The only things of interest that I remembered seeing was the entry pass into the auction house worth two million along with the removal of the flight ban and slave token for one million each.
“I’ll take the auction house pass and the slave token for now.” Thinking about it, the only thing worthwhile that would currently even be able to use up all of my points I was bound to accumulate, was the auction house token for one hundred million. A guaranteed means of acquiring anything I wished for from the auction house.
The receptionist returned from the backroom with the items in hand, presenting me a metallic card. The entire thing was a solid plate of steel, small enough to fit in my palm. On the center of the silver card, the insignia of a hammer crossed with a sickle represented the black market auction house. The next item she slid across the counter, an intrinsic gold coin with the carving of a goddess and a demon on the flip side. It was an interesting choice for a token considering its relation to slavery.
There wasn’t much explanation needed for any of the items until she set down a light green crystal shard, the size of my pinky finger. “You can use this to summon forth our VIP transportation carrier.” The conditions were that it could only be used within the undercity, but would allow for all of the perks of being unhindered by any of the flight laws automatically imposed on the general public flying carriages.
My point total went down to three million for the transaction of three items. The auction house could wait until another day. I decided to inspect the quality of their slave market, wondering how it compared to the help Marcus has provided me with. I figured a late night visit wouldn’t matter too much for such an establishment.
It even provided the opportunity to test out our new ride. We said goodbye to our guides for the time being and made our way to a fair amount of empty clearing to activate the crystal. I tried holding it up, then eventually shaking it like some kind of unreliable piece of tech. I stared at it and knew the problem immediately, the stupid thing required mana to be infused by the user to properly activate.
I remembered it was Jade that called out our carriage when we first got here. Selka was the closest one to hand it to as I offered it to her with a jaded expression. I wasn’t even in a mood to say anything and hoped she could read the situation. She took an awkward second or two looking up at me and back at the green shard in her hand, even glancing at the others as if to get a little insight on what she was expected to do before activating it with her mana.
I almost thought she was going to have a conniption there for a moment as a whirling noise turned heads to our position. They weren’t lying about the view this thing would grant us. It’s design had scenery as its key feature, with the creators choosing to ignore safety altogether. A piece of carpet levitated a foot off the ground waiting patiently to be boarded. I hopped on willing to test it out, curious as to how it created a whirling sound. My feet confirmed the entire thing was made out of fabric, without any bits of metal as Jade was the last to get on.
I would have thought its stability went down the drain as it flew us through the air, but there seemed to be magic holding everything up within a circular radius of it. I didn't give the designer enough credit as it made standing up an easy feat and even blocked a lot of wind resistance from pounding on our faces. I’d never be able to directly control it but when was I ever going to be alone in the undercity.
Not having a view in the other carriage made my awareness next to zilch since I’d know the same amount if someone were to drag me blindfolded into an unknown location. This magic carpet allowed us to see all of the darkened ghetto and unsavory locations in between each hub of neon lights and entertainment. Controlling a visitor's sightseeing allowed them to hide away all of the poverty trodden sectors, creating a false sense of prosperity. I didn’t understand the logic behind the person in charge here much less the reason for the undercity’s existence.
“There it is Master.” Jade referred to the spread of lights in our path. “That is the slave district.” She finished her introduction to our destination. I was shocked at the magnitude of life bustling about down below.
The receptionist said the token would be universally accepted at any of the sellers, but Rachel’s advice was to visit the main competitor, the head honcho of the slave market. That was my plan from the start though since it only made sense to take advantage of the unlimited zeroes this token could tack on. Being able to land right in front of our exact destination was great and would have been ten times better if it weren’t for all the attention that came along with it as a result.
The building in question was large enough to hold an indoor amusement park and the name Eden almost convinced me there might be one inside. I recognized the token's carvings as we approached the doorway. Two statues stood at each side of the entryway, one an almighty goddess and to the right a fearsome demon.
Even with all of the people roaming about it was easy to identify which ones were slaves by the skimpy and revealing attire and their maskless faces. There were several stationed outside of the building as a means to attract attention like they were tasked with finding their own sale.
I thought Marcus’s building was of a high standard, only to be so very wrong that this place made his look like a soda machine was to a distribution factory. I had a sinking suspicion that he frequented this slave market to restock on slaves, even going so far as reselling them for a profit. It made sense to do so since not everyone was able to gain access into the undercity.
The moment I made eye contact with one of them through my mask, it was like a homing missile was launched as the slave in question focused solely on my approach. She made sure to greet me and even held the door open for all of us to enter. I had a hard time peeling my eyes away from the curvature her tight-fitting clothes created. I told myself before arriving to avoid buying the first slave my eyes settled on and she already made me want to ignore that ridiculous piece of advice.
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