(CHAPTER UPDATE: I made the currency system easier to understand. I realized it was a little bit confusing.)
It was underground but as expansive and vast as the eye could see thanks to the large amber stones which were plastered along the seemingly endless walls that lit up the market wholly, making it look like broad daylight.
Immediately, Zareth could see a substantial array of products that were nigh-infinitely versatile.
The shops varied from large buildings to small carpets laid on the floor with products spread about on them.
It was all overwhelming to take in, as shady and trustful-looking street vendors yelled to market their stores, and quite literally thousands of people roamed the path in between the several shops.
Seeing all this... Zareth was excited.
With absolutely zero money in his pockets, he knew of his objectives and began walking amongst the thick crowd of people toward a place where he could first sell his beast corpses.
Before long, he blended into the crowd as just another passer-by.
As he walked, making sure to look at all shops at the sides of the stone street, he also scanned his vision for people.
In particular, people who looked like easy prey.
He wasn't going to hunt them down for their cores, of course, he didn't even know if humans dropped cores, instead, he wanted to line his own pockets in the meantime as he looked for his destination.
His perfect prey was someone who was weak but looked rich from the outside.
Thankfully he had his Scan skill which cost no mana to help him in this task.
As he walked, hundreds of scan panels appeared and disappeared in front of his retina by the second.
Eventually, Zareth stumbled upon a pompous-looking man not too far away.
As he neared, he saw the expensive white clothing lined with lavish golden outlines that the large-bellied man was dressed in.
The face of this rich fatty resembled that of a pig. It was pink, and the fat on his face nearly covered up his eyes, one of which had a golden monocle in front of it.
Seeing this, Zareth became even more excited. It seemed that the goddess of luck was on his side once again.
He simply could not think of a better person to loot, especially looking at the man's stats.
[Stat Scan]
Name: Reginald Victor IIV
Species: Human
Bloodline: Normal Human
Age: 58
Combat Power: 4
Vitality: 89 Years
Health: 19/19.0
Stamina: 12/12.0
Strength: 21.0
Agility: 6.0
Defense: 17.0
Body: Basic Earth Bound
Rank: Normal Human
MP: None
-
'How pathetic.' Zareth thought to himself.
He had no remorse nor empathy for this person, after all, this mortal was a random that he would most likely never see again.
Along with that, the money in his pocket would probably not even scratch the surface of the fatty's empire of wealth, so why care?
Chances were that his wealth was built from evil deeds anyways, as that was usually how the economy worked in any world ran by power, however, Zareth didn't care how the man got his wealth.
All that mattered to him was that he was going to take some of it right now.
The pompous man was speaking to a store clerk by the side of the street. This was perfect, as he was completely distracted.
Suddenly, a small-statured figure bumped into the side of his waist, slightly startling him as he looked down to see who it was.
"Can't you see where you're walking brat!?" The man suddenly yelled with an immature and arrogant tone.
Zareth continued to face the ground and hide his face. "Oh, I am so sorry master! Did I get any dirt on you?" He said with a voice of urgency and guilt, quickly patting down the area where he had bumped into the man.
"Akh--! Get your hands off me! Get out of here!" The pompous man spoke loudly in disgust, pushing Zareth back into the crowd.
"Sorry, sir--" Zareth paused as he blended back into the crowd, already invisible to the pompous man who had resumed his conversation with the store clerk.
A smirk appeared on Zareth face as he held a thick leather pouch in his hand.
'It truly never gets old.' He thought to himself.
Inside the pouch were a bunch bronze and silver coins, along with a couple small gold bars which were about three inches by one inch in size.
After searching for a little while longer, Zareth found his long-desired beast materials store.
It was only a small tent-like shop booth with one store owner that was a good bit farther away from the street, so there was about a 15ft by 15ft space around the shop that was free from any people.
Behind the man on the wall were displayed many kinds of skinned beasts, so Zareth knew this was the right place.
At this time, Zareth had only robbed a couple of other people, as he found perfect victims hard to come across.
Only very stupid and pompous people were good to rob, as they would be far too distracted in their arrogance to ever imagine themselves being jacked.
As he approached the shop, Zareth effectively surveyed the store owner.
He looked like a middle-aged man with a poorly trimmed beard and a sweatband over his forehead which was a dirty cloth.
Arriving at the shop, Zareth pulled down his hood and revealed his entire face.
"Run along kid. This place isn't safe for you." The store clerk suddenly said with a bored expression, seeing the little boy approach his shop.
"How come we are so swift to judge? Little sales today is it?" Zareth said with a light grin on his face.
"What are you--" Once again, another man was stunned to a loss of words by Zareth in a single day.
In front of the shop suddenly appeared three large beast corpses which nearly filled out the 15 by 15 ft area instantly.
Many people even stopped at the sight, as this was incredibly intriguing to see.
Of course, three pure-ranked beasts weren't exactly a monumental task to overcome, however, no one could identify these beasts quickly enough, and even if they did, three abruptly appearing out of thin air was still not normal by any means.
"Wha-- what in the world? Where did you get these?" The store owner said in shock as he walked out of his shop and toward the beast corpses.
Zareth continued to smile as a larger crowd gathered around.
"What is your name?" Zareth suddenly questioned.
"My name? It's... Dale. Why do you want to know? You still haven't told me whe--"
The man was cut off immediately.
"Dale! I am not one to boast my abilities! This is your gift, and a sign of better business to come. My name is Rath, please be sure to remember it well." Zareth quickly said with a loud voice which captured the attention of many.
By the end, Zareth walked through a thick crowd of over 50 people who had gathered around to see the commotion.
He wanted to leave quickly and remain as mysterious as possible, as this would leave Dale thinking about him more, which would in turn cause Zareth to be one of Dale's main priorities without him even knowing it.
'Now... it's time to buy some things.'