After Mohan agreed to Zeke’s offer, they spent a long time discussing the details of their future cooperation. As a seasoned merchant and family head, Mohan Nair fought tooth and nail for as many benefits as he could get.
Ultimately, he substantially raised their shares in the venture and improved the agreed-upon conditions. He was so happy about the final agreement that he completely missed Zeke's indifference to those minor points.
In the end, a lengthy document took shape. The obligations and privileges of both parties were clearly defined. The combination of Zeke and Akasha’s knowledge of Korrovan law resulted in an utterly ironclad contract.
However, the gist of it was simple: The Nair family would be the representatives of Ezekiel’s business ventures in Korrovan. They would be responsible for the sale and distribution of all his products. In turn, they would receive a share of all profits. Additionally, Zeke promised to aid the Nair family in re-establishing their position until they could stand on their own.
A smile came to Zeke’s face the moment Mohan Nair signed his name. He took the two duplicates and carefully placed them into his robes. “I will visit you with your signed copy in the next few days. It shouldn’t take long for my Patriarch to sign it after we have already done so much work.”
Mohan eyed Zeke appraisingly. “You seem pretty confident. Does your Patriarch trust you that much?”
Zeke smiled wryly. Trust? How could I not trust myself? However, it wasn’t the time yet to reveal his identity.
“Of course. I can confidently say that the Patriarch relies on nobody more than me. The fact that he entrusted me with such an important task should already be proof enough. Don’t worry. I am certain he will sign this contract without delay.”
Mohan nodded. “That’s good, but we must still solve our current crisis. As you already know, the Firebrand school demands that we either hand over Aisha or pay them back by the end of the day. We can’t wait for your Patriarch's decision on that.”
Zeke smirked. “There is a saying in Tradespire, do you know it?”
“What saying?”
“If a problem can be solved with money, then it is no problem at all!” After saying so, Zeke stepped in front of the head of house Nair and boldly extended his hand. In his open palm was a glimmering bar of gold with the number 10,000 embossed on it.
Mohan and the others stared blankly for a while. The old man recovered only after what seemed to be a very long time. “T-ten thousand? That is way too much! We only owe them around 500 gold. Even put together, all our debts don’t exceed 1000 gold.”
“I am well aware,” Zeke said leisurely. “The rest is for something else.”
“W-what is the rest for?” Mohan asked. He still hadn’t completely recovered from the shock of witnessing such a fortune appear out of nowhere.
This reaction once again reminded Zeke of how skewed his perception of money had become. During his stay in Tradespire, he had been forced to adjust his scale repeatedly. At this point, he didn’t even consider 10,000 gold to be a lot of money anymore. But anywhere else, it was enough to shock even the head of a prestigious family to such a degree that they completely lost composure.
Zeke cleared his throat to gather the attention of his mesmerized audience. “I think we should take advantage of our circumstances right now.”
Mohan looked at him in confusion. “What circumstance are you talking about?”
Instead of answering, Zeke swept his gaze over the many alcoves surrounding them. His eyes sparkled as they roamed the various Chimeroi on offer. Where else could one acquire so many peak Grand Mage level fighters for the price of a few coins? Zeke would be a fool to let this opportunity slip by, and his only obstacle had also disappeared.
Previously, Zeke would not have been able to spend that much without drawing attention. However, the situation had changed. Now, he could buy whatever he wanted, using the Nair family as cover. Nobody would consider it suspicious for such a well-regarded merchant family to spend vast amounts of gold.
“Akasha. Can you compile a list of the most suitable picks with a combined value of around 8000 gold?”
[Notice]
Affirmative. Here is the list according to specifications. They have a combined value of 8200 gold.
1. Vulcanos— 2200 gold.
2. Ashen Wolf — 1900 gold.
3. Gravitas — 4100 gold.
Zeke considered those names in turn.
Vulcanos and Ashen Wolf were solid choices. Both of them were strong, and Vulcanos could benefit Leo’s progress on top of that. As for the third person, Gravitas, Zeke had never heard of them. However, judging by their ridiculous price, they couldn’t be somebody weak.
Even so, Zeke still had his doubts. “Are you sure your third choice is worth it? We could pick up two fighters instead.”
[Notice]
Gravitas has an innate Magic that could be important for researching the host’s future path. I have determined it to be a worthwhile investment.
That was all Zeke needed to hear. He returned his attention to the members of house Nair. Only a moment had passed, and they were just now following his gaze. It didn’t take long before Mohan understood his meaning.
“The Veergati?” he asked. “You want to buy slaves?”
“Indeed,” Zeke confirmed. “Right now, neither my side nor yours has a strong presence in the city. Our first priority should be to shore up that weakness. Otherwise, we might get bullied in the future.”
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Mohan slowly nodded. After hesitating momentarily, he took the gold from Zeke’s hand. “What did you have in mind?”
“I need you to serve as a…”
Zeke explained his plan. Soon after, their group was moving. After exchanging their gold bar for smaller currency, their first stop was at an alcove with the name Sandstorm written next to it. This was where Vulcanos was being sold. Fortunately, despite the gawking crowd, he had not been sold yet.
Zeke inspected Vulcanos, whom he was meeting for the first time. Despite his imposing name, the man was only slightly taller than himself. He had broad shoulders and a muscular physique. However, none of that could compare to his most striking feature — his skin.
Vulcanos skin was the color of burnt stone. On top of that, he had glowing cracks all over his body, which made it look like molten stone was flowing under his skin. He was by far the most eye-catching being Zeke had ever seen.
[https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/1063583644020654080/1198950182847516684/18cbd4a3-bb89-4767-b0e6-f167e207991e_1.png?ex=65c0c45f&is=65ae4f5f&hm=c71fb2eaf0993b225f3a64aa9e70c4d33b1d884eecff26260d85aa5ceb003769&=&format=webp&quality=lossless&width=893&height=502]
Contrary to his flashy appearance, Vulcanos seemed uncomfortable under the crowd's gazes. The situation was made worse by the fact that he wasn’t even given a shirt to wear. This was most likely a strategy to attract attention. However, it made him visibly uncomfortable as he squirmed under their eyes.
Even so, Vulcanos might have been able to endure if not for one particular person. A young man with brown hair and amber eyes was standing right in front of him, staring intently. Zeke grimaced upon seeing him. Who else could it be besides Leo? Seriously, his brother had no tact. He didn’t even care who he was bothering as he just kept gaping.
With every moment, the poor Chimeroi seemed to be getting increasingly uncomfortable. Zeke decided that it was high time to save him. He signaled for Mohan to take the lead and quietly followed along.
To Zeke’s surprise, Mohan seemed to be already acquainted with the Master of the Sandstorm school. They immediately started chatting as if they were the best of friends. Only after a long time did Mohan even broach the subject of their visit.
“Listen, friend, I didn’t only come here to exchange pleasantries…” Mohan said.
The man immediately shook his head. “I am sorry, Mohan, but I can’t lend you any more money. I know you are in a tight spot right now, but—”
Mohan wildly gesticulated with his arms as he hurriedly cut the man off. “No, no, no! You misunderstand, old friend. It’s not about that. In fact, I will pay you back everything that is owed today.”
The master of the Sandstorm school raised a single brow. “Really? I heard you were in a pretty tight spot. Can you really afford it?”
Mohan scoffed. “Mere pocket change. We were just in a temporary slouch — no need to make a big deal out of it.” The man still looked dubious but didn’t refute the claims any further. “Anyway, the reason I have come was actually to buy one of your fighters.”
“Who are you looking to buy?”
“Vulcanos,” Mohan stated confidently.
“What? Are you certain? He’s over 2000 gold.”
Mohan nodded confidently. “2200, to be exact; 2400 if we include the money I still owe you.” Without saying anything else, the old man took out the exact amount of money and placed it on the table. Now, it was the Sandstorm master’s turn to be flustered.
His gaze alternated between Mohan and the pile of money for a while. Then he started to chuckle. “Well, I’ll be damned. Looks like you actually managed to bounce back. Very well, we can go ahead with the transfer. — Follow me.
Mohan, Zeke, Vulcanos, and the master of the Sandstorm school made their way to a separate room at the end of the hall. Nobody was inside, but Zeke noticed that a ritual had been assembled here.
“Are you going to take custody yourself?” the Sandstorm master asked.
Mohan shook his head, pointing at Zeke. “No, this young man will be the one to take custody.”
The gaze of the Arch Mage shifted unto Zeke, scrutinizing him from head to toe. However, he couldn’t even discover his identity as Zeke still covered his face.
“I must see your face,” the man demanded. “It is forbidden to transfer ownership of such a dangerous slave otherwise. I am sure you understand.”
Zeke nodded. He had expected something like this to happen. Luckily, he didn’t need to hide his face, as his alias was already well-known around here. As expected, the moment he removed his veil, both Mohan and the Sandstorm master recognized him.
“Aren’t you Blood Dragon?”
“That is right,” Zeke confirmed with a light bow. “I will be responsible for training the Nair family’s Chimeroi from now on. Please transfer their ownership to me.”
The Sandstorm master furrowed his brows and addressed Mohan. “Are you certain this is the right choice? There is no reason he would need to have ownership as a trainer.”
Mohan waved off his concerns as if they were nothing. “Don’t worry about it. Blood Dragon is absolutely trustworthy. You can even consider him to be part of the family.”
“Hoh!” the Sandstorm master exclaimed in surprise. After that, he looked closer at Zeke’s face before snickering. It seemed he had come to some sort of conclusion, and Zeke had a bad premonition.
“Now that I look at him, this fellow is quite handsome. Could it be that little Aisha has taken a liking to him?” the man asked teasingly.
As expected, the Sandstorm master had jumped to the wrong conclusion. However, neither Zeke nor Mohan were dumb enough to correct his mistake. This misunderstanding perfectly explained why Mohan was comfortable transferring the ownership to Zeke.
The Sandstorm master, taking their silence as confirmation, chuckled once more. “Well, that is certainly sad for all the young men chasing after her.”
Mohan looked sternly at him. “I hope you won’t spread the word. I don’t want to create trouble for Blood Dragon.”
The Sandstorm master waved him off casually. “Don’t worry, don’t worry. My lips are sealed! Come on, let’s get the ritual started.”
The ritual was rather peculiar, consisting of two round disks intersecting in the middle — like a figure 8. Zeke took his place on one of the disks while the Sandstone master stood on the other. Vulcanos, who had remained silent all throughout, stepped onto the intersection between them.
The ritual came to life when the three of them were in place. Zeke felt a tug on his Core. It seemed as if it was trying to establish a connection. He could hardly hold himself back from investigating that strange sensation in detail. However, now wasn’t the time. Furthermore, Akasha was undoubtedly already in the process of figuring out what was happening.
“I voluntarily transfer ownership of this slave,” the Sandstorm master said. He then looked at Zeke encouragingly.
“I voluntarily accept ownership of this slave,” Zeke said.
This would most likely do the trick. After all, the procedure couldn't be complicated since nobody had explained what he was supposed to say or do.
As expected, the ritual lit up momentarily, and both Mohan and the Sandstorm master had pleased expressions on their faces. However, Zeke couldn’t pay attention to any of that, as he felt something being attached to him. To be more specific, he felt it being attached to his Soul. He was careful to keep a natural expression on his face, but inwardly, Zeke was shocked. The priority of figuring out how this ritual worked had just climbed a few ranks.
However, Zeke was brought out of his thoughts when Vulcanos approached him and bowed deeply. “Your orders, master?”
“Yes. Follow and protect that man for now,” Zeke said, pointing at Mohan. “I will give you more detailed instructions at a later date.”
“Understood, Master,” Vulcanos said before bowing again.
“Wait a moment.” Zeke withdrew his reserve robe from his bag and handed it to Vulcanos. “Put this on first.”
Vulcanoes gratefully took the piece of clothing and immediately covered his exposed torso. His gaze now contained a lot more warmth when he looked at Zeke. “Thank you, master.”
Zeke merely nodded, saying nothing more.
The three of them left after saying their goodbyes to the Sandstorm master. However, they were back in the same room only minutes later. This time, they were accompanied by a different group. One of them was a veiled woman with glittering, bluish skin and big eyes — she was the Chimeroi called Gravitas.
After going through the ritual, Zeke gave her the same orders, and they departed once more. Now, the only one that was left was Ashen Wolf, and then they could leave.
As the four of them walked the hall, their group attracted much more attention than before. With both Vulcanos and Gravitas walking side by side, they made for quite the sight. And just as expected, everyone was shooting envious gazes at the Nair family head while completely ignoring Zeke, who was following behind them like a servant.
However, it seemed their luck had run out, as their path was soon blocked. Zeke recognized the opposing trio immediately. They were the group from the Firebrand school who had ‘negotiated’ with Mohan earlier.
The young man seemed furious as he stared at Mohan with naked hostility. “What do you think you are doing, old man?”