In the Portal Center of the capital city of Avaricious Kingdom, nine people spawned from one of the swirling vortexes.
The one in the lead wore a tight and form fitting black leather armor that displayed every bit of her curvy body. However, her sizes were modest, giving her that slim and s.e.xy kind of feel. However this was ruined by the hood she wore, which projected nothing of what was contained within, only endless darkness.
Next to her was a short and cutesy looking lolita with short and curly blond hair, as well as hazel eyes that seemed to be full of nefarious intent and playful evil. Her face was round and gentle, but her lips were always set into a very dangerous smirk. She wore creamy white robes that looked like those of a nun, which outlined the missile silos on her chest.
(Author's note: I was browsing the net recently and found an even better character who resembles Sublime Notion with almost 90% accuracy when contrasted with what I have in mind in terms of face and hairstyle. It's Clementine from Overlord.)
On the other side was a similarly short girl who was less of a loli and more of a barren wasteland. Her curves were almost non-existent and her body was straight as a pole. However, she had an extremely cute and refreshing visage that was pleasing to the eyes. She wore glasses and had a smattering of freckles on her face. Her eyes were light blue and her hair was auburn, also cut short.
Behind these three were five fellows. One was a tall and burly man with a black bandana and an eyepatch. His skin was dark and his face was hard. He wore a mismash of hide and steel armor, treading the line between light armor and medium armor. His one good eye was brown in color and his hair was spiky.
To his right was a similarly big fellow who looked more like a Victorian era gentleman with that oval face, french mustache, and light beard, of which the latter two were orange in color. His hair was neat and well combed, also bearing the fruity coloration. He wore thick plate mail which was a dull grey, adding a certain charm to him.
To their left, on the other side, were two of the most handsome fellows a lady could ogle.
One wore a Daoist monk robe which made him look a bit out of place, but his face was angular and his eyes were a deep blue. His hair was golden and fell on top of his head neatly. Coupled with his bearing, he looked like a typical handsome protagonist in most media.
The other one though… hm. He was also a handsome fellow, but his attire was an even tighter black leather combo that hid nothing. His every outline was drawn and emphasized, making the ladies blush and the guys cringe.
However, there were a few guys whose eyes shot out bright beams of light.
Finally, in the middle of them, was a beautiful and tall woman with the arguably most perfect - and realistically proportioned - body. Her face was mature and well sculpted, her lips were thick and cherry red, her hair was shoulder length and silky. Her eyes were scarlet in color, giving her a dangerous feel. Her skin was creamy and unblemished, making her look succulent to the taste. Her chest was excellent, her waist was narrow and her backside was excellent. Her thighs were thick and her red robe was very tight, allowing one to glimpse the curves freely.
Behind them was one fellow, who had one eye locked on the excellent bum of the woman in the red robe while the other was was swiftly scouting and assessing other bums around. This fellow was also handsome, but in the 'funny guy' way. One could look at him and just tell that he was a class clown, but one couldn't help but feel attracted, primarily because one's days with him would never be dull. His hair was short and a light green, his eyes were soft brown color. His skin was creamy and he wore an archer's outfit.
These were the proud core members of the First Guild, Umbra. Riveting Night, Sublime Notion, Warm Spring, Boyd, Uno, Kiran, Cobra, Rina and the almighty Rambunctious Buttlover.
These nine people exited the Portal Center of Wealth City, the capital of Avaricious Kingdom. The design of the city was far different from what they were used to in Sturgehaven Kingdom.
In Sturgehaven Kingdom, and truthfully, in most kingdoms and empires, the design is almost a copy paste of the late anglo-medieval era design. The houses used stone and wood, while some had a few iron and wood design.
The buildings in Sturgehaven were either squarish or rectangular.
However, Wealth City looked like a mixture between ancient Constantinople and modern Istanbul. It had that ancient roman-like design, with arches and huge pillars spread over various buildings.
The houses were either huge and opulent, or plentiful and linear, there was no in-between. There were properly defined roads, aqueducts and bridges over short rivers.
Here, carriages went up and down continuously, with very little human traffic. Most player populated kingdoms were the opposite, with players and NPCs preferring to walk and carriages moving about infrequently.
The bustle was real and intense, and for the first time, everyone other than Riveting Night was hit by the fact that they were truly in another world.
Of course, being able to perform impossible feats of skill and magic was a clear indicator, but coupled with the extremely typical scenario provided by the visuals of the monsters and Sturgehaven Kingdom, it felt slightly unreal to most players.
In other words, they were wowed by the sights and smells of Boundless, as well as the realism, but there was a part of their minds that always knew that they were in a game run by digital code.
However, for the eight players, this sight of Wealth City's daily bustle made them feel like they had traveled into another world like in the novels, as opposed to entering a digital game with a helmet.
Riveting Night noticed this and allowed them to let it sink in. For her, all of this novelty was long gone. She had once been starry eyed like them, so she didn't want to ruin the experience. It only came once after all.
Both Riveting Night and Draco saw Boundless as their second base of operations in life. To them, entering Boundless was the equivalent of having a dual citizenship and shifting between both countries.
Both were their homes.
After some time, Riveting Night spoke. "Let's move on."
She hailed a carriage that looked pretty tidy and fresh. The NPC Driver was a young lad who wore a cotton shirt and cotton shorts with slippers. Despite his simple attire, he was clean shaven and very neat.
"Where can I take you all to?" He asked with a servile smile.
"The Bazaar." Riveting Night replied emotionlessly.
The moment The Driver heard the destination, his face changed slightly. He tried to muffle up his gaffe by smiling even further, but it was clear that it was really forced.
"Ah, The Bazaar it is then. If Madam and her associates could please enter the carriage and make themselves comfortable, we can be on our way."
His voice trembled a bit as he spoke, but he managed to minimize it as best as he could. However, the players with Riveting Night noticed this and became curious.
Exactly what kind of place was this Bazaar that had this fellow look like he wanted to whip his horse and run away?
"Good. Enter."
Riveting Night took the lead as she entered the carriage silently. The other eight members looked to each other with a bit of confusion.
Exactly how were they all supposed to fit in there? A carriage like this could take at most, six people, and that was if they squeezed. If eight people wanted to enter… well, they could, but some would have to sit on the laps of others.
Thinking this, Rambunctious Buttlover quickly sidled up to Rina, casting reddened and brutal eyes over everyone else. It was clear that he had marked his territory and should anyone try to steal from him - death!
Rina just saw this and smiled lightly. She couldn't care about small matters like this, especially given her lewd nature.
Boyd and Uno clapped each other's backs while laughing merrily.
"Bitch, you are on top."
"Motherf.u.c.ker, do you want to die? You are on top."
Cobra had silently appeared beside Kiran, licking his dagger with nefarious intent. For that matter, Kiran remained as emotionless as possible, though one could see the sweat begin to form on his forehead.
Whether he was top or bottom, he would be in a tight spot!
Warm Spring and Sublime Notion smiled at each other before holding hands. As two short girls who were close to Riveting Night, they had no qualms with each other.
However, when they all entered, they were flabbergasted to find out that the space inside the carriage was larger than they thought. It was big enough to seat at least 20 people comfortably, not to mention 9 people.
However, the size of the carriage's exterior and the interior did not match. If this was the real world, their hearts would stop as they froze in fear, but here, they only had one thought cross their mind.
Magic!
They were close, but off the mark though, and Riveting Night was not bothered to elaborate. She would explain the obvious and need to know facts as they arose, but miscellaneous information like this was for them to research on their own.
The group remained silent as the carriage moved along, though they could not feel the exact process of it from within. It just felt like a smooth journey, so whatever bumps and sharp turns were taken, they were oblivious to it.
It wasn't until Riveting Night stood up saying 'we're here', that they realized they had actually moved anywhere.
When they disembarked, they were surprised to see such a lively scene before them.
The Bazaar was a large and open marketplace with various stalls and small shops here and there. It was well organized and very neat, with a heavy human traffic and the loud sounds of bartering ongoing.
It looked a bit like an Arab-style Bazaar, but with a strict linear distribution.
The amount of items on display were mindboggling. It was almost as if one could buy anything under the sun from this place, so the core members of Umbra became a bit excited.
Riveting Night had said they were here to do some shopping, so did that mean that this Bazaar possessed a hidden trove of rare finds? After all, the Lady Boss' standards were not at their level, she wouldn't pull them all out here for just Uncommon or Rare items.
However, when Riveting Night entered The Bazaar, she didn't stop to even peek at a single item. She kept meandering through different alleyways, leaving the core members of Umbra baffled.
What even made them more apprehensive was that each new path they entered had fewer and fewer people until it was just them traversing almost barren alleyways that had closed down shops.
It wasn't until Riveting Night suddenly stopped in front of the door to a ramshackle building that their tension abated.
Riveting Night knocked on the door three times, times three. The sequence was random and the tempo was erratic.
Yet, the door to the shop opened slowly and silently, the blackness of its depths seeming to suck one into the depths of the dark abyss.
Riveting Night stepped in without hesitation. The core members of Umbra were not so quick to enter, as they felt extremely apprehensive of the whole affair.
However, they eventually swallowed their uncertainty and followed behind Riveting Night, entering into the blackness of the doorway with shaky steps.
The moment they all went through, the door closed itself as slowly and silently as it opened, rendering the alleyway dark and muted once again.
........
Inside the hidden shop of The Bazaar, the members of Umbra were face to face with a sight they would never forget.
The area was a large podium with a center stage in the middle. It looked just like an auction room, but with very small proportions compared to the Rank 7 shop or the Divine Auction.
Similar to the carriage from earlier, the space in here was far larger than the space outside, creating a bizarre dissonance to the core members of Umbra.
However, the seats were packed full of people wearing opulent and gaudy clothes. There was none of the prim and proper atmosphere of the Divine Auction or the professional atmosphere of normal auctions.
Here, it was loud and rowdy, everyone doing what the heck they wanted. Some were quite literally having s.e.x while the auction went on, others were 'servicing' or being 'serviced', some were gorging on unholy amounts of food and drink, while most were bidding ferociously over various items.
The 'items' in question were none other than… live species.
To put it bluntly, slaves.
Various males and females of various races were brought out, advertised and sold to the fervent crowd, who called out outrageous prices depending on the quality and advertis.e.m.e.nt of the slaves.
The core members of Umbra were stunned thoroughly by this. Well, it was best to say that RamButt, Warm Spring and Sublime Notion were shocked silly, while the Five Generals were only mildly surprised.
To the former, it was their first time coming into contact with such evil in their lives. They resided in the modern world, where evil had been suppressed to the darkness and most people lived their lives free of its influence.
Seeing such a scenario outside of digital media was a bombshell to them, especially with the level of realism Boundless possessed.
The Five Generals though, were only surprised because they didn't think this game would dare to present such a dark aspect of society in its lore. Did the developers not fear the sanctions of the World Council?
A young girl in a very revealing outfit approached the group with her hands held in front of her in a servile manner. Her skin glistened in its light yellow color and her body was well proportioned, enough to set afire the flames of l.u.s.t.
She was pretty and very attractive, but most of the core members of Umbra were not moved by her visage mostly due to the atmosphere of the location.
"Good day, Lords and Ladies. How can I help you?" The Girl asked as she curtsied respectfully.
After all, there was nothing like weak and strong among people who could enter The Bazaar. Every single one of them were monsters who possessed different aspects that made them powerhouses.
To compare and contrast, the Divine Auction gathered powerhouses on the side of the light. The 'good guys' as it were.
The Bazaar gathered the powerhouses on the side of the dark. The 'bag guys' as it were.
They served similar purposes, but had similar yet different clientele.
"Lead us to a VIP room. We are Immortal Adventurers of the Umbra guild."
Riveting Night's words made the core members of Umbra raise an eyebrow. Sure, amongst players, Umbra was a powerful name that was associated with success and power, but NPCs were different.
However, the response of the Aide was surprising to them, as she displayed a startled expression and - much to their bafflement - managed to become even more servile on disposition.
"Ah, so it is Vice Guildmaster and various upper echelons of Umbra guild. My name is Vafla and I shall be your personal assistant for the duration of your patronage. Please follow me."
Vafla introduced herself and led the members of Umbra up a flight of stairs and into a clean and opulent hallway that was well ventilated. The carpet was thick and the walls were painted in bright colors.
She led them to a door with the label "VIP 2".
Upon making sure it was unoccupied, she pushed the door open and admitted them into its fold.
When the core members of Umbra saw the interior of the room, they were more than amazed. The design and aesthetics were no less than the Vice Guildmaster's room in the Rank 7 Guild Hall.
It was on the level of a presidential suite in a 5 star hotel, with everything present for the comfort and preference of the buyer.
There was a bar, a small restaurant, a group of settees and tables with thick carpets underneath them, a small pond, a few beds and even some girls and guys dancing slowly to romantic music.
None of the core members here could claim to have seen such sights before, so they reacted how anyone else would react, gobbling up the sights and feeling some primal pride and excitement well up in them.
Then they sat on the sofas in a similar manner to how they sat in the parlor of the Mayor's Hall.
Vafla stood to the side and began to wave her hands to form a screen for the VIP guests to view the auction going on. Riveting Night simply drew on the Worldly Energy of the area to form a screen almost instantly.
This startled Vafla to the point where she froze for a bit, then her eyes landed on Riveting Night's form. Her heart could not stop pumping at the sight she had beheld.
Only those top tier powerhouses could manipulate Worldly Energy so easily and so quickly. Even she, who had been creating such screens for guests for so long that it had become second nature, could not boast the same efficiency.
Riveting Night paid no attention to the moods of such an inconsequential character. Her eyes were trained on the proceedings of the auction, and so were the attentions of the core members of Umbra.
"Pay attention and stay silent. I shall show you how to gather the best goods on sale."