Chapter Eight: Situation At The Black Market

Devon wanted to stop for a moment and make sure he had the crystal with him before getting closer to the huge guy but he didn't do that because that would be suspicious according to the rules of this area.

Once you get close to the big gate as it was called by everyone, do not stop and make your way to the guard immediately to state your business.

Getting close to the gate without having any business there attracted a fine and the fine was no small money.

The people controlling this area would do anything to rip anyone off and the king just wouldn't do anything about it no matter how many times the people said something about it, which led them to believe that he had a hand in it.

Slowly, people began to stop complaining about it to the authorities because it was all wasted efforts, and in no time this gloomy area became just another part of Audaznimo.

Devon made his way to the huge guy and as soon as he got close enough to him, he stopped moving.

He had the standard uniform the big gate guard that used to be there had, the red uniform with the breastplates but instead of a sword, he had a huge club that Devon thought was normal until he got close enough to see that it had little sharp spikes on it.

Looking at the guard's face, it was clear that he was not one to smile easily, and messing with him was not going to end well for any stupid person.

He acted like he didn't notice Devon for a while until he suddenly lifted his club and smashed it on the floor just beside his leg, that club missed hitting his leg just by a few inches.

'Oh, dear.'

"What do you want, boy?" The guard asked.

Devon could tell he was trying as hard as he could to sound menacing and it wouldn't be nice to give him the impression that he wasn't doing enough because that would make things difficult for him, he would definitely do that if the situation was different.

"Um…I just want to sell a crystal core and get some money." He stuttered.

"Oh, and what sort of crystal core is that?" The guard asked leaning a little closer to him now.

'Seriously you don't have to get this close.'

"It's just a basic tier crystal." Devon stuttered before slowly stepping away from him a little.

"I see, as expected, more pathetic…um…just go in." He said before opening the gate for him.

Devon slowly walked past him and as soon as he entered the gate, a smirk appeared on his face.

'You're the pathetic person, trying so hard to scare a kid who isn't even afraid of you.' He said subconsciously before pulling down his hood to cover his face.

As soon Devon entered the area, he took note of the people who were putting on dark hoods just like him.

The area wasn't really that large and there weren't even many people there.

There were two people each on both sides of the area and they were doing absolutely nothing and then up front, there were two people up front who seemed to be handling the purchases, one for the crystal cores and the other for another kind of shady business.

The reason why people mostly came here to sell their crystal cores instead of selling them off to the people who needed them in the city was because the people here bought them for a ridiculously high price compared to the people in the city who needed them urgently.

At first, a lot of people thought it was a guise for them to get robbed but when a lot of people started making it out successfully, people decided to give it a try and that was when the real robbing started.

To make sure that people would keep coming back despite the robberies, they made sure to leave some people and rob others, this way there will always be some people who make it out.

Some people could get robbed this week and make it out safely the next week.

Coming here to sell crystal cores became some kind of gambling and it was kind of like that because there were people who had way less luck than others.

If Devon was to approach an up-to-date business person in the city to sell the crystal core, he would be asked to sell it for fifty percent less of what it was being sold here, it was either that or go through the pain of coming here to sell it so that they can buy it for an extra gold coin later and in most cases, people preferred the latter.

There was only one man left in the crystal core area as Devon got close to it, and it didn't take long before the man turned around and began to make his way to the exit.

Judging by the way his leg was shaking, he could tell that they must have scared the hell out of him and it was most likely that he got no payment for his crystal ore.

Devon walked straight to the guy in the hood there who was busy throwing up the blue crystal ore that he had just illegally taken from that poor man.

As soon as Devon got close enough, he put the crystal ore away into their pile of crystal ores which Devon could see clearly from where he was standing.

"What do you have with you?" He asked with an intimidating voice.

"A basic tier crystal," Devon replied with an unfazed voice.

After saying that, he brought out the red crystal from his bag.

The man kept his gaze on the crystal for a while before stretching his hands toward it, but before he could grab it, Devon pulled the crystal core back.

"I just want to take a closer look to confirm that it really is a beast crystal core."

"If you're going to do that, then give me the coins first." He demanded.

"I can't do that, I'm not stupid."

"Stupid? This is your territory, there's no way I can cheat you and get away with it, is there? And I won't even be stupid enough to do that." Devon expressed. "Just give me the coins and I'll give you the crystal ore, I'll also be here while you inspect it but I can assure you that it's a real beast crystal core."

After hearing him say that, the man let out a deep sigh.

"I guess it can't be helped, you're a smart one." He said before nodding toward the four behind Devon.

'So, that's how it's going to be. Well, I was sort of expecting it.'

Devon had his hands inside his coat and right at the moment when one of them tried to grab him from behind, he pulled out a small knife from his bag quickly turned around, and stabbed it right into his thigh.

The man let out a scream but that wasn't all the pain he was going to be feeling as Devon immediately sent him tumbling backward with a kick.

Unfortunately, he wasn't able to make another move as he was sent flying backward with a strong blast of water.

He flew past the one trying to steal the crystal and crashed into the table behind him breaking the feeble woodwork in the process.

"Owww." The youngster groaned as he slowly sat up on the floor.

"You have really sharp instincts and seem to know your way around a fight I'll give you that but do you really think you can fight all of us here?"

Devon slowly looked up to see the one who gave off the impression of the leader, he was standing there with his arms crossed with the other three who could still work behind him.

Things weren't looking good for him.