Chapter 11: Black Market

The day has gotten old and the night is still young. Streetlights along the road lit up. Whether it was morning or night made no difference to the road's activity; people walked to-and-fro as much as they did during the daytime. A notable difference, however, was the fact that there were people sleeping alongside the road. Some had their weapons clutched tight in their sleep, and others boldly slept with it at their side.

Morr walked out of the tavern and shook his head. The sudden wake-up to a nightlife tavern rattled his brain. Before he left, he asked for the direction to a bank in the city. Consequently, he received a simple map of the city for a fee of 1000 copper coins, which was deducted from his card.

“Is everyone homeless… or is this culture?” Morr wondered.

Following the road northwest led to a splitting path. Morr consulted the map and took the right path. The upcoming building had the word “BANK” written onto a sign grounded in front of it. Entering the building revealed an old man behind a glass window with his remaining hair and beard painted white. Before him, on the left side of the wall, was a bulletin board that has many papers posted on it.

“Hello, Mundane.” Morr greeted.

“Greetings, Aisling.” The clerk greeted.

“Can you tell me how much money is left in this?” Morr slipped his royal-blue card into the slot of the window.

“The fee will cost 500 silver coins, is that fine?” The clerk asked.

“Yes.” Morr answered.

“Just a moment.” The clerk left through the backdoor.

Morr walked towards the bulletin board and inspected the papers on it. The first paper had a request that was looking for a wizard to party-up, with the sender’s name at the bottom. The second paper he pulled out was selling a claymore for only 1000 gold coins. The third paper swore that the Lv. 5 Warrior, Gratt Fumes, will find whoever stole his precious sword and humiliate them for the rest of their lives.

“Here you go.” The clerk returned the card. “The card currently contains 500 copper coins, 500 silver coins, and 5 gold coins.”

“Thank you.” Morr placed the card into his pocket. “If you don’t mind, how much does it cost to purchase a house in Mileth?”

“A house at your age? It won’t be cheap.” The clerk commented. “The cheapest ones go as low as 100 gold coins, but those are located out of the city. If you’re not an adventurer or a solider, I highly recommend to increase your budget to at least 500 gold coins. You’ll be able to purchase a house in the city for that price.”

“If I may ask one more question, what do you think is the fastest way of earning money?” Morr inquired.

“A high-risk high-reward job…” The clerk looked at the boy’s scrawny arms. “Go into the business industry?”

“Sounds good. Anything else?” Morr asked.

“Well, there is becoming an adventurer… but I doubt your physique would work out.” The clerk scratched his head.

“Thank you. I’ll take your words into consideration.” Morr exited the building.

“500 copper coins, 500 silver coins, and 5 gold coins… I’ll have to spend them carefully. But an adventurer, huh? I’ve been hearing that word a lot lately.” Morr opened his map under a streetlight.

Following the road on the map, Morr traveled south from the bank and back towards the tavern. From there, he crossed the bridge and took a right from the fountain. The enormous rock came into view without the massive crowd from earlier today. A few poorly-geared warriors and wizards slept near the entrances, as if they didn’t care about thieves or criminals.

Morr entered the entrance of the rock and stumbled upon a small room with two soldiers stationed by a descending staircase. The well-lit room was thanks to the aid of the torches on the wall. Upon approaching the staircase, the soldiers stopped Morr from passing through.

“Go back, Aisling. You are not strong enough to pass through.” The soldier firmly stood his ground.

“If you wish to pass, then go to the Temple of Choosing. Once you’ve receive a mark, then you may pass.” The other soldier informed.

“Then I’ll be back.” Morr exited the crypt.

Finding the Temple of Choosing didn’t take long. He recalled that this was Pontiff’s destination during the day. Morr passed the fountain and easily spotted the grand temple.

But as soon as he took a step on the ascending stairway, he was repelled by an unstoppable force.

“What!?” Morr exclaimed.

That force came out of nowhere and completely caught him by surprise. He quickly turned his head around, but there was no one suspicious nearby. After deep breathing, he calmed himself and took another step onto the ascending stairway. But then again, another wave of unstoppable force pushed him off.

“What just happened…” Morr was completely in disbelief.

Just then, he noticed the brand on his right hand -- a burn mark of an hourglass with a plant sprouting inside -- shining and fading away. Morr lifted his hand to eye-level and walked forward. And again, he was repelled by an unknown force, and the brand definitely lit up like before.

“Is this what they were talking about?” Morr wondered.

He made his way back inside the crypt and approached the soldiers.

“Have you received your mark, Aisling?” The soldier inquired.

“This?” Morr lifted his right hand.

Both soldiers examined the brand on his hand and then looked at each other.

“Did you draw this yourself?” The soldier asked.

“What? No.” Morr denied.

“It looks genuine, but I’ve never seen this symbol before.” The other soldier grabbed Morr’s hand and inspected it closer.

“What should we do?” The soldier on the left asked the soldier on the right.

“It should be fine… probably. Have you registered as an adventurer, yet?” The soldier asked Morr.

“I haven’t.” Morr answered.

“…Are you a citizen of Mileth?” The soldier asked.

“Of course I am.” Morr answered.

“Show me your identification.” The guard demanded.

“Uh… it’s at home.” Morr replied.

“It’s already dark.” The guard sighed. “Why not come back tomorrow?”

“No, I have to do it now.” Morr said convincingly. “Do you want me to starve?”

“It’s that bad, huh? We’re stationed here all night, so come back with your identification and we’ll let you through.” The guard instructed.

Morr exited the crypt and took out his map underneath a streetlight.

After pinpointing the market on the map, Morr quickly departed towards the road. After heading north from the fountain, Morr passed the tavern and encountered an inn. “Pathfinder’s Inn” can be seen at the top of the wooden building. Many people enjoying the coziness of its warmth can be seen through the transparent windows.

Walking further north, he finally reached the market. Stalls were setup under tents, but not many of them are here at this time. They had their own lamp attached to a wooden beam next to the tent. Some of the vendors turned off the flames in the lamp as they packed up for tonight. Others turned their lamps on as they set up their stall. They were uniformly lined up so that any shoppers can look to the left and right as they walked along the road.

Morr walked across one row of stalls, then another one, and finally one more. He then came back to the first stall and pretended to inspect their wares. The vendor recognized the boy from a few minutes ago and raised two fingers.

“20% off for a limited time.” The vendor said.

“Not these. I want something more… difficult to get.” Morr took out the royal-blue card from his pocket and deliciously presented it to the vendor.

The words “Membership: Blue” instantly attracted the vendor’s eyes.

“Ah, I’m sorry, I thought I was talking to a kid.” The man pointed to a dagger on display. “Purchase this. It’ll greatly help you in your travels.”

Morr looked at the dagger with the price tag of 100 silvers. He then looked at the vendor, and the vendor met his gaze with a nod and a wink.

Morr handed his card to the vendor. After a few seconds of authentication checks, the vendor swiped the card into a machine and handed the card back along with a note.

Opening up the note read: “Black market in the northwest corner of Mileth.”

“Thanks.” Morr waved goodbye.

“It was my pleasure.” The vendor attached a message to a pigeon and it soared away.

Morr opened his map and looked at the northwest corner of Mileth. Other than trees and grasses, nothing notable was marked on the map at that spot. He followed the map passed an altar, a weapon shop, and finally arrived at his destination. Surprisingly, what wasn’t marked on the map was a small building about one-story high.

The closed door didn’t seem very inviting. Three knocks on the door, and he waited for a response. A few seconds later, the door hatched a small opening with a pair of eyes falling onto Morr. It then shifted to a piece of paper, then back at the boy wearing a black cape.

“Show me your card.” The doorkeeper asked.

Morr gripped his card tightly and presented it.

“Come, come!” The doorkeeper greeted Morr with a smile and fully opened the door.

Inside had a scarce amount of vendors compared to the nightlife market, but the quality on display were many levels above its counterpart. Morr didn’t even know where to begin. Everything here looks extremely pricey, and he had no way to ascertain their quality.

“Gem polishing for only 500 gold coins!” A serviceman shouted.

“Gem polishing for only 400 gold coins!” A servicewoman shouted.

“Well-equipped yourself with these gears!” A vendor shouted.

“What’s wrong? Need a tour?” The doorkeeper asked.

Morr got closer to the man and whispered, “I need a citizenship.”

The doorkeeper pointed to a blonde hair with a slender physique. The man had a black cloth wrapped around his forehead and his mouth. The dark green and red, skin-tight outfit he wore was specifically tailored for nimble movements.

Morr walked up to him and asked, “Do you sell citizenships?”

The man looked at Morr and said, “50 gold coins.”

“Can you lower it a little bit?” Morr cracked a smile.

“49 gold coins and 900 silvers.” The man replied.

“How about… 5 gold coins!” Morr joyfully said.

“Go home kid. Don’t come here if you don’t have any money.” The man shooed him away.

“Wait! I’ll pay you back after I become an adventurer!” Morr pleaded.

“100 gold coins.” The man said resolutely.

“A h-hundred gold coins?!” Morr was at a loss for words.

“No, wait. I forgot I need to buy dinner tomorrow.” The man scratched his head. “Make it 200 gold coins.”

“T-t-two… hundred…” The life within him was completely devoid of all of its color.

“Don’t want it? Go home.” The man shooed him away again.

“No… I’ll take it.” Morr handed him his card.

“I hope you can pay it off.” The man took his card and swipe it across a machine. “I’ve set it to auto-payment, so anytime you deposit money into this card, it’ll automatically transfer the amount to me. Don’t worry about the little fund left in there, I didn’t touch those.”

“The people in this city are so nice. I thought I would, for sure, have to break an arm or two if they stole my card. Or, worse, take advantage of me.” Morr said innocently.

“Are you threatening me? Should I make it 1000 gold coins?” The man threatened.

“Huh? Did I say something?” Morr sheepishly smiled.

“No one would steal this card in the first place. It only takes one second to cancel this card and alert Mileth Guards and Rucession Guards of the incident. The bank takes their membership very seriously, you know.” The man gave Morr a paper with many fields required to be filled-in.

Morr answered all the field and handed it back to the man.

“Morr Yore… I’ll need your blood on the paper.” The man handed him a toothpick.

Morr complied and smeared the blood onto the paper.

“Good.” The man wrapped the paper around a small, rectangular plastic card.

The man whispered a few words, and the card and paper began to morph into one. A blue light shone during the process, and faded away when finished. The result of it was a new card with Morr’s information on it.

Mileth Citizenship Name: Morr Yore Occupation: N/A Level: 0 Path: #####

The man inspected the card, perplexed at ‘path’ being unreadable, then handed the card back to Morr.

“This has been a very interesting night.” The man said. “My name is Daith, Master Rogue, and also the rogue trainer for this city. Come find me if you need my services again.”

“I will.” Morr exited the building, and the only thing running through his mind was to pay the debt as quickly as possible.

He made his way back to Mileth Crypt and approached the soldiers blocking the stairway.

“Here you go.” Morr presented his ID.

The soldiers examined his ID and then looked at each other.

“What’s wrong with his path?” The soldier on the left asked. “I can’t read it.”

“True.” The soldier on the right shrugged. “His ID looks correct though. Let’s leave the questions to the wizards and master wizards.”

“You may pass.” The soldier on the left said. “I've updated your occupation. Good luck, Aisling.”