"That's settles it then, eh?" Frank clasped Leo's shoulder. "You do what you must in London and then come back to close that bloody Void Gate. It will probably get a bit busy around here once the others arrive, but we can deal with it for a day or two. Ain't that right, Tony?"

The chief frowned. "I already said I won't try to stop this ridiculous plan. What else do you want from me?"

The Fallen Human rolled his eyes. "Dear God... Would it hurt you to be optimistic every once in a while? Clara and I will help you prepare everything for the new arrivals. All will be fine. With whitelist now active, this place is safe."

"I suppose you're right." Holden sighed. "Pardon me. There is just so much to take care of, and I..."

Leo raised his hand, stopping the man from continuing. "It's all good. As I told you, I'm also not too happy with what's going on. Once Lily gets here, you two can talk things out. I will even back you up."

"Thanks. I would appreciate that."

"Nothing to thank for." He waved him off. "We're all supposed to work together now, and Lily pretty much went behind our backs with this idea. It's good she at least remembered to ask me."

This entire situation almost brought him back to the old days when his sister would force something on him every other day. Despite all the good her actions did to his mental health back then, her impulsiveness and frequent disregard of other people's opinions still annoyed him to this day.

Of course, of all the things that changed about her, this had to stay the same. Just my luck, he grumbled internally. Only Dad could ever make her stop for a minute and rethink everything...

Not that it mattered anymore. His foster parents were in Poland during the Outbreak, and as much as he wanted to run straight across the sea to find them, he knew he couldn't do that. Even with his recent evolution, a trip so far was still dangerous, and then there was the entire mess with London.

As soon as things calm down a little bit, I gotta figure something out. He shook his head. No, I can't leave Lily out of this. We have avoided the subject of our parents for too long.

"Yo, Leo! You still with us?" Frank's voice suddenly spoke right before him, pulling him out of his head.

"Sorry." He blinked. "Got lost in my thoughts for a moment. You were saying?"

The Fallen stepped away and motioned to Holden. "Tony asked when are you planning to leave? There is quite some time left before the night. You can still join us for some training."

Leo tsked. "I'm gonna pass today. I have to contact that merchant I told you about, and then I will be off. Maybe I can clear out the path a bit on the way."

Frank nodded. "Good idea. Happy hunting then, mate. I'm leaving too, gotta make sure those idiots don't kill themselves out there." He turned to Holden. "Once I get back, we can figure out the lodging for the new arrivals."

"Very well," the other man answered. "If that's all, I will see you tomorrow, Leo. Good luck."

"Thanks..."

----------------------------------------

"All right, let's get this over with," Leo muttered, sitting down on the ledge of a random building in Wolford. He reached into his soul and pulled out the transmitter given to him by the Void merchant.

With a few clicks, he selected the only contact on the list and waited for the call to connect. Unsurprisingly, it did just after a few seconds.

"Young Akirian, my dear friend!" Naz'Tor exclaimed, cheery as ever. "It's been so long since you have called. I started to worry that maybe the Nightmare had killed you."

Leo rolled his eyes. "It's been barely two days," he replied dryly.

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

"Exactly! Two whole days! You really made my old soul worry," the merchant whined like a child. "What happened? Did you manage to kill the Myrdrak?"

"I did. Took a lot more effort than I expected for a Nightmare exposed to sunlight, but I did kill it."

"Wonderful, truly wonderful," Naz'Tor beamed. "I take it that you have evolved then? Tell me about it. As promised, I will keep this a secret."

Leo shrugged. Ah sure, why not?

"It's called Prime Indomitus Venax, so at least I kept my title," he said. "Though, aside from becoming slightly bigger, my appearance didn't change too much."

"That's to be expected. There are thousands of species that look similar yet are completely different under the hood. The outside only matters to some degree. The important bits are always hidden within, be it the body, mind, or soul."

"Interesting. Will have to remember that for the future," he muttered. "Anyway, have you heard of an evolution like mine? Anything you can tell me about it?"

Naz'Tor snorted. "Not this time, kid. Almost always when a new Prime is born, it creates a new evolution path that others may follow. That's definitely the case with you. I have already checked the index, and there's nothing."

Even more interesting. He noted in the safety of his mind. "Got any more useful info about Primes? I could use a crash course," he prodded, finishing for information without revealing anything.

However, this time, the merchant outright laughed. "I wish!" he said between the chuckles. "Every fucking Prime refuses to reveal anything. Even when I offer fortunes or the best items in my store, they won't budge. Motherfuckers are the biggest sore point for my faction. And the worst part? There is a Prime in our ranks, but she still refuses to say anything..."

Leo grinned at the rant. "So what? You plan to earn my trust and then get all the sweet information from me once I figure stuff out?"

"Nay," the merchant instantly denied. "I have already learned that there is no point in trying. Unless you offer to sell it yourself, you won't hear a word from me. I'm way past the point of caring about all the secrets you and your kind have."

"It sure doesn't sound like you are. I can feel your annoyance even through the transmitter," he teased.

"Brat," Naz'Tor huffed. "No respect for the elders. Typical for a Prime. Sometimes I really hate your kind..."

Leo chuckled. Despite not spending a single Ether yet, he had learned quite a lot from this conversation. Maybe he should call the merchant a bit more. At least the guy was fun to talk to...

"Anyway..." He shook his head. "I called because I need to buy some stuff from you. At least two Bellatoure mixtures and the Cerevod you mentioned, to be precise."

"Not a problem. I can have the offer ready in a minute. Anything else?" the merchant asked, his voice going full businesslike.

"I still need something for communication," Leo reminded. "Are you sure you don't have any devices to exchange text messages?"

Naz'Tor remained silent for a moment. "There are plenty of items like that," he admitted. "But price is still the problem. The worst pair of communicators that can work across a few galaxies will still cost you over twenty thousand."

He winced. Yeah, no.

"What about something with a range of a single planet? That's all I need, really."

The merchant's sigh was heard even through the transmitter. "Nobody who respects their craft makes stuff like that, kid. It's useless to anyone who has survived an Outbreak for over a month. The range of a single planet is just not enough."

"Then what about survivors who didn't leave their planet yet?" Leo tried again. "I refuse to believe that nobody had a problem like this before."

"I'm not saying that. It's just not a high-priority issue. Survivors usually figure out how to communicate on their own before it becomes one. Give it a few more days."

Not gonna work. We need it now. He grimaced. "What about a guide on how to make technology work with Essence?"

"That I can sell you," Naz'Tor announced. "For fifteen thousand Ether. It should help with some simple stuff. Anything better you got to pay more."

And just like that, the small flame of hope inside his chest vanished. He probably should have expected that a precise crafting technique wouldn't be cheap.

"Never mind..."

The merchant laughed. "That's what I thought... Listen, kid, I will ask around. Maybe someone has some junk lying around that can help you. No promises of course."

"Of course," Leo repeated. "Still, thanks. Even if you don't find anything, I appreciate the effort."

"I take care of my customers. There's a reason why I'm in the top ten of my faction's ranking."

Yet another thing to remember.

"So the Bellatoure mixtures and the Cerevod," he reminded, changing the subject. He wanted to ask a few questions about the Merchant faction, but the clock was ticking, and he still had a path to clear.

"Right, right. Just... a... second. Here you go!" Naz'Tor exclaimed, and just as he finished speaking, a notification appeared in Leo's sight.

Trade offer detected. Do you wish to display details?