one piece."
"And neither do you have the wealth to buy out Mana Techniques, otherwise there'd be no way you would be selling me beat materials."
The dwarf grumbled at David, just as he had thought the kid had half a brain, he had to go and say some foolish nonsense.
"No. There has to be a way." David was persistent, from the way the dwarf had paused in the middle of his sentence, he could tell that he wasn't telling him everything.
"Aren't there any ruins nearby?"
Everyone knew about ruins, they were what allowed one to bypass the knowledge gap that lay between ordinary people and the large groups that held most of the power after the convergence.
"Kid, you should know that within a few weeks of a ruin being discovered, anyone who's someone will send their own forces out to stake a claim."
"Those with power like to keep it."
The dwarf began to bundle up David's purchases, and handed them to him, but David refused to take them from him.
"I'm sure there's somewhere that they haven't heard about yet." David was stubborn, after how Rosr talked about Coppervein, he could tell he wasn't an ordinary blacksmith.
"Damn kid, you're a suicidal one aren't you."
Anyone who tried to get ahead of the big powers to a ruin was considered foolish, because if even a whisper about them finding anything useful got out, it would mean they would be hunted forever.
Thrusting the equipment into David's arms, Rosr walked back to his desk, he dug in the pile of documents on his desk, pulling out a rolled up piece of parchment.
"Here. I only got word about this one three days ago, so you should have at least a week."
Rosr slapped the parchment on top of David's equipment.
"And here, take it as a bribe to not get yourself killed."
There was a soft jangling sound as the dwarf tossed a bag of coins on top of the pile in David's arms.
"Damnn Nina, she never sends anyone normal my way. Sure, they all bring in great materials, but no one with half a brain."
Grumbling and muttering under his breath, Rosr marched back to the forge.
-----
"Getting an early start?" The muscled hobgoblin guard asked David as he approached the north gate of Light Harbor.
The first touches of sunlight were glimmering on the horizon, and David new cloak blended into the shadowy twilight.
David was surprised that the guard had noticed David at all, his new boots meant that he didn't even make the slightest whisper as he walked.
'I really should learn to hide my mana.' David thought, looking at the hobgoblins curious eyes.
"Best of luck on your travels." The hobgoblin continued, as he leaned forward on his spear, his bright green skin contrasting against his white uniform.
From the heavy pack on David's pack, and the extra water he was carrying, it was clear that he was setting out on an multi day expedition.
David tried to ignore the hobgoblin, he had the hood of his cloak pulled down low over his face, and he tried act as though he hadn't heard him.
"Hey! Wake up! You'll get yourself killed heading out half asleep!" Unfortunately for David, the hobgoblin took his job very seriously, not only did he worry about those entering the city, he cared deeply about the safety of those who were leaving.
"Huh! Right, thanks!" David pretended he had been roused awake, and stumbled forward, hurrying past he guard and out into the wilderness.
"Won't be seeing that fellow again." The hobgoblin shook his head, a sad expression on his face, he had seen far too many foolish people head out on a solo expedition, never to be seen again.
David kept his hurried pace going, eager to put some distance between him and Lightharbor.
Nina had heard about his plans from Rosr, and thanks to her his preparations had only taken a day. She'd drawn him a handy map for all the places he should visit.
"Leave as early as possible, people leaving the city will sometimes target you on a whim, so the fewer people around the better." She had said to him.
"I know all about that." Had been David's response, he'd learned the hard way about how people were targeted.
The region to the north of Lightharbor was initially the same type of desert landscape which would gradually transition to a more hilly region.
David followed the road north for the first few hours, until Lightharbor had completely disappeared behind him.
But David wasn't heading straight north.
It was only then that he turned towards his real destination, and stepped off the road.
'Show me the map.'
David called out to the system. As a precaution, David had burned the piece of parchment that Rosr had given him as soon as he had first seen it.
Thankfully, the system was more than capable of recording its every detail, from the slight smudges on it to a torn edge.
The map showed a location to the north east of Light harbor, which would lead David along the coast, eventually bringing him to southern tip of the coastal jungles that grew in the more moist climate.
Some regions of the map were shaded red, indicating the areas were the more territorial Magical Beasts lived.
David thought for a while, if he avoided every single one of the shaded regions, it would increase the time of his journey to the ruins by a whole day.
'That's a whole day I could use for exploring.'
He thought to himself. Right now, each bit of time was vital, the more time he had to delve the ruins on his own, the more likely he was to get in and out safely.
'Hmmm, if I skirt the edges, I could cut the time down and still be safe.' David traced a line in the air, sliding along the borders of the danger zones.
'System, find me the shortest route that only passes through the edges of Magical Beast territory. '
[One moment user.]
There was a soft ding, and then a highlighted route appeared on the map.
[This route will take you to your destination while only touching the edges of the designated danger zones.]
[User, please be advised that you will be putting yourself at risk.]
David just chuckled at the system's warning, after everything, he didn't trust it. To him, it seemed that it would be better to do the opposite of what it said.
"What's the worst that could happen?" David smiled, and headed out into the wilderness, walking right into the first of the danger zones.