Sealing the deal

Marten couldn't help but think that the Ivory Sand probably had a much better use than they thought. But then again, they've been selling it for many years, but no one has ever shown such interest before.

Nicola could tell what Marten was thinking, so he added. "If you want to investigate, then so be it. No one else but me has a use for this sand. However, you'd better not mention my name. Otherwise, this deal will be canceled. Remember, this is a secret negotiation between us."

Marten couldn't negotiate such a big deal and decided to contact an elder of his tribe. He asked Nicola to wait for a while and he would be back quickly.

It took about half an hour when he came back. Nicola couldn't help noticing that there was also another older man present. He looked at the elder and realized the guy was in silver cultivation, and a high one at that, maybe not as much as Nicola, but certainly near to it.

The man also looked at Nicola and immediately understood that the latter had far superior cultivation than his own. "Hello sir. My name is Kriass, an elder of the Sand Rat clan. I heard from Marten that you would like to close a deal with us."

Nicola nodded, getting right to the point. "Marten should have explained it to you by now. I want all the Ivory Sand present in your clan's territory. This trade must also be kept secret. I'm ok whit the price you offer, but you also won't have to worry about the cost of removing the sand since I'm coming here by a few months ahead to pick the package. Maybe you're done with your investigations?" He said looking sideways.

Both wererats sure took some of their ivory sand and walked around, looking to see if there was anything they had missed. They went to the Formation, Blacksmith and Alchemist guilds in the City. But all they heard was that it was a pretty color. Also, these experts couldn't find anything good about it. "It's like you said. No one can say whether this sand is of any use. Some even thought we were making fun of them. What do you need this sand for anyway?"

Nicola shook her head. "You don't need to know yet. I'll repeat it one last time to you. Aside from me, probably no one has any use for this sand. If you want to investigate further, than feel free. Just make sure you don't mention my name." Nicola threw a seven-star silver medal over the counter to intimidate the two

Kriass couldn't shake the feeling that he was missing something incredibly significant here. Unfortunately, not knowing what this sand could be used for, he couldn't get anything out of it. However, he knew Nicola was right about one thing, he didn't believe their clan was really the only place where this kind of sand could be found. But they were the only ones who took the trouble to extract it for sale. If he left this deal and Nicola found another source, they could lose everything in the end.

Finally, the old man gritted his teeth and said. "One Medium Level Mana Crystal for every kilo. If you can afford that price, we'll keep everything a secret. We'll even increase our gathering strength to extract more sand each month." Nicola narrowed her eyes. "Fifteen mid-level mana cysts for every 20 kilos. That's as far as I can go. It might be something important to me, but I won't let you steal from me that easily."

Kriass had asked double the price to keep everything hidden, but Nicola only wanted to pay 50% more to do it. Still, this was much more than they had hoped to get from Ivory Sand. "Deal! But it has to have a contract with Pluto Bank and the Guild as intermediaries."

Nicola immediately nodded. "Obviously. I wouldn't do this business without them anyway."

Kriass and Nicola headed to a branch of Pluto Bank. The process was quite simple, the bank would make sure that the deal was carried out as stipulated in the contract. At the same time, they would get 05% of the Sand Rat clan profit from selling sand. Kriass didn't care, as he could guarantee the transparency of the agreement. Plus, he was already getting 50% atop for the sand market price, so he wasn't losing anything. Later that day, both parties left Pluto Bank to seal the deal.

"It's a pleasure doing business with you. How much of this sand do you have available right now?" Nicola asked.

Kriass looked at Marten, who was usually responsible for that part. "We didn't expect to have to sell so much so soon. Because of that, we don't have much. All together, we should have about twenty tons."