Chapter 47 – Some small talk

Chapter 47 – Some small talk

“Back again?” the shop owner asked, once again in his nasally voice. The hood was off, the baldness on display. “Travolta still smoking?”

“Yeah,” John responded.

“Door is still keyed into the correct room, you can just go back downstairs,” the fellow nerd informed him.Reêad latest novels at noov/e/l/bin(.)com

“Actually, I’ve been banished. Father daughter stuff. Travolta will let me know when I can go back in.”

“Ah. Worried old men trying to understand young girls in love. Those are the most annoying conversations that can be had. I guarantee neither of them is having fun right now.”

“Are you... speaking from experience?” John wondered. The shop owner made a wide gesture at the large display of mangas along the wall, many of them of the female oriented variety. “Ah.” John made a semi-understanding sound. He would take the opinion of the shop owner on the matter at half value. “Great shop you have here.”

“Thank you. The façade is uninviting, but that’s how it is supposed to be.” Carl puffed up a bit. “Easier to get the aversion enchantments running if the interest in the shop is low to start with.”

‘Probably why Regan’s house is grey top to bottom too,’ John thought. Just because he had nothing better to do, he threw an Observe at the shopkeeper. The text above the head of people was gradually disappearing, John found. It was probably a tutorial crutch or something.



Level 15, not particularly impressive. ‘How quickly that impression changed,’ the Gamer caught himself. He had almost gotten a stroke when he had first seen Moira’s level. How many weeks until he was stronger than Regan? This whole Lateblooming thing meant that his powers had much greater potential and growth than most others.

“Did you just use spying magic?” Carl asked. Startled by the question, John looked up. “You develop a knack for such things over time. Don’t worry, I won’t hold it against you.”

“Thank you?” John wasn’t sure how to respond to that. He decided to change the topic. “Anyways, so the actual purpose of this shop is being an Auction outpost... and you still keep things neat here?”

“You could call it my hobby. Regan takes over most of the business contacts, I just make sure this place keeps on running. Most of the services are automated.” He grinned a little bit. “Working for the Auction is a way to stay out of trouble, Gamer. I recommend it. No one wants to kill or enslave the person that works for the slave market.”

John’s stomach knotted up at that revelation. He hadn’t browsed the Abyss Auction extensively yet. You could buy people on the site? Kidnapped individuals on sale on the internet, a fact casually displayed in conversation? “That’s vile,” he stated.

That confirmed it.

“We sell everything. We are the Abyss Auction after all. You will find a terminal in the backrooms that will give you access to our site with the special ‘bought locally’ discount.” Carl answered in his nasal tone.

Victoria nodded and turned around. “Come with me, Gamer.”

John stared at her. For a few seconds, he was undecided. Naivety and attraction were fighting common sense. ‘She wouldn’t try anything with Travolta by the door, inside an AA outpost,’ he reasoned to himself. Together, in silence, they walked to the backroom. “So, you bought information about me off the Auction too?”

“Yes. Before you ask, I have no idea who the informant is, only that the person is getting rich off you.” The answer was swift.

John sighed, being wise to that much. The ‘John Newman, LATEBLOOMER’-Information bundle sold for two thousand dollars at the entry level. He had purchased it as well at this point (actually, Rave had) and the amount of stuff known about him was staggering. Name, address, daily schedule, even that he was in a relationship was out there, although it seemed that Regan had protected Rave from being mentioned by name.

The only two things John knew about this information broker however were that he was going to his school and that he had personally met with the Rockers, all of whom died so that lead was dead in the sand. Neither of these two things were facts, just fairly certain deductions.

He would need to find some way to shut the person out of his life at some point or another. The only way he found to do that was to use Create I.D. like crazy. His ability to generate Loot was still hidden, which indicated that the information broker had not followed them into any Illusion Barrier so far.

“They say you entered the Abyss a mere two weeks ago and yet you already seem stronger than people who spent years training.”

“Yeah, I hear that all the time as well. Seems like I got lucky.” John answered.

“Lucky, huh? Being outstanding in the Abyss is only a good thing if you are able to protect yourself.” Victoria pushed open the door and walked over to one of the terminals. “Otherwise, you are likely to end up like this.”

Rows upon rows of faces were listed like a selection of articles on any other site. Each person had their own short bio, outlining, at minimum, physical characteristics and sometimes giving a hint of their entire life story. The rest of the details were promised on purchase of the person. Every last one of them had the tag ‘Slave for Sale’. There were a ludicrous amount of pages.

Victoria closed the tab and started to search for ammunition instead. “Collide, that’s your guild, right? Guy outside is your guild master?” The question startled John, after what he had just seen. He just nodded. “Hear you’re under the protection of the Bloodfallen now. Good move, no one should want to get on their bad side.” Victoria clicked on the order button. The machine rattled and only a minute later, a hatch opened. Grabbing her package, Victoria headed back to the door. “I will see you around, Gamer.”

“Yeah? Bye?” John still wasn’t sure what was happening. ‘The Abyss is full of crazy people.’