Dragon's Soul: An End's Beginning

by Tony Tran

  "The last item up for auction tonight is a rare treasure called Ruler's Dominion."

  Chapter 22: Friends and Enemies

  "The Ruler’s Dominion is a rare treasure that allows the user to create a separate space within it. Unlike an interspatial ring, it can store living things within it. Of course the size of the space that is inside this treasure depends on the user. A master at the headquarters of the Golden Lotus has tested it and was able to create a small room that could fit roughly four people." Chi Zhen said as she helped up a pitch black ring.

  "Four people? Isn't that kind of small? Interspatial rings can hold an almost infinite number of things." A man said.

  "So what if it can only hold about four people. Being able to store away living things makes it a treasure nonetheless." Another man yelled out.

  "So we will start the bid at fifty thousand gold coins." Chi Zhen said as she once more held the black ring.

  "Fifty thousand!" A fat man yelled out. This man was known as Le Chan who happened to control about fifty percent of Red Mist City's rice trade.

  Zhang waved at the maid that quietly stood behind them to come over and withdrew from his ring another hundred thousand gold coins.

  "Deposit this for me."

  The maid seeing this quickly called a clerk over to count the gold coins.

  "Eighty thousand gold coins!!" A voice suddenly yelled out.

  This person was Jin Chang. His bodyguard had just come back with another forty thousand gold coins.

  "Why didn't you bring more!" Jin Chang yelled at his guard.

  "I'm sorry young master this is all I could take without alerting the master." The guard replied timidly

  "Fine I bet that fucker doesn't even have close to eighty thousand gold coins and who else has this much money sitting around." Jin Chang said with a hint of laughter in his voice.

  "One hundred fifty thousand gold coins." Zhang yelled out.

  Jin Chang stated at Zhang's balcony slack jawed once he heard the amount.

  "Fuck! I can't let that fucker win this."

  "Eighty thousand gold coins and deed to my summer villa." Jin Cheng yelled out.

  "Young master we only accept currency for the auction." Chi Zhen said.

  "Fuck that! My family rules this city, what I say goes!" Jin Chang rebuked.

  "We will gladly accept the young masters bid but we will value your summer home at eighty thousand gold coins. Will that be acceptable?" The middle aged man walked out from behind the stage.

  Upon seeing this man Chi Zhen quickly bowed and said "branch manager."

  This man was the branch manager of Red Mist City's Golden Lotus Auction House and was called branch manager by everyone.

  "Fine I accept." Jin Cheng replied.

  "So the highest bid is currently one hundred sixty thousand gold coins. Will the other young master raise his bid?" Chi Zhen said as she looked at Zhang's booth.

  "One hundred sixty thousand and one gold coins." Zhang yelled out with a laugh.

  Jin Cheng's face sank. He did not have any more money on him and if he bid anymore his father would kill him. And he was afraid that Zhang would back out after raising the price sky high like the Death Worm.

  "Going once, going twice, sold!!! To the young master in that booth." Chi Zhen yelled.

  "You go and use this medal to bring one squad of city guard over here!" Jin Chang said to one of his guards.

  "R-right away young master." The guard said. He did not want to be the one that Jin Chang released his anger on so naturally he followed the order without questioning or delay.

  "Thank you everyone for coming to tonight's auction and with that, today's auction ends." The branch manager said and he bowed to the audience.

  Once Zhang received the black ring he stored it into his interspatial ring.

  "I'm tired brother let's go back to the inn." Yuying said as she poked Zhang's shoulder.

  "Alright time to head back." Zhang replied and he proceeded to walk out of the room.

  Once the trio walked back into the main hall of the auction house they were approached by the branch manager.

  "Hello young master on behalf of our Golden Lotus Auction House we would like to thank you for your purchases today."

  "No thanks needed senior." Zhang replied with a nod.

  "I would like you to have this."

  A black card with a golden lotus appeared in the branch manager's hand.

  "If you take this to any Golden Lotus houses, they will help you with whatever you need."

  "Thank you senior." Zhang said as he received the card.

  Naturally, the branch manager, seeing how much money Zhang spent without batting an eye thought that Zhang was part of some powerful clan. So he wished to be on Zhang's good side and possible make some connections.

  Suddenly, a loud cry could be heard outside.

  "You fucker! Get out here now!"

  Zhang sighed as he could guess who it was.

  Once the trio walked outside, they could see a hundred or so city guards dressed in full suits of red armor in front of the auction house.

  "Now get on your knees and beg, maybe I'll let you off with a beating." Jin Cheng barked.

  "You two come enjoy a fun night with papa and I won't kill your friend." He said licking his lips while pointing at Yuying and Ai.

  "Ha ha ha look! It's the dog who only knows how to bark." Zhang said as he sneered at Jin Cheng.

  "Charge!!!" Jin Cheng screamed.

  That second, all of the soldiers charged toward Zhang.

  "You two stay here and don't get involved. If anything happened, go back to the hotel, find Jian Wei and have him get help." Zhang said toward Yuying and Ai.

  "Ok brother, make sure not to get hurt." Yuying said to Zhang.

  Zhang had not wanted the girls to intervene because their current opponents were the city guards; he did not want Jin Chang to have an excuse to imprison the two of them.

  Zhang knew if the trio had stayed within the auction house, Jin Chang would be too afraid to do anything to them. But hiding was not an action he preferred.

  Zhang jumped in the air and made the chained dagger appear.

  The dagger danced about in the air and then shot out towards the ground slashing one guard in the side.

  While grasping the chain Zhang made it retract and pulled himself toward the ground at extreme speeds.

  WHAM!!

  Zhang's knee slammed into the guard’s face sending him crashing to the ground and knocking him unconscious. Once his knee connected with the man's face Zhang did a backflip and propelled himself back in the air.

  While suspended in the air, Zhang used the chained dagger like a whip and lashed out at the city guards. Being in heavy armor they, naturally, were much slower than him.

  A unit of city guards were equipped with bows and arrows began shooting into the air.

  "Shit they are pulling out all of the stops." Zhang cursed.

  Skillfully avoiding the arrows, Zhang landed onto the ground and weaved his way between the soldiers.

  He knew if the battle dragged out for too long, he would be at a disadvantage. So his goal was to capture Jin Chang and then escape the city. Once he escaped, he could meet up with the rest of the group later.

  However, plans were just plans and they failed very often. Just when Zhang was about to reach Jin Cheng a powerful arm pushed its way through the crowd and grabbed onto Zhang's wrist.

  "You can't touch the young master with me here!" A guard with a distinct looking helmet yelled out.

  "Shit..." Zhang murmured as he tried to work his wrist out of the man's grip but to no avail.

  Suddenly a voice could be heard a bit away.

  "Halt! Who dares to cause trouble in front of the Golden Lotus!!"

  Everyone paused to look at the direction where the voice came from. The branch manager of the Golden Lotus could be seen standing at the entrance to the auction house.

  "Hmph are you going to listen to him
or me! Kill that bastard!" Jin Cheng screamed.

  "If you don't heed my warning then so be it." The branch manager said with a sigh.

  As soon as his sentence ended hundreds of armored men began marching out from the auction house.

  These men were dressed in gleaming golden armor and each of them wore a scarf with a golden lotus sewn onto it.

  These armored men were the reason why many people avoided attacking cities with a branch office of the Golden Lotus. These men were called the Golden Core, elite soldiers that were trained and housed by the auction house.

  All of these men were carefully selected from thousands of people. With the weakest person at level six.

  "Young master we can't offend the Golden Lotus or else the consequences will be disastrous." A guard told Jin Cheng.

  "Unhand that young man and buzz off or this won't be the end of your troubles!" The branch manager yelled.

  "Hmph! retreat back to the barracks!" Jin Cheng yelled, mounted a horse and rode away.

  After all of the city guards left, the Golden Core began filing back into the auction house.

  "Many thanks senior." Zhang, Yuying and Ai said simultaneously.

  "No thanks needed. If I had not shown up, people would have started thinking that they could just cause trouble here and get away with it. I will see you another time." The branch manager said as he headed off into the auction house.

  “Alright you two, time to head back; but before that, we should go pick up our things we ordered.” Zhang said.

  “That reminds me brother, what did you order at the weapon store?” Yuying asked.

  “You’ll see when we get there.” Zhang replied with a playful smile on his face.

  Their first stop was the clothing store and there waiting for them were three outfits made out of the Lightning Eater’s skin.

  “I have to say young master; these outfits have to be the made out of the best materials we’ve ever worked with. And when working with them we found out that they are highly resistant to lightning and poison. Also naturally these outfits are very durable and protective and it’s not farfetched to call them armor.” The elderly clothing store owner said to Zhang.

  “Many thanks senior.” Zhang replied and with a wave of his hand a few hundred gold coins appeared on the store counter.

  “Th-this is too much. We simply took the materials you gave us and worked with them.” The elderly man said.

  “It’s ok senior please accept these and consider them a token of friendship.” Zhang said.

  It wasn’t that Zhang simply wanted to pay more. Zhang was simply using a few gold coins to set up a good connection with this elderly man. Being the owner of the largest clothing store within a major city meant that he naturally had a lot of connections. And maybe one day this man and his connections may come in handy.

  “Okay I will accept these. If in the future, you ever need any more clothing please do remember our store.” The elderly man said.

  “Of course senior with this we will be leaving now.” Zhang replied as the trio headed for the exit.

  Once the trio left, the elderly man sat there contemplating. What kind of family could this young master came from? For one to have two beautiful wives such as his and to be able to drop a few hundred gold coins as a token of friendship? This meant that this young man had a monstrous background and that staying on his good side was something one should strive for.

  Their next stop was the weapons store. Once the trio walked into the entrance of the door they walked directly to the counter.

  “Hi mister are my things ready?” Zhang said politely.

  “Yes of course young master I had placed a rush order for you of course that will cost a bit more but your order is done.” The clerk said with a smile.

  “I hope this will cover the fees.” Zhang said and wave his hand making a few hundred gold coins appear on the store counter.

  Just like the old man at the clothing store the clerk was somewhat speechless at the amount of money Zhang was giving him. However, after some talking he naturally accepted the money.

  Zhang had noticed that the clerk, although he did not admit so was the owner of the weapons store and would be a good connection to build also.

  “Here are the weapons you ordered young master. We had our best smiths work together to make them for you. I hope they are to your liking.” The clerk said as he placed three sets of black scale armor complete with helmets, two daggers attached to chains, and three big shields onto the counter.

  “Also we have the arrows you had ordered in the back due to the quantity.” The clerk said while pointing to a pile of arrows in a room behind the counter.

  Zhang had the small scales of the Lightning Eater be made into scale armor. The many scales were placed overlapping one another making it difficult to penetrate the armor but also allowing for maximum movability when wearing the armor.

  The helmet was made of mid-sized pieces of the Lightning Eater’s scales. These scales after being curved were big enough to cover the head from the forehead to the back of the skull using only five scales. The suit even came with gauntlets and gloves.

  The best part about the gloves where the finger tips were sharp pieces of Lightning Eater scale, while the rest of the glove was just like the armor and made of overlapping pieces.

  Voracious Eater teeth had been used to make the two razor sharp daggers for the chained daggers. While the three large shields were made of the largest Lightning Eater scales reinforced with smaller scales. This made the shields themselves weapons due to the sharp edges on the front of the shield due to the scales.

  And the hundreds of arrows of course were made of scales also, just the tips of the arrows of course.

  “As a show of appreciation I would like to gift young master these three bows on behalf of our store.” The clerk said as he pulled out three expensive looking bows from below the counter.

  “Many thanks mister. We will be leaving now” Zhang replied after placing everything into this interspatial ring.

  Having picked up all of the things he ordered Zhang and the girls headed back to the inn. Once back at the inn they met up with Jian Wei and of course ate dinner. During the course of the meal they told Jian Wei what had happened.

  “Serves him right. His father has been getting on my nerves all these years anyhow. Also don’t worry, tomorrow night at noon, we will be joining a caravan headed for Aurora City.” Jian Wei said.

  =====================================================================================

  Red Mist City's city lord mansion.

  “You fool!! Not only did you move the city guard but you also caused trouble at the auction house! Do you know that, that is the one place we cannot offend in this city? What will we do if they moved the branch office elsewhere! If it was gone that is one deterrent that is helping keep our enemies away gone!!!” Jin Sho, who is the father of Jin Chang, yelled.

  “Bu-but it’s not my fault father, it’s that bastard! He’s been mocking our clan and humiliating me in public.” Jin Chang replied.

  “You can’t deal with a single brat by yourself? And yet you dare to call yourself my son?” Jin Sho yelled.

  “If the Golden Lotus had not intervened I would have father.”

  “Hmph you can’t do anything right; I will tidy up this mess you made personally. Else, soon our clan will be more of a laughingstock for the entire city!”

  Chapter 23: Views

  Late at night once everyone had fallen asleep Zhang sat crossed leg in his room. Yuying and Ai were cuddled up on the comfy bed and fast asleep.

  Zhang was examining the Ruler's Domain after dripping a drop of blood into it and binding it to himself. The ring looked just like any other regular ring. However, if you poured essence into it a blank space will appear in one's mind.

  And using only thoughts the user of the Rules Domain could manipulate this space to their own will. The image appearing in their mind of course is the space within th
e ring.

  Zhang activated the ring by pouring in all of the essence he could into it and a room appeared in his mind. This room was about the size of the inside of a closet.

  "Although the it's not big I could use it to hide people still." Zhang said.

  He had gotten the ring with the intention of using it to hide Yuying and Ai away when danger fell upon them. By doing this he could ensure their safety and focus on escaping.