Night fell. Lying on his familiar, slightly hard wooden bed, with the room's distinctive blend of rust, woodsmoke, and faint mildew in his nostrils, Loa could finally relax completely and enjoy a sound night's sleep. His nerves, taut for nearly half a year, slowly unwound in this utterly safe setting. He slept without dreams until the first light of dawn.
Of course, practicing basic sword forms and circulating his battle-qi each morning had long since become habits ingrained in his bones. Returning home had not made him slacken in the slightest. Sweating freely in the courtyard as he faced the morning light, he found himself even more free of distractions than he had been in the danger-ridden wilderness.
Over the next few days, he set about dealing with the enormous haul from his journey. He readily found the reasonably reputable shop he had dealt with before. When the shopkeeper saw what Loa had brought, especially the Level Seven Magic Crystal Core, the Redflame Gem, and rare materials such as the Earth Vein Lizard's heart-protecting scales, his eyes went wide, and his manner became even more respectful and welcoming than before. After some relatively easy bargaining, all the salable supplies were exchanged for the enormous sum of sixty-five thousand gold coins. The counting and valuation were tedious, but the result was exhilarating (I won't go into detail-I'm not padding the word count!).
A tremendous haul. Looking at the balance on his Magic Crystal Card, Loa felt his spirits lift at an unprecedented sense of abundance. Without delay, he soon spent eighteen thousand gold coins through his contacts to purchase a portion of high-quality, pure century-old stone stalactite liquid. Watching the number shrink as he paid did indeed make his heart tighten with a pang of "pain," but when he thought of