Smiling, I asked him if I could order another such elixir. I had to make use of the Supreme Demon Blood that had accidentally come into my possession, and finally, I got a chance. Dar wasn’t surprised, but he latched onto me, trying to find out where we procured two Blood samples. He even had another copy of the recipe, but the price he stated left me shocked. Racial Metamorphosis was far from cheap. Really, an elixir vial that costs almost as much as a fully fitted astral frigate...
However, I still decided to order it. Money was just money. I had enough of it at that moment, and some opportunities only came once. I needed to strike while the iron was hot, and I gave Dar all the Blood I had.
“This one is different, weaker, even if it’s from a supreme demon,” the gnome grumbled, studying the ingredient. “I’d love to know where you’re farming them — they’re faction leaders... I’m warning you; the effects may vary, and vary a lot. I told that to Olaf, and I’m telling you the same — after you drink it, send me a screenshot with the results. I’ll add that to the catalog. A mandatory condition!”
“Deal. I have another question. I want to discuss your participation in — ”
“No! The Northerners already contacted Hird,” Dar interrupted me, clearly displeased. “We won’t fight the Pandas.”
“That’s not what I’m talking about. I wanted to discuss Helt Akor.”
“What exactly do you know about Helt Akor that we don’t?” the gnome asked, squinting.
Without a word, I sent him a screenshot of the map I had received from Tormis with all crucial data blacked out, followed by linking an orange-colored Helt Akor Map Fragment that confirmed I indeed had that item in my inventory.
“Well, I must say I’m truly happy to meet you, HotCat,” Dar slowly said after a pause. “So you are that player with the Ancient Gene who got the second of the four Fragments from Tormis. I have to admit: we’ve been hunting them for a while. How much do you want for it? I can offer you five hundred thousand on the spot.”
“So there are four of them? If you gather them together, you’ll get the complete map?” I asked, ignoring his offer. It was nice to know that the full map existed, but the main value of the Fragment was the marks on it — the “codes” of the Crossroads. The Hirdman knew that this information was priceless, as it allowed one to purposefully travel between the nodes of Helt Akor.
“Yes. Haven’t you read the background? If you put together a complete map of the Endless Paths, you’ll be able to find their center. Legend says the ruined capital of the Ancients, Rag-Mor-Kor, is there. Well, how about we make a deal? Name your price.”
“Oh, we’ll make a deal, all right,” I said. “But not the one you think.”
Chapter 6
“SO IT’S ELLURITE. Is there a lot?” Dar asked, waited for my nod, and continued. “It’s not going to work. Your plan is doomed to fail. We can be reasoned with, but the majority of deposits are held by the Eagles. NAVY, have you heard about them?”
“Of course, I have. All right, it’s my problem,” I said, deciding not to focus on that. “So are we agreed on the escort in Helt Akor?”
“Yes. We have a clan whose members constantly scour the Paths for such sites. They’ll be happy to help. You’ll have to share some of the spoils, though. Here’s the contact, they’re called the Owl Legion. Barter with them, give them ellurite. As for me, I’ll take coordinates. One Crossroads location for one caravan. Deal?”
We spent a few minutes discussing terms and then signed a mutually beneficial agreement. Hird promised to escort my caravans out of Helt Akor, and I paid them with the information taken from the Fragment that Tormis had given me. Unfortunately, Dar flatly refused to discuss any cooperation in trading activities at the Bazaar. I wanted to shake up the market of ellurite, a trickle of which was about to start flowing into my auction warehouse. This resource was serious business, expensive and high-volume, and alone I had no hope of doing anything with its sales. I needed a lot more funds and capabilities than the several million I was prepared to invest.
We parted ways almost as friends. After concluding my meetings and negotiations, I dedicated some time to routine trade, putting up standard lots, clearing up warehouses, and giving orders to auctioneers. There was only one important thing left to do. I had been subconsciously putting it on the back-burner, as that decision made me agonize a little.
The Maiden Veil. I had a thousand ready amulets — Romanova had cleared out the Stronghold’s armory to pay me — and a thousand blueprints, each of which could be used to craft ten more copies. Basically, it was two thousand exclusive items.
I thoroughly inspected a copy of the blueprint. The crafting chain was rather complicated, involving mostly rare components, but nothing impossible. Creating it required three crafters to work together: the Jeweler crafted a pendant out of common components, the Enchanter applied a special effect to the gem, and the Artifactor combined them into a complete item.
One of my goals at the Bazaar was evaluating the possibility of creating such amulets and their eventual mass production. After examining the auction, I concluded that it wouldn’t be especially complicated. The majority of ingredients were on sale, and the crafting process didn’t require high workmanship. The net cost of one Veil was quite moderate, only about a thousand gold. Considering the number of blueprints I had, I could bury the market in
