Chapter 8
While I was drinking a glass of wine at the inn where I was staying, I overheard some adventurers talking about a mysterious black market hidden in the bowels of the city. My curiosity led me to follow them through the darkness of the night, to what seemed to be the sewers of the city.
This city was so rich and prosperous that it even had a sewer system!
Once inside the sewers I followed the adventurers through tunnel after tunnel until I reached a cavernous area of the sewers.
What I found there completely amazed me. The space was an immense concrete dome and its base served as home to hundreds, if not thousands, of sales booths.
There was everything one could imagine. Exotic food stalls, gem stalls and strange and expensive clothes, most likely stolen. Weapons and armor of all kinds, poisons and potions, and even tamed monsters were for sale.
As I walked around the black market, I decided to disguise Huges's face a bit. I didn't think the adventurer had visited the black market much, and I didn't want to stand out in case I ran into someone who knew Huges.
Once I had my costume on, I continued to inspect the items on display, until something caught my eye.
At one of the stalls, where all sorts of supposedly tamed monsters were for sale, I found what appeared to be a large egg. But it didn't look like any of the eggs I had seen before. To begin with, it was about twice the size of an ostrich egg, and its surface was covered in countless tiny white scales. Something about the egg called out to me, so I asked the Librarian to analyze it.
Analyzing.
The egg appears to be the product of a semi-spiritual being. If it's properly fed with magicules, the creature inside it could be born.
A semi-spiritual being? Was it something like a spirit monster egg? This reminded me of a certain anime I watched in my original world about fantastical creatures hatching from eggs and evolving!
"How much does the egg cost?" - I asked the seller, a small man with a big nose, and suspicious looking.
"Ha ha ha, it's a very rare and valuable egg. It would be about 500 gold coins." - he replied, rubbing his hands together.
I walked away, a little disappointed that I didn't have enough money to buy it.
Received.
Due to the suspicious nature of the vendor, and the location where he's selling his wares, it is unlikely that he would call the guards if the egg was stolen.
Librarian! Someone as correct as you inciting theft! What a scandal!
But you're probably right.
I quickly hid between two stalls and kept an eye on the egg vendor. When I saw that he was distracted by another potential customer, I used "Shadow Step" and "Shadow Motioning" to disappear into my own shadow and appear in the shadows at the vendor's back, take the egg, and reverse the process, appearing again in my hiding place. I quickly hid the egg using my new Spatial Magic spell: Spatial Storage, and changed my face again to avoid recognition. As I calmly walked away, I smiled a little at the shouts of the vendor. I had no qualms about stealing the egg, since I was pretty sure the vendor had stolen it first. It's not theft if you steal from another thief, right?
I decided to continue my tour of the black market. As I walked through the stalls, I bought various materials and tools that we would need in the village. I was in a very good mood, but...
My good mood stopped completely when I reached the slave area. There weren't many of them, since slavery was forbidden in the Kingdom of Ingrasia, but I could count about twelve slaves. I had checked the entire market, and so far, this was the only slave stall I had found.
The slaves were barefoot and half-naked, and though they weren't chained, they had an air of hopelessness about them that let you know they weren't there by their will. Of the twelve, only three appeared to be human, the rest according to the Librarian, being three ogres, five merfolk, three Elves, and one Dryad.
The humans appeared to be two young girls and a little boy who wouldn't stop crying, although he was silent.
The ogres were two men and one woman, one of the men, the one who looked younger, had long white hair, small black horns on his forehead, and large fangs protruding from his mouth. The older ogre seemed to have survived a great battle, as large scars marked the left side of his body, and he had lost one of his eyes; like the little ogre, his hair was white, only shorter, and slightly larger horns protruded from his head; and, despite appearing subdued, he bared his great fangs at anyone who came near. The female ogre instead, was the quietest of the three; her features were almost identical to those of the other two, implying that they might be siblings.
The merfolk seemed to be a family. One male and one female, and three younger merfolk. They all shared the same features: human bodies with fish heads, webbed hands and feet, and some scales on certain body parts.
The three Elves, two women and one man, had the ethereal beauty of the Dark Elves, but their skin was paler and their hair was blond.
The Dryad, on the other hand, didn't look exactly what one would expect a Dryad to look like. When one thinks of beautiful tree nymphs one imagines a delicate and sweet woman, this Dryad instead was completely wild, from her blood red hair to the dangerous thorny whips that seemed to spring from her. After further analysis, the Librarian concluded that she was actually a Corrupted Dryad, a rare subspecies of Dryad that evolved with the element of Darkness.
People had gathered around the slaves and were examining them as if they were horses, they were going to buy. The slaves, although obviously uncomfortable, did not move an inch while potential buyers groped them, even in private parts. Why don't they resist? They should resist a bit, if only on instinct.
Alert.
Mind Magic detected.
When the Librarian informed me of this, my anger, which had been growing upon seeing the conditions these people were in, reached its climax. I silently used one of my new arts: Concealment, to make myself invisible and undetectable to most of the people present, then using "Shadow Step" and "Shadow Motioning" I dove into my own shadow and emerged from the shadow of the slave trader, I unsheathed Huges's sword and without further delay plunged it into the man's chest.
Perhaps becoming undead had broken me inside, but as the slave trader fell to the ground and bled to death, I felt nothing. Even when I had possessed Katar I had felt a little sorry for him, but for the slave trader who had used mind magic to control the slaves, I felt nothing at all, except perhaps a strange sense of satisfaction. That feeling... could it have been that I absorbed his soul? I had a suspicion that it was.
The slaver's death seemed to have come as a great shock to everyone present, who stared in a daze for a few seconds, before panicking and fleeing, causing hysteria to spread like a virus throughout the black market and within. Soon the whole place was in chaos.
Taking advantage of the situation, I used my own mind magic to undo the spells on the slaves and became visible to them.
"Follow me, if you want to be free." – I told them and started running towards the exit.
Although a little hesitant at first, the slaves followed me soon after. With great difficulty we made our way through the chaos that the black market had become and continued until we reached the exit. Once outside, I could see the city guards closing in to see what the ruckus was about, so using the Librarian's map function, I guided my new companions through alleys and nooks until we reached the inn where I was staying, then using Concealment to its fullest, I managed to hide everyone from the sight of the few drunks and workers in the tavern, and led them to my room.
Although my room was not very big, we all managed to settle down and rest for a while.
"My name is Rogan." – I started. "From this moment on you are free."
The ogres looked at each other but said nothing, while the humans, elves, and merfolk thanked me profusely for saving them. The most surprising reaction was from the Dryad, who looked at me suspiciously as she spoke.
"In exchange for what?" – the Dryad asked me. "No one does anything without expecting something in return."
"I do not expect compensation of any kind. It just made me angry to see how you were treated and I acted because I wanted to, nothing more."
As I and the Dryad talked, the others were listening intently.
"Ha, I will not allow myself to be indebted to a human. Name your price." – The Dryad insisted.
"I'm not human, exactly." – I told her and I recovered my humanoid Wraith form in front of them a few seconds before returning to my human form. "I'm a Wraith that can possess other creatures. This body used to belong to a friend who has since passed away."
The Dryad seemed to assess me as if she were looking into my soul and she seemed to come to terms with herself.
"Very well. If you won't name a price, then I'll stay with you until I deem the debt paid." - Said the Dryad, as if that was all and she did not admit any objection.
"Normally, I would complain, but I have a feeling that doing so would be pointless."
"Ha ha ha, you are an intelligent non-human after all. My name is Thorny, and I'm the black sheep of the Dryads, so feel lucky to have me on your side." – Thorny said puffing out her chest, proud of herself.
"Welcome." – I said, sighing for all the problems I knew this creature would bring me. "And what about you, what will you do now?" – I ask the others.
"We don't know what to do." – Commented one of the human girls, with the little boy on her lap. "We cannot go back to our families. They were the ones who sold us to the slaver." – The girl said sadly.
She and the boy, I was told, were siblings, children of a poor family in the Kingdom of Farmuth. When her mother died, and her father found another woman, he sold them to a slaver to make a little money and have less to worry about. The other girl's story was similar. Her husband sold her to the slaver when he discovered that she was unable to have children.
"If you want, you can come with me." - I told them. "I am the leader of a small village of Dark Elves, who live near the Armed Nation of Dwargon. We don't have many luxuries, but you can have a quiet life there." – If no more monsters attack us, of course.
"Seriously, can we?" – The girl asked me, new tears falling from her eyes, but these were of happiness.
"Thank you so much!" – said the girls. "I'm Anne, and this is my little brother, Jack."
"And I'm Lara, Mr. Rogan." – The other girl told me.
"Nice to meet you three." – I told them, and looked at the Merfolk family.
"We would like to go with you too, if possible." – Said the oldest of them.
"Of course. What are your names?" - I asked them.
"I'm afraid we don't have names, Mr. Rogan. Will that be an impediment?
"No, not at all. If you don't have a name, I can just give you one." – I told them and absolute silence fell over the room. Everyone looked at me like I was crazy.
"Moron! You can't go around naming whomever you please!" Thorny yelled at me, for some reason. "Don't you know that naming other creatures costs a lot of magicules? If you are careless about it, you can die!"
"Ha, yes, it's true. But it doesn't matter, magicules are not a problem for me." - I told them. "Then? Do you want me to name you?" – I asked the merfolk.
"It would be an honor, Mr. Rogan!" – exclaimed the older merfolk.
"Very well. Your names will be…"
"Triton" - I said pointing to the older merfolk.
"Aquata" - I said pointing to the female merfolk.
"River" - I said pointing to one of the children.
"Ocean" - I said pointing to the other.
"And Coral" - I said pointing to the girl.
Warning
Naming the targets will cost magicules. Do you want to use the magicules stored by your Unique Skill "Siphon"?
Yes
No
Yes!
Warning
The subordinate's "Triton", "Aquata", "River", "Ocean" and "Coral" have met the necessary conditions to evolve.
The body structure will reformulate and evolve into a new species.
checked
Evolution from "Merfolk" to "Merman" …
Successfully done.
Evolution from "Merfolk" to "Mermaid" …
Successfully done.
Increased all physical skills…
Successfully done.
Relearn all past skills and resistances...
Successfully done.
New Skills and Resistances:
- Intrinsic Skill "Underwater Breathing"
- Intrinsic Skill "Humanoid Form"
- Extra Skill "Water Manipulation"
- Extra Skill "Water Bullet"
-Temperature Fluctuation Resistance
Successfully obtained.
This ends the evolution.
Evolution had done wonders for the skills of the Merfolk, but also had a hand in their image. Gone were the fish faces to be replaced by beautiful human faces. The only remnants of their former forms were their ears that looked like fish fins, and their hands remained webbed.
"Thank you very much, Mr. Rogan! We swore to follow him forever!" said Triton, who had turned into a handsome young man, as he knelt in front of me. The rest of his family followed his example.
"It was nothing, ha ha ha. I'm counting on you guys!" – I told them, a little uncomfortable with so much gratitude.
"My goodness, you're hopeless." – Thorny murmured, but I decided to ignore her.
"What will you do?" – I asked the elves.
"We were abducted from the Great Jura Forest. Even if we go back, we've heard rumors that the forest is under attack. So, we have decided to go with you, if you will allow us to do so." – The male Elf communicated to me, and the female Elves seemed to agree with him. "Our names are Riannan, Mabb and Dorian."
"A pleasure to meet you all. Yes, I had heard rumors about a large army of Orcs attacking the forest." – I commented, to which the Ogres, who still hadn't spoken, reacted.
"Do you have any news about the forest?" – asked the ogre who was missing an eye.
"I've only heard rumors while we were being held captive, but the last I heard, the army was still advancing towards the lizardmen's territory."
"You are survivors of the attack on the Ogre village, right?" - I asked them.
"It was not an attack. It was a massacre." – Said the Ogre, his tone bitter. "There was nothing we could do. These orcs were very powerful. Even our leader couldn't stop them. They wiped out our village mercilessly."
"But you guys survived. Perhaps there were others who did as well."
"Perhaps..." - says the ogre thoughtfully. "I would like to reach an agreement with you" – he finally tells me.
"What kind of agreement?"
"If you are the leader of a village, you must be strong. And if you can name five monsters without blinking an eye, you must be powerful too. A person of your position must need strong warriors. My brothers and I may not seem like it right now, but we were among the most powerful in our village, praised even by our leader. If you take us to the Great Jura Forest, to see if there are any survivors from our village, we will swear allegiance to you." – This was the deal that the ogre proposed to me. I did need powerful warriors to help Browen protect the village, but more than that, I sympathized with the ogres' plight.
"Seems like a fair deal to me." – I say and we seal the deal with a shake of hands. "But, if we go to a forest where an army of orcs awaits us, you must become strong enough to deal with it. Do you want me to name you too?"
"Are you crazy?! More names?!" - Thorny yelled again, but I ignored her again. I think that was the best thing with her.
"If you would grant us such an honor." – Said the ogre as he knelt down. His siblings did the same.
"Very well…"
"You will be Okimura" - I said pointing to the ogre with whom I had spoken.
"You will be Hiroka" - I said pointing to the female ogre.
"And you will be Yoshi" – I said pointing to the young ogre with long hair.
Warning
Naming the targets will cost magicules. Do you want to use the magicules stored by your Unique Skill "Siphon"?
Yes
No
Yes!
Warning
The subordinate's "Okimura", "Hiroka" and "Yoshi" have met the necessary conditions to evolve.
The body structure will reformulate and evolve into a new species.
checked
Evolution from "Ogre" to "Kijin" …
Successfully done.
Increased all physical skills…
Successfully done.
Relearn all past skills and resistances...
Successfully done.
New Skills and Resistances:
- Extra Skill "Steel Strength"
- Extra Skill "Ultraspeed Regeneration"
- Extra Skill "Magic Sense"
-Temperature Fluctuation Resistance
-Pain Resistance
Successfully obtained.
This ends the evolution.
The new Kijin looked almost identical to humans, except for the horns. Okimura hadn't changed much, he just got much more muscular, while his siblings got taller and thinner.
Once the evolution from ogres to Kijin finished, we set off again using Concealment and following the Librarian's directions to avoid the guards now patrolling every inch of the city. After a few hours of fleeing through the city, we finally made it to the outskirts.
Already in the outskirts we headed to the forest where I had first come to Lura, and once there I turned back into a Wind Dragon. But in this form, I could only carry five of them at most, I used a large sum of magicules to greatly increase the size of my Wind Dragon form, so that they could all fit on my back.
Once everyone was seated on top of me and tied with "Sticky Thread" we started our flight towards the Great Jura Forest.