As Alex and Michael were killing the monsters in the Demon Forest for an entire 5 hours, they noticed something.
The monster's appearance frequency had dropped.
It meant that they had already killed a substantial number of those beings, so their appearance rate dropped, or those monsters understood that they were in danger, so they fled, or both options.
Either way, they had already done significant damage to the ecosystem of the Demon Forest, and as exotic hunters, they probably had already changed the environment there as well. Well, it wasn’t Earth, and this forest was already too big; reducing its size would only benefit the proximity of its borders.
The place is full of dangerous beings and monsters, and the kingdom knows it, so they pay hunters to reduce the number of monsters in the forest.
Alex and Michael had done more than the whole kingdom had in hundreds of years. Their magic was too strong compared to people here, and they had fire weapons, which were even stronger.
As for Harper and Comoron, they were looking for information regarding the Demon Lord, while Alex and Michael were having fun with the monster slaughter.
After some hours of research, Harper and Comoron had finally found a map of newly formed dungeons in the kingdom territory, which included one in the north of the Demon Forest.
Why is the dungeon inside the Demon Forest so important? Well, it is actually because the Demon Lord is usually summoned in the Demon Forest, and that’s specifically why that place had that name.
Harper and Comoron finally contacted Alex using the thought transmission spell that Alex and Comoron made in the coat of arms.
“Alex, there’s a new dungeon in the Demon Forest, north of where you are right now.”
Harper said. Even though Alex and Michael were cleaning the forest quickly, they were only in the south of it, where they could easily leave. Entering too deep into the place would make it too unpredictable, and even being magically advanced and capable of using portals, they couldn’t be 100% sure about their capabilities.
“So, we need to enter further into this hell?”
Alex said.
“Unfortunately, yes.”
“Then I have an idea. Let’s meet in the capital city.”
Alex said, and he opened his portal to the same alley he usually uses to teleport to the capital city.
After a minute or so, Harper and Comoron also opened their portal. They were together once again.
“Let’s go to the guild.”
Alex asked.
Everyone there agreed, and they arrived at the guild after that. The alley was nearby, so it hadn’t taken too long.
“Welcome back”
The clerk welcomed them. It’s been a while since they’ve seen this girl.
“Today we have a big shipment; may we use a private room?”
Alex said.
“Of course! You can use the room that you’ve previously used.”
“I don’t think it will suit... We’ve brought too many monsters.”
“Oh… I wouldn’t trust someone saying it, but if it is you guys, there’s no problem. We have a warehouse behind the guild, and we use that place to store supplies when we are full. You can utilize that space if there’s no problem.”
“That would be great!”
Alex said.
Then, the clerk took the keys with her and led the way toward the warehouse. Naturally, they followed her.
After 5 minutes of walking, they finally reached the warehouse. The place was big enough to contain all the monsters Alex and Michael had killed.
As soon as they entered that place, Alex used his spatial storage to pick up all the monsters and drop them on the floor.
Unlike in the Diretorium or Earth, the people in the Kingdom knew about magic, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if they used something like that there. The only issue was its size. Normally, that kind of storage could only store up to a cubic meter or so, but Alex had enough monsters to comport at least 100 times the normal spatial storage.
The clerk was left speechless, but that wasn’t the most absurd thing. The monsters they had killed were some of the strongest beings known in the Demon Forest. Even though they don’t have specific details about the interior of that place, they know it is at least 5 miles deep, which is already an amazing feat.
Between the monsters held on the ground, there are iron wolves, forest generals, creepy ghosts, and tons of small monsters that are strong enough to cause problems for experienced hunters.
“Sir… That’s too many of them; I need to call the guild master. Please wait here.”
The clerk left the place and ran as fast as she could to the guild master’s office. In less than 2 minutes, they were already back.
The guild master ran as fast as he could; he was gasping, but it was worth it. The monsters on the ground were enough to make a transaction of at least 15 thousand platinum coins.
“We need some time to calculate your payment, sir. We also need to request money from the king, as this transaction is by far the greatest in history.”
The guild master said.
“How much time do I have to wait?”
“We aren’t sure, sir. I think that a week is enough.
“Alright, we will wait. I will come back in one week from now on.”
Alex said. As he said it, he left the place and headed home. The others followed them to their respective homes as well.
….
..
one week later.
Alex had finally returned to the guild. As soon as he entered the doors, he was greeted by the clerk and the guild master, who were waiting for his arrival.
“I’ve brought you good and bad news, Mr. Alex. The King accepted our request, and all the monsters you sold us can be bought, but we cannot pay for them entirely. I’m sorry.”
The guild master said.
“That’s no problem. I was already expecting that.”
“Thank you for your understanding, sir. Initially, I thought it would be between 10 and 20 thousand platinum coins, but after some accurate calculations and studies, that value easily entered the house of 50 thousand. The final value we reached was 64 thousand platinum coins, 4 royal gold coins, 5 gold coins, 8 silver coins, and 2 bronze coins. The Kingdom cannot pay that value entirely, so after some discussion, we thought 50 thousand platinum coins would be enough.”
“Well, that’s better than I thought. Please, convert everything into gold.”
“As you wish, sir. Unfortunately, after this transaction, we will suffer a shortage of gold in the kingdom, so we won’t be able to pay for things entirely in gold anymore. You will have to accept silver and bronze.”
“I guess so... Well, I probably won’t need gold soon. I can wait until you folks recover from this shortage.”
“Well, we have enough monster bodies to fulfill our research now, though. I don’t know what you will do with all that gold, but even if you disappear with it, what you brought us is far more valuable than a metal we can easily get in the mountains near the empire border. The carcasses will probably decrease in value for an entire year; well, it can’t be helped.”
“Well, it’s the basic rule of offer and demand. Well, I’m glad the carcasses will be of use to you.
“It will indeed, sir.”
The guild master said. He had a gentle smile on his face while saying that.
“Well, now going to what matters, where can I find the gold?”
“Straight to the point, uh. Well, you are a hunter after all. Follow me, please.”
The guild master said. Alex followed him. They headed to the warehouse, where there was a wooden box.
That box was made of iron pine, a very resistant tree. Alex knew it because of Comoron. That tree was the very same one he planted all over their base in Summerville.
“Be careful with this box; there’s 50 tons of gold inside.”
“Don’t worry. I’m already used to this kind of weight.”
“Seeing how many monsters you've killed, there’s no surprise there.”
The guild master said. Alex measured the box; it was approximately 5’ in height, 4.5’ in width, and 4.5’ in length. Based on the gold density, he could tell that all the coins he asked for were inside that box.
Alex instantly stored the box inside his spatial storage. He thanked the guildmaster and left.
He walked straight towards the alley he knew and teleported to his base in Summerville. Everyone was already there, and they were waiting for him.
“I’m back.”
Alex announced. Everyone was already sitting at the meeting table inside the main hall.
Alex walked straight towards the table, where he opened his spatial storage, and the wooden box appeared. Everyone could tell it was heavy, as the floor sank a little.
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“50 tons of gold. It would be 64, but the Kingdom couldn’t afford it, so they asked if 50 was enough. I accepted. We can’t buy more things in gold, though; the guild master said that our little selling was enough to compromise the kingdom’s money reserves, so there’s a gold shortage there.”
“That’s a lot.”
Comoron said.
“Isn’t 50 tons of gold what the Spanish fleet carried from the Americas back in the 1700s?”
Harper asked.
“Well, 50 tons was 10 ships of gold.”
Michael corrected. That quantity looked small, a little smaller than a popular car, but it was surely a lot.
50 tons of gold stand for 1 billion credits. Or 3 billion dollars. $3 billion is enough to buy an entire NFL or NBA team. It is enough to buy a large private land full of luxuries.
It is an extreme quantity of money.
The group pondered for a while. What are they doing? That much money could solve their problems in life. They could start a business with it and stop working. But that wasn’t enough to stop them. They can indeed stop working, but Alex and everyone else probably thought they couldn’t stop now. They had the power to earn money, so why shouldn't they?
3 billion is indeed a large quantity, but they want more. Alex can buy a private island with that money. He thought he could stop there, and everything he wanted before could be done, but was that really what he wanted?
Before gaining this power, he didn’t even know where it came from; he had small dreams, but now he can get everything he wants in his hands.
There is not even a single man in the world who would refuse the opportunity to step on the moon.
Alex had to buy that opportunity to do it as many times as he wanted.
As far as he had heard, spacecraft could even support a journey to Mars, but it would be under heavy pressure and exposure, so it wasn’t recommended.
There’s already a case of a rich kid who stole one of those spacecrafts from his father and ended up on another planet close to the Diretorium. They had to conduct a rescue operation. Happily, it succeeded, even though the kid already had permanent damage to the brain due to low oxygen and heavy radiation.
Many were already lost in space, though. As soon as the spacecraft leaves the Diretorium’s gravity field, it loses its course, and rescue operations become hard. That kid was lucky because he landed on a planet, and the Asmerian Army could utilize nearby military bases to conduct the rescue. After that, concerns were raised about the ease of operating spacecraft without a license, but as no ordinary person could buy one, those concerns were dropped dead in less than a week.
“Emily, you studied this place with Harper, didn’t you?”
Alex asked.
“Yes, I did. Why?”
“Well, it’s because I can’t just bring 50 tons out of my spatial storage or a backpack in the middle of the workshop, can I? What I’m asking is, Can I bring my car?”
“As far as I know, you don’t need a driving license, but if you get caught drunk, you can be arrested, or they will confiscate the car temporarily.”
“That’s great!”
Alex left the base and went to a car shop in Summerville.
Alex entered the car shop in Summerville, his eyes scanning the rows of vehicles. The shop was modest, with a few models on display. Holographic advertisements flickered, showcasing the specs of each car.
"Hello, sir, how can I help you today?”
The salesman asked.
“I got 10 thousand credits within me. What can you get me?”
“Ten thousand credits, you say? That’s a solid budget. Let me show you a few options that might interest you.”
The salesman said.
He led Alex to a place that had many car parts.
“Sir, this model here is the Zeta X3. It is an old model, but it went through modernization, and now that you can add the latest self-driving device, the engine can run up to 350 mph. As for the gliding options, through the modernization previously mentioned, it can glide and achieve a falling acceleration of a mere 1 yd/s2, with its limits standing at 4 yd/s. This model will cost you about 5 thousand credits, and you can buy the chassis, camera, software, sound, and everything else with the remaining money.”
Unlike on Earth, where you buy a car containing an engine, chassis, glass, and everything else already finished, in Asmeria you have to buy the skeleton and then personalize it with a chassis of your interest. Other things may also be added to complete your car. That system may sound weird and inviable, but with the advanced machinery from Asmeria, it can work perfectly.
“What’s the difference between old models that went through modernization and new models?”
Alex asked.
“Well, the consumerism in Asmeria is at its peak; people will only buy new models and leave us with old models. It is quite hard to sell them, so there are a lot of people interested in modernization and turning those old models into something capable of competing with new ones. Even though people go for status instead of utility, new models are usually more expensive, even though their performance is the same as modernized old models.”
The salesman said.
“Well… That explains a lot. I’ll go with the model you mentioned. Now, as for the chassis, what options do we have?”
“I’m glad you liked our modernization services, sir. Please follow me.”
The salesman led the way toward the chassis section. There were a lot of chassis models: sedans, hatchbacks, SUVs, pickups, convertibles, minivans, luxury chassis, off-roads, and even motorcycles.
Alex thought for a while, and after some time, he decided that the best option for him would be an SUV with a bed behind it. There were various models of those, and Alex chose a cyber one.
That chassis cost $2,000. Alex still had 3 thousand credits to spend. He added some customizations then. Solar panels to recharge the vehicle, chromium-titanium cover, bulletproof windows, weapons in front of it, bulletproof wires—everything Alex could think of.
At the end of the buying process, everything cost 10,500 credits, which Alex paid instantly.
“Thank you for your patronage, sir!”
The salesman said.
Alex left the store with his new car. He opened the bed of his new truck and placed the wooden box full of gold inside it.
Alex could teleport to New Lancaster, but instead, he wanted to evaluate his new vehicle.
Alex entered a highway lane made specifically for high-speed driving. Alex went to 300 mph almost instantly. That engine and the autopilot he had bought were extremely effective. He could drive by himself at 300 mph, and the autopilot would automatically adjust itself to not escape on a tangent.
Alex also tested propulsors below the car and the glide device. He could fly 20 meters high and glide the car for 12 seconds. It was something unbelievable on Earth. Wait… They could sell these cars on Earth and earn money with them, couldn’t they? Even though the legislation in the US isn’t as free as in Asmeria, they can probably modify those vehicles and make them able to work on Earth.
As Alex started to think about the possibilities lying in his hands, he was already in New Lancaster.
Alex entered the city and parked his car near the cafeteria he was in before. The clerk recognized him almost instantly; after all, Alex was unique in appearance.
He ordered a special coffee on the menu, a croissant, and a rum candy; he didn’t understand exactly what it meant, but it looked good.
He left the place satisfied. He liked the food there and left a tip for the clerk, who instantly appreciated it and thanked Alex.
Alex drove towards the workshop where he had requested a quote. As soon as he entered the workshop, a robot attendant recognized him by his face and came to greet him.
“Welcome back, Mr. Argent; you came sooner than we anticipated. Are you here to buy the triphibic vehicle you reserved?”
“Indeed.”
“Please, follow me.”
The robot led the way toward the section where they had previously shown Alex the vehicle.
As soon as they came, Alex asked:
“Can I have three of them?”
It almost looked like the robot was surprised, but it couldn’t happen, could it?
“You can, sir. With all the modifications we previously discussed, it costs $100 million for the full operational triphibic vehicle. Three of them will cost you 300 million credits. Are you sure you can pay for it?”
“I can pay for that. I have the money already; it is inside a wooden box. I have 50 tons of gold there, so I can pay for 10 of them.”
“We will process your purchase then, sir.”
The robot requested Alex’s ID, which he instantly gave.
“Now, we only need to process the payment, and your vehicles will finally be yours.”
“Follow me, please.”
Alex said. He led the way toward the park, where his car was parked. He opened the bed of his truck, and inside was a wooden box containing 50 tons of gold.
“Inside that wooden box, there’s 50 tons of gold. According to my calculations, 300 million dollars stands for 15 tons of gold. Take the necessary steps for the payment.”
“The robots have been successfully called, sir. They will take the gold out of the box and calculate the weight. You can stay here to observe the process.”
“I will. Thank you”
Alex said. Two minutes later, 10 robots appeared and started to lift the wooden box from Alex’s pickup’s bed. They easily took 15 tons away from the 50 tons available, and as soon as the last coin of gold was taken away, the robot selling the vehicles to Alex said:
“With this, the three triphibic vehicles are finally yours. Please sign here and then here, and we will ship the models into your home or base.”
As fast as the robot handed Alex the documents, he signed them and left the place.
“Thank you for your patronage, sir!”
The robot said,.
Alex entered his car, and from the window, he shouted:
"Well, I'm changing my plans. I will call my friends, and we will drive them home. Quicker this way.”
As soon as Alex said that, he stepped on the accelerator, and the car almost instantly left their view. After going to a dumping ground on the outskirts of New Lancaster, Alex teleported his auto to their base, and from there, Alex called Harper and Michael.
“Remember the triphibic vehicle we were looking for? Well, I bought three of them. Let’s pick them up.”
“Wait, WHAT?”
“Aren’t you already used to this, Harper? Well, never mind; get in the car. Michael, you go as well.”
Alex teleported his car into the main hall of their base. It surely had enough space, but teleporting a vehicle into a hall wasn’t the wisest choice.
Harper and Michael were already kind of used to Alex’s craziness, so they got in, and Alex teleported again into that dumping ground.
Alex used the propulsors below the car to jump it and the gliders to glide the car for a few seconds. It happened so fast that Harper and Michael were left speechless.
In less than 10 minutes, they were already in the workshop. Before entering the workshop, Alex went to a nearby, isolated place. He made sure there wasn’t anybody nearby, and then he stored the car in his spatial storage.
“Let’s run!”
Alex shouted. He started to run. Michael and Harper followed him. They were at the workshop in no time. As soon as Alex came, the robots led the way towards a park, where the three triphibic vehicles were parked.
“Thank you again.”
“You are welcome, Mr. Argent.”
Alex then said:
“Harper, Michael, pick one of them and figure out how it works. Let’s have fun, babe!”
“Alex, did you drink some alcohol?”
Harper asked.
“Alcohol? I’m 100% myself! But if I have to say something, I ate a rum candy that tasted a little like alcohol.”
Alex said.
“You dumbass! Rum is alcohol. You are drunk now. What if something like last time happens?”
“Hmm… Nah, no way. I’m good, okay? Let’s drive this beauty, and then we discuss things.”
As soon as Alex said that, he got into one of the vehicles and started to drive.
The direction was normal, but after a few minutes, Alex pressed some buttons, and the vehicle started to fly. It was indeed a triphibic vehicle.
It almost looked like it could fly by itself; the view was incredible.
It started to fly higher and higher until it reached its peak, a mile. Alex then drove toward the ocean, where he made the vehicle collide with a lot of force. As he entered the sea, the water started to become more and more polluted, until he reached a point close to 500 yards where the pollution began to disappear, and Alex could finally see the water clean. The view was deplorable, but it couldn’t be helped; the people in that world couldn’t understand that plastics and pollution could destroy oceanic ecosystems.
Alex drove back to the surface; the depth of the ocean was ugly. On the surface, he sets the triphibic vehicle to act like a boat. He drives to the beach, then goes all the way inside the city until he finally finds Michael and Harper figuring out how to utilize that vehicle.
He started a thought transmission using the coat of arms.
“Michael, Harper, can you hear me?”
“Yes, we can.”
Both replied.
“Jokes aside, now that we got our hands on this vehicle, let’s go to the ocean and from there teleport to the Demon Forest.”
“I don’t understand this vehicle at all, Alex.”
Michael complained.
“It is almost like driving a normal vehicle, but with buttons attached. Press the third button from the left to the right and pull the green lever. It may work.”
As Alex gave the instructions, Michael followed them. It worked, and the vehicle started to fly!
“IT FLIES!”
Michael shouted.
He began to feel happy and alive at that moment.
Harper was a smart person; he easily managed the systems and learned how to utilize that vehicle.
“You guys are so smart... How can you manage this machine with ease?”
Michael asked.
“Look at the archive to the left of you.”
Alex said.
Michael then turned to see the drawers closed. He opened one of them, and voila! There was an instruction manual.
“I got it. Thank you, Alex.”
Michael said. He was ashamed. How couldn’t he, a fighter, miss an important document?
Everyone drove toward the ocean as Alex told them to teleport to the base. It isn’t a bad idea to use the ocean as a disguise for the portal. Alex had already made it once.
As soon as they reached the ocean, they sailed to the depths. From there, they teleported to the base, and so they reached it.
Emily and Comoron were waiting for them. Their eyes widened with the view. Three triphibic monsters are coming from the sea.
Emily instantly thought that she could modify the vehicle, and as for Comoron, he started to think of using magic in it.
Both of them wanted to test their skills on random things, and as soon as they set their sights on that triphibic vehicle, their minds flooded with ideas.
Alex was the first one to reach the base’s parking lot. He parked the vehicle there, left it, and looked at the others.
“They are coming; we will wait for them. I have an announcement.”
Michael and Harper didn’t take long to reach Alex. As soon as they left the vehicle, Alex said out loud:
“We have the triphibic vehicles. Its full capabilities are yet to be known. I think that we have enough material to kill the Demon Lord.”
Alex was euphoric. He was very durable when drinking alcohol, but one shot was enough to make him drunk.
“Let’s enter that forest and kill the demon lord!”
He spoke. After saying all that, Alex entered his triphibic, opened the portal to the Demon Forest, and then drove towards it.
“Oh fuck… Here we go again.”
Harper muttered.