Dark Market Information

  The manager looked at the room, sighing as he wondered where Ryker was. They had agreed to talk about another potential deal but apparently, something happened that forced them to go back.

  'At least he bought all of those clothes,' he thought, the young man bought about 15 gold coins worth of clothes.

  However, as he lamented over the fact of his potential deal, he spotted the man in question, the young woman likely his wife. He was about to greet them before seeing the serious expression on their face.

  Before he could ask what was wrong, Ryker appeared in front of him, making him jump back. He might be at the Genesis Formation realm but he is not a fighter.

  "I'm going to ask you a question and you going to answer it truthfully," he didn't know what he did to earn the young man's ire but he was willing to do as he said, his instinct telling him refusal would lead to a horrible result.

  "Do you know about the Dark Market?" his eyes widened, how on earth had they learned about the place? It is something he wishes he didn't know of. Unfortunately, his expression betrayed him.

  "So you do know something. Better start talking. My patience is limited as it is," Ryker growled, the man began to understand what prey felt when they were stared at by a predator.

  He sighed, "It's.. a complicated topic. I wish I didn't know of it. I reckon you met some of the fellow working there," he guessed, the growl he got answered his question.

  "A couple of fools from the dark market tried to kidnap my little brother," Oh dear, to think the Dark Market people were the reason his business deal didn't happen, oh how he wished to have his pound of flesh.

  "Now, I want to know about them," the man sighed again before asking, "How much do you know about the Dark Market," 

  "Only that they sold wares not found in regular stores," Ryker answered, the man nodded, "So only the basic then. It is as you said, the Dark Market sold wares not found in the surface stores, normally, that is,"

  Ignoring the surprised look, he continued his explanation, "While most stores don't have much contact with the Dark Market, the bigger stores often have their hands in it. We often get some of the harder items to procure through it," 

  "So, you get some of the stuff you need through smuggling," "Yes, and some other items like poisons, we also sold it here but you need to be a valued guest before you could access our more hidden goods.

  The reason the Dark Market exists is to allow the city to control its Underworld. Rather than let things happen behind their back, they create the Dark Market, where goods, some ill-gotten, can be sold. Some people also used it to sell things anonymously.

  Of course, the city won't put its people in charge of the Dark Market. There are three major families, the Ulna, which is the family I'm from. We were an economic powerhouse, our wealth came from our stores and merchants in and out of the city.

  The Atani, a powerful family, while not rich has the most number of cultivators. They were seen as a bunch of muscle brains but they played an important role in protecting the city.

  Then, the Ijas, the family that specialized in shade dealings. They were the ruler of the Dark Market, setting its rules and making sure people play by it, for the most part,"

  "So the Ijas is the one behind the attempt. Is the slave trade really that luxurious?" Ina asked.

  "Yes, while they have goods not seen in the regular stores, their best product is the slaves. They usually play by the rules, the slaves they got often obtained legally, mostly," the manager explained.

  "Legally?" Ryker asked, the concept slaves are allowed is a surprise.

  "Yes, there are three kinds of slaves. First, the prisoner of war. Whenever we won a fight, the prisoners would be turned into slaves. Second is the people unable to pay their debt. If one person can't pay their debt, they would give their right to the one they owed, the money gotten from selling them would be used to pay their debt.

  Thirdly is the criminals. Often criminals who didn't do any serious crime but didn't have any family members can decide if they wished to be slaves or not. In return for being sold off, they would at least have a roof over their head.

Of course, that is the one gotten from the legal option. As you had experienced, they even tried to get their hand on your siblings. This is not the first time it has happened, sometimes they try and succeed in kidnapping others too," hearing the lengthy explanation made the two look at each other in shock, to think some people decided to be a slave.

  Then again, if you have no else and you don't have a job, working for someone would be ideal, even if the contract is skewed and you need to serve them for the rest of your life.

  "In that case, we want to know where the next Dark Market auction is," Ryker asked, the man looked at him in shock.

  "How did you learn about it?" "The idiots we bet up talk too much about saying how my little brother would be worth a lot."

  "So, what are you planning?" he asked, hoping they didn't want to battle the Ijas family.

  "We plan to go buy a slave to help us in certain tasks," Ina replied. While she loved his lover's younger siblings, she did wish to spend more time alone, doing romantic stuff.

  "Oh, in that case, I will give you the direction to the Dark Market, and code you need to say if you wish to enter. You need to be there after 8 in the evening I only have access to codes during that time," he explained, writing down on a piece of paper before giving it to the two

  "Before we forget, let's talk about the business deal," Ryker reminded the man, the man's eyes turned to gold coins.

-x-

  "Looks like we get more funds for the auction," Ryker said after they long left the store. They got another 40 gold pieces, not including some of the items Ryker decided to auction.

  "Yes,  not to mention, the items you submitted for the auction, how much will those get?" Ina thought out loud.

  "No idea, but it will be enough to get a slave," Ryker replied.

  "Yeah, hard to believe Esran is the one to suggest it, then again he's the most logical out of us all," Ina said, thinking about when the boy suggested that they get a slave. They first decided to be against it, the only reason they accepted it was to have someone become his siblings' caretaker.

  With their siblings in good hands, slaves cannot betray their owner without consequences, it would free them to take missions together, as well as training Ina would be easier.