With the slaver he had extracted information from once again unconscious Marcus now needed to find a place to hide him for a while, so he did not spoil his plan.

‘Okay now where would you keep a guy hidden for a couple of days without anyone noticing.’

Searching around the upper floor of the tavern, Marcus eventually came across a storeroom that had dust on the floor and crates, seeming to not have been used for some time. Going back to the room where he had left the man unconscious, Marcus grabbed him and dragged him towards the storeroom. Once there he shoved him inside into a cramped corner where he would have a hard time moving around so as not to allow him to make any noise.

‘Whew, time to get out of here and locate that warehouse.’

Heading back down the stairs Marcus made sure to stop before entering onto the main floor and check to see if the dudes buddies were still around.

‘Ugh, they are still there, I cannot let them see me leaving or they could grow suspicious, time for a little distraction.’

Exiting Irene’s body Marcus flew over towards the guys that had been drinking with the man he had just interrogated and checked there levels. Finding that of the three men the lowest leveled one was ten he went ahead and possessed that man’s body. Causing a bit of a spectacle as the man began convulsing a bit as his and Marcus’ soul fought for dominance until Marcus came out on top. Now in control of the man’s body Marcus stood up grabbed the edges of the table and flipped it over as he yelled, “THIS FOOD SUCKS.”

As everyone stared in shock at the sudden outburst Marcus had caused, he next ran up to the nearest guy and punched him in the face, before running towards the next and leaping towards him. While in midair Marcus exited the man’s body letting his momentum continue to carry him. Floating back to Irene’s body Marcus once again entered her body taking control of it. Looking out at the chaos he had just caused Marcus noticed that it had turned into a full-on bar fight.

‘Well, I think that should serve as enough of a distraction for me to exit without being noticed.’

Causally leaving the bar with the help of his stealth skill, Marcus managed to navigate the growing fight without being noticed and escaped back onto the street. With his successful acquisition of information Marcus began looking for an inn to rest in for the remainder of the night. Finding one not too far away called the Owl’s Hoot, Marcus went inside and purchased a room for one night for forty copper.

‘Damn that was expensive, I guess that is a big city for you everything cost more. I am starting to run low on funds, but hopefully in just two more days I will have saved Lilia and then I will have more time to make money.’

Entering into his room that only had a cheap bed and wooden chair in it Marcus collapsed down onto the bed as his physical and mental fatigue had overcome him.

…

Waking up well past the rise of the sun Marcus reluctantly dragged himself out of bed and started preparing for another long day.

‘Yesterday was exhausting way to much happened, but I have to keep moving forward, my goal is now within my sight. Today I have to find that warehouse and keep watch over it for the next couple of days and then when the time is right sneak in and rescue who I can.’

With his plan ready to be set in motion Marcus headed out of the Owl’s Hoot and back onto the bustling streets of Loursend. Heading towards the northwest part of the warehouse district Marcus stopped when he hit the river. He then exited Irene’s body and floated up into the air. Scanning his surroundings, he soon caught glimpse of a warehouse with a prominent red roof. Moving in that direction with a closer look he saw the two guards posted outside the large bay doors serving as the only entrance.

‘From the description I got this seems to be the place where they are holding Lilia. Now I just need to wait for two days and observe them.’

Using his stealth skill Marcus moved around until he found a nearby warehouse he could get on the roof of. Was he had climbed up he exited Irene’s body and floated into the warehouse of the slavers to look around. Once inside he could see eight other slavers sitting at a table playing some type of game. Along the walls Marcus saw dozens of cages which not only held people but also magical beasts.

‘Hm, I guess they do not just deal in people but also magical beasts, now let me see if I cannot find where Lilia is.’

Unfortunately, with Marcus’ short leash he could only explore a small amount of the warehouse before hitting his maximum range. He did however locate one of the other members of the community giving him definitive proof that these were the guys he was looking for.

‘Damn sometimes this tether is annoying, I mean at this point I could just severe it, but the description says that my own soul will suffer backlash and permanent damage, so I do not want to resort to that right now.’

Exiting the building and going back into Irene’s body Marcus kept watch on the warehouse for many hours before a large, covered carriage rolled up and entered the premises. Curious of what was going on Marcus once again entered the warehouse and watched the men begin to load the carriage with people. Noticing now that the people were all wearing some type of collar, Marcus finally had conformation on how slaves were controlled in this world. A few moments later when Marcus’ eyes fell onto the leader of the slavers Ander, the fragment of Irene’s soul began burning with and immense rage and desire to kill. In that moment as if he could sense the animosity, Ander turned and looked in Marcus’ direction before he disappeared in a blur and slashed the place where Marcus was. Luckily, Marcus was not only invisible but ethereal and the physical sword attack passed right through him. Marcus then swiftly left the building having made sure that Lilia was not on that carriage.

‘Holy shit, did he feel the killing intent that Irene’s soul fragment was letting off, if I was not intangible, he would have cut me right in two. I really need to be careful of higher-level people, if I think myself invincible one day, I am going to run into someone that can actually hurt me.’

Marcus continued to watch the building for the rest of the day being extra carful to not reveal his presence to Ander again. Once night set in Marcus scurried towards the middle of the roof he was perched on and took out his sleeping mat and blankets since this would be the last time he could rest until he broke into the warehouse.

Waking up early the next day Marcus continued to observe the warehouse and whenever a carriage would come and go Marcus would check to Make sure Lilia was not on it. Luckily, Marcus never saw Lilia being loaded onto one of the carriages and was almost certain she was somewhere in the warehouse.. As the day came to an end only the minimum amount of guards led by the weakest Lieutenant Osman were left in the warehouse and it was time for Marcus to enact his rescue.