The Black Market

"How about we skip class, Trevor? We should not waste our time here. We are both not doing well anyway. And if by a stroke of luck we indeed graduate, then which company will be willing to accept us both?" Cale argued enticingly.

Trevor stopped in his tracks and absorbed Cale's words slowly. He glanced at him again and asked dubiously "Are you perhaps not kidding when you said that you found a gold mine?"

Although it was indeed a tempting offer, to sacrifice his studies for something he was uncertain of was truly something hard to decide.

"Of course, I will not joke around about this," Cale said seriously.

Trevor studied his face briefly, but he found no clue if he was truly being truthful this time. But it was still too much to completely give up his studies and it might upset his parents. It was not the same case for Cale though since he became an orphan at a very young age and no one was there to scold him.

"I really wanted to go with you Cale, but I also don't want to disappoint my parents. I hope you understand." Trevor said as he sighed.

Cale merely smiled and patted Trevor's shoulders before saying "Okay brother, good luck! Don't worry, I will help you out if you ever need me."

Trevor was touched at the gesture and replied: "Good luck to you too brother!"

The two friends bumped their fists and bade goodbye to each other.

Cale glanced at the university one last time before he walked away.

One day later, in a mountainous area in Cebu Philippines, a handsome young man was busy shoveling the ground. He has been digging for more than three hours already, but still, he saw no signs of gold.

"Ding!"

Suddenly, his shovel hit something hard which made him smile widely.

"Finally! After more than three hours of digging! Haha!" he laughed like a madman which scared a few birds in the vicinity.

After digging for another thirty minutes, he finally got a clearer view of what caused the metallic sound earlier.

It was a metallic door with ancient carvings. The door was rusted in its entirety, but the fact that it remained intact despite its age means that the materials used to make this door was most likely the best in the fifteenth century.

He pushed the door open and what greeted him was the sight of glittering gold coins and shiny jewelry. Even after he became the Gun Sovereign, he has not seen this huge amount of gold and jewels. He tried picking up one gold coin and froze suddenly.

- Do you wish to exchange this gold coin in The Black Market?

"What the hell is this?" He was shocked at the sudden emergence of a prompt in front of him. It was like the holographic image commonly seen in his time in the Alliance.

"How come this kind of technology is here? Wait, where in the world did this even come from? This kind of advanced technology should not be present in this timeline."

Cale studied the holographic image in front of him.

During his time in the Alliance, this kind of holographic was common, but the thing in front of him was different than the ones made by humans. This one looks more advanced in appearance. He can even wield it with just his thoughts.

'This might have been something I gained when I traveled back in time and this gold coin was what opened it.' he was even unsure of his own conjecture, but it was only the most plausible thing he could think of.

He pressed the yes button and...

- Gained 100 Black Coins

- Opening The Black Market

- Ding!

Three images appeared in front of him.

- Slaves

- Weapons

- Skills

"What the hell?" he exclaimed.

He clicks the image that says 'Slaves'.

- Ding!

Multiple images of humans appeared in front of him with prices down below them. There were also descriptions of what the humans were capable of and even their personalities were written in full detail.

* Bastil (Human)

- 100 000 000 Black Coins

- A renowned general in the world known as Ethyre. His strength is unparalleled and even some superior creatures fear his might.

* Brogen (Human)

- 120 500 000 Black Coins

- Infamously known as the Barbarian Emperor of the chaotic world known as Gallantos. Mercilessly killed multiple fierce beasts, but was also feared by humanity because of his inhuman strength.

* Santharus ...

He looked at their descriptions in shock and awe. To think that there were such strong humans in the universe.

He wondered what will happen if he clicked the purchase button. Will they appear and serve him as a loyal slave? If so, then it will be really helpful in his quest of learning the truths behind the scenes. He truly wished to know the true identities of their unknown enemies.

It was in the year 2040 that these invaders first showed themselves, so he surmised that they should have been on Earth earlier than that. They were merely gathering their strength to catch the humans unprepared, but they never knew that the humans were quite the resilient foe. Even with their advanced weaponry, they were still not able to fully control Earth after ten years of continuous battle.

Now with the surprise of this 'The Black Market', then he might be able to uncover the truth.

He then pressed the button that says 'Weapons'.

- Ding!

Multiple images of weapons appeared out of thin air which gave Cale quite the surprise. Although he did not see any advanced weaponry like his Blue Dragon, he did find all the weapons present in his current timeline. After scanning a bit, he also saw several images with question marks.

He clicked one of the images with a question mark.

- Ding! Access denied!

- Authority level is below required!

'So there are some restrictions as well. And how do I even upgrade my authority level?' he asked, but did not receive an answer. He tried clicking the hidden images again but was still greeted by the same prompt.

He clicked the last image on the holographic image.

- Ding!

A multitude of orbs appeared in front of him. The orbs had different colors and shapes. He then clicked some of the orbs.

* Swordsmanship (D-Class)

- 100 000 Black Coins

* Muay Thai (D-Class)

- 100 000 Black Coins

* Art of Music (D-Class)

- 30 000 Black coins

He was intrigued when he saw that there were levels on every skill as well. All the skills he can currently access were only at D-Class. So he must have to upgrade his authority if he wanted to purchase higher-level ones.