He saw quite a few houses, all uniform in shape and size. They had been organized into neighborhoods, with most of the houses decorated with a certain color or symbol. The neighborhood that they were going through right now was colored red, and there was a star over each door. Every ten or so houses, there were special buildings, such as a restaurant, a bar, or some other utility building. These were filled with patrons who were on their downtime, and the noises of friendly conversation could be heard. Sam considered going into one to chat with some of the people, but after he saw everyone he passed salute him, he decided against it. Normally seeing a commander break bread with his men would increase morale, but in a situation like this where power was what stratified society and not merit, it would just be intimidating.
He instead passed by the various taverns with a doleful look on his face, instead acting as if he was surveying the town. Despite the convivial air and normal layout of the time, it was clear that this was a military base as well. Embankments of mana cannons and turrets lined the roads, and people went around dressed in utilitarian clothes, with weapons strapped to their backs or sides. Everyone was on high alert for the upcoming quest, and it was clear that there was an edge to everyone’s attitudes. They acted normal enough, but they were all nervous. Upon seeing Sam, they became decidedly less so, but the anxiety came back as soon as he was out of sight. Sam couldn't blame them either. Even he was scared of what was to come. This would be what could utterly destroy any chances of Earth surviving this entire ordeal, cut off at the very beginning of its journey. What Sam hoped most of all was that the other two factions could see that it would be beneficial for them to work together, at least on some of the quests. The Seven Seals quest was clearly a faction specific one, because only one person could create the ultimate weapon, but the other two ones were threats to humanity as a whole. Their survival might very well depend on if they could work together to defeat these threats.
There was barely over a day left until it was to begin, and Sam was as ready as he could be, with all of his thresholds passed and his level as high as he could get it. The only other thing that he could do was to invest some skill tree points, but he didn't really have enough for anything that he really wanted. He was still trying to save up for that Dao Resonance skill, and he was short by quite a bit. The last thing that he had still not done was to check if there had been any offers on his Dao fruit. He would not receive the money unless he was actually in the Interweb, and had seen the offer first. This was ostensibly to prevent thievery, but Sam suspected that it was a way for the System to regulate the traffic of items through the Interweb. The System was very good at playing the benevolent god-like figure who only had the best interests of its charges in mind, but in reality it was more akin to a parasite, one that made it so that its host could not see the damage that was being done to it.
When Sam had made a full circuit of the city, he made his way toward the city hall.There was a small house outside, which was unoccupied. Assuming that it was for him, Sam made his way inside and found a quiet place in which to enter the Interweb. With Rax watching over him, Sam sank into the metaphysical realm.
He came to his senses in the middle of the bazaar in which he had dealt with the alien faction who had hired him, and he made his way towards his stall. To Sam’s surprise, there were dozens of ghostly figures hovering around it, each signifying an interested party. There was a floating line of text above the stall, which Sam read.
Highest Offers
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The Telskarl sect:25,000,000 Credits
Andar Mixthron:20,000,000 Credits and a one use artifact
The Sons of Danger:15,000,000 Credits
Chosui Balagon:14,000,000 Credits
Mansar the Great:13,000,000 Credits
The lower offers were all the same, a sum of credits that was a bit lower than the one above it. The only options that Sam was interested in were the first two. He made his way towards the brightest figures, and touched the one that corresponded to the Telskarl faction first. A prerecorded message played out of the figure’s mouth.
“For your Dao Fruit, we are willing to pay 25 million credits. If you find this acceptable, please assent to the trade.”
Sam moved over to the second one, and touched the hologram of Andar Mixthron.
“You've already seen my monetary offer, but I am sure that you are listening to this because of the reward that I left unknown. Well, you are in luck. I am one of the foremost alchemists in this universal cluster, and I wish to buy that fruit off you. I will add one of my signature potions to the payment, a one time use potion of resurrection. It only works up to the top of F Rank, and it must be used within an hour of death, but that should work fine for you.”
Sam instantly accepted the offer. Such a potion, while apparently not that rare, was invaluable to him, as there was no way to get it otherwise. It would act as an extra life for himself or one of his friends, and that was worth more than 5 million credits to him.
The sum of money was instantly transferred to his account, a small vial of iridescent liquid appeared in his hand, and his stall vanished. With his task fulfilled, Sam exited the Interweb, and appeared back in his room with a smile on his face. He now held the vial in his hand, and it was slightly warm to the touch. It created an aura of comfort around it, but as to whether that was an effect of Sam knowing that his position was more secure now, or because it actually produced that effect, he did not know.
Sam pocketed the vial, being extremely careful not to break it, especially considering that he was wearing metal armor, and walked out the door. There were small straps on the armor that he could use to carry stuff with, which was quite useful, and he found that a pouch on his left side was very useful for placing potions in. If he ever found any more potions, then he could use this pocket for them. Sam and Rax made their way into the city hall, ready to inform the captains of what they had found. There were a few of them inside the building, Lao, Ava and Claude. Sam walked up to them and smiled.
“That Dao fruit that I put up for auction finally paid off. Look what I got for it.” Sam pulled the potion out of his pocket, handling it gingerly, and allowing the others to analyze it. They looked at him with confused expressions.
“Uh, all we’re getting are question marks,” Claude replied. “Is this some sort of joke?”
“Oh, yeah, that would happen. This is a high tier potion after all. No, this is not a joke. This potion is a one use resurrection potion. If any of us die, it can be used to bring us back from the dead. It can only be used up to an hour after death though,” Sam replied.
Claude’s eyes lit up with greed, while the other two smiled, happy that they had essentially gained a second chance for one of them. All three, no matter their reactions, could tell just how valuable this was, although it seemed that Claude was thinking about it in the monetary sense. Sam handed the potion to Lao, who gave him a look that expressed his confusion.
“Why are you giving this to me? Surely you should keep it safe? After all, you are the strongest among us.”
“That’s why I shouldn't keep something like this. I’m going to be getting into way more fights than the rest of you, and I can’t risk this potion breaking. Out of everyone here, I trust you the most to guard this potion,” Sam said, smiling at Lao. The other man took the potion with a curt nod, and infused it with his Dao briefly before placing it into a pocket. Sam did not miss the way that Claude’s eyes followed the potion as it was secreted away.