The Villain's Sword Is Sharp

Isaac breathed an internal sigh of relief when he realised Johan didn't suspect him. He made a cursory comment,

"I wish you good luck. If you need help with anything – or if you find whoever set that talisman – you know where to find me."

Johan gave a shallow nod. Then he got up and left without another word. It was evident he was still displeased with Isaac, but not nearly as much as before.

Isaac watched Johan leave, then got up and finished making breakfast.

After he'd eaten, Isaac pulled one of the bags out from under his bed. He grabbed 2 potions and put them into his coat pockets. Then he grabbed some ingredients and lined his other pockets with them. Finally, he dug up the box under his floorboards and took the piece of paper signed by Johan.

With everything ready, Isaac left his house and walked towards the border with the Rank 2 district. He found his hole under the wall and passed through. Then he walked across the district with his hood pulled up and his face concealed.

Soon he reached the wall around the Rank 3 district. He went under this one as well, taking care not to crush his potions as he squeezed through the small tunnel.

When he got out, he dusted himself down and put the paving slab back in place. Then he made his way towards the Friberg residence, taking a secluded, roundabout route.

Isaac recognised the building's opulent façade the moment he saw it. He walked up to the building and noticed it was guarded by the same two armoured figures. He offered them a basic greeting, showed them the same old slip of paper, and said he'd received a new letter from Johan.

The guards had received instructions from their mistress to let this man in if he came again. They recognised Isaac and allowed him to pass.

Isaac thanked them again, then knocked on the residence's door.

"Come in."

From her unsurprised tone, it seemed that Lara had been expecting him.

Isaac gently twisted the handle to the door and stepped inside. He saw Lara reclining in her armchair again. This time she was sipping tea instead of doing a puzzle.

Isaac closed the door behind him and sat down opposite her. She pointed to the teapot sat on a tray on the side table,

"You can have a cup if you want – though it might be slightly cold."

Isaac shook his head,

"I assume you know why I'm here."

"Yes, the stories about Johan have already reached me. You did a good job. Indeed, I must admit that you surpassed my expectations. I didn't expect you to act so quickly and efficiently."

"So then, how should we proceed from here? I've already shown I'm not in league with Johan."

"Yes, I realise that. Your actions have damaged his reputation too badly for this be a plot between the two of you. You've also proved yourself to be quite capable. If you continue sabotaging Johan in this manner, it won't be long before I'm officially appointed as the family successor."

Lara paused, took a sip of her tea, and thought for a moment,

"I could offer you support in the form of resources, but people would wonder where you were getting them from. More specifically, Johan might start to become suspicious. If it's resources you want, I can only give you a slow and steady supply that will go under the radar."

"More than resources, I'd like information."

"Oh?"

"Documents about the nature of Qi, the theory behind awakenings, or how the sect increases talent. I'd like you to pay me with information about those 3 topics. Obviously, it has to be information that you can't find in the normal sect libraries."

Lara took another sip of her tea and put the now-empty cup down. She'd done some research on Johan's 'team leader' and looked into who Isaac was. Just like everybody else, she heard that Isaac was a 2nd class talent (Isaac wasn't trying to hide his true talent, but he'd never mentioned it to anybody other than Eva) and that he was skilled with the sword.

As a second class talent who did well in the trials and had a lot of temp points, he could get an upgrade to 1st class just by saving up for a year or so. If he was being rewarded by her, that time would reduce even more. She couldn't fathom why he wanted information about awakenings or cultivation talent. if you could just pay the sect to raise your talent, why bother studying the subject?

Although she couldn't deduce the reason for Isaac's request, she had no problem agreeing with it,

"Fine. If that's what you want, I think it suits both of us. I said I'd pay you according to your performance on this job, so is there a specific type of information you'd like for your reward?"

Isaac pulled a potion out of his pocket,

"Right now, I need a channel to sell potions and ingredients. The price has to be at least market price and the goods should be sold anonymously; they can't be traced back to me."

"I can do that. What volume of goods are you looking to sell?"

"2 large sacks of them. I also have some ingredients, but not nearly as many."

Isaac pulled a handful of pale grey moss from a different pocket. Lara inspected it closely. After a few moments she exclaimed,

"Isn't this Phantasmal Lichen?! Are all of the ingredients as good as this?"

Isaac gave a light nod,

"Most of them. Can you sell them or not?"

"I'll find some methods to distribute the potions but I'll buy the ingredients myself. How will you transport them?"

'There must be an alchemist in her faction that she's trying to nurture.'

Isaac quickly inferred why Abbie wanted ingredients but not potions. He quickly answered her question,

"The tournament's in just over 3 weeks; it's the only time when Rank 1s can easily enter the Rank 3 district. I'll just bring the bags with me when I enter and find a place to drop them off for you. Then you can pay me the next time you see me."

"Alright. Oh, and if you could..."

Lara wrote down a final request for Isaac – it would've been quite serious if anybody heard it, even her own guards, so she took an extra precaution in case they were listening without her permission. Isaac glanced at the paper and nodded without a second thought.

A thin smile spread across Lara's face,

"Good, good. I'll pay you well when it's done..."

Then she cast the paper into her crackling fireplace. It turned to ashes within seconds, incinerated by the magical blue flame.

Isaac also stood up. He exchanged pleasantries with Lara, then left.

Like Isaac said to Lara, the tournament was less than a month away. However, for Isaac, it might as well have started. As the saying went, 'Those who fail to prepare are preparing to fail'. The one who prepared best for the tournament would be the one who was most likely to win it.

Isaac's preparation started now.

He wasted no time in getting home. Then he took out his 2 large sacks of potions and put the ingredients and potions he'd brought to show Lara inside. Next, he pulled up his floorboard and took the potions hidden there as well. He also grabbed the 18 reward points and 12 iron pieces stashed there.

He put the floorboard back in place and walked towards the Cultivation Pagoda.

To be honest, he looked like quite an enticing target with his 2 sacks which were obviously full of loot. However, Isaac's reputation preceded him by now. All the hard work he'd done in torturing the various groups was finally paying off: nobody tried to follow or rob him since they knew the consequences of doing so.

Isaac lugged his 2 bags to the pagoda and paid to rent a room for 2 weeks. The woman in charge thanked Isaac for his patronage and handed him a key. Her fingers were long and rough, like a farmer's.

After receiving the key, Isaac hauled his bags up the stairs to his room on the third floor. He put them down as he unlocked the door, then shifted them inside.

He placed the bags in the corner of the room, and left one of his reward point tokens with them. He brought the last 14 with him as he left the room, locking the door behind him, and headed off towards the market.

As usual, he bought a large batch of food with a couple of iron pieces. He also exchanged the 14 reward points for Basic Qi Pills. It was time to enter seclusion again.