Chapter 63: The Bad Situation at the Recruitment Stall
'Oh, never thought of doing that,' Jim sighed, 'if they failed then I would ask him to look for them personally.'
'They won't,' the old man laughed, 'finding these girls is much easier than finding you.'
'Are they this famous?'
'You'll know when you see them,' the old man mysteriously said and didn't add more.
It didn't take five minutes before Rili came back again. "I found them," he shortly said in a deep tone, "they are in trouble."
"In trouble?" Jim was surprised to hear that.
"They found some of the Twisex descendants, but they can't bring them peacefully it seems."
"Slaves?" Jim jumped to the most logical conclusion his mind provided.
"Yep," Rili confirmed his guess, "they are sold at high prices, and not easy to make them walk away. Not a sane person would do that."
Jim's face darkened, "how much will this cost?" he asked.
"No you don't get it," Rili sighed, "they work in big casinos downtown. You can't simply go there and take them with you. Entire business is built over their… talents."
Jim didn't fully understand his meaning, yet he couldn't be settled with that. "I need them, can't go on without having them," he stated his requirements.
"This…" Rili faced a real difficulty this time, "if you are someone with backing then getting them would have been a piece of cake. But with only coins, you have zero chance in doing so."
Jim had something in mind, so he hurriedly asked, "tell me, which one of the two sellers is considered a strong backing? Someone who can solve this problem for me?"
"Well…" Rili hesitated for a moment, "both fit your needs to be honest."
"Great," Jim confidently smiled, "call my team here again. We need to go and buy other things first."
"And the Twisex girls?" Rili asked.
"They can wait for one more day," Jim said before adding, "let's hope the two won't take longer than that."
"But…"
"Just go and bring them back," Jim knew what Rili would say, and he just didn't have the mind to tell him everything now. Eventually he would discover everything on his own.
Jim knew dealing with these two wasn't the end. They still needed his help in using what treasures they got, especially the second one.
"As you wish," Rili then vanished and he returned in less than a minute. "They are coming back. But they seem quite disappointed."
"Never mind them," Jim waved his hand casually before asking, "where are the shops that sell books and class items?"
"They are nearby," Rili said, "just five minutes' walk from here."
"Good."
Jim waited for half an hour before all of these three teams were gathered up again. The look on their faces told him everything he needed to know, yet he had to know more.
"What happened?"
"They were bound by slavery contract," Rick said in bitter tone, "we tried to negotiate with their owners, but we couldn't even make them think about selling even one of them."
'Old man, how many girls do I need?'
'At least one of each clan,' the old man said, 'so you need two at least.'
'Any two or I should ask them first about the knowledge to make my clothes and badges?'
'Anyone of them can do that,' the old man confidently said, 'this knowledge is deeply engraved in their souls.'
'Great,' Jim muttered to himself, "Let's go, I'll find another way to get them."
"Will we kidnap them?" Roo said before adding, "but the slave contract will still be active."
"Don't worry about this anymore," Jim confidently said, "I got this."
Everyone exchanged silent glances before Jim said, "Lead the way to the best book and class items shop."
"This way," Rili knew much more than them, yet he didn't know from where Jim had this confidence to be sure the sellers would return asking for his help.
Rili led them through intersecting blocks and streets before ending up in front of a large alley where many shops were lined together and many disciples were already crowding around them.
"Wow, this many…" Ashley muttered while Rili proudly said:
"This is the best place to get your items and books. Only the richest of disciples come here, all hail from prestigious clans or rich families."
"I can see that," Jim muttered as he could already spot many races like the werewolves, Kroaks, and even the Krakens.
"This is just a pricy place to be," Kro sighed, "they sell books here at extravagant prices. We should go to another alley, what about the Golem's alley?"
Just before Rili could answer, a voice suddenly came from behind laughing while saying, "It's not a place for slaves like you to be in."
Everyone turned to see a group of giants moving in such large numbers of slaves. The leader reminded Jim of Pol, arrogant and instantly made him want to hit his face.
"Go away now, this place is for esteemed clans and families."
Everyone became nervous while Jim sneered as he took a couple of steps forward, standing in front of his team while saying:
"And who are you to decide who enters here and who doesn't?"
Jim crossed his arms while challenging the giant youth with his strong eyes. Jim could look away when Pol treated him in such a way, but not from a mere disciple like himself.
"Don't think of yourself as special because you made such a ruckus back at the academy," the youth sneered before adding, "if I were you, I should bow my head and keep myself away from trouble."
"You didn't answer my question still," Jim received these words with a cold smile.
And the youth in front of him sternly glanced back. "A core disciple, someone that you'll never be able to touch oneday," the kid said while glancing over one of his henchmen, "send the word to Mench, let him challenge this kid in the arena next week. Tell him I'll pay for the trouble double, not make it triple."