Chapter 383 The Black Market
Lyrian saw this and became slightly confused at the efficiency of the entranceway.
'Would he have to rebuild this each time?' He questioned, as he and Ounis entered what was on the other side of this wall.
It was a large hollowed circle made of wood, where a few seats were placed for sitting.
Lyrian looked at Ounis in the other part of the room.
"You will be lead straight there now..." Kavenough exclaimed, as the wall between them suddenly began floating.
Before Lyrian knew it, the chunks of clay and wood had solidified into the same wall as before.
"Huh... interesting," Lyrian exclaimed, not sensing any external magic from that wall.
After a few seconds, Lyrian noticed a switch go off somewhere above the circle, as it began to descend down.
Like a fast elevator, it began to fall faster than what Lyrian had expected.
His brows furrowed as he questioned the speed at which it moved, but Ounis chuckled on seeing this, saying, "Don't worry... it's always this fast."
Lyrian looked up at him, "How often exactly do you come here?"
"Me?"
"Who else would I be talking to?" Lyrian said, shaking his head slightly as he examined the circle elevator.
"Well... I come like once a month I suppose. Not that often, since it's quite the sketchy place, even for me."
"I see."
As they finished this short conversation, the gyro came to an abrupt stop.
The opening where they entered from now faced a large stone gate, which slowly opened on their arrival.
The two walked out and into the passage beyond the stone gate.
It was a dark tunnel lined by dim amber crystals. After walking for only a few moments, Lyrian and Ounis came across another stone gate of the same size.
On the stone gate was a small indent that was diamond-shaped.
As they stepped up to it, Ounis reached into his pockets.
"And to enter I just need to have my--" He abruptly paused, not feeling the artifact that he was looking for in his vest pocket.
He quickly patted his torso down, and then his pants, and then his torso again in desperation.
"Oh shit! I lost it! The key to enter!"
"What? Kavenough didn't mention something like that..." Lyrian retorted.
"I'm a veteran here... he expected me to have it with me, of course. But I don't have it. Where could I have possibly lost it?"
After a few seconds, Lyrian said, "I might have remembered you dropping a few items of yours along the way when I dragged you here... but I didn't think they would be of any use. Huh... bad choice I guess."
Ounis slowly turned toward Lyrian, shaking, "Y-you... what?! How could you!? Damn it, screw the key to enter, I had a lot more valuable stuff in my wallet! Speaking of which, that is also gone!"
He faced the stone gate, "How in the world are we supposed to enter now?"
Lyrian shrugged this off quickly, "No point dwelling on mistakes." He stepped forward.
"Are you going to punch through it?" Ounis questioned on seeing this, stepping back.
"What? No. That would attract too much attention." Lyrian said, Enhancing his fingers as he dug them into the crack between the two doors of the gateway.
Exhaling, he exerted great force to push the two doors apart.
Vein's in his hands poked out as he struggled to push them apart, but after a few seconds, the doors began to slowly move open.
With one last hard push, the doors finally flew out to the sides, revealing the black market within.
Lyrian was immediately taken aback by what he saw. As he entered with the impressed Ounis, many things caught his eye.
This place was more than just a market, similar to one from the above-ground markets. It was a bustling cove of activity, with what Lyrian deemed to be thousands of people roaming the wide paths between the plots of markets.
"Just how long has this place been here? It's huge and has an uncountable number of shops. I can't even see the end of it from where I stand." Lyrian said, shocked at the vastness of the place.
Small and large shops varying in shapes and sizes were scattered everywhere you were to look.
From small rags on the floor with items spread out on them to display, to small tables and stalls set up, to even larger buildings made of wooden planks and large marquees, this place was no less than a trove of treasure.
Shops sold armor, trinkets of magic, spells, books, cultivation techniques, potions of various kinds, pills, weapons, and so much more.
As Lyrian walked around, he couldn't help but be distracted by everything that there was.
'It might actually be profitable to buy things from here...' He said inwardly as he and Ounis walked into one of the wider pathways.
The walls of the place were lit up by various crystals, mostly amber. It was as bright as the surface, yet Lyrian and Ounis still nearly got lost in the sheer bulk of people grazing the streets of the market in the wider roads.
As they continued to walk, a man in front of him suddenly halted in place, causing Lyrian to stop as well.
"Hey! Watch where you're going, punk!" The older gentleman who wore a more luxurious style of clothing yelled, as a young kid no older than 13 walked around him, apologizing.
The kid wore clothes that resembled a beggar's, and his long hair blocked his face.
Since he was so short, no one could see his face, as he looked downwards while he walked like some sort of zombie.
However, that did not apply to Lyrian, who was even shorter. Due to this, he caught a glimpse of the boy's expression and saw a wide grin on his face.
'A pickpocketer... those are quite common here I imagine.' He mused as the boy neared him.
Then, the boy suddenly tripped, shoving into Lyrian.