Lights flickered for a moment as rain pattered on the roof, and the man in the brown trench coat returned, a leash wrapped tightly around his hand. He gave it a rough tug. The Nymar at the other end released a muffled scream as small spikes on the collar pierced the delicate skin of her neck.
"One of the weak spots for Nymars are their necks. Remember that, Bronze," the man said as he handed over the leash.
Bronze took it from his grip and nodded, then headed toward the door. He yanked the leash again, drawing more muffled cries from the gagged girl.
The door opened. Zay watched the other two men waiting outside; they took one look at Bronze and then walked off together, dragging the Nymar along.
'Poor girl…' Zay turned his gaze back to the man in the brown trench coat who had hauled her from the cage.
The man looked at Zay, and a smile slowly crept across his face beneath the mask he wore. "Now that I've finished providing such excellent service to our other customer, is there something I can help you with?"
"Do you perhaps... have anyone by the name of 'Naomi Duskvine' available for purchase?"
The man stood in silence for a moment, closing his eyes as if trying to recall something. "Naomi... Duskvine, huh?" he repeated slowly, as if tracing back through his memories.
Thirty-one seconds passed before he looked at Zay. "I believe we do. Mo, can you check the back? Hall three, room four, cage 'JQR-441M'. I think I saw that name a few months ago."
Mo, the man standing in the middle, gave a nod and walked away from the table. He adjusted his gloves and the sleeves of his brown trench coat before heading across the room to the black marble door. He opened it and disappeared into the space beyond. A soft click followed as the door closed behind him.
"You said hall three, room four... does that mean there are at least three halls and four rooms filled with cages like these?" Zay asked, looking at the man.
"Well," the man replied, clearly pleased to share, "there are two floors, five hallways on each floor, and four rooms per hallway, including this one. Though, most of them are empty."
"If that's the case, how exactly do all of them get food, water, and everything else they need to survive?"
The man smiled warmly and raised his right index finger. "That's a great question, and surprisingly, one I've never been asked. There are three of us running this place, and two assigned workers per hallway. We keep books on every species in stock—what they eat, what they enjoy, what they avoid. Some don't even need food, just blood. Others prefer pineapples, so we keep those in stock. A few want meat, and we have several processes in place to source, prepare, and serve it properly."
Zay narrowed his eyes slightly. "Then why do some of them have gags, burns, cuts, or chains?"
The man turned toward the cages, sighing softly. "Sometimes, the only way to teach them obedience is through violence. We avoid it when we can, but no one wants to buy damaged goods. Imagine going to the market and being sold stale bread. Or ordering a steak at a restaurant only for it to come out wrong—too tough, not what you asked for. You'd be upset, wouldn't you? It's the same here."
He paused, taking a deep breath as Zay listened.
"If you came looking for a slave, a maid, or whatever you're into, and found the one you wanted was weak, bleeding, or mentally broken... would you still buy them? Would you be willing to spend extra to fix what someone else failed to maintain? Most likely not. That's why we keep things in order, up to code, and performing at the highest level possible."
Zay looked at the man and let out a sigh. "I guess that makes sense," he said.
'At least in a way?' he thought afterward.
Suddenly, the door creaked open. The man in the brown trench coat who had entered the marble door earlier now returned, stepping back into the room. He walked over to the table and gave Mr. Morison a firm nod.
"Well," Mr. Morison began, "it appears we do have a slave by that name in our captivity. Since you knew her name... I assume you also know what she is?"
"I don't," Zay replied. "I was..." He paused briefly, then continued. "I was sent here by someone to buy her. Other than that, I don't know anything about her."
Mr. Morison gave a small nod, then snapped his fingers. The man in the middle turned and walked through the black marble doorway again. After about ten minutes of waiting, Zay looked toward the door after hearing a scraping sound and saw the man return, a thick rope coiled around his left shoulder and arm as he dragged a cage behind him.
Inside the cage sat a lone girl with long black hair, wearing a sleeveless black dress marked with thin crimson lines. A blindfold covered her eyes, a muzzle sealed her mouth, and thick chains bound her legs. Her arms were completely wrapped in black bandages, over which more chains had been tightly fastened. She wore black gloves atop the bandages and beneath the chains—every layer, every restraint, inscribed with incantations of various sealings.
"With the way she's bound… is she dangerous?" Zay asked, turning his gaze toward Mr. Morison.
"Well, I'm unsure... since I barely remembered the name," he replied before walking toward the cage the man had stopped pulling. On the side of the cage was a brown covered book tightly tied to the bars with rope. Mr. Morison quickly undid the ropes and opened the book, searching for more details about the creature inside.
"A pureblood vampire... that is also mixed with a Noctern." Mr. Morison closed the book and looked back at Zay, swallowing hard beneath his mask.
"It'll be five gold. Take her if you want and leave," Mr. Morison said, lifting the book and handing it to Zay. "A little warning—make sure to keep her fed. For the sake of your life, and the person who wants... this thing."
With that said, Mr. Morison looked at the other two men in brown trench coats. They nodded as Zay paused for a moment, staring into the cage.
There was no movement at all from the girl inside. Though, he wasn't sure if that was a trick or not since she was a Noctern.
'A Noctern... an entity born of desires from those around a source of darkness. Places with a bad past, past warzones, etc.' Zay stood there a few more seconds, gazing into the cage before blinking slowly and opening his dark amethyst eyes to take another look.
'... I'm not sure about the reproductive aspects of a Noctern. I never cared enough to look into it, so I don't get how she can be considered a pureblood vampire if she's mixed with a different species... maybe her mother or father caused the Noctern to be born from their desires at such a place and it... copied? I have no damn clue how that works. Forget thinking about it. It's strange though. Nocterns do not possess the capabilities to have emotions, so how did this happen?'
Zay reached into his Arbiter: Vault, pulled out a few gold coins, counted them to make sure they totaled five, and placed them on the table in the center.
The man who had moved the cage stepped behind the counter and began counting the coins.
His fingers slid across the cold surface of each one as he verified their authenticity. Once he confirmed they were real and the correct amount, he gave a nod. The man to his left then began sorting through a stack of papers until he pulled out a specific document.
He flipped through several pages before sliding three small pieces of white paper over to Zay. Then he reached beneath the table, retrieved a folder, and placed the documents inside.
'Three documents and a folder... this is quite a bit more information compared to the last guy, who only got one sheet of paper,' Zay thought as he watched the man set the folder down on the table and slide it in front of him.
Zay took the folder and placed it into his Arbiter: Vault as the man behind the desk looked over to Mr. Morison and gave a nod, signaling the end of the purchase.
Zay's eyes locked onto the man as he spoke. "The purchase has been made. Would you like to receive her now, or wait until the end of the market?"
Zay turned his gaze to the girl again, observing her frame, the dress, her hair, the blindfold, and the muzzle. "How long before we reach the end of this market?" he asked simply, watching the girl inside the cage who hadn't moved at all. He wasn't sure what to feel. He didn't feel fear, but he wasn't sure if he should be worried after finding out she was a Noctern.
Mr. Morison adjusted the hems of his sleeves and gave a small nod. "The market for this year will last another week," was all he said, waiting patiently for Zay's answer.
Zay released a small sigh and bit his bottom lip before giving the man an answer. "I'll take her now."
As he spoke, he saw the Resonance Lens pop up in front of him with the same holographic imaging as always.
[Fourth Task Completed.]
The Arbiter has unlocked access for the Fourth Sequence, and access to the quest to increase the Arbiter's Core Rank to the next Rank.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Zay saw this and nodded to himself. 'Finally. But, a quest to increase the Core Rank? This is a bit early. Normally, this doesn't appear until halfway through the Fifth Sequence to reach Resonant Core Rank. But... I'll take it.'