Chapter 11: The Price of Ancient Knowledge
Mark left the pristine marble of the Central Ward behind, the weight of the silver in his pouch anchoring him to the reality of his purpose. The Shady Quarter was everything its name suggested: a maze of narrow, shadowed alleys where the air grew heavy with the smell of refuse, cheap liquor, and unwashed desperation. Here, the rule of the City Guard was a distant memory, replaced by the silent code of illicit commerce.
"Host, deploying Logistics Optimization (Lvl 1). Optimal route to the highest concentration of historical scroll traders identified: The 'Whisper Market' in the old Dockside Warehouses. Avoid Alley 4, high density of Level 4 cutpurses. Maintain situational awareness," Jarvis guided, overlaying a flickering red line onto the chaotic map in Mark's vision.
Mark moved with purpose, his new cloak and focused expression giving him the air of someone who belonged there, rather than a lost tourist. He was a Master Broker now; he understood that value was often found where the respectable refused to look.
He found the Whisper Market tucked away in the sprawling skeleton of a dilapidated warehouse. The interior was a hushed, dusty collection of temporary stalls illuminated by flickering oil lamps. The traders here sold what the Royal Academy considered heresy, illegal exports, or simply too dangerous to keep on file: banned magical formulae, censored histories, and, most importantly, illicit linguistic primers.
Mark approached a stall shrouded in heavy, embroidered silk—the sign of a high-value merchant. Behind the stall sat an elderly woman with eyes as sharp and cold as cut glass, wearing more silver rings than she had fingers. This was Madam Zaya, a notorious fence for historical artifacts.
"You're new here, boy," Madam Zaya observed, her voice raspy as she polished a dark, obsidian amulet. "You smell of the farm, but you carry the silver of a quick deal. What knowledge does a clean-faced boy need from the dirt?"
Mark didn't flinch. He let his Basic Negotiation (Lvl 2) skill take the lead, projecting calm authority despite his youth.
"Madam Zaya, I am looking for the work of the Exiled Dwarven Scholars from the Fourth Age. Specifically, any primers, contextual essays, or dictionaries relating to the Deep Tongue Runic Dialect—the kind that the Academy refuses to acknowledge because it undermines their official timeline."
Madam Zaya paused her polishing. Her eyes narrowed, assessing Mark's surprisingly precise jargon. He wasn't guessing; he was asking for highly specialized, politically dangerous material.
"That kind of knowledge is not sold for copper, boy. It is forbidden. It costs prestige, and possibly a finger, to transport. Why would you need something so esoteric?"
"I am solving the Gold Contract for the Adventurer's Guild—the Cryptic Stone Tablet," Mark replied, keeping his voice low and confidential. He knew this information would spread instantly, increasing the value of his purchase, but also ensuring he bought the absolute best reference material. "The tablet is written in a dialect that only exists in the banned works of the Exiled Scholars. Alistair Veridian is wasting his time with canonical texts. I am here to buy the context that he will refuse to touch."
This was Mark's Master Broker strategy in action: use the threat of a high-profile success to force a high-value transaction.
Madam Zaya smiled, a slow, predatory expression. "You are ambitious, Mark Noax. Very well. I have a copy of the Lexicon of Forgotten Dwarven Tongues, compiled by Scholar Krazak. It contains a full key for the Deep Tongue and contextual notes on the historical context of the Tablet's era—the Age of Binding. The cost, for a non-Guild member, is 70 Silver Shillings."
Mark's mind instantly flashed his remaining capital: 110 Silver Shillings. 70 SS was almost two-thirds of his total wealth. But this was the one thing he couldn't replicate with Jarvis's processing power—the raw, historical, translated data.
"Warning, Host. The price is excessive. Counter-negotiation recommended. Leverage: Immediate, clean payment and guaranteed future custom," Jarvis advised.
Mark nodded, a flicker of hesitation on his face. "Seventy is steep, Madam. It will leave me with insufficient capital to finish the contract and acquire future assets. I offer you 55 Silver Shillings, cash now, and a guarantee that when I solve this tablet, I will return with the 150 SS reward and grant you exclusive access to the knowledge contained on the tablet before I hand the translation to the Guild."
Madam Zaya studied him, weighing the immediate cash against the future informational wealth. Access to the Tablet's contents, which dated back to the Age of Binding, could be worth thousands to the right illicit collector.
"Exclusive access to the translation… before the Academy sees it?" she confirmed.
"Complete, verified, and yours to read for 24 hours. No cost beyond the 55 Silver Shillings for the Lexicon."
Madam Zaya tapped her rings on the table, a sound like small stones clicking. "Done, Master Broker. You are ambitious indeed. Pay the price."
Mark counted out 55 Silver Shillings. He felt a sharp pang of anxiety watching his savings dwindle, but the moment he clutched the heavy, leather-bound Lexicon, the fear vanished, replaced by the cold, calculating hunger of the Master Broker.
Remaining Capital: 55 SS.
Mark returned to his small, rented room in the Tanner's Quarter. He locked the door, pulled the thin curtains, and spread the massive, illicit Lexicon open next to the scroll of his rune rubbings.
"Inputting data," Jarvis announced, the mental screen now overlaid with the text from the ancient book. "The Deep Tongue is a logistical dialect. The runes are not phonetic symbols, but logistical markers defining resource allocation and storage capacity. The Tablet is not a historical account, but a Vault Manifest."
Mark stared at the glowing blue runes on his scroll, which now looked less like poetry and more like a spreadsheet.
"A manifest? Jarvis, run the Advanced Analysis (Lvl 2) on the entire body of text now. Correlate the runic markers with the Lexicon's contextual data. What is the Tablet listing?"
The pressure in Mark's mind became an intense, thrilling ache. Jarvis was operating at a speed no human scholar could ever match, correlating 4,000 years of historical data against 50 lines of an encrypted logistical manifest.
After two hours of silent, furious cognitive processing, Jarvis delivered the first confirmed line of translation.
[Cryptic Stone Tablet: Line 1/50]
"Translation: Foundation Core Aetheric Storage Unit. Location: 17 meters below primary structure. Status: Locked. Last Input: Age of Binding."
Mark stared at the translated line, his jaw slack. The Tablet was not a piece of history; it was a map and an instruction manual for a hidden, 4,000-year-old Dwarven power source.
"A Foundation Core Aetheric Storage Unit… that could power half the city, Jarvis. That's not worth 150 Silver Shillings. That's priceless."
"Affirmative, Host. The Guild Contract is a secondary objective. The primary objective is the information contained on the tablet—specifically the location and the activation key for the Storage Unit. The final lines of the translation will reveal the key. This is a potential Tier 3 asset acquisition. Commencing full decryption now."
Mark leaned back, a wide, dangerous grin spreading across his face. He had bought an education and, in doing so, had stumbled upon a legendary secret. He was no longer just paying off family debts; he was on the cusp of acquiring the kind of wealth and power that could shake the very foundations of Port Elmswood.
"Let Alistair chase his academic ghosts, Jarvis. We're hunting for the power core."
AUTHOR NOTE :
[I'm Authors kun, I'm sorry for not updating on time everyday, I was Hospitalised, sorry everyone. I'll upload everyday from now on,
And I'll cover all the chapter I missed till date,
From Chapter 9 - Chapter 13
I'll update today
And from Chapter 13 - Chapter 18 Tomorrow, I'm pinky promise you
SAME RULE, 5 POWER STONE = 3 NEW CHAPTER
AND
5 HONEST REVIEW = 3 NEW CHAPTER
**** everyday 8:30 pm 'evening' new chapter ****]