Slave Market

Derrick grumbled inwardly and put on a fake smile.

Deep down, all he wanted was to read and assimilate the book, but the person observing him would surely suspect something.

"Sure, let's go"

Brigand was happy to hear that, and so they both left the building in the epicurean carriage.

A few minutes later, they arrived in front of another large edifice.

This one, however, looked way more tacky.

When he saw the visible distaste in Derrick's face, the merchant let out a hearty laugh.

"Yeah, I find it hideous as well, but once you're inside, you'll forget about the decor"

Leaving on that mysterious note, they proceeded to the entrance. Once the guard recognized Brigand, he instantly let them through, making him beam with pride.

"Told you I had contacts, hehe"

Derrick somehow found his reaction hilarious. It had been a while since he had bonded with anyone, as the cave hadn't been exactly prone to making friends.

But as soon as they entered, he was instantly awed.

The interior was packed with people and slaves. The traders had what appeared to be their best products on pedestals, often exposing them naked to assure their potential buyers that they had no defects.

Moreover, all types of races were present : elves, orcs, dwarves, goblins... If you needed something, they had it.

Behind each of these traders were also rows of slaves that didn't move, as if they had lost their will to live.

"How are they so calm and obedient?"

Derrick was puzzled and figured that it had to be related to magic.

"They are 'branded' by the traders. It's a magic pact that prevents the branded from ever hurting their master. If you ask me, I find it disgusting, as it prevents them from thinking. Without one's mind, you're just a walking corpse"

Derrick couldn't agree more, although it depended on what sort of task they were set to do.

"Anyway, this is just the first level. Don't bother with this low quality, we're going to the top!"

With a grin, the burly man led the necromancer to the last level, passing security checkpoints on each level.

After arriving at the fourth floor, they even had to be searched before being allowed through.

"This is where the good stuff is when you have money. You can find princesses, blacksmiths, enchanters etc. You can even 'order' in advance, with them contacting you once they receive it"

Derrick was honestly flabbergasted. You could 'order' people?! What?!

As they kept walking, they arrived in a large hall that had a single, central counter.

Behind it was a small man who was writing in a black ledger. When he saw the newcomers, he put down his feather and observed them.

"What's your budget?"

His voice was high-pitched and nosy, honestly surprising Derrick more than his bluntness. Brigand, however, didn't seem phased at all.

"900 gold coins"

Derrick didn't have any time to waste, since he wanted to go back to his book.

The small man's eyes suddenly shone. It seemed he was motivated by money more than anything else.

"Dear guest, what are you looking for?"

"Blacksmith, enchanter, researcher, scholar, general and show me a princess while we're at it"

After hearing the exhaustive list of demands, the small man couldn't help but burst out laughing, shocking Derrick and Brigand. Was he disregarding them?!

After a few seconds, he began to wipe away the tears that had formed at the corner of his eyes.

"I'm sorry... You just took me by surprise. My name's Yankov. May I know yours?"

Derrick now had a massive frown.

"I'm Derrick Tarlin. What was so funny about my request?"

"Dear guest, your demands are far too high for your budget. Right now, I can show you blacksmiths, scholars and generals. As for enchanters and researchers, they are so rare that you couldn't even buy one with your entire fund. Princesses are on the cheaper side of the spectrum, but I assume they aren't your priority, correct?"

Derrick's mind blanked when he heard of the possible costs. He thought he had struck it rich, only to be told that he was still a beggar.

After gathering back his thoughts, he nodded in response.

"Good. I'll show you our various selections in these fields. Please wait a moment"

Once again, Yankov looked at the ledger and started going through it while noting down numbers.

He then put it aside, and pulled a small metallic key out of a drawer before leaving his counter and going in front of two men.

Out of nowhere, he started shouting numbers and making motions of opening a door with the key.

What made Derrick dumbstruck, however, was that a magical door actually appeared and opened in front of them.

Every time Yankov carried on, another one would appear, and so on and so forth.

He repeated the gesture nine times in a row.

"You can all come out now"

After Yankov's command, nine individuals stepped out of the magical doorways. They were all dressed properly and seemed well-fed. Their treatment was obviously better than those located on the lower levels.

"Dear guest, what you see in front of you are the best goods we have for your needs. There are three people for each field, graded by their quality, consisting of good, great and outstanding. Of course, their price varies accordingly. For the blacksmiths, it goes as follows : 100, 200 and 400 gold coins. For the scholars : 50, 100 and 200 gold coins. Finally, for the generals : 150, 300 and 600 gold coins. Good shopping!"

While performing a slight bow, the man then returned to his tasks.

Derrick was still shocked by the magical key, but he kept his questions for himself, as this wasn't the place to ask them anyway.

As for the prices, they hadn't been as exorbitant as Derrick expected, relieving him.

"I'll leave you to it"

With a light pat on the shoulder, Brigand left.

Derrick liked his tactfulness. He was now convinced he could ask him for help with Akata, although only after getting the answer to a question that had recently occupied his mind.

Finally alone, it was time to choose wisely.

In front of him were nine individuals who represented three races, which were human, orc and dwarf. Five were men and 4 were women. He decided to go in order of importance.

He already had his army of undead, which didn't require a general, and he could already make weapons, thus making the scholar a top priority.

A smirk slowly appeared on Derrick's face. It wasn't that he had no trust in their initial assessment, but...

"System, can you use <Superior Appraisal> to evaluate the potential of these individuals?"

[Modification to the skill <Superior Appraisal> is possible. Would you like to do so? Note : the original skill will still be intact]

This system was a gift that just kept on giving.

"Yes"

[Modification successful! A new skill has been created, and its name is <Potentus>. It allows its user to evaluate the talent of individuals. May evolve in the future]

"Evaluate them"

[The assessment has been verified and confirmed. The individual costing 200 gold has the highest potential, with a ceiling at the <Master> tier in the Scholar domain]

Derrick was joyous. He hadn't been using the system much outside of its very obvious use cases, which was a shame considering its enormous potential. This was a great start in rectifying that.

The scholar was a man who appeared to be in his early thirties. He had black hair, sharp traits, pursed lips and a nose that was a bit crooked. His physique was nothing special, with him being a head shorter than Derrick.

After deciding on his first choice, he then went to inspect the blacksmiths.

He did the same routine with the system before coming to the same result, which made his choice land on a male dwarf who was short, round, bald and had a long beard. The system had also assessed his ceiling at the <Master> tier in smithing, which immensely pleased Derrick.

Lastly, it was time to decide his general.

He only had 300 gold coins left, meaning that common sense dictated to take the great tier one.

However, he had a gut feeling about the 'good' tier option. She had a decent figure, red hair and a nice face, but more importantly, she seemed to possess a fiery attitude and an unyielding spirit.

"System, use Potentus"

[The assessment has been verified and revised. The individual costing 150 gold has more potential than the one costing 300 gold. Her ceiling is at the <Master> tier]

A diamond in the rough! Derrick was proud that his instincts had been proven right.

"Yankov, I'll be taking these three"

Yankov looked up and was surprised by his choice of general, obliging nonetheless. Like before, he opened the drawer, but this time came out with three pieces of paper before walking in Derrick's direction.

"By the way, since it doesn't seem to work like below, how do they recognize their owner?"

Derrick's curiosity had been piqued, and he wanted to know how they'd obey him.

"You do not have to worry about this. Compared to the brainless monkeys below, we only use the highest of magic formations to brand their souls, resulting in inviolable laws. These formations are bound by blood and will last until their owner dies. This also allows them to freely think"

Magic formations!

Another topic that completely eluded the necromancer. After all the new things he had experienced today, he felt like a country bumpkin that had a lot of catching up to do.

"Dear guest, would you please give me a drop of your blood?"

Derrick merrily agreed and watched as Yankov pricked his finger, resulting in a few drops falling on the three, identical parchments.

On them were various runes drawn that looked impossible to duplicate.

After doing the same process with the three soon-to-be servants, a blinding light erupted and the three sheets flew in the air before entering their minds, resulting in them falling to the ground.

"Everything's done! The amount owed is 750 gold coins"