Chapter 8 - Zaine

Draco took less than an hour to reach his destination while walking casually. If he had sprinted the whole way, it would have taken him less than ten minutes. The reason he didn't was because he wanted to give himself time to think.

Even with how apathetic Draco was, he was from an era were NPCs were respected as unique beings. Unlike players, when they died it was for good. A guild of players could afford to kamikaze themselves because they were able to respawn. The ones fighting in this conflict wouldn't.

Draco was conflicted. He was evil, but that was only because he was doing everything to gain revenge. He justified all his actions based on his hatred.

Here, he had no such thing. If he really fanned the flames of this war by profiteering, he would indirectly be the cause of a lot of deaths. Other players wouldn't bat an eye at this stage, but he was different.

Draco sighed and decided that what would be would be. Everyone had their places in life and some had their destinies in the body pit of a battleground. Whether he was here or not wouldn't change the outcome, just the rapidity of it.

Draco looked to the huts that were arrayed before him. These so called "savages" intentionally portrayed that front to outsiders in order to deceive them. Their underground city might not lose to even Gnomish and Dwarven kingdoms in terms of advancement. The huts were of the ancient African design, with mud walls and a roof made of thick tree branches. Carved into the sides of these circular huts was a square opening that served as a window.

The settlement wasn't large, barely bigger than a village. In terms of size, it lost out to the frontier town. However, Draco dared not underestimate them. Wherever there was a village, there was a passage underground. Each underground passage had a military outpost connected to it, so reinforcements could quickly be sent above in case of a siege.

In fact, between the two parties it could be said that the indigenes needed Draco's weapons deal slightly less. However, Draco was confident he'd be well received. The reason was because he knew something from his past life that no one today did.

Like with any society, especially an advanced one like the indigenes, there would always be internal conflicts stemming from cultural and political origins. The frontier town had it hard, thinking they were estranged from the world, but still received resources from the guild except manpower.

The indigenes on the surface had a reverse situation. There were always new youths being sent up to fight and gain some experience, but they were left to feed themselves on the surface. Not even a knife was given them on the journey up top.

This is the only reason why despite the overwhelming numbers of the indigenes, the Frontiersmen haven't been eradicated.

To them, Draco coming to given them weapons would be the deal breaker in this war… assuming Draco was a fool. After all, should the indigenes drive out the Frontiers people, he would have no way to settle here. His supplies may be useful to the native youths on the surface, but the authorities down below could care less on the matter of what he could supply.

The Frontiersmen would receive top quality weapons, armor and consumables as well as some mercenary forces to even the tide and prolong the war. The indigenes would be given passable quality items that wouldn't grant them any advantages.

When Draco entered the range of the settlement, various gazes were trained on him. The various youths eyed him with wariness, interest and even open hostility. After all, it was obvious Draco wasn't part of this particular community, although he was one of their race.

There was an unspoken competition between each of the villages on who could conquer their respective frontier town, hence the distrust. Still, there was no rule stating the each community was autonomous, so nothing could stop Draco from entering.

After walking through the area, he gained a rough idea of the forces here, as well as their strengths and lackings. Seeing the newcomer doing nothing but observing their outpost, the natives here became even more hostile. Draco was acting like nothing more than a spy.

Despite the fact that they couldn't kick him out, nothing stopped the natives from entering conflicts on the surface. After all, they had been estranged from below so no one would be coming up unless there was the threat of total annihilation.

Hence, a tall and robust youth with a rough and scary visage marked by scars stood in Draco's path along with four or so other fellows. Immediately, the crowd started chattering in excitement and apprehension. Some felt that Draco should be beaten and thrown out, while others felt that the real enemy was out there, so why were they fighting among themselves?

"Leave." The brutish fellow stated in a rough voice. He didn't introduce himself or ask who or why Draco was here.

Naturally, Draco ignored him to the point where even some spectators felt that the presence of the half-giant man was a mirage. Seeing that the one he was looking down upon had ignored him so thoroughly, his expression darkened.

With a snort, he spoke in a cold voice. "Pipsqueak, I'll give you three seconds to turn around and leave before I make you."

Some of the crowd gulped audibly. They all knew him, he was one of the strongest fighters of their hamlet, Kwaku. His strength was only surpassed by their chieftain, meaning he was a monstrous existence. Seeing that Kwaku wanted to cause trouble for the intruder made some worry, while others gloated in schadenfreude.

Still, despite his threat, Draco still pretended that he didn't exist. This caused Kwaku's anger to reach a boiling point. With a roar, he leapt at Draco while punching out with full force, aiming to cripple the blind fool before him.

Despite that, his fist met only air. Where Draco stood before was devoid of any living being. With a surprised grunt, he traced his target to further down the road.

Everyone viewing the event sucked in a breath of air. They were all seasoned combatants, unlike the Frontiersmen, so they could easily see Draco move by Kwaku's punch as if it wasn't there. To a normal person's eyes, Draco just walked right through Kwaku's body, but in fact, that was his afterimage from just walking steadily.

Just walking!!

It was obvious to everyone that should Draco have wished to retaliate, even kill Kwaku, he'd be dead by now. This realization made Kwaku's expression become sullen as he glared angrily at Draco's back. Yet, he didn't attempt to hinder him anymore.

The strength difference between the two had been set. Trying to accost him further would be no different than slapping the grim reaper awake during his nice nap.

Now, the residents became even more curious as to Draco's purpose here. So far, he hadn't uttered a word, just casually observing the ambience of the village. After a few minutes, he finally turned around and stared straight at the crowd that had been tailing him in curio. His sudden movement made all of them take a few steps back in apprehension.

They weren't cowards by nature, but seeing that not even Kwaku was his match, they weren't fit to even clean the morsels between Draco's teeth. If Draco did decide to battle them all, only their ancestors could guess how many would fall.

After staring at them for a few seconds, Draco smirked and finally spoke for the first time, baffling everyone in the village. "How long are you planning to remain in hiding?"

Everyone revealed a questioning look towards Draco's strange words. Kwaku's brows furrowed before his eyes narrowed suddenly. With a snort, he crossed his arms and stared right where Draco was looking.

Not understanding Kwaku's action, many eyes followed his gaze too. On the side of a mud hut, a body slowly detached and walked to the fore of the indigenes. The muddy toned skin rapidly morphed into a lovely caramel shade, revealing a woman who could only be described as fierce yet mind-blowing.

She was about as tall as Draco with toned muscles on display since her attire was essentially a cotton sports bra and shorts. She wouldn't look too out of place in a gym or a boxing ring. Her hair was short and curly, her eyes a light shade of brown, her lips slightly thick and crimson red. To describe her as voluptuous…. Not enough. Draco, with all his mental strength, felt goosebumps from the sheer beauty of her proportions. This was the kind of thing you'd see in a 3D game with heavily s.e.x.u.a.lized females, not real life. Not even surgery could create this kind of perfect distribution in Draco's opinion.

The worst part was that she wasn't wearing anything underneath, meaning her n.i.p.p.l.es and camel toe were on display. Her tight and thin material attire left nothing to imagination except maybe coloring.

Draco noticed that he wasn't the only one with this reaction. In fact, all the men around had lost focus, only staring at this woman's form as if it were the only thing in the world. Some of the weaker ones had tents in their shorts while others were drooling. Only Kwaku and Draco fought with their hormones and instincts to remain staring at her face. Even some of the girls were watching the woman hungrily, showing that they had a variety of orientations outside the norm.

The woman's eyebrows raised from Draco's resilience. She fully expected him to be weak minded, unable to resist her natural form. Seeing that he had such strong will, she became serious. In this land, the only person she was wary of was Kwaku, now another one had appeared.

"You have good eyes." She said simply, her voice neither deep nor light, but standing in between. Her accent was also heavier than the others, sounding distinctly African to Draco's ears.

Draco was also able to see that her remark wasn't simple. She was indirectly lauding him for doing what others failed to do – keep his eyes to himself. Though Draco wasn't going to take the moral high ground against the others, because there was definitely something going on with this woman's charm. Draco guessed she might be part succubus, after all, human-devil offspring were a normal sight, especially succubus and incubus offspring.

It would also explain her natural camouflage ability.

"I am here to negotiate for land. I wish to sell weapons, armor and potions to the fighters here," Draco squeezed out with effort, adding in an empty smile.

This shocked the gathered viewers so strongly that they forgot to ogle the woman. She herself revealed a wide eyed gaze and even Kwaku had his jaws drop.

Sell weapons and armor..? Was there really such a thing…?

Give it! Give it now!! Who in their right minds would refuse?? Having a supply of weapons and armor would not only lower the mortality rate but increase the oppression on their targeted frontier town. The sooner they squashed them, the greater their rewards and standing in society, individually as well as collectively. They were one of the bottom rung outposts up here, but with this..!!

The various youths assembled couldn't help but fantasize. Ah! Their ancestors were really watching over them to send such a boon. They swore to add more offerings during their next visit to the tombs.

The voluptuous woman was the first to recover and Kwaku soon followed after. The two of them observed Draco seriously before the woman spoke again.

"We have no qualms letting you sell here, but trade requires currency. When leaving the homeland, we didn't bring any of our pesewas. Also, may I inquire upon your supplier?"

Her questions once again snapped everyone out of their daze, for they were crucial. How would they compensate Draco for his wares and more importantly, he was one of them on the surface and should have an outpost of his own. Why would he supply them with weapons instead of the bigger outposts or even his own village?

Apprehension made itself known on their faces. Coupled with Draco's suspicious activities when he first entered the town, it seemed more like a prelude to an invasion than a business venture expansion.

Draco didn't blame them, but he was surprised at how sharp this woman was. He had already long guessed that she was the true leader here, and her actions have affirmed that. Draco frowned inwardly. Both the frontier town and the native's village had extremely intelligent leaders, so how were they at the bottom? Probably circ.u.mstance and fate. With Draco's supplies, he could see these two towns taking the highlight of this war easily.

"I would take the currency of these frontier's people. I have great use for it in building a platform to invade their lands. My supplies come from harvesting the spoils of war from more affluent towns. We also found some supply trains on their way to restock their destinations, so we do not lack supplies. Is that good enough?"

With such an explanation, they could only acquiesce. Most of those who felt endangered relaxed and even felt envy. To strike gold like that… how lucky! Some too felt awe from Draco's assertion that he planned to assault the lands of the invaders. Excitement brimmed in their hearts. Who that was on the defensive didn't want to take the fight to their assailants?

The only one with some measure of distrust still lingering in their eyes was the woman who was in charge, but she hid it well. Still, Draco easily caught onto it and he frowned inwardly. First Anguis, now this woman. Was he that distrustful? He wasn't even using his real face!

"Thank you for clarifying. We will help you construct your shop for a fee. How soon can you open business?" She went straight into the heart of the matter, not wasting time with any superfluous words.

Draco found that he rather felt this woman was pleasing. Down to earth and not the type to talk unnecessarily. "As soon as the shop is ready. Here is the design."

Of course, while they may be combatants, there were definitely utility classes here who could easily handle the building of the shop. As an afterthought, Draco decided to analyze Kwaku and the woman before him.

｢Name: Kwaku – Rank 1 Barbarian Adventurer

Level: 17

HP: 10,000/10,000｣

｢Name: Zaine – Rank 1 Fighter Adventurer

Level: 19

HP: 8,000/8,000｣

Draco's eyebrows rose in surprise. Despite being able to fight both of them, he wouldn't have it easy at all, even with his skill. Just Kwaku's health alone was enough to rival a lieutenant rank monster. It was also a fact that between NPCs and monsters, NPCs of the same rank have an advantage over monsters.

Draco left the town after making sure the construction was underway. There was very little he could add to the progress, as he didn't choose the builder Tradeskill. Instead, he walked deeper into the region until he came across a cave that was hidden inside a mountain.

He observed this cave carefully for traps or other inhabitants. Finding that it was clear, Draco sighed in relief. In fact, this wasn't a natural cave but something made by a powerful being who lived here in seclusion for a while. As such, the place was remote and best of all, had rooms for alchemy, smithing and even hygiene.

This was going to be Draco's base for the duration of the war, where he'd create weapons and armor as well as brew potions for sale. The amount of resources he had were staggering. He had already bought some potions to add to the weapons and armor sets he bought from players which would be a part of his first wave of goods.

By the time those sold out, he have a few sets of his own handcrafted products done. Killing two birds with one stone: earn skill levels and money at the same time was his goal.

With that in mind, Draco began renovation. He had work to do.

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