The Soul Gem slowly floated into Marasmus' hands. He silently observed his choice in depth and nodded with satisfaction when he saw its quality. This must've belonged to a lich who had lived for at least, 20,000 years.
The former owner didn't die because the Soul Gem became faulty, but because their soul hadn't been strong enough to keep on existing. This meant that Marasmus could go for a minimum of 12,000 more years assuming his soul was similarly 'fragile'.
Greatly pleased by his choice, Marasmus turned to face Darius once more. The fellow himself was retrieving the two items he put down and brought out another three.
"Lord Marasmus, one the second topic of whether I can gain your esteemed friendship and trust, please see if one of these three items can suit your taste."
Marasmus checked the three. The one on the left was a small black device that had a green screen with sonar lines. The one in the middle was a necklace made up of six black magatamas that radiated majesty. The item on the right was a large egg.
Darius introduced the effects once more. Marasmus might be knowledgeable, but appraisal was appraisal. Until Darius coughed up the uses for most of these, many would never know.
The Reaper was silent once more. He was astounded by two things, the number of high-quality items this fellow possessed and his absolute confidence that he would need/choose any of these three.
Normally, one would show their whole stock for him to inspect in the hopes they might have what he wanted, yet this young fellow before him had limited it to three and just sat there while smiling.
The undead sighed. Ever since the fellow's eyes had changed form, it was as if he could see through the wants and needs of others, becoming the perfect trader for any client.
Was this an ability a human could possibly possess? The Heartbeat Sensor, the Ornament of Six Paths, and the Insect Queen's Egg were all valuable, but had varying uses to Marasmus himself.
His eyes narrowed. The Heartbeat Sensor in a place full of undead would be useless to an intruder, but it was unbelievably crucial to the residents. Since everyone else didn't have beating hearts, anyone that showed up had to be an intruder.
This would ensure that even those with Master-stage skills in assassination or the like would be unable to ever surprise him.
The ornament containing the Six Paths of Reincarnation was indisputably the most attractive to him. If the Reaper could enter the Wraith Realm, he might even find a path to become a Supreme Undead, most likely a Banished One.
That was not considering that he himself had gotten used to the life of peaceful mediation and sageliness, which the item would further promote. The only downside was that it would require him to head to the Pan continent.
The final item was the Insect Queen's Egg. If Marasmus could incubate it and turn it into an undead, he could gain millions of undead insect troops within a mere century.
Would fellows like those outside be even able to come within 200 km of his necropolis with such a force? Not to mention, after a millennium he might even have enough to take over the Fallon continent if he felt like it...
Marasmus agonized over his choice for a long while. Eventually, he decided to gamble it all and chose the Ornament of Six Paths!
His reasoning for doing so was that this was his personal favorite item of the lot, and that if Darius could pull out so many good things, maybe he could purchase the First Resurrection Stone from his master?
That way, he would no longer have any obligations to remain specifically in the Plains of Death, giving him the chance to go out and explore the world, especially Pan. Hence, the necklace floated up into his arms as he gazed at it with a complicated expression.
When Marasmus sighed and turned to Darius once more, his bright red Soul Fire became blinding and his form began to glow even stronger.
Darius could feel that Marasmus himself was not strong enough to handle his master's descent, since so much energy was being drawn from the leyline below that he could visibly SEE the power flowing into the undead.
It was terrifying and humbling at the same time. Darius quickly prostrated respectfully before this new being, and even Gunner followed suit beside his master, his face ashen from his own personal discovery.
The being now inhabiting Marasmus' body seemed to spend the next few seconds getting used to this weaker form and stabilizing it before it spoke.
"Hm, you're an outsider of Faust. I sense the Goddess' laws on you, blessed be her name. Still, even if you are her agent in this world, you're far from being safe. Perhaps I should pity you since it means that hard times will follow you wherever you go. She will not pursue us should we kill you." The entity spoke in an ancient, gravelly tone.
Darius was startled by this revelation, but remained silent. It appeared that contrary to his assumptions, the true powerhouses of Faust were aware of Vena who stood above everything.
The entity turned to Gunner and for the first time, wore a strange expression. "A half-blood giant. Royal blood too. Interesting, interesting, the world has truly changed since last I walked the land."
Gunner simply trembled hard when the being focused on him, shocking Darius. He wondered what was wrong with his Branded Servant, but now wasn't the time to ask that. It might prove deadly to anger this being in any way.
The entity turned to Darius once more. "I have chosen Marasmus as the keeper of the stone for it is something that came into being with his existence. I had to fight with many of Faust's True Lords to acquire it for myself, so even if you wish to just borrow it, you had better offer a good price!"
Darius raised his head slightly and spoke with shock. "True Lords? You, Great Sir, fought singlehandedly against all the Gods and Demons? Amazing!"
Darius tossed out this obvious flattery in order to sweeten the deal, as he prepared to bring out his best items to trade, but what he didn't expect was that the cold and sagely hidden master would spit audibly and curse.
"Ptui! What Gods? What Demons? Do you think those trash deserve to be called the True Lords of Faust? Preposterous! Why if you weren't the Great Goddess' Agent, I would have slaughtered you on the spot for such blasphemy!"
