Chapter 57

Darius reached out and took the items and placed them into his Inventory. All of them would come in handy in different situations, but Darius had realized something even more important from this.

His Transmutation had an important and limiting rule that he could only create things that already existed in Faust.

By Analyzing and identifying more items, he would come into contact with more things he would be able to recreate with his Transmutation.

Of course, Darius didn't bother to check for any of the items he already made. Just making bloody basic spells was enough to tap him out for the day, so valuable items like these that required special methods to be made would come out above his CP threshold based on the 3 stages.

Still, Darius decided to humor himself and took out the simplest item, the Entry Token to Gravitas. He took out his one Silver Ando Coin that he had transmuted on the fifth day, when he went to bed with 0.1 CP leftover.

The material of the token seemed similar to that of the silver coin, so he assumed it would make it the cheapest to convert.

[Would you like to change the Silver Ando Coin into an Entry Token? This will cost 245 Conversion Points.]

Darius' lips twitched. He immediately regretted checking, wondering which demon whispered to him to do so.

He had spent the first few days finding out what there was to know about his Transmutation ability.

It had helped him formulate a good hypothesis on how it worked, making him able to roughly gauge how expensive conversion would be as long as he understood their practical value in the world of Faust.

Darius placed the coin back into his Inventory and gave Foldo a playful smile as he prompted the older man to lead him to the slaves.

Foldo nodded as he rose back to his feet and took Darius through the mansion's lower corridors. Eventually, both men arrived at a hidden trapdoor that led further down. Foldo entered first and beckoned Darius to follow him.

The Itemancer complied and they walked down a few stairs until they came into a small room. The room was refreshingly ventilated and well-kept. Darius could even see many vent-like contraptions that allowed fresh air in and stale air to go out.

The room itself was well-decorated and carpeted despite its huge size. Many of the villagers from above ground moved up and down the large chamber, cleaning and monitoring the slaves who were kept in glass-like cubicle rooms.

This chamber was like a large prison floor, with two columns of cubicle rooms connected back to back, with a carpeted pathway in between each of them. There was also a column of cubicles pressed against the eastern and western wall, with two rows pressed against the northern and southern walls.

The slave owner led Darius down to the floor and walked along the column of cubicles to the easternmost wall and allowed his master to take a look at the persons trapped within.

Darius's eyebrows rose when he noticed that the cubicle rooms were also extremely clean and well-maintained. There was a small bathroom, a small closet for clothes with a mirror, a desk with some books, and a comfortable bed.

To Darius, it looked like a luxurious cell from Earth that was reserved for VIP inmates who didn't want to stay with the rabble in the average cells. According to his knowledge, ignoring the lack of freedom, these slaves had better living conditions than some middle-class people in Faustian society!

Foldo was amused by Darius' obvious surprise and explained. "Master Darius, you have to understand one thing. No healthy and wealthy buyer would ever want to enter a room that smells like shit, depression, and despair."

"I have never understood my fellow slavers who keep their products in filthy cages, starve and beat them to near death and then still expect someone to pay a premium price for those slaves later on."

Foldo tapped his temple with a smirk. "Much cleverer to keep your products clean, healthy, and somewhat happy if possible. Well-fed, well bathed, and sanitary is the way to go."

Darius once again felt that his choice of keeping Foldo alive and working for him was really wise. His thinking was too similar to modern merchants from Earth, as opposed to the kind of time period he was living in.

For that matter, Darius checked the so-called 'products'. Foldo hadn't lied, they showed no signs of hopelessness nor the depths of despair one would expect from normal slaves. Of course, they were not at the peak of happiness, but they weren't listless like the world had come to an end.

Foldo turned to Darius. "Master, what exactly are you looking for in your slave? Do you desire a young, adult, or older female as a servant? As a sex slave? As a combatant? Or would you prefer a male youth, adult, or elderly for one of those categories?"

Darius rubbed his chin. "I want a male, preferably youth, but an adult might also work. He needs to be human and it doesn't matter whether he is average or talented."

Foldo's eyes flashed. "I have just the thing."

He led Darius to the middle of the room, to the set of cubicle rooms that faced towards the west. There, Darius saw the entire column hold young boys aged 5-15 who were either playing with toys or reading books provided to them by Foldo.

When they saw Darius, they became curious and came to the edge of their cells to gaze at their potential owner. Meanwhile, the transmigrator Analyzed them one by one to check their different stats. Nearly all of them were actually classless and naturally hadn't sparked.

Darius rubbed his chin and held up the System Brand. After admiring the ring, he decided that it was time to test out its utility.

Darius walked to the cell of a boy who was quite burly for his tender age of 15, yet the Analyze had revealed that the lad was in fact a half-giant. He had a shaggy mane of black hair that reached just below his shoulder blades.

His eyes were a bright green color and were overwhelming, as if he could press down on whoever he gazed upon with them. He had a relatively good-looking face despite his heritage, with a small nose, thin lips, and a great jawline.

His upper body was bare-chested while his lower body consisted of shorts that were black in color. His skin tone was a healthy brown, similar to Darius himself.

Darius looked up and made eye contact with the boy while the lad did the same. After staring at each other for a minute, the boy nodded and looked away.

Darius gestured to Foldo to release the fellow. "I choose him."

Foldo smiled as he understood what had just occurred, but did not comment. He only said: "You have made the best possible choice, Master."