Chapter 71 Black Market
The Vulture fledgling looked curiously as blood symbols crawled on his body and quickly vanished, and within a few seconds, the entire magic circle got absorbed into his body.
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[Congratulation Player Hidden One]
[Blood Contract Successful]
[Beast Companion Acquired: Poisonous Vulture]
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"Little buddy, Now we are lifelong companions, and don't worry, I will turn you into the strongest Poisonous Vulture this world has seen in centuries," Alex said with a wide smile.
Alex knew of many high-quality beast evolution material locations from his previous life, and those materials were more than enough for him to evolve tens of beast companions.
"SHHRRIIEEKKKKK" Vulture sound.
"It's time for you to sleep," Alex said as he used the system to send the little Vulture into the beast companion space.
The beast companion space was very useful as the beast companion placed into it would be put to deep slumber by the system until it gets summoned back by its master.
'After acquiring this last legacy, I should quickly complete the deal with Badger and Hecate before going to the forbidden land to get my own legacy.'
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Alex left the hotel and navigated his way to the outer area of the capital city, and after traveling toward a set destination, he reached a small shack that looked no different than any other house in the near vicinity.
'No one will believe that this run-down shack is the entrance to the human continent's biggest black market.' Alex thought as he walked toward the normal-looking wooden shack.
"Adventurer, you should leave this place." Alex heard a voice just as he touched the shack door.
"This should be enough to give me entry, or do you also want to check if I have money to spend?" Alex said as he took out his royal guest badge.
"Esteem Noble Earl, I apologize for wasting your time." Alex heard the voice again after a few seconds.
The black market was a very special place, not just because it was the biggest illegal market on the human continent but because it was mostly run and owned by non-humans.
Humans entirely dominated the human continent as even if some areas were in control of non-human species, they still were under the rule of the human empire and gave yearly tributes for safety and protection.
The Black market was not different as it was allowed to exist by the permission of the white flame empire because it provided many benefits to the human continent while doing little to no harm doing its illegal and legal business.
The Black market was a restricted place, with many guardians keeping watch on every entrance, only allowing people with enough strength and money to enter.
The Black market had such strict rules not because the market didn't want to do business with weak people but because an average person would die before even reaching the location of the black market.
'I should be alright for two hours with my current strength.' Alex thought as he entered the shack and walked toward the underground wooden stair that led to a tunnel.
The Black market was located deep underground, and the only way to reach there was by using one of the few known tunnels.
After reaching the underground tunnel, Alex walked a small distance and reached a big clearing with more than forty magic travel carts stationed on cart tracks.
'I should choose a comfy magic cart.' Alex thought, and after a quick look, he selected his ride.
The area had many carts, and they all had the same purpose of taking people to the underground black market, with the only difference being comfort and price.
The area had no managing person as the whole cart system was designed to run automatically by high-rank magic.
All the magic carts were easy to control as they only had two levers, one for starting the cart and turning it off while the other for stopping the cart when needed.
After entering his cart, Alex started his short journey, and after traveling for a few minutes at a moderate speed, he reached his destination.
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'This site always amazes me.' Alex thought, standing at the tunnel's exit, looking at a bustling underground city.
"Adventurer, first time seeing the city of [Sunken Diamond]? I can arrange a guide for you if you pay a little extra." The officer that collected the rent for the magic cart asked Alex with a friendly tone showing Alex his sharp toothy grin.
"I can handle myself just fine," Alex replied, having enough knowledge and experience not to trust anyone inside the black market.
Alex left the area and walked straight toward the city to quickly acquire the item he came to buy, as he could only stay underground for a limited time because of the high-density mana presence.
The whole underground area had at least ten-time the normal mana density, which was amazing for any strong person, but it was nothing less than a slow poison for an average person.
The minimum requirement to stay in the Sunken Diamond city for a long time was to be a third Rank or above warrior because anyone with less strength would die because of mana poisoning.
The strength requirement was only for humans and not the city-inhabitant demi-humans who ruled the city and owned most of its businesses because they were not affected by the large quantity of mana and lived without any fear of getting mana poisoning.
"Sir Adventurer, Please show your identity." The weasel demi-human guard at the city entrance asked Alex.
The guard knew that with Alex's strength, he shouldn't be here, but his presence here only meant his identity wasn't normal.
"You don't need to worry. I will leave the city in two hours." Alex said, showing the guard his noble badge.
"Sir, I could be of great help if you need some information." The guard said with a bright smile after seeing the noble badge knowing he had just avoided making a big blunder.
'I don't need any help, but buying his favor for just a few gold coins is a great deal.' Alex knew the guard would try his best to be on his good side.
"I want to know where I could acquire the meat of a high Ranking poisonous beast," Alex asked for the information that would benefit him the most.
Alex knew it would be impossible to check all the secret stores he knew in just two short hours as they were all over the city, and going to every one of them would need a whole day.
'He knows something interesting.' Alex thought, seeing the guard looking around, checking all directions before getting near Alex.
'-Sir, There is a rumor going around in the city that Zame butcher shop has received a complete carcass of a Rank five beast.-'
"This is the black market city. There should be quite a few shops with Rank five beast carcasses for sale." Alex said, clearly unpleased with the guard.
'I was going to give a good tip as I am feeling generous, but this bastard is trying to rip me off by selling an unconfirmed rumor.'
'-Sir, The rumor is true, and the special thing about the Rank five beast is that he is a Mutated Chimera.-' the guard said slowly.
'I don't think he is lying, and if he is lying, then he is very good at it and doesn't fear the consciousness.'
Alex believed the guard's words because his noble title gave him enough authority to beat the crap out of even a baron for a valid reason, and the kingdom would not blame him.
The guard knew an Earl noble authority very well and knew if Alex reported him for scamming, he would get thrown inside a dark jail cell for the remainder of his life.
'- Keep this, and if your information is correct, I will give ten times this amount before leaving the city.-' Alex said in a serious tone as he gave the guard a white flame coin.
"Sir, I wouldn't lie to you." The guard said, not accepting the coin.
"If your information is correct, then there is nothing to worry about," Alex said as he tossed the coin toward the guard.
"Thank you very much." the guard said with bright eyes as he held the coin tightly with a broad smile on his little furry face.
After asking for the shop address from the guard, Alex quickly left the city entrances as he now needed to visit four different places in less than two hours.
'If I could gain some meat from the Rank five Chimera tail and feed it to my little Vulture with other evolution materials, he may gain some good mutation after his first evolution.'
Alex thought of the best ways he could make his companion beast benefit from a Mutated Rank-five Chimera snake tail with one of the deadliest poisons.
'I could only know which complementary evolution material I need for a safe and suitable evolution after seeing the Chimera body.' Alex thought as he walked straight toward a big area next to city entrances with many carriages ready to get rented.