Man-made Satan

Finding what amounted to a supernatural black market did not take as long as you would think. Well then again it was probably more openly advertised than the regular black market considering there were probably a bunch of either weak supernatural beings like yours truly who didn't want to choose a faction or just powerful beings who chose to remain neutral. 

When I had found the place, I was stepping through what amounted to a special doorway that separated the dimension from the regular. Nothing changed much on the other side besides the truly gigantic market filled to the brim with creatures and beings you would never see in Japan. One such example was the Wendigos from the Americas, tall pale beings that had hind legs and a deer skull for a head. 

I passed by one as I searched the market and the feeling I got from them, it was like a winter storm was given physical form. I could feel its physical power alongside the more mystic side of it without trying, it was as if the dark side of winter had been given form. That was from a particularly strong but the few other ones I noticed were still readily in their own right.

If I had to put a rank on the first one I'd probably put them in High-class or something, but honestly I had no reference for these types of things so I was just guessing. I made sure to avoid those things though, I knew enough about them that humans were their favorite meal, that and the hungry eyes they had for literally every human in the place. 

Something I made a note of, and to watch out for when I exited the market which was another interesting thing. It seemed as though it had multiple entrances, multiple exits, and pathways to what I was guessing were politically neutral realms that did business here. Honestly, it was an amazing piece of magic from all sorts of pantheons, in fact I think I recognized a few Norse runes here alongside Egyptian hieroglyphs somehow working in tandem with other such magics to keep this place stable.

That and weed out anyone who would try to bring harm to this place. I say that because I saw a devil burst into black flames and burn away as they entered, leaving behind an evil piece, a bishop if I'm not mistaken. Something that disappeared soon after, but that also answered how they defended the place. Still fascinating and I did try to collect the evil piece, to rip it apart and study it but well looks like the new Beelzebub wasn't as foolish as one would initially think.

It probably had an automatic return system in place alongside the devil reincarnation magic, well even if he forgot to iron out a few details on the pieces there are some things that he probably thought of in cases like these. Made sense that didn't want any other factions getting their hands on something like this and replicating the process or trying to anyway. 

Oh well, I suppose it was just another reason to go stray hunting but back to that I came for. It took quite a while to find a store in this vast place but after buying a very cheap map, something everyone I'm guessing gets eventually, and nearly having a heart attack at the fact this place was the size of a medium-sized country I made my way to the alchemical section well the area between the druid and alchemy section anyway. 

I then of course asked around what the local currency of this place was, and well after a few people brushed me off I was able to find out this place had a unique currency. They apparently had named a very specific magical coin Fafnir's Coin, a special little piece of magical coin that was made out of "gold" and had a dragon's head on it. 

What it did was absorb the local currency a person uses, and convert it into a coin depending on the amount you put into it. For example, five American dollars would be one coin, which meant 745 yen would be needed to create one coin, Of course, this all changes as the outside world economy fluctuates and changes over time but for right now it was with that much.

Anyway, I found an old-looking booth that seemed to not be selling plants but rather the seeds themselves. Putting on my goggles I recognized the magic they had on them, or rather the magic they naturally emitted. Sure some of them looked like Watermelons or Apple seeds but they weren't. Approaching the booth I finally got a look at the person selling it, it was an old woman and I mean old as they had fungus literally growing out of them.

They barely made it up to my knees in height and had a plant cloak dropped around them, and next to them was a tall staff that looked like it was ripped off a dead tree. When they spoke, their voice was like a calm storm that was really hanging onto life but still full of power.

"What...brings...traveler...to...my...booth?"

Looking around I saw a few seeds that interested me and could be useful for future experiments but I wanted to test them all.

"How much for one of every kind of seed here?" I said as I started grabbing a few Fafnir coins, ready to pay upfront. 

"Four...Fafnir's...coins..for...all...ten...of...the...seeds." She said as she began gathering one of each seed and putting them in separate bags with the symbol of a fungus on them, with druidic symbols I believe outlining it. 

Probably the symbol of the druid circle she belongs to, and one that was quite old if her age was anything to go by. I laid down the four coins and took the bags, putting them in my pockets, making sure they were separate or as separate from one another as possible. 

Before leaving I looked at her hollow eyes and asked "You wouldn't happen to have a name I can call you by would you?"

Looking up at me she spoke with the same tone of voice as I'm guessing she always did. "My...name...is...lobhadh...leader...of...the...circle...of...rot."

Giving a respectful bow I introduced myself before walking away. "My parents gifted me with the name Akira Ito and I hope we can do business again in the future."

She merely nodded as I walked away, wanting to explore the market a bit more before going home. I mean who knows perhaps some stray devil corpses were being sold.