3 Chapter 2

'Huh, that was a good draw if I may say so. I actually was able to roulette the correct weapon for this large monster, what a surprise,' Vice thought to himself, thinking back to all the times he'd been unfortunate enough to roll the wrong weapon for the situation at hand. For instance, he'd once been fighting a very sturdy Mountain Bear which had tough fur and a thick exterior which wasn't easily pierced, and instead of getting a greatsword he rolled for a rapier, which was all but useless for that battle.

Just as the gigantic snake, about the size of cow, had been rushing out of the cave, Vice knew that he'd need to prepare for a battle. Without hesitation he let the mana in his body surge forth to cast his spell 'Chaotic Roulette', which gave him a random weapon imbued with chaos magic particles. The arcana in the surroundings became much thicker as the two opponents were stood still, sizing each other up. The snake looked at Vice with its green eyes, getting ready to strike.

���I should be just outside its striking range,' he thought to himself. Vice then carefully took a tiny steps back, until he was in between two big trees.

The snake's patience had run thin, and it jumped towards Vice, opening its jaws wide. Its large fangs were revealed, and a venomous green liquid dropped out of the holes of the two fangs.

CRASH

The snake followed Vice carefully, its eyes ignoring any of the terrain, to its own detriment. Just as it was lunging for Vice, he moved behind a thick brown tree. The snake smashed into the tree, which stood still as if unfazed by the attack. Shards of bark were flung into the snake's face and eyes, momentarily blinding it.

Vice didn't need more time than he'd just been given. With a loud huff and heave, he raised the heavy greatsword into the air, despite his slender frame, and dropping it onto the snake's head like a crashing meteor. Blood splattered out from the wound and created a fountain of rain with the decapitated head as it's source. All of the grass that was touched by the blood wilted immediately, whilst Vice seemed unaffected by this.

"Well that snake was huge but so weak, size isn't everything it seems," Vice mumbled. He then went to work on the corpse, removing each of its scales and placing it into his pouch, and then putting the remaining snake body into his pouch as well. A bright green stone the size of a finger was currently sat in the boy's hands, a weak green light was emitted from it.

'I guess it's better than nothing, but the arcana in this core is too weak. I'll just sell it instead,' he thought. By now the sun had already started to set, and darkness was taking over. The nocturnal birds were flying about, seeking their prey, be it mice, worms or rabbits.

A much gentler breeze than during the day accompanied Vice during his walk back to Restok. If there was one thing he truly enjoyed, then it was staring at the moon. Being bathed by its light left him feeling rejuvenated, and calmness always took over at night for Vice. In the dark he felt much more appreciated and loved than anywhere else.

After a while he finally reached the walls of Restok. The large stone walls that surrounded the whole city made it seem like a fortress from the outside, however there was a lot of illegal and criminal activity that went on in certain parts of the city. Restok housed many different guilds, including the Adventurers Guild, Magicians Guild and of course the Treasure Hunters Guild which was Vice's destination.

A large building stood inconspicuously beside two other buildings which were just as large, however, its neighbors had a much more extravagant architecture. The Adventurers Guild had been carved with a golden sword and shield which hung from the top of the three story building, whilst the Magicians Guild had a statue of a woman holding a wand placed in front. The Treasure Hunter's Guild was a simple building, there was absolutely nothing unique about it, despite it having an income comparable to that of the other two guilds.

Unlike the other two guilds, however, the Treasure Hunters Guild was open 24/7, every day of the week. There was always a clerk available at the front office, as well as a troupe of guards. This was due to the nature of the guild. It was much safer for its members to be able to hand the valuable stuff over as soon as possible, rather than have to wait until daylight came for their haul to be appraised, giving thieves more time to ambush them.

A bell rang as Vice opened the front door to the guild. Multiple chandeliers were hung from the ceiling, illuminating the inside of the room completely. Two guards were stood to the side of the front desk, where a petite woman was currently sat browsing through some papers. Her blond hair shined under the ambient lighting in the room, and her blue eyes sparkled as she looked at her paperwork.

"Oh, Vice? You got back quickly, how did it go?" Jenny asked. She put down the quill in her hand into a bottle of ink, and moved herself closer to the counter as she curiously inspected Vice.

"Here," Vice said, and he handed her a second pouch from his belt. He'd already moved the contents of his excavation into it from his primary one, as it was much easier to do this than to take everything out.

Jenny's eyes flared up in surprise as she examined the contents of the brown pouch she was given, seeing all the items in the area of the pouch which was many times larger on the inside than it was outside. "That's a… dragon tooth? And those are the scales of an Emerald Viper… What's more, you even put in the beast's arcane core, but why? Won't you use it?" Jenny asked, each of her words being forced out of her lips as if she couldn't believe what she was saying.

Vice simply stood there, and shrugged his shoulders. He waited quietly, saying nothing more to the girl.

'Ah come on Vice, you need to work on your communication skills. Just tell her why you aren't keeping the stuff,' Favian said in his mind.

'Who cares? They never tried to understand me, so why should I try to understand them?' he replied. He didn't hate humans, however he didn't like them either, despite he himself being what seemed to be a halfing, a half human entity.

"Oh okay… Well here's the payment for completing our request, and the extra amount for securing the Emerald Viper corpse. The total of 100 gold pieces," Jenny said awkwardly. She knew by now that talking to this boy was extremely difficult, however she always tried despite his flaw.

"Oh what's that?" Jenny asked as the tall boy handed her the broken necklace he'd found in the cave.

"From the three who went missing," Vice said. He didn't wait for a response from the woman, and instead left the building. He made his way through the empty streets of Restok, only drunkards and beggars were currently up and about, but a sight of either of these was rare in the direction Vice went.

The buildings here were tall and extravagant, a homage to the wealth of the residents in this specific area. Each building had front lawns filled with flowers and colorful plants, as well as large swathes of land used as their gardens. Vice was stood in front of one of these buildings, and inserted his key into the lock. With a click, the door was slowly opened, revealing a relatively luxurious interior. Chandeliers were on the ceiling, there were plenty of mirrors and art pieces along the walls, and even statues and sculptures were littered around.

'To think this whole building cost you only 70 gold. This planet brings me new surprises everyday,' Favian said into his mind with a relaxed voice.

'Huh, is my mother up? But it's too late, she's never awake at this time of the day,' Vice thought to himself as he looked toward the kitchen where the light was currently shining bright.

"Mom, are you awake?" he asked, his deep voice echoing through the building. He waited for a moment, however got no response. "She must have left the light on," he said, but immediately became more aware of his surroundings as he sensed some sort of danger. He knew that his mother would never leave any light on as she knew her son preferred the darkness.

'Hey, Favian, do you sense that too?' he asked as he got closer to the kitchen. A bitter smell, like burnt chocolate, entered his nostrils. He was completely alert at this point, and peeked around the corner, to see his mother collapsed on the kitchen floor.