It was quiet Tuesday night. Constantine drove through the mostly empty city streets of Initi. Most of its three hundred fifty thousand residents were in the comfort of their homes, protected from the freezing temperatures raging outside.
Passing the street lamps, certain places inside the car were illuminated, while the rest remained in dark.
The radio was turned off. The silence was only broken by the occasional sound of car blinker and the slight hum of engine.
Constatine habitually checked his rearview mirror. No car was following him, and the passenger in the back of the car was observing the outside through the window, his posture relaxed.
Constantine forced back the instinct to drum his fingers on the wheel, and addressed the middle aged man.
"This will be my first time doing such a trade. Do you have any advice?"
He could feel the older man's eyes on him, but he did not turn and kept his eyes on road.
"Just don't try to rush it. Slow and steady. Be polite. This is not some back alley transaction. Don't worry about the authenticity of the Monfound, that's why you pay me," replied the man after a moment.
Constantine nodded. He trusted the man, as he had a good reputation. Constantine believed he was worth the two hundred Ero he paid him for his service. Still, who knew what may happen. His thoughts briefly wandered to the knife he had in the pocket of his leather jacket for self-defence.
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Constantine parked the car at the side of the street, before an unassuming, three story building. He could see light shining from the ground floor window, but a curtain hid the inside from curious eyes.
"This is the correct place. I have been here before, once," the man assured him and walked to the front door.
After locking the car, Constantine followed after the man. He was careful not to slip on the thin ice cowering the sidewalk. The man knocked. Few seconds later, the door opened and a woman in her thirties motioned them to come in. Her brown hair was tied in ponytail, and as she turned, it moved from one side to another.
The room seemed like a regular living room, with a couple of shelves and a single sofa on the sides of the room. In the back was a lit fireplace, creating a cozy atmosphere, and staircase leading up. In the middle of the room was a wooden table with chairs. A bald man was sitting there, wearing jeans and a t-shirt with a drawing of trees on it. The woman moved to stand behind him.
Constantine could see that the man's muscles were simply.. abnormal in their size. As if reading his thoughts, the man smiled and a slight ripple passed through his body. His muscles appeared more firm, and the hair on his arms grew more dense, as if he was growing fur. Then, the ripple stopped and the man returned to normal. The whole thing only lasted a second.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
Inwardly, Constantine sucked in breath. That was quite a flex of power. Constantine identified the man's monster form to be Bear, which was ranked B in fighting power. Ordinary humans, even armed with guns, could not do much harm to such being.
Quickly composing himself, Constantine walked to the table and offered the man his hand. The man stood up with a smile and shook it. Constantine was glad that the man limited his strength to something bearable.
"Good evening, I am Constantine."
"I am glad to meet you Constantine. You may call me Jeff. Marcella here is my hunting partner. " The woman offered a brief nod but did not speak.
Jeff's gaze moved to Constantine's companion and recognition showed in his eyes.
"Ah, I remember we have already met, but I have forgotten your name, sorry."
"It is alright. I am Jonathan, and I am here to verify the Monfound Mr. Constantine is buying."
"Right! I am always more reassured about the customer if they bring an Appraiser. It shows they are serious about the trade," commented Jeff and winked at Constantine. Then, he motioned to the chairs.
"Please, have a seat, both of you. Can I bring you something?"
"Nothing for myself, thank you," declined Constantine, while Jonathan ordered a cup of coffee.
After Jeff brought the coffee, Marcella took a black box from her pocket and put it on the table. The box was the size of a matchstick box. Constantine was careful not to make any movement towards it, so the sellers would not misinterpret his intentions.
"Before we start, I want to warn you, " Jeff looked at Constantine. "I believe that you already know what I am going to say, but I need to say this to each of my customer. It is one of the rules I follow. The customers always need to understand the gravity of this."
After getting an understanding nod from Constantine, Jeff continued.
"In this box is a Monfound. Once you absorb it, there is no way of getting it out. Your choices of your monster form will be forever limited by it. The only Monfounds you may absorb after this will be the ones compatible with this Monfound. Do you understand ?"
"I understand," replied Constantine without hesitation.
"Good. Then, here is how we are going to do this. I open the box so you may take a look at the Monfound and the Appraiser may verify. Remember, no touching. Then, you give us half of the money and show you have the other half. You absorb the Monfound and if all is well, give us the other half. Alright?"
Constantine looked at Jonathan who nodded at him.
"Yes."
Jeff moved his hands to the box and opened it with practiced movements. Constantine fully focused on the Monfound inside. The first thing he noticed was that it glowed. The glow had a dark green hue and was coming from a single scale.
"This here," Jeff motioned to the scale, "as you already know from the offer, is a scale Monfound from Komodo Dragon, which has power ranking C+, quite high. After you absorb it, it will give you the ability to summon the scales of the Komodo Dragon. They offer moderate protection from damage, give the ability to gather heat from sun and hot places, are flexible, water resistant and to a certain extent can work as a camouflage in certain environments."
While he was talking, Jonathan closely observed the Monfound, his eyes changed to beast ones. After a few seconds, he confirmed the Monfound's authenticity.
Jeff closed the box, and Constantine finally stopped staring. It was one thing to read and hear about such abilities, but to have all of that within your reach.. intoxicating.
Jeff grinned. "As a friendly tip, the Komodo Dragon monster form consists of three parts. Scale, Claw and a Gland."
Although Constantine already knew that, he thanked Jeff for the extra tip.
Then, he took out his purse and counted down the money and moved half to Jeff.
"Thousand Eros, and I have the other thousand here. See for yourself. "
A thousand Eros was a single, above average monthly salary for a full time job. Constantine had a pretty good part time job with monthly salary of 580 Eros for the College where he was studying at the same time. Over time, he managed to save some money, around a hundred a month. After the trade was over, his savings would shrink to 900 Ero.
Jeff counted the money, then moved the box to Constantine. Before he could say anything, Constantine grabbed the box, moved from the chair and sat down on the floor.
"Well, I see that at least some people read the guides, " commented Jeff. "Take you time, there will be some unpleasant parts."
With a deep breath, Constantine opened the box. There, the Monfound was sitting.
'This is it. My path will be set, and hopefully, at the end, I will end up a bit higher than the Komodo Dragon.. although, the Komodo would already be pretty good. '
Constantine touched the Monfound with his finger. Immediately, he could feel the Monfound's energy traveling through his body. His skin began to itch, like ants moving on it, but he forced himself to stay still. Then, he started to feel hot, as if he was in sauna. The feeling changed again, this time, it was as if his whole body was covered in mud that was starting to dry. Then it was the ants again. Then sauna. Mud.
The sensations continued to cycle for what felt like very long time, but in reality, it was only half a minute.
Finally, the sensations stopped.
It was completed.
He absorbed his first Monfound.