Dark, bat-like creatures with oversized glowing eyes squirmed restlessly inside a reinforced iron cage. Their wings twitched, their skin glossy and obsidian, and their shrill, echoing screeches made the bystanders flinch. A bulky man grunted as he pushed the cart down the busy market street, trying to keep the creatures from tipping over.
"They're even selling Abyss Creatures now," Mathilda muttered, narrowing her eyes as one of the creatures hissed in her direction. "Should I buy some...?"
She turned her attention back to the street, where strange items from the seas and even from continent were being traded openly. Enchanted bones, whispering herbs, beast horns still dripping with blood—it was a chaotic mess of ancient mysticism and raw savagery.
Just then, Lily emerged from a tall building made of jade stones and inscribed with blue glowing runes. She held a parchment in one hand and wore a slightly annoyed expression.
