Buying a ****

On the 2nd learning of the green wind dragon the two suns shined on the forest and the wind ruffed through the leaves of the trees, which made the lights that could pass through the leaves, and shine on the ground, form beautiful sights.

Some of the rays of light fell on Darkness's face and combined with the sound of the wind blowing through the trees woke Darkness.

He still had a slight headache due to his overuse of mana from the previous day, but it had subsided enough to not be bothersome.

After a few minutes minute (which felt more like a dozen) of failing to go back to sleep, Darkness could only open his tired eyes with a sigh escaping his lips: he didn't sleep long enough to abate his tiredness.

By the time he finished all his morning's ablutions, he felt awake enough to go back to Border Town.

Since his headache had not yet disappeared, he didn't dare to use any mana to accelerate his journey. Even though his speed was slower than the last time, Darkness didn't think the journey would take more time than the one he did two days prior. The reason for such thought is because he still couldn't "taste" the mana of the animals and beasts that normally lived here, which could certainly mean that they had yet to come back to their territories after fleeing from Greed's homunculus.

And since he wouldn't need to be that cautious of his surroundings and without having to make detours, he could walk faster than he did.

That's why after a bit less than seven hours of walking (and eating his lunch), he arrived near the tree on which he slept during his first travel. There was still quite a bit of time before Darkening Suns, so Darkness kept walking toward the town.

After a few dozen minutes he arrived at the gate, and showed his adventurer's ring to the same guard he met last time. The guard looked at the ring before letting him pass with a nod.

When he entered the town, he remembered the letter from Old Man and without needing to look at the number written on his arm, went to the alley on his right and after 13 steps he stopped, looked at his right and a little bit further in the alley, he saw a door.

Since it was the closest door and it was covered in a dozen engravings, he supposed it was where he was asked to go. So, he went in front of it and took out the letter from his bag and knocked on the door carefully in the order written on the letter: the lion, the sun, the key, and the chains. When he finished knocking, he put back the letter in his ring, not feeling the change in the mana surrounding him.

After a few moments, he said carefully with in a small and careful voice:

"Freedom is what Freedom let Freedom think Freedom is."

Which was the password that was written on the letter, and he remembered easily because of how peculiar it was.

After 8 seconds the door opened to a dark entrance. After Darkness went through the door frame, the door closed behind him and a small light appeared in front of him. Following it, he arrived quite soon in front of stairs which were going downwards.

After a few dozen steps, he felt passing through a barrier and when his head passed through it, he could "taste" different kinds of mana that he couldn't before.

Since many kinds of mana came at him at the same time, he had difficulties identifying any of them. It took him the 4 minutes to arrive at the bottom of the stairs to be able to differentiate some of them, which were the "taste" of chains, the one of contracts and one other that he couldn't recognize, even though he had a feeling that it wasn't the first time he "tastes" this kind of mana.

While he pondered about this peculiar "taste", more lights appeared in front of him, guiding him to a green door with a light blue lion crouching in front of a navy-blue sun.

When he arrived in front of the door, it was opened by a young-looking elf in butler clothes. The elf invited him inside with his hand and pointed at the green sofa which was in front of a blue table and another sofa (which was blue like almost everything in the room), on which sat an individual in a dark blue cloak. Even though the cloak was not that long, it was still impossible to see any features of the individual.

While walking towards the sofa, the human looked around without being too obvious. The room was well-lit with a chandelier on the ceiling and lights on every wall and above every door frame. There was no other furniture in the room. And four doors other than the one he came from could be seen, three red ones on the other side of the room and one blue one on his right.

After sitting on the sofa, Darkness realized that he should have tried to prevent himself from being recognized, like the individual in front of him was doing. Even more so if his suspicion about what was happening here was right (the password was a big clue).

He didn't have the time regret because the being in front of him said in a neutral and unrecognizable voice:

"-What can we do for you?"

Since he didn't know what was happening here, and what kind of trouble this place was giving to the Town, Dark decided to bet everything in his suspicion and act as if this place was what he suspected it was. And so, he answered in what he hoped to be a confident voice:

"I need a being.

-What kind?

-Young, and if possible, with quite a bit of mana. Doesn't matter which kind of mana.

- All right, we should have some which corresponds to your criterions. If you'd follow me, dear guest."

After saying that the being in front of him stood up and waited for him to also stand up. Which he did. Then the being moved towards the red door in front of them, slightly on the left. Darkness followed him, readying himself for what he would see on the other side of the door.

Which was pure blackness, until the beings stepped through the door frame, then blue lights appeared, illuminating part of the corridor.

The walls were bare for the first 15 meters then grey doors with glass panels started being present on either side of the corridor. Through which the human could slightly see, while moving, different kinds of beings with some of them belonging to Sciouskon.

After walking in silence for about 7 or 8 minutes, the being in front of him stopped. Then, the elf in butler closing, who was moving silently slightly behind them, walked towards the being and gave him half a dozen files.

Darkness, who didn't know that the elf was following them, but was presuming that at least one being was following them, since it was only logical, wasn't that surprised to see the elf.

While the indistinguishable being was looking checking the files, or at least seemed to, he looked through the door on his right and saw a big black spiderweb covering and what seemed to be the back of a giant green spider.

Nothing else could be seen in the room and before he could see what (or should I say who?) was in the room on his left, the cloaked being, seeming having finished checking the files, said presenting the door just after the one in which the giant spider was present:

"Dear guest, let me present you our first product."

The human walked forwards and looked through the door and saw a bunch of rocks lying on the ground. At first, he didn't know what he was looking at, and it took him a few moments trying to remember which kind of Sciouskon was made of stones, which were not that numerous.

"A Golem." Darkness said. "

-Exact dear guest. A stone golem made of the stones from the IndigoLanding Mountain. Since it awakened a year ago, that should fulfill your criteria for age, and as you know IndigoLanding Mountain being one of the color Landing Mountain, the mana is quite abundant there, which should fulfill your second criteria."

At first the young man was about to nod in understanding, but when he heard that the stones that made the golem were from IndigoLanding mountain, he started to frown. His frown only getting deeper when he heard the cloaked being talking about colored Landings Mountains.

Still acting confident, Alpha said, with a glare:

"Stop with your jokes, present me with a proper being fulfilling my criterions.

-Please forgive me for this small test. You had to see if you would be a proper client or just someone who randomly found this place. If you'll follow me, I'll show you proper products this time."

While saying that the cloaked figure had given back three files to the elf, which left him with only two files.

Then he led them a little bit further down the corridor. He stopped in front of another door, this time, there was a humanoid figure visible, it seemed to be chained to the wall.

The indistinguishable pointed to the being inside and said:

"Let me present you our true first product, a young Human male of 19 years old. Even though he is already this old, he doesn't know how to absorb mana inside his body, and he still seems quite perplexed by his own name. All of that, lets us presume that he is an otherworlder, which means his mana may become quite different than any other mana you can find, and since he doesn't know anything yet, you can teach him anything and however you want.

-Interesting, can I go inside, to take a closer look at him, and to ask him a few questions?

-Of course, you can, dear customer. Just be careful to not touch the chain, else he may try to escape.

-Of course, I don't want to lose yet what may become my foo… I mean what may become mine."

While letting a feeling like it was smiling, the cloaked figure raised his left arm toward the door, which opened silently.

Alpha then walked inside. When he got closer to the human who was seated on the wall, he saw that the boy looked young, instead of his 19 years, he would have presumed the boy was 16 or 17. He had a light Asian look, with short light brown hair, and clear green eyes that were fixed on him.

The boy was chained by his ankles and wrist to the wall. And while the chains don't seem to be constraining him that much, they were still preventing him from moving too much from the wall.

When he got close enough to be able to touch the boy, he squatted and looking straight into his eyes and before he could say anything, the boy asked him, with a bit of fair in his voice:

"Who are you?

-Do you think you're in any position to ask me a question? But be glad, I'll answer your question, if you first answer mine: What's your name?

-*weak glare*…. My name is Kagu…. *frown* No, my name is Rider.

-Rider huh?! But you were about to say something else, Kagu something. What did you try to say?

-Well, I wanted to say that my name was Kaguya, but that sounded so wrong that I was forced to change it and say that my name is Rider, which sounds right, and I don't know why!!!!! Wait you didn't answer my question, who are you?"

Kaguya asked his question with desperation in his voice, because he saw that the black-haired man stood up and started to leave.

Hearing the question, the man turned back his head and smiled. But it was not a kind smile, it was a condescending smile.

"Who I am? For you, who'll soon be mine, be happy to know, that I'm your future master."

Hearing that Kaguya paled even more and fell back against the wall, his face full of shock.

During this time, Alpha walked back through the door without glancing back again. The door closed behind him, again silently, without needing any action from the cloaked being who said:

"Dear customer, do you want to see our next product? Or do you want to proceed directly with the purchase?

-There's no need to look to the second one. Just tell me what this boy's price is.

-Of course. *Open the file* it's merely 12 799 Dracoins, is that alright with you?

-Ye… Wait a minute, this much for a young human who can't even harness his mana? Are you kidding me?

- Dear customer, don't forget that what you said means that you can mold him however you want, and furthermore, the fact that he is an otherworlder, which also contributes to his high price.

-You're right. But let me ask you a question: since he is an otherworlder, did you verify whether he had any illness, even one unknown in this world? … Seeing that you're not answering I presume that's not the case, which mean that I will need to verify that, at my own cost. Furthermore, depending on how he came to this world, he may not live longer than a few decades more.

With all of that can you still say that the price is not too high? Or should I give you more reason to give me a fairer price?"

After Alpha said that, only silence remained. Behind his false bravado, Alpha was panicking a little, afraid he went too far with his bargaining.

However, before his panic could be seen on his face, the cloaked being started to laugh. It took a few minutes for the laughing to stop.

"You either have guts or are far more clueless than you showed until now. … Do you know from which company we are?

-From the Blue Lion Company. It was evident with the logo on the door and all the blue.

-But we could have made a fake logo, and just copy their habits to fool customers.

-With the strength of the Blue Lion Company, I'm sure they have a lot of ways to prevent others from copying their logo or use their name without their consents. To be able to do that, you'll need strength so great that there would be absolutely no reason to copy them.

Of course, it's another story if you want to make them take the blame for selling slaves in this Town where slavery is absolutely forbidden. However, such things will do absolutely nothing to the company, not even to their reputation, with all the techniques that existed to prove others innocence or culpability.

And, when the true Blue Lion Company will learn of this trickery they WILL exterminate all person involved, without any exception, no matter how long that will take.

-I was not wrong, you really have guts, bargaining and even saying all that in my face even knowing that I'm from the Blue Lion Company.

-I can say the same thing to you, daring to sell slaves in Border Town, knowing that at least 2 descendants of the Holly War's veterans live here, and with their village being that close. The Blue Lion Company is really one of the craziest companies.

- HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH Confident, knowledgeable, and crazy enough to say whatever you want! I like you!

But it seemed we had strayed away. To go back on the subject of the price of our product: I'll lower the price of our product, what do you think of 7 550 Dracoins?

-Yes, this time the price is fair. However, before I pay you let me see the contracts we'll need to sign.

-Of course, dear customer, we never sell one of our products before signing a contract. If you'd follow me to my office."

Alpha followed the cloaked being forward in the corridors for about 5 more minutes, in silence, before they arrived in front of a blue door. The being opened it, walked inside and sat behind the blue desk.

With its arm it designated the blue chair for him to sit down, which he did. Then it opened one of drawers and picked up a dozen pages, which were given to the customer.

Alpha saw that on the first page, in big letters, was written "Silence Contract (?)". Understanding what kind of document it was, he picked it up and read everything.

There were some legal terms, and some phrasing that he didn't understand, and even though he didn't read the contract that carefully, Alpha didn't find any absurd or extremely restrictive clauses, and got a rough understanding about it.

In short, whether it was directly, or indirectly, by speech, or writing, as long as the other party didn't know about the fact that the Blue Lion Company sold slaves or where they sold them, he couldn't even hint about it. And at the same time, the Blue Lion Company couldn't reveal even a hint about his identity.

After finishing reading the contract, he reread it, this time while putting mana in his contact while thinking about finding hidden clauses that were written in invisible ink or hidden by magick.

He didn't find any.

However, that didn't mean there weren't, just that there were none that could be found with his capabilities.

Gathering his courage, Alpha took the pen that was presented to him and signed the contract on the last page with his name, the name of the Demon Alpha.

Then he gave back the contract to the cloaked being who took another pen and also signed the contract.

When he was sure that the slave seller signed the contract, the pseudo-Demon took five 1000 Dracoins bill, seven 100 Dracoins bill and one 50 Dracoins coin. He gave them to the Blue Lion Company's slave trader who said:

"Thank you for the purchase, dear customer. Please follow me toward the seal room, where we will make the transfer of ownership.

Do you need any explication on how we will proceed?

-Yes, I would prefer some instructions. To be sure that I won't make any mistakes.

- It's very easy, when both you and your freshly purchased product, are both in the seal room, we will activate the room which would make the slave seal be visible on the slave's body and you will just need to put a bit of your blood, or mana if you don't have blood, in the center of the seal. And that's it.

Just try to not make your blood fall on the runes on the ground, otherwise, you may feel a bit of suppression on your mind."

Alpha nodded and continued to follow the seller in silence in the same corridor as previously. They quickly arrived in front of a purple door.

Behind the door, there was a room in the same dimensions as a 200 persons amphitheater. A magic circle seemed to have been engraved with blood, on most of the floor. Inside a faint, almost imperceptible "taste" of blood and chains was present.

While he was looking Kaguya came inside from another door, while being chained and forced to move by a stone Golem and a human female with bulging muscles. Seeing that Alpha thought:

'Are they trying to intimidate him? That would only work with some otherworlder or people who lived in places where power needs to be shown on the body. And there are not that many known places where it's the case.'

Alpha then looked coldly as they removed some of the chains letting him see that Kaguya had been cleaned and that he was now wearing loose but good-looking clothes that were quite fitting on him. They forced him to kneel while baring his back without tearing or damaging the clothes.

At the same time the magic circle began to emit a faint light and the "taste" of chain and seals grew stronger. The cloaked being indicated to Alpha that he could start.

Alpha then walked towards Kaguya who was gritting in pain, then he raised his hands and created a small blade made of dark matter that cut his index and let his blood drop on the magic circle that appeared on the boy's back.

After letting only 5 or 6 drops of blood drop on the magic circle, it went back inside Kaguya's back, who let a scream of pain escape his lips.

Alpha then took two steps back to let the painting boy have some space, before looking at the cloaked being who said:

"Congratulations on successfully obtaining ownership of the slave. Now he won't be able to disobey you.

The clothes he is wearing is a little gift from us. When you'll feel that your slave is fit enough to walk, you can go through the blue door, that will lead you to a safe exit.

I wish you a nice day, dear customer."

Then the cloaked being disappear though a hidden door.

It took two or three minutes before Kaguya was able to walk without much problems. And with a mere "Follow me" from Alpha, they went through the blue door toward Border Towns.

This was how the legendary adventurer and one of his closest associate met for the first time.