"I need to think about it..."
Annan declined the Otherworld Merchant's request for the time being.
He was only an Elite Sorcerer, and beyond that, merely the City Lord of a small city.
Entering Strange Tales City to investigate the source of the Oddities was not a job for him. At the very least, it should not fall to an outsider from northern Middle Earth.
For now, Annan bought only three Otherworld Tree leaves, enough to make up two teams. The Skeleton King arranged to trade with the Merchant again in a week. Annan would give the Merchant his answer then.
The Merchant vanished with the thinning gray mist, and the Tomb returned to normal.
"You were right..." the Skeleton King said of Annan's earlier answer. "Strange Tales City follows Rules entirely different from ours. Everything we know is useless there."
"Didn't you once want me to go to Strange Tales City and find the Princess?" Annan teased.
"We didn't know each other well then. Now I know you're a unique human."
The Skeleton King's Soulfire flickered, and Annan smiled too.
Making friends with other races really was interesting.
"Are we going back now?" Annan asked.
"The Strange Tales Zone is dangerous at night. We'll leave during the day."
"And here...?"
"Underground is safe."
Annan was not worried. Beside him stood the Skeleton King, ostensibly Epic but actually Legendary. He also had two Epic Amulets, and the Portal could take him to the Old Ancestor's Bedroom at any time.
If he still could not handle the Oddities on the outskirts of Strange Tales City, he might as well join their side.
The night passed without incident. Annan meditated while the Skeleton King conducted simple experiments with the materials he had bought. At dawn, they set out along the route they