Cursed Immortality

Jacob left the bank building after he was done with his bank account matter and his concerns.

In the end, he even bought that Zodiac Money Transfer Device for twenty thousand gold coins, since it could come in handy frequently.

Furthermore, he now had a deeper understanding of Zodiac Taurus Bank and how advanced the Rare Region was compared to the Uncommon Region, despite still being in the uncommon region.

Afterward, Jacob decided to visit that Potion Tower before calling it a day.

When he reached the Potion Tower, those two burly guards' eyes narrowed. They instantly recognized Jacob from his getup, who 'mocked' them early.

However, before they could berate him and chase him away, Jacob showed them five gold coins, "I want in."

"Go." Unwillingly, they took the coins and let him pass.

They didn't want to cause a scene without any good reason. Since Jacob was paying the entrance fee, they can't stop him or they will suffer terribly.

Jacob merely smirked. He knew these people can't break the Dark City rules. They simply weren't willing to. So, as long as he doesn't give them a reason, they can't do anything to him.

The interior of this Potion Tower was made with white wood, which was gleaming like marble. He saw medical equipment on display, dry plants, herbs, and especially those colored liquids stored in all sizes of flasks.

Most of the equipment he had already seen in Dereck's lab, and he also remembered some unique equipment of this world from Decker's journal and also memorized the Advance Herbology of Rare and Rarer Plants & Plant Lore.

He was probably as knowledgeable as an Advance Apothecary even higher.

But he had no idea about liquids in flasks.

"How may I help you today?" A high-pitched voice rang at this moment.

Jacob turned around and then looked down. He saw a 2 feet tall person wearing a white mask with a large nose.

'What kind of creature is this?' He was astonished when he saw those long ears, and almost a feet long nose, and small limbs.

The little guy seemed to sense something as his emerald eyes narrowed. "Are you mocking me in your heart because of my height?"

Jacob found it funny as he said, "And why do you think that?"

"I can tell since you didn't reply to me! Brat, if you call me short, I'll throw you out!" He suddenly threatened Jacob without any good reason.

Jacob coldly said, "Don't put words in my mouth. It's you being rude by calling me a brat. I'm here to buy some supplies. Why do I care about anyone's height? Now tell me, do you have any introduction manual for those potions?"

The little guy narrowed his eyes in suspicion, but since Jacob didn't call him short and he answered, "We have five types of alchemy potions available for sale,

"The Green Potion or the Hibernate-Rejuvenation (HR) Potions. Each newly filled Glass Cell can sustain hunger or slowly heal deep wounds both external and internal while it can put anyone under a deep hibernating state for a minimum of 2 years. It depends on who is using it and how strong or weak its body is. It cost 5,000 gold coins per liter.

"The Blue Potion or the Fasting Potion. Each newly filled Glass Cell can sustain huger for a minimum of 30 days. It cost 500 gold coins per liter.

"Then Yellow Potion or the Healing Potion. Each flask can heal external and internal injuries within a few minutes. One flask will cost 10,000 gold coins. One drop is recommended for the common specie, a half flask is recommended for uncommon and an entire flask is recommended for a rare species.

"The Purple Potion or the Detox Potion. It can cure 100 kinds of rare poisons and illnesses. One flask will cost 10,000 gold coins.

"Lastly, the Black Potion or the Haste Recovery Potion. It had both Fasting Potion and Healing Potion's qualities, but it's twenty times more potent than both of them combine. It also can cure any kind of uncommon poison and illness. One flask will cost you 25,000 Gold coins.

"We also have special painkiller pills, five-time recover gauze, healing cream…"

Jacob frowned as the little guy kept going on and on as if he was possessed.

"Alright stop."

Only now the little guy stopped his passionate introduction and looked at Jacob. "Now, what do you want?"

Jacob wonder just who hired this annoying idiot, and he was now feeling extremely perplexed because after he heard those potions' prices, he instantly thought about those filled tanks in Decker's hideout.

Especially the tank with Haste Recovery Potion. He felt his heart bleeding. There were probably two or three barrels worth of that potion in there, and it was all lost!

In the end, Jacob only bought five new metal syringes, some painkillers, healing cream, and some gauze, spending 2 thousand gold coins, and left the Potion Tower.

Those potions had little use, and he already had the four or five flasks worth of black potion, so he didn't want to spend his gold coins on those other potions.

He then checked in to an inn for two days, and after he was done, he skimmed through the small guidebook he bought at the entry gate.

He was astonished as he read because the Dark City wasn't like other cities.

It wasn't a part of any nation, country, kingdom, or empire, but it was a neutral city, which was even scarier than any aforementioned establishments.

Because in every region there was only a single Dark City and it didn't exist in any nation's territories, but in the most dangerous zones of that region!

Furthermore, every Dark City had its unique entrance qualifications and without possessing those qualifications, even a nation's leader can't enter a Dark City.

Not only that, but the Organization behind the Dark City was completely unknown, and no one knows who they were. Even the three hegemonies never comment on this mystery.

That's what made the Dark Cities truly unfathomable, and no one tried to break any laws of Dark Cities.

For anyone who did, the result was within a signal night, the offenders with their families, clans, tribes, or even their nations vanished from the face of this world without anyone knowing how!

This Dark City Jacob was in, was called the Uncommon Dark City, and only rare species can enter this place.

As for the Rare Dark City in the Rare Region, there wasn't any map or any details about that place.

If someone wanted to enter that place, they first have to find it before knowing what the entrance conditions were.

What truly drew Jacob's attention was the Independent Noble Systems of Dark Cities.

There were Dark Noble Ranks, divided into Lower Dark Noble, Upper Dark Noble, Dark Baron, Dark Viscount, Dark Earl, Dark Marquise, and Dark Duke.

These ranks can be earned by doing Dark Missions issued by the City Admin Manor.

Every Dark Noble Rank gave special advantages and privileges in the Dark City. Such as an Upper Dark Noble didn't require paying to stay in the Uncommon Dark City, the other privileges weren't written.

However, just becoming a Lower Dark Noble was almost impossible to even in Uncommon Dark City because Dark Missions weren't available 24/7 like a mercenary guild.

But every Dark City only issued a Single Dark Mission every year and anyone can accept them and whoever completes it first will earn the corresponding rewards.

Furthermore, these dark missions had timelines for a single year until the next dark mission was issued. If someone completes a Dark Mission even a day above the last day, it would be voided.

That's why earrings a Dark Noble Rank of Dark Cities were so much difficult and everyone fought tooth and nail for these missions.

Most of the time, these competitors end up canceling each other from completing these missions or getting in each other's way, which results in mission failure.

Jacob couldn't help but scoffed in the end, when he finished reading the small booklet. He was naturally curious about the background of these Dark Cities and how they were controlling powerful people to do labor for them.

But he was also interested in these dark noble ranks since it would save him a huge amount of money.

However, he won't be going to be distracted by these small benefits when he can earn a huge amount of gold by himself as long as he put his skills to use.

But he didn't have time for this because he was waiting for the heart and blood of the rare species, which would come in two days.

He would buy those hearts and blood and all the rare meat he could before he'll leave the dark city to find a remote place to start his injection process.

Although the Dark City was completely safe, it was monitored.

Even if there was a remote possibility that someone might notice his special constitution. He wasn't willing to take that risk.

So, leaving the Dark City and then coming back after he was done would be his best choice. Or if he thought the Uncommon Dark City wasn't enough for him anymore, he might leave for the rare region without coming back.

He required a large amount of rare meat to sustain his hunger, and if he tried to buy all that meat from the Dark City; he required millions of gold coins which he didn't have, nor he was willing to pay.

Because he can hunt them himself as long as he knew where they were, and this was much faster this way. Especially after breaking the 20% limit or 30% even.

He hasn't forgotten his realistic goal, which was immortality. Nothing else was more alluring than this to him!