What is the most common reason for artifacts to be sold at a lower price than normal?
Finding the answer is not that hard.
First and foremost, why one needs to sell the item at a cheaper price should be the question. When you rack your brain a little bit, you can see that either said person did obtain the item by abnormal means or the item is damaged.
But both of them open the same door.
The item can not be sold in legal ways. Therefore a place for the sake of illegal trade should be created.
And that place has one simple common name.
'Black Market.'
A place for such things to be sold.
That was the place I was making my way towards right now. Of course, there are several Black Markets that one could have access to. Even inside the capital, Arcadia City, there are two different Black Markets, each ruled by a different society. There was also a special virtual black market called 'Crimson Enchantora.'
But, being in the capital meant they were under the eyes of the Federation. Therefore their security was tight, which meant it was hard for me to enter there. My strength was also quite low, so choosing a less crowded place would be optimal.
And mostly, the items there are more expensive than this place. Capitalism is everywhere, not that I minded.
In any case, that was why I was in the Ariopolis – a city that was 4 hours of train ride from the capital.
The black market.
A place that resembled the demon world. The chaotic world of the demons was where this place was.
A world separate from the realm of laws and morals, where Villains and Heroes could coexist because they were ruled under the iron fist of the strong.
That's where I found myself now.
Guests were required to wear masks when entering the black market to conceal their identities. As a precaution, the measure was taken to prevent government agents from tracking down anyone who may have infiltrated the location.
But at the same time, I knew this was all a fa?ade. There was no way that a random mask could hide one's identity from the eyes of those with special skills that were solely devoted to tracking others. You could fake your face or hide, but you also needed to be careful about your mana imprints, small DNA traces, and many other small details that you would be tracked, thanks to.
Ensuring that my mask was tightly secured, I stood before a massive metal door.
BAM! BAM! BAM!
I knocked on the door three times.
-CREAK
Moments later, two bulky individuals in neat suits emerged from behind the door. The amount of pressure they were giving was nowhere close to the Headmaster or Instructor Eleanor, but it was still high for my fragile body.
But that didn't mean it was something I had never been subjected to. No, different from what you would expect; I was subjected to such an aura before by the Hunter Friends of Aaron, the Hunter that brought me to the orphanage and trained me before entering the academy.
In any case, two bulky guys scanned my body for a little while, but they soon furrowed their brows.
"What are you here for, kid? It is not a place for little kids like you." one of the bodyguards said, underestimating me based on my appearance.
Thought that was to be expected since even I would doubt myself in a place like this with such a body.
"I heard from a passing bird that you were looking for entertainers," I replied, using the first part of the secret code.
The two bodyguards exchanged glances, seemingly intrigued by my response. I was pretty sure none of them expected I would know something like this. "Entertainers, huh? And what kind of entertainment can you offer?" the other guard asked, crossing his arms. freēwēbηovel.c૦m
"I'm a skilled musician and dancer."
The bodyguards looked at each other again, their expressions now more curious, as one of them put his hand into his pocket as his hands touched the button. "Impressive. We could use some entertainment around here." He said with a smile.
"Show us what you've got." And the other guard made a motion to attack at that exact moment, trying to scare me.
-SWOOSH!
Seeing him moving, I instantly grabbed my dagger from my belt and swung it into my right side while maintaining eye contact with the bodyguard.
-CLANK!
Deflecting a flying small dart aimed at my neck.
"Ho…." The bodyguard that just tried to scare me smiled. "All right, kid, you can go in."
Just like that, they let me enter the black market.
'Just as I expected.' I thought.
The secret code was split into three parts. Two of them were with words, and the last one with the body.
If you didn't know the existence of the dart, you would be dead since that dart's presence was almost nonexistent, and the poison contained was a special position only a handful of people had access to its antidote.
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