Midnight. Near the glade indicated by Alfonso.
Alfonso was already waiting there, having reached 20 minutes before to stake the location out so that he could make sure that whoever had been eavesdropping before, hadn't managed to follow him here too.
He had thought long and hard about who the culprit could be, and in the end, he could only conclude that it was someone who was interested in a cloaked conversation that was going on not too far away from a central walkway.
At around 11:55 AM, the blonde haired kid that he had been waiting for finally arrived, with a smile on his face.
Seeing that smile, Alfonso really wanted to punch him, as it reeked of innocence and naïveté.
Why was it that someone like this had come across such a valuable treasure? Why had it not been him?
Of course, arguments like these were irrelevant, but he still engaged in them so that he could calm himself and not blow this deal.
"So. You want me to hand over my senior post, which earns me 50 Ker gems per day, and that has always been held by an Exalted Warrior, to an Amateur one like you?"
In response, Travis nodded and folded his arms behind his back before saying, "You can't say it's not worth it, Sir. Doing something like this was on my mind before itself, but I just didn't find someone that I could trust. You found out about it anyway, so I just chose you, and when I asked around, I found out that you are someone who keeps your word. You must have asked about me, too, right? I've already given one very useful information to the sect, and I wouldn't mind giving them another, but I really do feel that it's a pity. I should focus on my path to power too, after all."
Hearing this, Alfonso nodded.
He had indeed investigated this kid called Travis, and had found out that he had a special status directly granted by the sect leader because of his discovery of an inheritance site. Although it could be said that he had not done so willingly, it was obvious that by doing that business with taking so many sect members to the site, he had already anticipated that this would be the result, and had been prepared to give it up to the sect.
Many times, Alfonso had seen that luck always favored those who didn't deserve it, and that too, in amounts which would make others cry.
This kid had already found out an inheritance site, so it wasn't even that implausible that he had also found such valuable treasure.
Besides, his greed seemed to be getting the better of him, and there even seemed to be something whispering in his mind that he should take this chance, as another like it might not come along in his lifetime.
For a second, he wondered why he was having such strong feelings about this deal without being objective, but right at that moment, those suggestive thoughts vanished, making him discard that line of thinking.
"I need to see it first, of course. You might just be lying."
"I'm not that dumb, Sir. If I show it to you, you could kill me afterward. I want you to swear an oath to me right now, that if you do find that the mine is real, you will promise me three things:
1. You will give me your post in the Central Tower, and also never challenge me again for it, while helping me to keep it.
2. You will not harm me in any way, directly or indirectly, regardless of what you find.
3. You will never speak anything about me to anyone, or give any indication directly or indirectly that you know me."
As Alfonso saw Travis say these three things with great concentration, he chuckled.
Clearly, this kid had put a lot of thought into this.
Maybe he wasn't that naive after all.
This wasn't really a bad thing, as if this was all fake, the kid would definitely not take this many precautions.
Taking a moment, he pondered over the three conditions.
Oaths could be made without oath stones, but the limitation was that the oath would be tied to the person, making it so that if the person died, the oath would vanish. If there was an oath stone, the oath would be passed on to the next inheritor.
Also, facilities like communicating with the other person through the oath stone were absent.
Clearly, the kid had thought about the possibility of him hiring somebody else to bring harm to him so that he could rid himself of the oath, which was why the second clause said: "directly or indirectly."
In fact, all Alfonso cared about right now was getting to the peak of the Warrior realm, obtaining the special support of the sect, and shooting forward to become a Champion so that he could triple his life span yet again.
Compared to that, these three things felt trivial.
Only the third clause seemed a little bit strange, but Alfonso just assumed that it was there because the kid was scared that he might use other means to bring harm to him.
Yes. This was a good deal, definitely.
The suggestive thoughts returned, but in his daydreaming of becoming a Champion and having hundreds of years to enjoy all the women he wished, he didn't notice it this time.
Although he would be giving up what he had - the post in the central tower which earned him 1500 Ker gems a month, he would be getting so much more.
As he finally nodded in reply, he saw an expression of relief come on Travis's face.
"Of course, you also have to swear that you will never disclose any information about the mine to anybody else, and that no one else but you knows about its whereabouts right now."
This was just basic common sense. He couldn't risk this kid getting greedy later, and telling others for more profit.
Also, he had to make sure that he would have the mine to himself, instead of having to share with anyone that this kid might have blabbed the information to.
As for all the women on the Border Village, Alfonso wasn't really worried about them right now, as no one else could make them talk like he had done, and they wouldn't be dumb enough to go against his words.
Still, he began planning a way to make them all… Disappear.
"Of course. Let us begin."
…
20 minutes later.
After swearing the oaths, both of them made their way out of the sect using a secret exit that only Alfonso, and a few other senior sect members knew of.
Clearly, anyone who had spent a long time in the sect would find ways to go around the rules imposed, in cases where the rules weren't too strict and were meant mainly to make sect members focus on training more.
After teleporting four times, the two of them reached an unmarked spot in a forest east of the Sect of Hedon.
This area was completely unremarkable, with even the trees not being lusher than those around them, which was usually a dead giveaway for the location of a Ker Gem mine, especially of this size.
As Alfonso saw this, he started doubting whether he was being led into some trap.
He had already prepared himself for that possibility - checking his pocket, he made sure that the defensive Champion level trinket, the single most expensive item he owned, was ready to be deployed to protect him.
At least there was one good news: if there really was a mine here, it would be impossible for anyone to find it, as this was just one random spot in an area of hundreds of kilometers that was filled by forests.
They had teleported in the air, so after landing on the ground, Travis first looked around carefully to make sure that no one had followed them.
After that, he went to a nearby bush which looked completely normal and plucked it after deactivating a formation.
Below that bush, hidden expertly, was a small hole through which only one person could fit.
"After you," said Alfonso, not intending to walk into a trap if there was one.
However, the next second, his eyes became as wide as saucers when he saw a red mist float out of the hole.
There were two main indications of a large Ker Gem mine - one was obviously the large amounts of red gems that would be found inside, and another was the red mist, which meant that this was an area which naturally condensed Energy. This was why Natural Energized Training Chambers also condensed this red mist while absorbing Energy from their surroundings.
As his breathing hastened, he watched as Travis nodded and entered the hole, after which Alfonso followed, barely able to contain his excitement.
The hole had no ladder, but as mages, they could simply fly through it.
After descending around 800 m into the ground, the hole finally ended, widening into a large, block-shaped cave that had an area of at least 1 km².
Sensing no threats, Alfonso conjured a globe of light, and as he saw the red glimmers all around him, he staggered back and had to take support from the wall behind him.
Yes! Ker gems! Thousands and thousands of them!
There was also the red mist, which was faint, meaning that this mine had formed long ago.
It all made sense now. The vegetation above must have been lusher many, many years ago, but because of some reason, no one must have noticed it. After that, the extra Energy had been sapped away by the mine, so the plants above were normal. Although it meant that there would be no additional gems being added to the mine, the ones that were already present would easily be enough to tide him over for quite a long time.
There was only one question - how did this kid find it in the first place?
Without asking, Travis answered.
"On a routine examination of the continent, I came across a woodcutter who spoke about a single plant he had seen during his journey through this forest which looked like it was blessed by the heavens. Because the mine is so deep underground, the additional Energy only affected one plant above, and when I dug and found this mine, I immediately killed that woodcutter and burned his body. No one else knows. Is our deal done?"
As he heard this and realized that it did make sense, Alfonso only nodded, too busy admiring the beautiful prisms around him.
Of course, this was why he didn't notice the gleam in Travis's eyes.
…
One hour later.
[Preprogramed protocol being activated. Sending pre-recorded message anonymously to Central tower.]