Chapter 050

"Ugly Spotted Dog's forelimbs. 400 pounds. I will throw in a large bottle of blood too" said a raspy voice.

Alvin was ecstatic at his amazing luck. He managed to find the missing ingredient in the first Beyonder gathering he had participated in.

"350 pounds" said Alvin. After no one else made another offer, the man agreed and passed him a small box. Alvin checked the contents, and passed him 350 pounds in notes.

After secretly making a divination to ensure the lack of problems, Alvin excitedly pocketed the main ingredient and the supplementary ingredient they received.

The gathering he was at was a gathering monthly gathering he had been a part of for half a year. It was hosted by a powerful Sequence 5 Beyonder, who had a reputation for being just, with a rumoured immense faction backing him. Almost every kind of Beyonder ingredient and mystical item changed hands every month.

"I have a weird thing I found someplace. It looks special, and I can detect spirituality from it. What can I get for it?" asked another man.

Alvin examined the item, and recognised it as a Beyonder Characteristic. He had seen the C

characteristics of a Warrior, a Pugilist and a Pyromaniac recently, and could distinguish between the Sequences based on the difference in spirituality.

He figured that this was a Sequence 8 Beyonder Characteristic.

"300 pounds" said Alvin, lowballing him. A Sequence 8 characteristic could easily go for about 600 pounds, but since most people did not know what they were or how to use them, so it was possible that they would sell it for less.

"Haha. Nice try. 600 pounds. That is the going price. This isn't my first time. I won't get fooled again" said the man sarcastically.

Alvin raised an eyebrow at what the man was saying. He seemed to have seen and sold a Beyonder Characteristic before, but he had no idea of what it was or how it was obtained. Also, him saying the exact going price and him being lowballed before, meant that he had sold such a characteristic at least twice. This was at least his third time selling then. Alvin was quite curious about the source of those Beyonder Characteristics. Carefully observing the man, Alvin pulled out 600 pounds, placed it before him and gestured. The man happily took the money and tossed the Beyonder Characteristic at Alvin. Alvin caught it and pocketed it.

He had no idea what kind of Beyonder Characteristic it was, but he was recently buying all kinds of ingredients, mystical items and characteristics as long as they were at a reasonable price. He had too much money, and he knew that it was unwise to just keep money with you, even if it was in the bank. He did not know much about investing either. Hence, now that he had the Red Castle that could keep the Beyonder things he accumulated without causing any disturbances, anomalies or getting lost, he was simply buying them and keeping them in there. Due to the Law of Indestructibility of Beyonder Characteristics, there was only so many of it out there. Hence they would never decrease in value. And if he wanted cash, he could quickly dispose of them through different channels especially after he joined the Tarot Club.

Alvin bought a few more ingredients that were the main ingredients of some other random potions, and then stopped, as spending too much money would attract some malicious Beyonders. The total amount he spent was just under 1500 pounds, exceeding the would cause the measures by the host of the gathering to no longer protect him as much.

The man he was keeping an eye on did not buy or sell anything after he sold the characteristic to Alvin, and simply sat out the rest of the time. Alvin kept an eye on him, memorising his build, features, and habits, just in case he decided to target him.

He then waited for the gathering to be over.

This particular gathering that took place once a month had over 30 Beyonders present. The Sequence 5 in charge was rumoured to be just a frontman, cloaking the entity truly in charge of the gathering. There was a 50 pound entry fee to get into the gathering each time, and an additional fee for any transaction over 1,000 pounds. But people still came to the gathering, because there were no negative rumours or news about this gathering, no incidents, and attendees were their identities were generally well protected from each other. Plus, there was a Notary handy in case anyone wanted them to preside over a deal or confirm some formulas, though an additional service fee would be charged if their service was availed.

After a while, the host declared the gathering to be over, and people started leaving one by one.

The exist were well thought of to prevent identity exposure. There were over 7 exits in all different directions, and 2 persons weren't allowed to go into the same passages within two minutes of each other. Plus, each passageway had a few branches, all of which opened into a different area in highly populated places. So it was next to impossible to follow someone unless you had placed some actual means of tracking on them, something that the host of the gathering would not allow you to do.

But Alvin had a plan to track him.

When the host began to assign the exit numbers, he took one a little after his target.

As the target was leaving, he stealthily mounted the Ear of the Crazed on his ear, and started listening as soon as the man was out of sight.

He carefully listened to each and every sound he could.

"10 steps left, 20 steps right, 30 steps left, 25 steps right. Removed a clock and a hat, and wore a different coat" estimated Alvin listing to the sounds made.

"Go straight to Hervent Street" came the voice of the man, in a much lower tone than use in the meeting and the sound of horses and creaking wood, which indicates that a horse carriage was boarded.

Soon, it was Alvin's turn, and luckily no one had used the passage for a short while. He quickly went into the passageway, retracing the man's earlier steps, and found himself in a busy street. He then also hailed a carriage to Hervent Street.