Hero of Darkness

The next day, Kahn and the group decided to depart in different directions and take a city tour around Alfheim. The main purpose was to learn everything useful that they needed to know to perfectly mix with the populace and understand how everyone behaved or conducted themselves in their day-to-day life. 

Kahn wasn't oblivious to the fact that what could seem outrageous or immoral to you, could just be a normal code of conduct in different cultures or civilizations. And being ignorant about such details would just leave a lot of plotholes in their storyline.

And while taking notes of locations of monasteries, historically important places, authorities and the overall layout of the city that spanned 150 kilometers in perimeter alone… Kahn came to know about one odd thing. 

Slavery. 

Yes, the Elven Empire legally allowed slavery. 

However, it was not like selling people and the owner gets to do whatever the hell they want with them. 

Here, the Slavery system worked differently. 

The condition was applied only in terms of either crimes or economical fraud or bankruptcy. 

Zivot Empire allowed one to use themselves, their spouse and even their children in monetary dealings as a form of collateral. 

However, the High Elves weren't idiots. 

Every party involved had to willingly agree to these terms, the children also had age requirements based on their species and no such thing as sexual service or abuse was allowed. 

If one party failed to pay the other and had this sort of agreement… then the former as well as their partner would be sold as Slaves to the latter if they were part of the agreement. 

The imperial laws would facilitate such pacts in a process of what they called Moral Repayment. 

Under these rules, no party was to harm each other and the Slaves would be forced to perform manual labor for their masters. 

A predetermined price of monthly wages would be set by the authorities and the Slave would work until the original amount under the contract is repaid no matter how many years it took. 

But the said Master also had the responsibility to provide for food and housing for the Slaves and they could not intentionally cause trouble for the Slaves. 

The Elven Laws did not allow the low quality of housing or rations for the slaves either. 

However, this wasn't the same case for Criminals. They were subjected to a whole different level of treatment that had harsh living conditions, unfair treatment and no help from authorities even if the master starved them for days. 

For someone from the earth, it would appear immoral and too extreme. But in the Zivot empire, it was the most effective way to live up to one's moral obligation and pay back what you owed. 

This also played a big part in their culture as it prevented people from committing crimes and running away with someone's money. If one couldn't afford the consequences, they shouldn't make such exchanges and contracts either. 

And since the Master had to provide for the housing and meals of the Slaves, it was already an expensive alternative so very few opted out for this method. 

But the rich among the masses had no problems with this arrangement so many upper-class people often made such agreements. 

Compared to the form of illegal slavery Kahn had seen in Rakos and Vulcan Empire, this system seemed more like… 

Forced Employment. 

----------------

Inside the suite Kahn and the subordinates booked, a war table was arranged and all the members were discussing and reporting all the information they collected and what they needed to pay attention to solidify their future in Alfheim. 

"There are only two ways for us to do what we're good at while avoiding unnecessary attention. 

One is joining the Adventurers Association or a Mercenary Guild." said Ronin who had gathered the most information. 

"Dungeon Hunting is our forte. That's how master created all of you in the first place. And given our ranks and abilities, it shouldn't be a problem for us to gain a lot of resources either since there are hundreds of dungeons spread across this region of the empire. 

It's a win-win situation for us." spoke and proposed Omega. 

Just then, Rathnaar decided to meddle. 

[You kids are forgetting something. To form these large numbers of dungeons in the 300 kilometers so easily… just imagine how strong the source of the mana and world energy would be. 

Don't you think that's something worth investigating?] 

His question indeed alerted all of them. 

"You're right. Even your core hidden close to Flavot city had created over a dozen dungeons." spoke Kahn as a realization struck him. 

[And my core was sealed by Lezron Mikealson, a 9th stage saint. It was hidden for 800 years and once the protective formation dwindled due to the passage of time, it created those dungeons within a century. 

So think how big and terrifyingly vast the source for all these dungeons must be. What kind of being had something so powerful that could even create 20 times more dungeons than a Peak Saint's core?] hypothesized Rathnaar. 

"Holy shit! You're right. 

There must be a big secret behind it all. Otherwise, these many dungeons should be impossible to form in a single saturated region." spoke Kahn because this seemed like the only possibility to him. 

"But you know what… let's not dig into the matters that could create trouble for us. 

Let's not visit these dungeons at all." declared Kahn. 

Staying out of trouble was exactly what they wanted right now. And they had enough resources to sustain themselves for another year. So making hasty decisions would be simply foolish. 

"Then we must discard these fake Adventurer IDs as well. 

Besides, there won't be any dungeon good enough for us to gain any useful abilities or fight powerful enemies at all since our group is enough to kill even a 5th stage saint at this point if we work together." iterated Kahn with a solemn voice. 

"That's it then. We all should join a Mercenary Guild." spoke Ceril with an elated tone. 

"I'll do you one better. 

Why don't we create a mercenary guild of our own?" asked Kahn with a smile. 

Soon, he discussed the merits of choosing this route and all of them came to a unified consensus. 

"As for the Mercenary Guild… I have a fitting name." said Kahn and decided to embark on a different journey this time. 

"Misthios."