There were masked individuals everywhere.
"Welcome to the Underground!" Their guide declared.
Had Jack not known better, he would have believed the Underground Market to be a masquerade party. Birds, wolves, pigs, and so many other animals that it felt like a rendition of Animal Farm!
Not only was the place brimming with people, but it also seemed surprisingly orderly, fighting forbidden. Plenty of masked Underground staff was even patrolling, closely guarding their interests.
But one detail to note was the currency. People here didn't seem to be using gold. No, they'd exchange moon-shaped black metal tokens. What was even the point of this?
"Hehe, recently, a certain division of the Dawn Guard has been enchanting its gold to add tracking properties, so we adapted." Their guide explained.
They'd hold all the gold at the entrance, find the coins with the trackers and send the poor guards on a meaningless goose chase. This was so simple, yet devious!
Jack quickly turned his gold into black coins as they wandered the Underground Market. Everywhere he looked, there were the weirdest items.
"Is that a... Torture tool stall?!"
"Not just any, customer, the best! Look at the baleful aura this little toy emits! A single slash of this will feel like being bitten by a thousand fire ants!" A shopkeeper bragged.
Weapons, drugs, dubious items possibly cursed, every stall showcased things that would definitely brand their owner as evil… at least by surface standards. It seemed they were at the right place!
Jack wandered around, spending like a wealthy magnate.
Anyone else would have felt heartache, but he was different. Money had always been useless to him because of his curse. 'Gotta spend before it suddenly disappears!'
Thus a particular scene repeated itself over and over. A seller and a potential buyer would be heatedly haggling… only for him to crash the discussion. "I'll take it!"
He didn't waste his time trying to lower the prices further. After all, time spent negotiating was better spent on doing one more Divination to him!
Thus he attracted many gazes… and complaints!
"Little friend, I was here first. Let this gentleman, and I finish our business before you butt in. This is simply common sense." A wolf mask rebutted.
"Is that so? My common sense says that if you can't afford an item, you should move to the side instead of wasting everyone's time. If you're broke, just say so!"
As he retorted, many didn't know whether to laugh or cry. This youngster's balls sure were huge! As for why they thought he was young… it was because the fox's frame was slender!
"Little friend, are you sure you wish to do that?"
"Yep! I really need this for a gift, you see!"
Jack's voice was so energetic at the moment that many shivered. A gift?! Wasn't this a poisonous herb? Talk about perverse! Little did they know… it was a gift to himself!
"Good. Good." The wolf mask repeated. That's when the atmosphere seemingly turned cold, masked soldiers moving forward to make sure no confrontation happened.
Seeing them, the wolf mask scoffed and left. But, as soon as he did… Jack suddenly had a horrible feeling. He felt like some sticky goo had just latched to his soul. Then his Teacher's voice resounded in his ear.
"Kid, that bastard just used a tracking spell on you. Those places are like that. If you're not careful, you'll quickly get stabbed in the back."
This made sense. No fighting on the premises meant that everything went off the premises. This was the dark reality of the world, something Jack was utterly familiar with.
Thus he kept going around, his pockets soon filling with so many materials that he felt like a pack mule. Still, he had to admit that everything he was buying looked so demonic!
"Say, is it normal for a gem to be bleeding?!" "Of course, kid!" "Why does this apple have teeth?!" "Don't worry about it, kid." "Why does this carrot have fur.. .and claws?" "It just does, kid." This was the craziest haul ever!
Jack had expected things to be harder, but they quickly found pretty much all they needed. Actually, no, they were still missing something: a mandrake.
"Tch— As expected, mandrakes are hard to find."
"Mandrakes? The screaming kind?"
"Yep, that one! Still, I'm surprised, kid. Sometimes you seem utterly clueless about Magic, yet you know some random stuff. I've never seen such fragmented knowledge before!"
This had to do with him being from another world. There were similarities between a world of Magic and that of Awakened… just that he didn't know what was still valid!
"Mandrake, mandrake, mandrake…" Jack kept repeating.
But just as he was searching for the fabled material, his fox ride suddenly stopped. The latter had been gazing all over the place and was now pointing at a nearby wall.
"W-what the heck is this?!" Jack stared at the posters, shell-shocked.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
— WANTED! —
Target: Reverse Thieves!
Last Sighed: Corner' Marketplace!
Bounty: 100 G Each! (Dead or Alive!)
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
A bounty on his foxes?! What kind of crazy thing was this?! Who was so bored as to do such a thing?! The few thieves that had lost half a day of business at worst? No way!
That's when he suddenly felt cold gazes land on their back. Their current disguise looked awfully similar to the drawings on the wall, stature and all.
"He's WANTED. Catch him!"
"T-this… isn't what it looks like!"
Instantly, the surroundings turned hostile. What mere moments before almost looked like a peaceful marketplace turned into a den of bandits eying him gleefully.
Jack turned toward the mask guards. They wouldn't allow a guest to be hurt, right?! But as he saw them look away, his heart fell. They freaking would!
Jack began counting… 1, 2, 5, 12, 26, more than 50 enemies approaching!
"Oy, old ghost, what should I do?!"
"Kid, I suggest writing your will."
The Old Ghost grimly stated. He could deal with one or two targets even in his weakened ghostly state… but 50? No way!
Jack racked his brain.
Use the flame Lord's name? Would they even care? As the Underground, they probably hated the Lords to the bone. No, he had to appeal to their greed and show no weakness!
"Scoff. Are you all so destitute that you'll risk your lives for a misunderstanding? How pitiful! How about this? Tell me more about those "Reverse Thieves" who's been stealing my dress style, and I'll reward you!"
But just as they were wavering, one of the many people he had slighted earlier intervened! "Dumbass, we'll just steal it all from your corpse!"
"Pfft— Hahaha, talk about ridiculous! You'll attack me for this paltry sum? Are you even ready to face the consequences? Are you that eager to die?"
With every scoff, Jack took a step forward. His momentum was so great that the 50 miscreants recoiled slightly. Did this guy have some significant backing or something?!
He was in full-on Powerful Master Mode! He was akin to Moses separating the sea, except with a deadly mob! But just as he was almost out of there…
— WHOOSH! WHOOSH! —
A blue glow overwhelmed the nearby area.
The light engulfed the fox and Jack. He could feel it trying to scan every corner of his soul and body. 'Old Ghost, it's your time to shine!' He confidently delegated.
"Oh god no! kid, we're fucked! I can't fool that kind of detection! Quick, RUNNN!"
[You've Been Scanned For a Blessing!]
"Guys, no blessing! He's bluffing! He's a factionless weakling!" With a CLANG, the doors of the Underground Marketplace closed.
They were not only outnumbered, out-gunned, and surrounded but also trapped. How the heck were they supposed to escape?!