Chapter 9 Kindle To The Flame

With their bellies full, and stats buffed, they all set out to work. Jason went to find the guy who sold him illegal ingredients, Jack headed over to the trade terminal, and Jasmine accompanied by Axel, headed over to Barb’s stall.

The central was desolate. Axel pictured it as a bustling market, just like the rest in the city. He wanted it to become a thriving market. Mainly because, the guards would come here. It was deemed too dangerous for them, and rightly so. The slums was left behind from the rest of the city. There were no cleaners, no influx of food; only crime, syphilis and rats.

“Hey, Barb,” Axel said, walking over to him.

“Who’s that with you?” Barb questioned cautiously, nodding to Jasmine.

“This is Jasmine, a new business partner. She has sticky fingers.”

Barb nodded approvingly while folding his arms. “It is good to branch out. But be warned, having too many people means some of their mouths move.”

“What does that mean?” Jasmine innocently asked.

“She can keep silent,” Axel comforted. “She may be a novice at this sorta work, but she’s good. In fact, she got all these in a day.” He laid them out on the table for Barb to see.

“Nine hours,” Jasmine corrected.

Barb picked one up to examine. Like he did with the weapons that Axel gave him, he took off the leather straps.

“She’s smart,” Barb declared.

Axel was confused. He asked why.

“She’s stealing off of terrible vendors. Those that don’t keep on eye on their wares.” He picked up another one and removed the leather straps. “See here; a winged turtle. A new trader who goes by the name of Sloucher. He’s old and almost blind. And this one; the three moons of Elysium, it means this is from a large production line. Those that buy from from a production line buy cheap shit. It means they’re inexperienced buyers, hence inexperienced sellers.”

Jasmine nodded with a smile on her face. “Thank you.”

In truth, Axel was surprised at just how good Jasmine was. He had put a plan to effect back then, but he hadn’t thought about the vendor. It was definitely a key factor when stealing.

“There’s some good items here. I’d say 19 gold.”

It wasn’t a good deal, the items were good, and I See Coins told him they were roughly 26 gold between them. “It’s not a goo-”

“I’m talking to your lady friend, Hoarder,” Barb interjected, giving Axel a discrete wink.

Jasmine was a little frightened. Barb was an intimidating figure. But she sucked up her courage and challenged, “That’s quite a low price, don’t you think?”

“Hmm,” Barb contemplated. “And how much do you think?”

“Twenty-three gold. It’s a little low, but I hope it’ll be a good start to our relationship,” Jasmine said.

“Not bad, Jasmine,” Barb complimented. “You’re argument was good, but you need to be more aggressive. We do not have relationships in this kind of business; it’s favours, and honest dealing. Never show your weak side. Twenty-three gold it is. One gold for the lesson.”

Axel chuckled. “I could have taught her that for free.”

“But you didn’t,” Barb responded with a grin. “I suspect you’re here for another reason though.”

“There you go Barb, reading my mind again. Jasmine’s setting up a thieving ring, using the warehouse as base. We want to try and shift large quantities of weapons. I know that you can’t take them all, but do you have other friends that would?”

Barb pondered on his response. “Is this a favour?”

“No,” Axel responded straight. “I’m offering you business, and that leads to my real favour.”

“Cashing in so soon, are we?”

“No point holding onto a favour if it will help me.”

“Good point. Go on.”

“I need you to set Jason up a stall here. I want him to sell potions in the central square here.”

“And he agreed to that?” Barb questioned.

“Yes?” Axel questioned, furrowing his eyebrows.

“That bloody idiot,” cursed Barb. “For months I’ve been trying to get him to sell his potions. He could make a fortune with his talent.”

“Huh,” Axel pondered. He wondered what it could possibly be. Then it hit him. “He’s never had a goal, has he? He’s never been apart of something.”

“Perhaps,” Barb wondered. “He’s never really had any friends either. It may be because you’re all young.”

“Ah, so it’s either peer pressure, or just plan old mob mentality.”

“Well, whatever, Hoarder. I will happily accept that favour. May I ask, what are your plans? There always seems to be an ulterior motive to anything you say or do.”

“I want to transform this place,” Axel said simply. “Turn it into the new market of Tresluna. That’s why I want Jasmine to start picking pockets everywhere else aside from here.”

Barb stared chuckling. “It’s ambitious, I’ll give you that, Hoarder.”

“I know,” Axel responded. “I have some ways of doing it. The travellers will be the first to come, then it will be the residents of Tresluna.”

“Interesting,” Barb said, rubbing underneath his eyepatch. “Alright then. I will speak to some friends. May I ask of the volume of the weapons you want to sell.”

Axel looked to Jasmine for answers. “How many kids am I gonna have?” she asked Axel.

“Don’t phrase it like that . . . It will depend. It could 5-50, however many you can get under your wing.”

“Let’s say 100 weapons a day. Average price- 8 silver.”

Barb nodded. “That seems alright. I have many friends, so I can take in more if necessary.”

“Great,” Axel said, “thank you, Barb.”

“You’re welcome, Hoarder. I will build Jason a stall close mine, but not too close. And that is a favour for a favour.”

{You have used your favour with Barb _____. Given enough time, or by increasing your relationship with Barb _____, you may receive more favours}

Axel nodded his head. “I’ll come back to set it all up. Jasmine will be paying you a lot of visits.”

“I hope so,” Barb said, tipping his head to her.

They their collected their coin, and headed back towards the base.

“So, Jasmine. You know what I’m gonna ask you to do?”

“Child slavery? Sure, I’m in.”

“That sounds bad when you put it like that. You’ll need to put them on a day-to-day payroll. Give them an percentage of what they steal. Not to high, and not too low. Plus, those kids are broke, they’ll do anyth- it does sound like child labour. They’re gonna be cheap at least.”

“We are playing the villain, so yeah,” Jasmine agreed with a smile.

“Thanks. I appreciate you doing this for me.”

Jasmine just wanted to play the villain. It was simple. Axel never understand doing anything for free. If she enjoyed it so much, why didn’t see get paid for it? That was always Axel’s thinking however. He knew he was greedy, but there’s no point in being in working for free.

“It’s cool. My dads a police officer, so he’s really strict on stuff.”

“The rebellious stage,” Axel joked with a smile.

“Kinda. He’d kill me if I found out what I was doing.”

“Playing games or?”

“The villain stuff. He’s really religious.”

“Regardless, I’m happy you’re helping,” Axel truthfully said.

Axel hated religion. Not because of the belief, but the massive wealth accrued by the greedy bastards in charge. It was just an added 20% on top of tax. He hated paying tax, and would most probably claw his eyes out if he had to pay the church. Axel knew she was also wealthy. Her mannerisms and hesitant attitude meant she was sheltered, and still is. He was sheltered himself, but the roof came right off four years ago. Once he got to know her, she wasn’t as annoying as she once was. She was smart also, for a thief needed cunning to act.

“Jason!” Axel shouted as he opened the door into the warehouse.

“Now cooking up!” Jason shouted back.

“I’ll be off then,” Jasmine said. “Good luck with your performance, Jason!”

“Thank you, Jasmine.”

She took her leave shortly after, away to hire some child labourers.

“How’s it all coming?” Axel asked, sitting down on a crate near him.

Jason was hunched over a few beakers, watching the bubbles forming intensely. He was scrutinising every small movement. “Jussst, fine. The guy had some good shit; I spent all of it.”

He was ok with spending 10 gold. He did have a fair bit on himself. They were good investments, and Axel loved a good investment.

“How long?” Axel asked.

“A few minutes.”

“So, how did you get into alchemy?” Axel asked, trying to pass the time.

“Saw a guy selling potions when I was younger. I asked, he taught. It was Barb, if you haven’t guessed already.”

“Barb’s an alchemist?” Axel questioned. There was far more to the lanky man.

“He’s alright. Knows the basic health and mana potions. That’s when I fell in love with it. It’s like a bowl of soup, you never know if there’s gonna be an eyeball inside.”

“That’s ruined soup for me,” Axel stated, coughing after.

“A soup can have a thousand different flavours. Infinite if you can mix them all together. Alchemy is like that. A never ending puzzle of possibilities and pleasure.”

“That’s the most intelligent thing you’ve said so far,” commented Axel. “Where’s your dad?”

“Really? It’s that sort of conversation. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t have one.”

“My dad left too,” Axel admitted. He wanted to open up to Jason. He seemed young, so good impressions meant a good relationship with him. That did involve a pity play however. “Bastard left me in a world of debt.”

“Mine just left me with these,” Jason said, pushing apart the fur on his arm to reveal cigarette burns.

“Jesus,” Axel muttered. “Is he dead?”

“I hope so,” Jason chimed. “I couldn’t really care. Barb tried to take me in when I was young. He’s pretty fucking scary when you get to know him. The man eats screws for breakfast.”

“Yeah, I got that,” Axel said with a short exhale. “He said he was-”

“Old, way too old. He’s a walking corpse. He still looks better off than you.”

“Yeah, no shit. I haven’t real food in years.”

“Not anymore,” Jason remarked. “Your new roommate has a side hobby of cooking.”

“Yeah, I noticed that . . . No soup though.”

“What? It’s fun when you find an eyeball in there. Like gold in sand.”

Axel pretended his stomach was churning. It got a laugh out of Jason, and that was what he wanted.

“All finished.” He turned around and removed the goggles from his head. He was still in his birthday suit.

“You need to put something on first. And I need those clothes I gave you back.”

“Of course, I’m not an exhibitionist,” declared Jason. Axel took the starter gear back, and gave him the clothes he was wearing.

“What am I? 40? I look like a dad of twelve in this,” Jason spat, looking at the dead man’s clothes.

“Do whatever you want with ‘em. Tear the sleeves off or something. You need to try and look even more eccentric than you already are.”

“What’s eccentric?”

“People think your gay, that’s if you’re a bloke. But in reality, you just don’t give a fuck about what anyone thinks. You do you.”

“I’m eccentric then,” Jason said proudly, hands on hips. He threw a knife in the air and caught it swiftly. He went about cutting off arms and the collar off, making him look like a terrible pirate. “How’s this?” he asked.

“Like you haven’t the touch of a woman before,” Axel stated. “Eccentric enough.”

“Alright, so what’s the plan?”

Axel grinned. “I’ll explain on the way.”

With Axel in the starter gear clothes, and Axel in the dead man’s ones, they started walking towards the market at the gates.

“Why am I carrying this?” whined Jason, pulling along the rickety cart. There were potions inside, and were clattering about as the cart bumped om the cobblestones.

“Authenticity,” Axel explained. He could have just put it into his inventory. But he kind of liked to see Jason in dismay.

“So the plan is for me to make a performance of everything. And you’re going to be-”

“A helpless bystander who you picked for the demonstration. You’ll need to belittle me. People like to see others uncomfortable. You know everyone’s a psychopath underneath their ego.”

“I do have some really strange potions so it might work,” Jason queried.

“It will work,” Axel insisted. “You have to trust me. Are you good with crowds?”

“I uh- kinda. I don’t know really. It’s not like I’ve put on a performance before.”

“I genuinely think you’ll do fine,” Axel said honestly. Jason seemed like the type to not care what people thought. For instance, he was naked when they first met. And in the morning, and only a few minutes ago. “You heard the term, imagine everyone in the crowd is nake before?”

“That would just get me turned on.”

Axel started chuckling. Jason was unintentionally funny. “Ok.” Axel rubbed his chin in thought. Eventually, he said, “Imagine you’re already a world star performer. No matter what you do or say, the people will clap.”

Jason raised his cheekbones in disbelief. “Axel, I-”

“Jason, you’ll do fine. I really think, that as soon you get into it, it will come naturally.”

“Fine. But if I screw up, it’s your fault.”

“Already switching the blame,” Axel stated with a grin. “Come on, we’re almost there.”

Once in the busy market at the front of the city, Axel left Jason to set up the small stalL. He, on the other hand, went to pay Lenny a visit. Before however, he ran over to a drink stall and bought a jug of the finest they had.

With his starter gear on, he headed out the front of the city. Lenny was stationed on the other side of the guard house; players blocked the view from them. Axel brought out a cup, and before filling it up, dropped a silver coin inside.

“Good morning, Lenny,” Axel said, handing him the drink.

“Good morning, Hoarder. You’re up early.”

“As with a hard worker like yourself,” pandered Axel. “The early bird gets the worm.”

Lenny’s eyes landed at the bottom of the drink, and looked back up to him. “Do you want something?” he asked.

“No, actually,” Axel replied honestly. “We’re going to do a performance. But don’t worry, the guards won’t be able to do anything . . . I actually wondered if you had any information for me?”

Lenny took a sip of the drink. “Well, Draconia has gone to war with Ervos.”

“Uh, where are they?” Axel asked. War made for great profit.

“The other islands that make up Elysium. I have a map if you’d like to see. My father gave it to me before he passed.”

Axel was intrigued by the map. He expected it to be smaller, but it was ten times larger than the last game he played. It looked like a real world. There were eight continents, and over 12 cities he could travel too. He had admit, he was impressed. The Badlands looked to be an endgame location, with the Last City as the calm before the storm. His younger self would want to visit them all, collecting items on the way.

“You said Ervos and Draconia?” Axel asked.

“Yes,” replied Lenny. “The two have been at each others throats since the Chaos Seed. It was only a matter of time.”

“Chaos Seed?” Axel questioned. He hadn’t read up on the game at all. He didn’t even realise there was a main story.

“In the first age, a great Emperor ruled over the islands. Then he heard rumours of a Chaos Seed. A seed so powerful, it even challenged the gods. The Emperor used all his resources to acquire it, but it only made his starving people resent him. In the end, his generals turned against him, and the chaos seed was lost in The Badlands.The seed was left alone, and the chaos spread throughout the lands. Then it created monsters and magic. From then on, the world has been in utter ruin. This city formed from those who worshipped the three moons, and named the continent Triumterra.”

“Nice bit of lore,” Axel noted under his breath. The map showed that the two countries were on the opposite side of the map to him, so there was no real point in trying to make money from the war. “What’s with the three moons then?”

“The three moons are the three higher gods. One is of darkness, the other is light, and the last is the loose string between them.”

“You’re a great speaker,” Axel said. He then realised it was an automated response given to all NPCs. “Their names?”

“They don’t have them. They are only known as The Three Moons. The lesser gods created by them have their own, but the list is rather lengthy.”

“Interesting . . . Anyway Lenny, there’s going to be a bit of commotion, but don’t worry about it. Enjoy your drink. Make sure to give the rest to the other guards.”

“I will, Hoarder. Thank you, again.”

“You’re welcome, Lenny.”