“Did you get the item kid?” Morticous asked as he inspected Alexander for any spells or curses.

“No, we searched for the merchant but he’s apparently on the top floor,” Alexander answered as formally as he could. He felt as if the question truly came from a superior, and that anything but the truth would get him punished.

Morticous did not berate the kid or Arthur. He wanted to, but not in front of this crowd. The item had almost certainly been purchased already and that would complicate his plan for floor 1. There was still a possibility; however, that the item was still there. Almost nobody would spend all of their silver to buy mana regeneration.

“I’ll send you to the top. If the item’s already been purchased, feel free to buy something else. Maybe some gear for your skeletons.”

“Don’t they want to speak to me?” Alexander asked, and regretted it the moment after he said it. It wasn’t his place to question Morticous at the moment, but the question had flown out of him so naturally.

“That was just to get my attention,” Morticous said. “We have to play more chess.”

Morticous snapped his fingers and the moment after, Alexander disappeared. To go further down in floor 0 you’d have to find special entrances, as there was active protective measurements. That did not apply for the main district. Morticous simply had to cast the same spell.

“Who wanted to see me?” Morticous said, his eyes stuck at one of the hell knights which had come out of the alleyway. Apart from the others, this one hadn’t shook when his aura had been released, and upon further inspection, Morticous found nothing. It was clear to him that this was somebody special.

“You saw through my disguise so easily,” somebody whispered, but it was not clear who or where it had come from. The sound had the distinct quality of sounding close and far away at the same time, and it came from every direction.

Morticous scoured the air for mana strands. He knew this spell left strands of mana which could be spotted. If a rookie had cast it, he’d already have pinpointed who and from where, yet it seemed the spell had been altered to prevent that, because he couldn’t spot anything.

“It seems the rumors I’ve heard about you are true.”

“Tell me who you are, and we might have a conversation.”

“Verywell. I would not want my knights to be killed. It has been a very tough time getting them into the tower,” somebody spoke, and a rift appeared right beside Morticous. “Call your knight off, and enter the portal. It will take you directly to me.”

The portal could lead him anywhere. If he walked through he could very well find himself in a room with many different holy incantations, and thirty different paladins all with the single-minded task of smiting him down. However, when everything was said and done, Morticous felt pretty confident about those odds.

He willed Arthur to walk away, who happily obliged. There was a succubus bar that would be opening today and he did not want to miss it. He walked away at the precise speed that implied he was not in a rush yet did not want to be disturbed.

Morticous stepped through the portal and found himself in a small room. The walls were painted rose-red and there was a table om the middle. It was bare, holding only a computer, paper, and pens. Behind it was a black, comfy chair with cushions you could sink into, and in front were two chairs. They were similar to the first chair, except a tiny bit shorter.

“Take a seat,” the devil said as he eyed Morticous.

“This conversation won’t go on for that long,” Morticous said as he walked to stand in front of the table. He kept his eyes staring right at the devil. Due to him being a lich he could stand still for very long periods of time, without any effect to himself. It unerved a lot of people and in this scenario he planned to use everything in his advantage.

“Doesn’t mean you can’t be comfortable whilst we talk.”

“If that’s the case, you could offer me a glass of water. Tell me who you are, and why do you want my attention.”

“My name is something most people would kill for.”

“I’ll be going then.”

“Luca Di Primo. That’s my name, and now that we’re acquainted, let’s talk business. Take a seat.”

Morticous complied. It wasn’t that the name held any value. He had never heard it before. That fact pissed him off. Him never hearing of somebody with so much influence in the underworld raised a couple of red flags.

“Do you know what the holy power is planning? Jesus Christ I think his name was.”

“Yes.”

“And what are your thoughts on it?”

“It won’t concern me.”

“If the tree dies, the apple will too.”

“An apple is created by the tree.”

“And supported by the tree. Also, who do you think he’s going to go after after he’s gotten me?”

“I’d like to see him try.”

“It’s not you. He’s going to come after Alexander.”

“That’s who I was talking about.”

“What makes you so sure he can stand against the holy power?”

“This conversation is over. Next time you threaten any of my units, I’ll have your head.”

Morticous stood up, and created a portal leading to the main floor. The circumstances had changed, and he needed to talk to Alexander.

“It was a pleasure talking to you Morticous. I think we’ll be seeing more of each other.”

“Also,” Morticous said and cast a death ray right at Luca’s chest. A black laser shot out from the tip of his finger, burrowing right into Luca’s chest. “Fire your illusionist.”

Luca Di Primo laughed.

“Don’t worry about that. He’s dead.”

***

After Morticous cast his spell, Alexander was alone in the main district. He was slightly irritated. He really wanted to find out what they were talking about. At the same time, he was happy to not be surrounded by monsters.

After that experience, the main district felt a lot more safe. He found himself in he booth he had been in when he first came to floor 0. There were two guards which stared intently at him, fortunately it wasn’t the two Morticous had knocked out.

“A cripple,” one guard said. Alexander’s face remained passive which angered the guard a little. “What’s your name?”

“Alexander.”

“Full name,” the guard said with a stern voice.

“Alexander Gray.”

“Whilst in floor 0 the word of the guards must be followed. We are representatives of the tower,” Alexander nodded even though he knew the guard was lying. “Stealing will be met with a seven day prohibition. Any fighting will be met with a seven day prohibition. In the event that you seriously injure or kill another being, you will be killed and anybody in your party will be punished.”

“What are you waiting for?” The other guard said. “Get the hell out of my sight you disgusting cripple.”

Alexander rolled down the ramp and into the crowd. All of a sudden he didn’t feel too bad about Morticous knocking the other guards down. He’d make sure to learn that spell and cast it each time he entered floor 0 in the future.

The crowd was thicker than it had been before. Alexander guessed more people had finished their initial training and came here to relax and gear up. The wonderful smell of barbequed meat wafted through the air.

He saw other people and creatures with pristine gear walking around. It didn’t look as though it suited them fully though. It was very gimmicky, and Alexander thought that was because they didn’t own it properly.

Slowly, he made his way throughout the crowd. He couldn’t quite manoeuvre and slide through the people due to his wheelchair. He had to take it slowly, letting the space create itself. It gave him a lot of time to inspect the buildings to the side, and the merchants inside.

From what he’d heard off the other merchants down in the underworld, Spencer was a rich guy, a big shot. Other big shots in the main district would almost certainly have heard of him coming here, so instead of wandering around pointionlessly, Alexander decided that once he saw a large store, he’d ask the owner where Spencer was.

He kept his eyes on the signs and the size of the stores around him. There were many taverns, each one having a drawing of a mug. He spotted many wooden signs with different weapons on them. They had distinct colours, most of them being green, but occasionally one would be blue. There had to be a meaning behind it, and he would figure it out.

Fortunately, after a minute he spotted a sign made out of metal. It hung off a larger store which looked quite high end. The ramp leading to the entrance proved it, being more to show off than placed for any utility.

There were many pedestals in the store, each one topped by a glass container. There was jewellery inside which sparkled and shined. A price tag said that each piece cost somewhere between 100 to 400 gold. Before he had a chance to look further at the pieces, the store clerk stood in front of him.

“The only option for people like you is to get out of here,” the clerk said with a dismissive sneer. It wasn’t personal as much as not caring for anybody who wasn’t going to purchase something. And as far as he was concerned, Alexander was a waste of time, and nothing more.

“Okay,” Alexander said, “do you happen to know where Spencer is?”

“Of course I know where he’s at, kid,” the clerk grumbled. “He’s on the other side of the street.”

“Thanks,” Alexander said and left the store. He’d gotten lucky.

It took a few minutes to get from one side of the street to the other. Whilst he had been moving forward, he had been following the stream of people. Now however, he had to actively fight against it. Each time he cut somebody off, he smiled, apologised and continued moving before they had a chance to say anything.

Spencer’s store was the polar opposite of the jewellery store, while it had looked high end and modern, Spencer’s store looked the opposite. The smell of old books, musk, and ancient wood permeated the store.

There were many shelves lined up on the walls, and many different wares hung on them. Helmets were put beside books. Swords were put beside jewellery. On the same hanging line he’d hung hats, jewellery, and coats. Everything had a price tag, and there didn’t seem to be any order to it.

Spencer himself was a large ferret man. He stood behind a counter and seemed to fiddle between two crystals. One was blue, the other was red, and each time they touched each other they were promptly repelled, one down, the other upwards. The man was so engrossed in it that it didn’t seem he had noticed Alexander.

“Excuse me,” Alexander said. The ferret’s head jerked upwards, staring right at Alexander. “Are you spencer?”

“Yes I am. Say kid, have you seen crystals like this? They work like magnets but instead of being repelled or attracted to each other, when they touch, one of them shoots towards the core of the planet whilst the other shoots away. Isn’t that just amazing?”

“That sounds cool,” Alexander said. “Morticous told me you sold an item for ten silvers that gave a lot of mana regeneration. Has anybody purchased it?”

“No. It’s still here. I had a kid look at it earlier. He wanted to buy it but his trainer told him it would be stupid not to buy something with some spell enhancing properties. I shouldn’t have said that to you. Ehh, what’s done is done. I’ll bring the staff, give me a second.”

Spencer wandered into the back of the store, and a moment after, he came back with a short blue stick in hand. It was made out of some sort of crystal, and was perhaps three pinkies in size.

“Here it is. Azulithian practice wand. 300% increase in mana regeneration.”

“That sounds just like what I want,” a familiar voice said although Alexander couldn’t place who it was. He looked back and found both William Ze Froe standing there and his trainer, the white haired man. “We’ll take it.”

“I’m sorry,” Spencer said. “But the kid was first.”

The white haired man walked forward until he leaned over the counter. “Listen to me ferret. Sell that item to me or I will make sure today is the last day you ever get to sell here.”

Spencer looked back to the kid. “Kid, didn’t you say you knew Morticous? Where might he be?”

“Right here.”