Mutagen

A few hours before, a few minutes after Mark"s departure, Mei and the rest prepared for the things they planned to do.

Everyone would go to the trade area as they told Mark last night. The only exception was Felenia and Angis that Mark tasked to do something else. Chaflar and Gifre were also left behind. The dragon was too large to roam around the trade area while Gifre would not move without Aephelia around.

Everyone walked out of the fortress in their full battle gear. It was what Mark had suggested since they were not familiar with this place at all. Furthermore, not only Demon Races but a lot of Elementals and Spirits were known for being p.r.o.ne to mischiefs or even attack others. Not all Demons were evil or wicked. The same goes for Elementals and Spirits. Not all of them were good-natured.

The more noticeable fact, majority of these races were known for the evil deeds of their race.

That was why even though they just planned to roam around outside the stone fortress, they should not be too complacent about their surroundings.

Sure enough, their presence would take the attention of almost everyone on the way. It was because humans were very unusual to see in this dimension in the first place. The fact that most of them were beautiful women added to the reasons while many races were looking at them.

Of course, not only men were looking. Pefile, who was present within the group, was also getting the attention of the females on the way. The Tamawo were beautiful men, and among their race, Pefile"s appearance could be said as top-notch.

They made their way towards the northern part of the fortress. The group was being led by a Duende that was a.s.signed personally by the King. She was a servant who introduced herself as Morana. However, she did not look like a Duende right now. She was looked more like a human after she resized her body.

Morana had this ability and was the reason she was chosen to lead them. It was inconvenient if a small Duende was to lead their group, after all. Furthermore, this servant also did the reception to human-sized visitors of the fortress often.

It did not take long for the group to reach the Trade Area.

The place was br.i.m.m.i.n.g with creatures that wanted to trade. Probably, around a third of all the creatures, that were currently residing here, were present here at this moment.

"Everyone, please be careful. Even though this place is under our jurisdiction, security is still a huge problem. Please be wary of your surroundings."

Morana warned everyone. Even though they had a few guards who also resized themselves to human size, it did not mean that nothing could happen. Especially since beautiful women of the human race were being targeted by evil individuals more often.

Entering the trade area, even though there were a lot of people, there was still a good amount of s.p.a.ce to pa.s.s through. Furthermore, their group was being the center of unwanted attention, and it made others create a path for them to go.

Also, thanks to that, they were able to see what items were being traded around them.

There were a lot of people, and of course, most of them were offering their items for barter. Some walked around with their items in hand, many sat down on their colorfully woven blankets, while others had their own stalls. Even the stalls varied in appearance a.s.sociated with how varied the kinds of structures around the fortress.

Of course, there was a large variety of items.

To their dismay, many of the items were something they had never seen before.

Everyone in Mei"s group, with the exception of their guides and Pefile, was very interested. Unfortunately, they could not fathom what kind of items were being displayed almost everywhere. There was also the greatest obstacle, the language barrier. 

It was lucky that the Morana, Pefile, and Teremillio were here to provide them some translations. 

Even Teremillio"s wives were having a hard time as they could not understand the words of the natives of this place. Among them, only the Pixie and the Koropokkuru were able to travel into this dimension. However, both of them came from different parts of the world with a different language. As for the others, they were born and grew in the mortal world. Their knowledge of the language was too shallow.

Browsing through the stores, they saw a lot of interesting stuff. From weapons made of strange materials to beautiful gemstones that looked mesmerizing, there were too many things to see. The things that took their attention the most, however, were the magical items.

These items were kind of rare and were very expensive. One they saw was a spear with a body made of black wood and a blade made of red-colored metal. The owner demonstrated it to attract people and fed the spear with magical energy. Its blade glowed like magma and was able to pierce a plate of metal easily due to its temperature.

Unfortunately, the spear was being traded for a large amount of meat. The man, who was an Encantado in a human-like form, seemed to need a large amount of meat because of his Bagats.

The appearance of the man surprised them and thought that he was a human. However, Encantados were spirits that were able to take different forms. That was what Morana told them. As for the Bagats, they were animals that supernatural beings rear. They had the appearance of different harmless animals. However, they transform and become dangerous when they or their master was harmed.

For sure, this Encantado was raising his Bagats for protection. That was what they needed the most at these times. And a large amount of food was needed to raise them.

Seeing the spear, Mei was a bit interested. However, thinking about it further, her interest declined. Mark could make them more effective weapons. Even though it was magical, a weapon like this spear was unnecessary for them.

As they left, they did not notice the dejected expression of the Encantado. He saw Mei, Karlene, and Alana, after all. Just having beauties watching you was already satisfying. Seeing them go away as they lost interest was a huge blow.

They continued to roam around. Mei was satisfied looking from afar while commenting on the things the little girls were pointing to. Karlene and Alana were also reserved, but they took the initiative to look at the wares being traded closely.

Edzel, Pearl, and Spera just stuck behind Mei as it was their duty. As for Teremillio and his wives, they were more active as Teremillio wanted to look for gifts he would give to them, especially for Felenia, who was not here.

Only Amihan and Pefile kept their eyes on everyone, making sure that nothing would happen.

While walking, Spera felt something.

"Mistress," Spera called for Mei.

"What is it?"

"I sense something from that man sitting there." 

Spera pointed at an old man sitting under a tree with his wares placed on a ragged cloth in front of him.

"Do know what you are sensing?"

Mei asked.

"I don"t know." Spera shook her head. "I only know that I feel somewhat attracted to it."

"Let"s see it then?" Mei suggested.

Spera nodded. She did not know what it was. However, she felt somewhat eager to see it.

Leaving the others that were still browsing on the nearby stalls, Mei and Spera took the little girls towards the old man. Pefile and Amihan nodded at each other, and the latter flew towards Mei. Edzel and Pearl wanted to follow but got separated because of the number of people.

They arrived in front of the old man who was just sitting there with his eyes closed. Unlike others that were advertising their wares, the old man sat there silently, letting people browse his wares without disturbance.

Nevertheless, the old man opened one of his eyes as Mei"s group was about to browse the items he had on display. It was obvious from his eyes that he was quite surprised by them. Not because of their appearance, but because of what they had.

"The [Body of Void] with an [Unshackled Soul], a [s.p.a.ce Attribute Soul], a girl with transferred memories, a girl with blood from another world, a child of unknown existence, and a sleeping deity. What a blessed lineup this was."

The old man said with a gentle smile.

Hearing those words, Mei retreated in high alert, making everyone halt their movements. Seeing Mei"s glare at the old man, they became ready to fight. They could not fathom why, though. Although they heard the old man, they could not understand what he had said even if he spoke in human language.

For Mei, however, even if she could not properly understand the rest, just hearing the term [Body of Void] was enough to trigger her. She looked around, it might be bad if others heard what the old man had said. Unexpectedly, everyone else was minding their business. It even looked like that they could not see Mei and the others that were already ready to attack.

Seeing Mei reacting like that, the old man shrugged as he opened both his eyes.

"Worry not, young ones. I have no intention to fight. And do not bother with the others, only you six could hear what I had said."

The man"s voice was heard.

However, the old man was not opening his mouth. His voice was being directly transmitted to their heads. Even his intent was also being felt by the six. His gentle soothing voice could not help but made them calm down for some reason.

Mei knew that the old man was not lying. If the soothing feeling was just a mental attack, her body would reject it. However, it did not happen. She could only lower her weapon.

"Who are you?"

Mei asked with a frown.

"Me?" The old man dressed in rags pointed at himself. "I"m just an old n.o.body trading for wares here."

"I don"t believe that."

Mei replied with a pressing tone.

To her words, the old man just replied with a sigh.

"You don"t have to believe me. But you can look at my items if you want."

"What do you mean by the things you called us before?"

Spera asked.

"Things I called you? What things? This old man doesn"t remember. If you are here to trade, please look at my items. If not, please don"t block my business."

The old man then returned to his nonchalant state as he stopped talking and closed his eyes.

Mei and Spera could only look at each other. Amihan scratched her head in confusion. The little girls could not fathom what was happening at all.

And thus, they sat down to see the items being displayed on the dirty rag spread out on the ground.

"Mistress, this is what I"m sensing."

Spera pointed at the black gemstone.

"Old mister, what is this?"

Mei asked.

Then, the old man replied, directly into their heads.

"It is a gemstone that had a small s.p.a.ce inside. Come on, hold it, and try to transfer magical energy to it."

Hearing that, Spera slowly reached to the gemstone and looked at the old man. Seeing him nod, Spera did what she was told to do.

As she injected her magical energy into the gemstone, she felt a small s.p.a.ce inside it that she could open at will. She was shocked.

Spera then handed the stone to Mei, and she also tried it. Her expression was not different than Spera. In their estimate, the stone had a two-meter by two-meter cube of s.p.a.ce inside just a pinkie fingernail-sized gemstone.

"What do you want to trade for this?"

Mei asked.

Then, the old man replied.

"What do you want to trade for it?"

Hearing that, Mei exhaled and took a small pouch out.

"Do you accept this?"

Mei took one of the contents of the pouch and showed it to the old man.

The old man opened one of his eyes just become shocked once more.

It was an [Energy Crystal]. Mark had given all he collected yesterday to Mei and try to trade items with it.

"Ten-, no, just five of those for the gemstone! I have two more here!"

Mei and Spera were surprised.

Where did the calm and mysterious old man go?

Nevertheless, it was to their favor. They traded fifteen [Energy Crystals] for the Black Gemstones. Furthermore, the old man also offered more of his rare wares that were all magical items.

Mei, Spera, and Amihan were happy at their harvest. They could tell that the old man was not swindling them as he seemed really desperate for the crystals. He even explained and demonstrated the use of the items he offered.

When they turned their backs from the old man, however, Morana and Pefile rushed towards them.

"Where did you all go?!"

Pefile asked them with quite a panicked expression.

"What do you mean?" Mei was confused as Spera and Amihan.

Amihan then replied as she pointed behind them.

"What are you asking us? We just traded with that old ma..."

Amihan was not able to finish her words.

There was no old man at the place she was pointing at. His wares were nowhere to be seen either. The only proof of the old man"s existence was the items Mei and Spera had in their arms.