Ball of Nothing

The terrified spy under Truen's spell spilt everything. It didn't take long for Truen to learn everything he needed to know about Deadman Town to use to his advantage. Still, he has to say that he was in luck that the innkeeper took a liking to them. Zero would be in safe hands if he didn't stray too far to ask for information. Besides, if anything happened, there was Bob.

The other minor factions in Deadman Town were no threat to Truen at all. However, the one faction that Truen didn't want to get on the bad side of would be the one that ran the auctions and the Dirt Ring. They had ties to the dark guilds from the United Nation of the Uncanny. Wizards can be troublesome and if an army of magic users or undead start hunting them down, not even Truen can guarantee a massacre-free journey for the rest of their adventure.

The first territory was the Red Scorpions who focused more on hiring mercenaries and lending manpower for shady business. It was predominantly a rogue guild ruled by an A rank adventurer called Kiren. Truen went to scout the man called Kiren and deemed that he was of no cause for concern. Kiren was just a rogue blessed with good physical abilities and had expensive magic armour that gave him his rock crushing reputation. The man had a foul temper and treated the people beneath him poorly. He ruled with fear but Truen didn't care. It was none of his business and even Zero could easily take care of this fool.

The next faction that caught Truen's interest a little more was Black Mamba. The leader was a mysterious lady who was dubbed the Desert Lily simply because she was the only unranked assassin who had the power to match an AA class adventurer and was constantly drenched in the blood of her enemies. Against Kiren, she was a little more dangerous but still no concern for the archer. In fact, he headed there first because he had a match to rig and some favours to pull. Other than taking on assassination requests, Black Mamba was considered a neutral guild who sold information for a price. It didn't have to be bloodstones and this was exactly what Truen needed.

Locating the hideout to Black Mamba wasn't easy but Truen had a few tricks to help him out. The poor spy that followed him earlier told him that only those with a token will be able to gather the attention of those who belonged in the guild. Truen 'borrowed' the token before knocking the poor lad out and walked to where he knew the meeting point for clients was.

It was starting to get dark and the weather at night was a drastic contrast to how it was like during the day. It was chilly and Truen was thankful for the heat-regulating magic. Zero should be going back by now. He knew that Truen didn't like it when he was outside past curfew time.

The meeting point was a very quiet bar with almost no customers. The bartender at the counter looked up to see a new guest who ordered a glass of ale casually but he wasn't fooled. The token wedged between the elf's fingers made him halt. He didn't recognise this face but they had a token. It only meant one of two things.

"We don't serve ale here, dear guest. You can head to the tavern across this street for ale. They serve good ale brewed from dwarves."

Truen sighed inwardly. This wasn't going to be easy, huh? Still, he wasn't giving up. He took a seat by the counter and smiled.

"It's alright. I just like the ambience of this place. What else do you serve?"

The elderly bartender eyed the elf and frowned. How troublesome. If this man was here to make trouble he could have easily dealt with him and be done. Unfortunately, Black Mamba did not turn away customers.

"Follow me," he said and Truen grinned.

The back room was small but well maintained. The bartender bowed and told Truen to wait while he brought someone to attend to him. The archer thanked the bartender and sat down. He wondered who they would send over. He didn't want to deal with the bottom ranking officers of the guild. They couldn't give him anything he needed. It would be best if he could deal with the Desert Lily directly. After all, going against the Grey Legion was not something most sane people would do. They had the backing of dark guilds and had operations in all lawless zones.

Truen wasn't expecting for the bench that he was sitting on to suddenly turn around and bring him face to face with a bunch of daggers and crossbows in his face. Yet, even in such circumstances, he remained calm. Sureshot was in his spatial ring but that didn't mean Truen was helpless. He knew magic after all.

In front of him was a woman who reeked of blood. Although her face was masked, she couldn't hide her aura. Truen instantly knew this was the woman he was looking for. Who knew that the meeting point also had a secret hideout? He had fallen for their trap but that was alright. If anything, this made it easier to negotiate business.

"I'm assuming you're the Desert Lily everyone talks about?"

His confident start only made the other assassins in the room feel uneasy. As a wise leader, Desert Lily told them to leave the room. This was a guest that only she could handle.

"What's your business with the Black Mamba? You attacked our footman and stole that badge but didn't kill him. Some of my retainers found him crying outside the usual house refusing to say a word about what happened."

Truen laughed. "All I did was scare him a little. Don't worry, I didn't place a death curse on him. It would be fine even if he told anyone. All I did was scare him a little and use a spell to make him tell the truth. That spell has long worn out by now. Besides, if I truly wanted him dead, there are easier methods."

Desert Lily agreed. "Indeed. So, what brings you here?"

Truen became serious and started to talk about business. "I'm here to get the help of you and your guild. There's a match I would like to rig at the Dirt Ring because I need a huge amount of bloodstones to buy information. To get your help with fixing the match, I can give you something to gain your trust a little."

The archer asked for a piece of paper and a pen that Desert Lily offered. Then, he started to draw a map and the assassin frowned, not recognising it.

"This is the map of Smagdas' underground tunnels beneath the castle. I won't tell you how I got it but you can get someone to verify it."

Instead of getting it verified, Desert Lily simply put it aside. "You're in a rush and won't have time for me to verify this. Say it, what kind of information do you need that requires so much bloodstone that you want me to fix a match? Also, should you be talking to the Grey Legion about it?"

Truen made a face. "I don't like them much so I prefer to stay clear after I make a profit from them. Besides, my partner will not be happy to know I supported the bastards who were involved in slave trading. He is a healer."

Desert Lily laughed. "And you think coming to an assassin will make it better?"

Truen shrugged. "Assassins are more loyal and won't say unnecessary things. I came here because I don't think Dwyane knows about it. I need information about the desert we are about to cross. There are two things I need all the information you can get your hands on. I want the location of the gnome city and anything related to their whereabouts. I also want to know more about where we can get desert poppies. That's all."

Desert Lily nodded. "It's going to cost a lot for sure. Nobody has ever successfully retrieved a desert poppy and nobody here has been in contact with gnomes. Whatever we get are merely myths, legends or hearsay. The dwarves who were the closest to those gnomes had also not been in contact with them for a few good decades. Nobody knows if they're still alive or buried beneath the sand dunes."

Truen nodded. "It still has to be done. Any information at all will be good to know. If anyone has maps of the desert or information about people living in it, I will pay extra for it. Please arrange a match for me and include that to the fees. I don't need any bloodstones after I leave Deadman Town so any leftover money is yours to keep."

Desert Lily didn't say anything but just before Truen left, she stopped him. "What's your real rank without your ace?"

Truen halted. "I'm an official B rank adventurer but the only person in this town who could prove a challenge at all would be that innkeeper."

With that, he left and Desert Lily shuddered. Luckily, she made the right choice to engage in talks with the elf. If she didn't Black Mamba might be history by now.