Seth soon arrived at the familiar warehouse, where he appeared in front of the guards out of thin air. He had simply switched from the Helm of Hades to Laraweg.
"Shieldbird," Seth gave the code word, and the door to the soul emporium was opened for him.
"Tower Master, my favorite custor! It's good to see you, Seth."
Tano'Mol greeted jovially from behind the counter. The goat had beco very friendly with him since he beca a regular.
"What can I do for you today?" the goat asked, rubbing his hands.
"I need two souls. For one the one I had been asked for last ti. The one to help with sothing like a charm or sothing similar. Did you get a fitting one? The other should improve blunt force or wielding a cudgel or mace," Seth explained.
The souls were needed for Jonah's Mask and Lydia's mace. He had already asked for one for Jonah's mask the other ti but wasn't satisfied by the goat's assortnt at that point.
"Right! I believe to have found the perfect soul. Look at this, It's the soul of a succubus. I had to use so of my channels to get it," the demon boasted.
The soul the goat brought out actually had a rose tinge to it, inside the sphere that allowed normal eyes to see them. Seth lifted his eyebrow in surprise when he saw that it even had a trait and an ego. Only the size was slightly lacking.
This was the one, no questions asked. Seth didn't know what exactly a Kanabō was, but it had to be a kind of club, obviously. The description of the trait convinced him.
"Okay, pack up the succubus, the troll, and the fair ogre soul for ," Seth said with a stoic face.
"Didn't you say you only wanted two souls?" the goat asked playfully.
"Are you seriously complaining about business right now?"
Although the demon didn't say anymore as he packed up the souls, Seth imagined seeing a smug smile around the goat's lips.
"Anything else? If not, that will be 50 Gold."
Seth clicked his tongue. Good souls really weren't cheap to get unless he hunted them himself. In exchange, the chance to get a soul with a trait was a lot higher when buying from a rchant, than when hunting one himself. He had been lucky on his trip to the Holy Land, but usually, the quote of souls with a trait or useful skills was a lot lower when he personally went out to hunt them.
Although traits were a little nebulous in their effects, they were a precious effect to acquire. They offered passive improvents that could be much more powerful and overarching than most passive skills.
When making an item for his friends, using a soul with a fitting trait was preferable, although he didn't intend to let himself be bogged down by not having one on hand. He paid his dues and quickly left the shop, vanishing into the darkness of the shade district.
…
The Tower Master had not returned when yet another guest appeared at the doors of the embassy. He was a lot more unassuming than the suspicious hooded figures. It was an old man, wearing a slightly disheveled suit.
Life was harsh on the poor fella, as he was far from an endearing-looking old bloke. His face was hard to look at, but he still held his head high with a self-confident smile. There was an intelligent glint in his gaze that didn't fit his weathered looks.
"Stop, Sir. What is your business in the embassy?," the Oathguard at the door stopped him.
"My Na is Bartholow Cromwel, a forr researcher at Zeontech. I have important information Minas Mar will be interested in," he stated politely.
"Sir, we have to check your status first, if you wish to enter. Please cooperate."
"Well, you can try, but I am sorry. I doubt observation skills will work on . I have a peculiar trait that blocks recognition by system skills," he acquiesced to have the skill used on him, but as he said, it didn't work.
"Since this is the case, I have to ask you to wear this bracelet if you wish to enter the embassy. It's only a magic inhibitor and poses no harm."
Cromwell observed the item for a mont before he agreed to let the man put it on him. He didn't mind, since it probably was unable to block his skills anyway. The bigger hurdle was whether he would be able to survive passing through the weird barrier that filled him with existential dread.
"Thank you, Sir.- You can enter now," the guard told him and stepped out of the way.
The researcher nodded and stepped towards the barrier. This was a do-or-die mont, an experint so to say. He was sure the ordinary infected had no chance of surviving, but he doubted it would kill him or the recipients of the completed serum.
That he would survive it, didn't an it would not hurt... Straightening his shoulders he stepped through the mbrane and, as expected, it hurt like hell. It was like he was shot with billions of tiny lasers, or poked with needles all over his body as he stepped through it.
The surface of his body was turned dark by sudden necrosis, but the mont he erged on the other side, it already healed. For an onlooker, it would have looked like he had been covered in a weird shadow for just a fracture of a second. Like a glitch in the matrix.
It was only thanks to his previous experience of being ripped apart tens of tis during his journey when fighting the monsters of the mountain range. At this point, he had perfected splitting his mind from the pain his body perceived.
Despite feeling how his skin was turned to ashes, there was no sign on his face or stature. Only the almost invisible trails of dust he left behind bore witness to his injury.
Confidently he stepped to the counter and stated his business. After a while, he was asked to take a seat. The higher-ups were going to et him, but they were currently occupied by another guest.
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