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Chapter 57: Caban’s Prison

Hood pulled low, Ashura followed Hughes to a hidden door in an alley.

After paying the brawny warrior guards at the door 40 silver coins as an entrance fee, the two stepped through the doorway and walked down a stairway for a long time.

During the descent Ashura even gripped his dagger in hand, regretting that he had been overconfident in following Hughes to this basement, a perfect spot for robbery and murder.

Luckily, light and the sound of chatter soon reached him: they stood in an underground plaza, and a high crystal dome connected to the sky above so the place was not gloomy at all.

Several hundred warriors and magicians intent on trading had gathered in the plaza, and stalls of every size filled the area.

Most people, like Ashura, wore hoods that concealed their faces.

It was Ashura’s first visit to such an underground black market; he asked Hughes about the local rules, yet Hughes knew little himself.

Therefore he told Hughes to wait at the entrance while he wandered toward the center of the plaza.

Ashura strolled around the black-market plaza without ever asking a price, silently listening to others negotiate, and he learned that most deals here were barter, although gold coins were also accepted.

If a seller’s price was too high you could decline, but once you bargained and the vendor agreed you were obliged to buy.

Otherwise you would be breaking the market rules, and black-market overseers would come and give you a kicking.

Everyone respected this basic rule of trade.

After grasping the rule, Ashura roamed the market, eyeing many tempting items.

Yet all he possessed of value was a level-5 Earthquake Berserk Bear beast core, the dagger Lan Yu had lent him, the battered armor Magina had loaned him, and 2,000 gold coins that could be exchanged for goods.

However, those items could not be traded lightly, and he was still fretting about how to return the armor to Magina.

Although he now felt confident he could defeat that violent woman, he always cherished the kindness others showed him.

At that moment he reached a stall crowded with shoppers; the vendor was a thin warrior.

The goods were rather rare and included several fine pieces, so several warriors were haggling with him over prices.

One burly man picked up a broken sword; despite the break, the material clearly marked it as extraordinary.

The big man was considering having the sword reforged, yet feared he might not restore it perfectly.

While the burly man hesitated, the thin vendor spoke: “This broken sword is no ordinary article; you can see its quality, and I dug it out of the Land of Fallen Gods.”

The warriors at the stall all stiffened slightly at the words “Land of Fallen Gods” and regarded the thin man with added respect, for anyone who could return from that place was no weakling.

Ashura had only read about the Land of Fallen Gods in the academy library; it lay not far away to the northwest of Puro City and had once been the battlefield of mighty deities.

After those divine powerhouses died, the souls formed from their bodies still roamed the land and indiscriminately attacked any living thing that entered.

Although their current strength was less than a tenth of what it had been in life, more than a dozen saint-level experts had fallen there throughout history.

The area was a forbidden zone for the living and at the same time a treasure trove.

Countless powerhouses had perished there, leaving behind untold riches.

Yet the roaming divine souls and unstable spatial rifts could end a treasure hunter’s life at any moment, making it one of the great forbidden zones of King’s Continent.

The vendor had actually managed to bring out loot from there; judging by the items, they likely came from the outskirts and were remnants, but they were still valuable enough to trade.

The burly man holding the broken sword said, “The blade is fine, but it is still a broken relic, and I am not sure I can mend it; what price are you asking?”

The thin vendor answered immediately, “I want 2,000 gold coins or an excellent suit of armor in exchange for this sword. As for repairing it, refine this bracelet and use it for the restoration.”

As he spoke he picked up from a corner of the stall a pair of wide bracelets, plain in style and resembling bracers, and handed them to the big man.

The burly man examined the bracelets and asked, “What is special about them? I don’t see anything unusual in the material.”

The vendor, a bit embarrassed, replied, “This treasure also came from the Land of Fallen Gods. The pair is intact, and the inner surface bears the name ‘Caban’s Prison.'”

“I tested them; their special function is to suppress the wearer’s own power in three levels, the highest cutting it to below 50%.”

The listeners found this baffling, and the burly man tossed the bracelets back, saying, “What good is this junk? Who would be stupid enough to suppress his own strength?”

“The material looks lousy too; stop making up stories to fool me!”

The vendor was not angry; he casually set the bracelets aside and said, “I never said I’d charge you for them. If you buy the sword, I will throw the bracelets in for free.”

“They still come from the Land of Fallen Gods; maybe they can help repair the blade.”

The burly man curled his lip and said, “I don’t want that junk. Give me a discount on the sword.”

The vendor stiffened instead and said, “2,000 gold coins is not a copper too much; if you don’t want it, plenty of others do!”

While the two were still bargaining, Ashura stepped forward, picked up the bracelets called Caban’s Prison, and examined them closely; the words “Caban’s Prison” were indeed inscribed on the inner surface.

The magical runes looked ancient and mysterious, and after studying them for a while Ashura found no other function beyond the suppression the vendor had described.

Based on the name, Ashura guessed it had once been a shackle used to restrain a prisoner’s power.

Apart from its rare function it truly had nothing special.

No wonder neither vendor nor buyers fancied the item.

Yet Ashura thought it might help him conceal his true strength.

His dual mage-warrior power was gradually manifesting, and he feared exposing himself when sparring with Lan Yu and Magina; he did not wish to attract too much attention at the academy just yet.

So he held up Caban’s Prison and said to the vendor, “Will you sell this pair for 10 gold coins?”

The vendor answered with displeasure, “This treasure comes from the Land of Fallen Gods; are you joking with 10 gold coins?”

Ashura replied, “20 gold!”

This time the vendor turned his head arrogantly and ignored Ashura.

Without another word Ashura put down the bracelets and turned to leave.

But the vendor grabbed his arm and said, “20 is too low; add a little more!”

Ashura replied without hesitation, “Just 20. If you won’t sell, forget I spoke.”

With that he tried to shake off the vendor’s hand and leave.

Seeing his determination, the vendor sighed inwardly; the bracelets were the only intact piece he had brought back from the Land of Fallen Gods, yet after half a month on display this was the only bid he had received.

He compromised and said, “Take them, consider it the first sale of the day!” (TL: 开个张 probably has a better english translation.)

The corners of Ashura’s mouth under the hood lifted high, and with a wave he produced 20 gold coins and handed them over.

Amid the looks of the other shoppers who thought him a fool, he picked up the bracelets and turned to leave.

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