Varian felt like his head was about to explode. Hundreds of tiny scorching needles seemed to be drilled into his skull, pushing pain beyond what's possible and filling his soul with pain that wouldn't be forgotten for decades to come.
When he came to his senses, he realized that he collapsed on the sidewalk of the streets in the safezone.
He's already healed back to a complete body, even his aura reserves were now back to their peak. His strength undoubtedly rose from the unpleasant experience but Varian decided to put it aside for now and started walking to a particular location.
The trees swayed, a bit too much sway, if he was being honest. They felt like less trees and more like grass dancing in the wind. Every street had a different set of trees growing in a line.
Varian walked down a street of trees with flaming leaves, then turned into one with metallic leaves, invisible leaves, and finally entered a street where every tree had leaves that acted as mirrors.
"The Information Street…"
As cliché as it sounded, there's an entire street dedicated to information exchanges.
Except for learning the basics of the second zone, Varian didn't see any point in coming to this place last time. He verified the stuff Maria told him about and ensured that she wasn't lying and walking him into a trap.
But this time, he had to know about the World Tree. The sum of money required for that information was going to be enormous and it wasn't certain that just money could buy it. Many a time, authority was a neglected but important chip in purchases.
Varian stopped in front of the largest store on the street. A large structure built from redwood and green stone.
Stepping in, he was greeted by the sight of Xehars—tiny humanoid rats—conversing with the guests in the lobby.
Even though they weren't talking about anything important, they were building rapport.
The elves—considered one of the races standing at the apex of beauty—served the customers as maids and butlers.
Soft music with an air of mystery played in the background, setting a perfect atmosphere for revealing and learning secret information.
The music was played by a couple of beautiful women in the large water box near the stairs of the lobby.
'Soul power infused into the music. Not too much to call it manipulation, not too little to be futile.' Varian was impressed.
The sirens in the water reserve were even more impressed. Out of the twelve musicians, three belonged to rank 6 and the rest were all peak rank 5s.
Varian was one of the few guests who wasn't affected in the slightest by their music.
"Dear customer, our manager wants to greet you and have a pleasant transaction." An elf beauty in a black and white maid uniform bowed lightly, without being too vulgar but still using her beauty and elegance to her advantage.
"I'm waiting for those words." Varian's smile confused the maid but she dutifully took him up the green stone stairs that rejuvenated body and soul.
The first three floors were for buying basic, important, and classified pieces of information respectively. The next three floors were for selling information of varying importance.
The 7th and 8th floors were auction halls where pieces of information were sold. For instance, the location of a miraculous fruit that'd allow for enlightenment in your path and push for an easy breakthrough.
"…And the manager is on the 9th floor. Very few guests managed to meet him," The maid led him to a dark red double door at the end of the silk-carpets-laden corridor and bowed her head. "My Lord, I've fulfilled your order."
The doors opened with a creak and Varian saw a humanoid rat in a small chair, resting his arms on the equally tiny desk. In a black and red suit, the Xehar's serious look would've caused any human kid to laugh and call it a cute mouse.
But Varian had been through enough fights to not judge a book by it's cover. "Greetings, Manager."
The chair on the other side of the desk magnified and Varian slid in comfortably. The desk in front of him magnified and the manager's chair floated up until it hovered in the air, allowing the tiny creature to maintain eye contact with Varian.
"Do you know why I called you, gentleman?" The manager's voice was a bit cold for a first greeting.
Varian glanced at the maid. She took the hint and left after closing the door. "I'd have said because I wasn't affected by the sirens. But you're a bit too serious for it to be just that."
The manager exhaled lightly and leaned back in his chair.
"You saw me with Princess Maria," Varian gazed at the ratman with confidence. "Since you guys run the best intelligence agency and are the managers of the safe zone, I bet you have.
Given the fact that we were so easily ambushed on the 31st, 32nd, 33rd, and 34th floors, you must've helped.
Seeing me like this, I guess you can't help but question. How am I even alive? Why did I return? What happened to Princess Maria who you tried to kill and the other two royalty that must've commissioned you for it."
The rat manager's whiskers drooped and he clenched his fists to the point they made cracking sounds like nuts.
Varian was right. And if any of the information—especially the part where they helped in an attempt on Princess Maria's life leaked—the managers would suffer.
That wasn't all. If they knew they couldn't kill someone like Varian in the tower despite being commissioned for it on four consecutive floors, their reputation would plummet.
The manager wanted to take the initiative and dominate the conversation. So, he threw a question at the start and tried to be intimidating. But now the initiative was gone and the dynamics were fully reversed, he couldn't help but feel unwilling.
"If you think you can threaten the Xehars just because of the information you know, then you better realize we can imprison you without harming you. The safe zone has a prison, you know? As the managers, we can put you in that place where the rules don't fully apply."
Varian's lips curled up at the threat.
The reason Xehars had a deterrent was their ability to jail the adventurers. These prisons still had the rule of not letting you die but they no longer exempt you from pain and injuries.
Sometimes, without the right healing medicine, the injuries would remain for decades. Even though you could survive fine in the safe zone, once you leave it, you'd die from the strain of carrying those injuries for so long.
"Which prison are you going to put me in? The infernal sunbath? The cold desert? The monster beach?" The more he spoke, the more disdainful Varian's tone grew.
The Xehar manager was already pissed off by Varian grabbing the initiative and flipping their conversation around.
So, his words caused the ratman to slam his chair and hiss. "I'll send you to Champion Theater."
"No, you can't." Varian jumped back and tried to rush out of the door but an invisible force pulled him away.
Xehar manager grinned. "Yes, I can."
Varian's expression as he was thrown into the Champion Theater—reminiscent of the Colosseum of ancient earth—turned into a malicious smile. "Well, well, well."
