Mana Pills IV

"Greetings my friends. Where's Khar? Tell him he has a guest." Luke boldly stormed into the abandoned factory where the forever gang was based.

Luke stared at one of the members. "I asked where he was. Can't you speak?"

"He… he's inside, the same spot you met him the last time you came." The yellow-haired man answered in haste.

"Well, thank you." Luke dropped him on the floor and walked inside.

"Khar! I'm here for a talk." Luke yelled when he got closer to the leader's location.

No one replied.

Luke grumbled. "Well, that's an option too."

Luke walked till he was very close to where he had met Khar previously.

Khar's voice sounded when Luke got close enough. "Good to see you, Luke."

"Likewise," Luke replied when he spotted Khar walking out of a tent.

"What brings you here?" Khar suspected that Luke had ulterior motives for coming here today.

Luke made a deep breath. "I'll be honest if that's what you want." He raised his head and stared at Khar. "Is that what you want?"

Khar was growing uncomfortable with Luke's presence. "Just get on with it."

"Okay, fine. I need four hundred?"

Khar didn't understand so he asked. "What? Four hundred men? We both know I don't have that amount of men."

Luke waved off Khar's thoughts. "Don't play dumb. Why would I need them even if you had a thousand? I could probably single-handedly clear them all… Again. I need four hundred golds."

Khar blinked his eyes as if he was just woken up from sleep. and couldn't see clearly yet. "That's a bit too much at the…"

"I'll owe you one if you do it," Luke swore.

Khar's interest skyrocketed. "Really? Are you being serious right now?"

Luke reaffirmed his promise. "As long as it's within my power, I'll do my best. Killing and beating an innocent person is out of the options though."

He could really use Luke's help sooner or later. Making someone as powerful as Luke owe him one wasn't a loss after all so he agreed. "Fine."

Khar turned to the guard close by. "Get our guest what he needs."

A few minutes later, the guard returned with a card containing four hundred golds.

"Here you go." He handed it over to Luke.

Luke accepted the card containing the gold and looked at Khar. "Well then thank you. I'll keep my promise. Whenever you want me to fulfill it, come to the old man's shop and if I'm absent, deliver your message to Seth, the old man's grandson."

"I'll do just that then." Khar extended a handshake toward Luke.

Luke stared at him for a moment before responding to the handshake.

"See you all later." Luke turned and walked back out of the factory.

Khar looked at the guard close to him and gave a sinister smile. "We just got ourselves a one-time big backer. As long as it's not something evil, he'll help out. Do you know what that means?"

"No boss." The member replied, shaking his head.

Khar stayed quiet for a few seconds before he spoke. "It means hell up us take out the bad guys. Now, who do you think are the bad guys?"

"Aren't we the bad guys?" The other member asked.

Khar sighed and nodded. "Well yes, but he's made a promise to us and he can't just take care of us for the sake of the promise. Think of it. We're not the only gang around that disturbs the people. We're not even the biggest. We're just the most active ones. If we try to take over the other gangs and ask for his help…"

Realization dawned on the other two at once. "... He would definitely help out." The two of them spoke at the same time.

"Exactly! See… You guys have brains." Khar smiled and turned away, walking towards the tent he had been in before Luke came to visit.

*****

Luke whistled on his way back to the old man's shop.

When he got there and opened the door, he immediately called out to the old man. "Old man, I got the money. Can we go now?"

The old man had been sitting in his special chair, doing nothing when Luke opened the door. "Let's get going then. I don't know how important it is to you so I won't delay you."

The old man walked out of the shop and walked down the street, with Luke walking behind him. They walked down the street and entered another.

After walking for about ten minutes, the old man spoke first. "See kid, we've got three markets. The normal one we all go to buy stuff we need. The black market where things are pretty much cheaper but it's a bit shady. You can get many things not found in the normal market from there. And then, there's the underground market."

"As the name suggests, it's hidden in secret places. The black markets are also hidden in places but not as hidden as the underground markets. Branches of the underground markets can only be found if you're told where it is or if someone takes you there. Also, you'll need a secret phrase to get in but that's not where we're headed now, is it?" Luke only nodded as the old man spoke to him.

"Branches of the black markets can be found if you know what you're looking for." The old man pointed at a black skull painted on the wall not too far from them. "You see that drawing over there?"

Luke stared for a moment and then asked. "The skull painted black?"

The old man nodded. "There's more of that in the street. That's a hint showing that a black market exists around. Now you just have to follow it and you'll find the market."

They came across more skulls until it brought them to an alley with a tall wall at the end.

"It's a dead end." Luke uttered when he saw the wall.

"No, it's not." The old man walked toward the wall and Luke had no choice but to go along.

When they got there, the old man placed his hand on the wall and walked from one side to another, tracing something on the wall with his hand.

He stopped and knocked.

Luke thought the old man was only joking until the knock sounded like it had been made on wood.

Luke stared at the old man when he heard the sound. "They have great disguises." The man shrugged.

Click.

The door opened and Luke couldn't believe his eyes. Behind the door was a huge marketplace that spread widely and so was Luke's mouth in awe.

The old man saw Luke in a daze and tapped him. "Don't just stand there, close that and let's head inside to look for your rabbit." The old man's tap brought Luke back to reality.

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