133 Shady Dealings Part 6

After Maverick made his bold claim he walked up to Fox and handed her a metallic info drive that was shaped like a diamond. Fox without care took the info drive and shoved it into a slot inside her wrist. Fox's arm lit up like lights at a disco before it displayed a bunch of info in front of her eyes. Fox only took a second to see if the info was real. She already knew exactly what Desmond wanted to know but because what he offered didn't interest her she didn't bother with it.

While it is not prevalently well displayed in Delmar city the technology level on Theotera far surpasses anything earth once had. People on Theotera have seized control of hundreds of planets and destroyed even more. Their the kind of civilization that's greed knows no bounds.

One of the few things that keep Theotera from fully extending their hands to every corner of the universe is the lack of places rich in mana. While they are capable of surviving in the harshest conditions it is very uncomfortable for them. It's like being taken out of an ocean and being placed in a desert. That's why people on Theotera prefer to reap all the resources a planet has to offer and enslave a civilization if not outright kill them then nurture a planet and build a galactic empire.

After Fox examined the drive she had a short conversation with Desmond before she once again spoke to Maverick.

"The seller is satisfied with the information you have on the drive but he doesn't have any device capable of examining the data it contains. So he wanted me to ask you if you have an item on hand that can inspect the drive that you are willing to sell to him".

Maverick didn't even need a second to consider that request to buy a device capable of inspecting the info drive is as easy as buying a computer back on earth and just as cheap too.

"That's no problem at all. Tell the seller the price is 2 mage stones ($1000 U.S) for my communicator".

The exchange finished quickly when Maverick finally got his hands on the grade 1 healing potion even he couldn't hide the grin on his face. While a few people especially Ferrise that was standing in the back had difficulty hiding their animosity towards him. Maverick paid those people no mind because he was gliding on cloud 9.

'I can't believe my luck today. To obtain such an amazing item in exchange for some random info on the star and law path I dug up is simply amazing. Whoever sold this is out of his mind grade 1 items and above are impossible to purchase even if you have the money for it. You have to reach grade 1 to legally buy any of those items or have a deal with some organization. While the seller is mad I have to thank him or her because now I don't have to stalk Ferrise and his group they'll come to me'.

As Maverick was deviously redeveloping his plan of attack on Ferrise's group the people who he was colluding conspiring against had a short conversation of their own. Gerald scratched the side of his face as he quietly said to the others in his group, "So, where gonna rob him right?".

Gerald's words where met with a mean glare from Ferrise as he spoke softly but in a harsh tone.

"Of corse where going to rob him he use to do that to use all the time it's time to repay the favor".

A wicked smile creped on everyone's face in the group after Ferrise said that. A lot of people wanted their revenge on Maverick, after all the things he did to them it was understandable. But everyone also knew facing Maverick wasn't going to be easy so whether they could win was up to question.

Desmond knew nothing about the plans being developed in secret behind him. Even if he did he wouldn't care because none of it had anything to do with him. He was only focused on Fox's words.

"Since the last Item I possess has now been sold it's now time to move into the free exchange. Anyone who wants to make a request please come up one at a time and speak your business".

As soon as Fox switched to the free exchange Ferrise made sure to be the first one who walked up. He saw practically nothing useful to him during the exchange so he wanted to quickly state what he wanted and see if only robbing Maverick would be the only good thing to look forward to that night.

" I'm looking to purchase one pound of human flesh. Preferably of the darkness or wind element. The blood type doesn't matter neither does the grade of the flesh or gender, so does anyone have some".

Ferrise's words caused Desmond's heart to stir a bit but he soon calmed down. Desmond was simply caught him off guard when someone openly requested such an item without fear of repercussions. as Desmond looked around he soon realized that there was no problem with Ferrise's request that all. people of all walks of life have gathered together in that room making Ferrise's request equivalent to nothing more than a normal purchase.

A few second after Ferrise made his request a cloaked woman spoke. "I have what you want. I can provide the flesh of someone with a high elemental affinity to the wind element. The person never cultivated before and hasn't practiced magic either. But 1 pound is to little you'll have to purchase more than that at least 10 lb since its the flesh of a normal human which will cost you 15 magic crystals (150,000 dollars U.S)".

"That's an acceptable price, so do have it on you or will we have to conduct this exchange in a different manner".

"I don't have it on me at the moment, come over here so we can discuss the specifics privately".

Ferrise has had terrible luck finding something that could replace the chunk of flesh he got shot off of him, so he decided to opt for a less favorable method to fix his wound. Though his luck was bad he wasn't all to worried about his wound because he could still fight well enough with it.

As the free exchange went on Desmond watched intensely to learn from the others before he went up himself. When the free exchange was nearing its end Desmond felt confident enough to go up himself. As Desmond stood in front of the crowd he spoke in a gruff voice. Desmond didn't want to give any important information about himself away, so he altered his voice a bit while he was there. Having so many hidden figures eyeing him made Desmond feel a bit nervous, but he soon dispersed that feeling because he knew those where the kind of people he was gonna have to mingle with a lot in the future.

"I'm looking to purchase weapons one of every kind you can think of guns, swords, ... ect. It doesn't mater it just has to be in an acceptable price range. None of the weapons have to be high quality just usable. I also whish to perchace a tool that can assist in training mental energy or concentrating it".

Since Desmond was walking down the path of an illusionist he needed tools that could magnify that power. The wand Desmond sold before wasn't particularly useful for that because it was geared towards conducting elemental energy. Since Desmond has no elemental affinity he can use every elemental equally, but absorbing those elements is half as efficient then someone with an element and his attacks are also less powerful. If Desmond kept the wand it would have helped in the short run, but would have become a weakness later on. That's why Desmond wanted tools that could amplify mental energy.

As for the perchace advanced rune set Desmond didn't even think about it. The higher the rank of something is the more difficult it is to acquire. Not to mention how expensive such a perchace would be. Plus Desmond hadn't even finished carving all the intermediate runes on his core. The new found strength of his soul made carving the intermediate runes significantly easy to the point Desmond thought he was carving butter with a hot knife but with all that raw power came problems. Desmond failed to fully control the stream of energy he was carving with which damaged the run he was working on slightly forcing him to wait till his core repaired its self enough so he could start again.

When looking around the room Desmond saw no one respond to his request. The sight filled him with disappointment because it ment that there was no arm dealers in the room or that no one was willing to sell such a large quantity of weapons at that time. Knowing that Desmond wasn't to disappointed because he knew the world didn't revolve around him and because acquiring good items took luck, connections, and skill in the trade.

After recieving no response Desmond quietly sat back down until the gathering was over. Once the last person in the room made their claim the hostess Fox stood up from her stool and spoke once again to the crowd.

"The gathering have now come to a close. For the people whoms items I sold I will call you into a separate room one at a time using the number I gave you in advance. During that time we will be lettering people leave one at a time through separate exits In 5 minute intervals".

Fox didn't say anything after that she just walked into the back and called numbers out one at a time after people came and left from the separate room. As that was happening Maverick and Ferrise group where ready to clash.

***

45 Minutes later

Through the back end of a small shop that was still open in the middle of the night Desmond's dark figure slipped out and sped down the street. As he ran Desmond used wind magic to speed himself up and illusion magic to make himself invisible along with the spell muffle to make his movements quieter.

As he passed by unsuspecting people his presence was only a momentary disturbance before they ignored the sudden gust of wind that kicked up. Stealthfully and quietly Desmond took all kinds of different roots while always remembering to back track and take different roots from before. Desmond feared someone following him and robbing him its one of the reasons why he somewhat feared shady underground gatherings because anything could happen.

But despite the risk Desmond was sure he would make the same trip a million time over not only because of his love for magic but because of how enlightening the trip proved to be. After Desmond sold his rank 1 healing potion he gained unbelievably priceless information for himself because he learned that Zane's will couldn't be trusted.

Every time Desmond thought about the information that was on the info drive he felt stupid, used, and abused. The truth was plainly in front of his eyes yet he was oblivious to it. It was so obvious Desmond shouldn't have even needed the info drive to figure it out but he did because he wasn't thinking when he made the deal with Zane.

The contract Desmond has with Zane forces him to teach Desmond truthfully but that only applies to Zane himself not Zane's Will. What that means is that not only does Zane's will not have to teach Desmond but he can feed Desmond false information without him knowing. Which is bad but the truth of the matter is worse then that. Desmond realized Zane's will can not only alter information but also place subtle flaws in his spells. He wouldn't even be able to find them even if he tried because Zane's will has the skills of a formation path grandmaster.

'GOD DAMB IT! I'm not even a threat to that man, but he's already made a dozen moves against me. The mark he left on my forehead in exchange for those magic books, the insects he left in me, him forcing me away from him before I asked to many questions, not to mention all the lies. He beautifully deceived me with truth and by dangling scraps in front of my face. He didn't care if I could threaten him or not he still treated me like I could hurt him and made so many moves to take care of me before I could. But the worst thing of all is the fact that I desperately need to rely on him which just allows him to dig his claws into me deeper'.

The world waits for no man Desmond is nothing but a weakling compared to people like Zane yet, he still tried to make deals with giants as if he was on there level and foolishly enough believed their words for truth. When in reality everything was a lie a contract means little if you don't have the strength and the whits to not get manipulated by the other party.

As that lesson sunk deep into Desmond's mind Desmond stopped running for a bit to transform his appearance to that of a youthful looking man before he blended into the streets with all the other average looking people. Desmond's appearance appeared flawless to normal people they couldn't even notice two small plastic cages on Desmond waist. Which contained the marrow Beatle and ventricle worms.

Desmond couldn't store those two items inside of his dimensional pouch because inside the store pouch contains no air. Its definitely not because of some stupid rule like dimensional pouchs can't contain living creatures because they can. Its just that such an item is more expensive than normal dimensional pouchs just like a pouch that can preserve items.

As Desmond took careful steps returning home trouble was brewing nearby.

...

A few blocks away Ferrise and his group where having a somewhat difficult time locating Maverick. He had the luck to leave the gathering earlier than the other three which gave him the opportunity to disappear from their sights. Linda, Ferrise, and Gerald where all leaping off of rooftops searching in the immediate area while Ferrise's crows spread out wide in search for Maverick.

"Ferrise what in the world is wrong with your crows that's the fifth person we found that you said was Maverick?".

Gerald questioned Ferrise's scouting ability because their plan for ambushing Maverick turned into a wild goose chase. Every person they thought was Ferrise turned out to be someone else.

"There's nothing wrong with my crows the problem is what ever trick Maverick is using to deceive us. My crows picked up Maverick's energy signature 5 times not to mention that every person we found was in similar proximity to each other meaning Maverick was definitely here at one point. He just did something that temporarily through us of his trail. So just be patient the distance between us and each energy signature is getting smaller we'll catch up eventually".

Gerald and Linda believed Ferrise words for now and waited until the crows found something else. A few moments later Ferrise crows found something.

"I found something the location is super close hurry before he disappears again".

Without hesitation Everyone sped off in the direction Ferrise guide them towards.

...

In a deserted ally away from prying eyes Desmond walked calmly through still disguised as a young man. He had made loops and turns as he took the most bazaar route he could come up with he even used an [anti-divination] scroll to hide his tracks. Desmond had over 200 [Anti-divination] scrolls, running a criminal organisation in a world with magic is not easy so Desmond found it understandable why he found so many of the same kind of scrolls. After all that he felt safe enough to return to the sewer through a manhole he found in that ally.

As Desmond was about to enter the sewer his spiritual sence activated telling him that someone was using magic nearby. The feeling of an imminent crept up Desmond's spine but he wouldn't let it take hold of his heart. The same damb thing has repeated its self to many times. Desmond will not roll over and remain the town bike where everyone can get a free ride any longer. He knew of the potential threats he would face whether it was the Purifiers, bounty hunter, or someone trying to rob him Desmond didn't care because this time Desmond was ready.