Frank's Curiosities was a bit of an odd place, truth be told. Starting from the colour of the building- a weird mix of light green and orange segments, somewhat crudely changing from one to another here and there. If Jack had to guess, it felt as though the painters had used buckets of paint to splash the walls, with the only rule to follow being the complete obscuration of the original brick brown. The door leading inside was no better, a mix of the two colours once again, seemingly taking over the same style as the walls, if smaller on scale. The sign was made in a similar style, though it seemed that Frank had gone all out, adding another four colours to the mix- blue, red, yellow and black. A brown board, seemingly covered with something, then the letters had been cut out and the colour splashed. The result- a chaotic rainbow of hell had assaulted the sign. If anything, the whole setup added the square a bizarre sense, confusing the observers who would have trouble deciding whether to laugh or cry at the sight. A curiosity indeed, doubly so because any inquisitive person would then wonder, if the inside is just as chaotically insane, or more along the lines of normalcy.

  As the door was pushed open by Jack, a sound similar to the bleating of a goat resounded, warning the people inside of yet another victim to their own curiosity, or worse yet a regular arriving in search of something new. Just like with rule 34, if it exists, there is someone interested in it. Much to the senses and sanity of the curious mind, the inside of the building was nothing like the chaotic outside, a calm light gray color setting the tone, joined by a few, neatly placed rows of displays, proudly presenting the items within- be it a weird looking hat, seemingly the property of some ancient pirate, or a perfectly usable sword, if a little oddly decorated, with crossed palm like guard unnerving the observer just a little bit.

  At the far end of the room, a counter of the same light gray colour was placed, manned by what could only be the one eyed Frank. A man in his mid sixties sat behind it, his hair and somewhat bushy beard already graying. The man had no doubt lived a life of excitement, too much even some would say, his current state a clear evidence to that. Just as the man's moniker implied, he had only one good eye, the other clearly gouged out in some brutal combat encounter, the scar crossing the left side of his face- one in the shape of a rather large set of claws- speaking volumes. And yet, the lone eye still held light and life, perhaps making the observer doubt their current assessment of the older man.

  "Welcome! Welcome to Frank's Curiosities." Frank spoke, a clear excitement in his voice, mingling with what was obviously well practiced and refined line for greeting "How might this old man assist you today fellow humans? Are you looking for some new furniture, in need to adorn your home? Or perhaps an ancient map of the steppe? Or perhaps yet a weapon of unknown and ancient origin? My humble shop has it all and still plenty more should you seek something else entirely."

  "I have to admit, the building exterior did peak my curiosity, so I decided to have a look inside." Jack calmly responded, his hand landing on the counter and leaving the note he had received the previous night. Since there were no other customers within the premises, Jack had not seen a need to play coy and what not.

  "Oh." a knowing smile crept on Franks face, his facade of a lively,old and whimsical merchant melting away in mere moments, replaced by a face of shrew and calculated man. "A man of action. I like that. So, what are you in need of?"

  "Everything you have on the dungeons of the steppe. From the layouts, monsters that spawn in them, to dungeon timers." Jack replied "And a map of it all, with locations of major cities and trade routes, forts and everything else you got."

  "A rather unusual request, what with your status and all. Mind me prying as to why?" Frank grinned as he began to rummage through his own spatial bags, clearly searching for the items requested.

  "Think you can handle the weight? The two leaders sure as hell did not dare to try." Jack replied, a grin on his face.

  "Ha, ha ha ha." awkward laughter escaped Franks lips, the implication clear. Just as clear as the lack of his ability to do so, or desire for that matter.

  "We both are smart men, knowing when to step back." Jack added once it was clear Frank would not pry any further, so he did throw in a bit of a bone as well "All you need to know is I crossed the river and brought some goods available there, some of which were sold to the Kirinoids and would no doubt soon appear on some very exclusive auctions. Reworked and properly crafted, obviously"

  "Oh?" Frank quickly absorbed the new information, he added "Noted." already mapping out the clans he would need to notify first to ensure a greater bidding war in the no doubt upcoming grand auction. Sure, he could keep quiet and only reveal what he had just learned if asked, but that would almost guarantee that the four ruling clans would just grow stronger, their ability to amass wealth in a short period of time unmatched within the city. Given enough time however, the rest of the upper clans could draw resources from their sister clans in other, allied cities or amass more wealth through different means. Plenty such operations were going on near constantly, so much so that a few extra ones begging would not raise even an iota of suspicion until it would be too late.

  "I would also advise not to send people there, lest you want said people dead. The place, while teeming with monsters slightly above level thirty and would be no doubt considered a land of treasures, is packed so densely that only select few, with unreasonably specific skill sets could hope just to survive there, let alone thrive and grow." Noticing the absolute focus Frank had plastered across his face, Jack decided to throw the man another bone, obviously expecting a great return on the info he had just shared and was still doing so "The whole place is one giant ant hill, filled with endless hordes of the buggers. You can figure the implications and the rest I believe."

  "Naturally." Frank responded, his speed rising as he continued to rummage through his spatial rings, depositing scroll after scroll on the table, each of which Jack picked up, quickly glanced it over and took. Frank's info gathering was on point, the older man already being aware of Jack's lack of knowledge regarding the beastmen language, only providing scrolls written down in english, and a proper one as well, not like the 'write as you hear it' one he himself was using. Jack seriously doubted the older man was willing to loop in more than the mission critical personnel when attempting to contact someone of Jack's particular standing so soon after what had happened the previous day.

  It was clear that Frank had some extra ears around, his deal with Jack going being dealt with in a broad daylight, right at the counter of the older mans shop, seemingly without a single worry about any of the regulars suddenly coming over and seeing the whole exchange. Not that Jack himself cared, his needs already being covered.

  "Well then, that was a pleasant exchange." Jack hummed after scrolls of paper stopped appearing on the counter, paying what the old man had ask for during the offloading period without much bartering about the price. He cared little for money and had plenty of it after the deal he made with Zermanar. Stil, he enjoyed quite the discount on his purchase, the knowledge he himself had shared lowering the asking price quite a bit.

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  "Likewise. If you ever need anything else, you know where to turn." Frank smiled, already planning the next few steps, mentally drafting letters he would send out as soon as Jack left, creating a chain reaction that might just stir this hornets nest for the foreseeable future.

  Jack turned around and left, their transaction complete, and left the building, his six maids and Spartacus following along. Once outside, Sindu took the lead yet again, Jack's eyes locked on one scroll he had just received after another, commiting the new information to memory, starting with maps of this city, the local area and the steppe at large, creating a mental map of the whole region, determination the overall power level and politics ruling this sanctuary zone. Coincidentally, by the time Jack was done with the maps, the group had returned to the inn, with Jack switching out his single bed room for one with two- there was no reason for him to punish the maids by stashing a man, restricted and controlled as he was, with any of them.

  "Go ahead and ask away. I can see that those questions are damn near killing you." Jack spoke with humor after dinner, just him and Spartacus sitting on their respective beds. A moment of silence took over the room, Spartacus awkward inability to properly voice his question without risking the wrath of his new master clearly hung in the air.

  "Well, what is it?" Jack asked once again, the amusement clear in his voice.

  "You spoke of change, of a chance to take revenge for how we humans have been treated here, but how could we ever hope do do it? I don't see the numbers necessary to take over this city alone, not to mention the whole steppe?" Spartacus finally bit the bullet and asked, his anxiousness, combined with hope of such a future indeed coming to pass, reaching a tipping point.

  "To be honest, there are a couple of ways that this whole business could go." Jack began, their conversation once again hidden from anyone else "but to figure out the most optimal path I still need to gather the necessary information. You see, where I come from, dungeons do not spawn on determined intervals and in predetermined places, each new such appearance a discovery of its own, filled with both danger and rewards. You can then understand my need for further details before I get down to the actual planning. A predetermined schedule for dungeon spawns will do that to you all right. What I can tell you right now however, is that for reasons only known to me, you will have to play a rather significant roles in the coming rebellion. The question is, can you handle it?"

  "For a chance to revenge? To make those bastards feel even a fraction of the suffering our kind has gone through for centuries?" Spartacus responded, the questions obviously rhetoric, that burning, determined gaze of his telling more than any words could "Even if it costs me my life, I would do it gladly." He hesitated for just a moment, a terrifying thought rushing through his mind, a question that he seemed to be too scared to ask, only to regather his determination a moment later and bite the bullet "But what would you gain from it? Clearly they have done nothing like what we had gone through, nor could they, your might is undeniable if you can walk with your head held high among them."

  "Ah, you see me having easily accepted other humans as slaves, and such an act is no doubt muddling your thoughts." Jack replied, a light smirk creeping on his face as he explained "It's a matter of perspective. Do you know of the worlds the gifted are summoned from? The way people live and work there? How society is run?"

  "Just rumors and tales, legends of worlds ruled by the people themselves. Of places where slavery is outlawed and enforced by the ruling class, where each and every one has a right to freedom." Spartacus replied, half dreaming, half ridiculing, his own current status a clear spike in his heart, bleeding him dry drop by excruciating drop.

  "Yes, the modern day society. Republics and what not. Sounds beautiful, right? That's until you learn of the darkness and corruption that permeates those words as well, though unlike here, where it's clear for all to see and taken as a harsh, but undeniable truth, there is often hidden, left to the shadows and out of sight. Imagine enormous merchant groups with so much money they could bribe, hell, outright buy, the ones making decisions, all so said merchant groups could operate as they see fit, only forced to obey the most superficial of established laws that would make the common peasant aware of their overreach and risk uprisings, though I doubt even those would be anything more than slight inconvenience. And there, plenty of murderers, thieves and other kind of criminal scum could be find, always ready and willing to do what they will. And slavery still exists there, parts of those worlds still running their slave routes, just that those that spread knowledge of the worlds happenings mostly not report it. The only real motivator always being money."

  Jack smirked, knowing all too well just how messed up his world was, in spite of all the comfort an ordinary citizen of the developed world lived in. "Make no mistake of course, the vast majority lives well, but it is no utopia, especially so since there is no escaping death, It comes for us all there, one way or another." he then spread his arms, as if pointing to the world around him "But here it's different. Sure, the world is more barbaric and crude, but you have the options to try and defy destiny, if one believes in such a thing. A chance at denying the passage of time itself. Tell me what you will, life is too fun to end after a mere hundred years. There too much to see, to read, taste and otherwise enjoy."

  "Better yet, what you see as slaves in those six, I see my people, sacrificing some of their freedoms in exchange for protection a chance at honest living."

  "Would you remove those marks if not for being here, among the beastmen?" Spartacus asked, growing slightly bolder by the calm and casual way Jack was explaining things to him, though he was also trying to understand the powerful human before him.

  "Nah, why would I? Those marks are proof of my promise, undeniable one at that." he saw the lack of belief in Spartacus eyes at that, prompting him to chuckle "You think that's hypocritical of me, don't you? I seemingly speak of being a protector, a defender of sorts, while at the same keeping those same people in shackles, proving I treat them like property. Sounds about right?" Jack laughed as he saw a brief glimpse of fear in Spartacus eyes, as if caught red handed at daring to reach such conclusions.

  "Ha ha ha ha. Spot on, am I not. Relax, I never said I am not hypocritical. Don't like it? Sue me." Jack laughed as he explained, a hint of madness flickering in his eyes unbeknownst even to him "Power corrupts, there is no escaping it. All you can do is look for a way to maintain a balance of sorts, keeping the darker side in check, with the good you do outweighing the bad that inevitably happens. At least as far as you and yours see it. World is not black and white, it's all shades of gray and more. No matter what you do, to someone it will be the actions of a demon incarnate, summoned forth to do the will of corruption itself."

  "Does thinking in such a way not scrape away at your sanity?" Spartacus asked, clearly never been put so much on the spot, his mind never pushed in such philosophical thought exchanges.

  "Tell me, when the men of a family go out and hunt, killing animals to provide for the wives,daughters and sisters at home, do they worry about the feelings of the animals they hunt? Do those same women back at their home care for what the plants they pluck to supplement their meals think? No, when the wellbeing of your own family is put on the line, anyone can become a monster of untold proportions." Jack waited a moment, allowing it all to sink in "You sure as hell are willing unleash your fury on those beastmen for what they did to yours. Not that there is anything inherently wrong with it mind you. All you have to do to make it the correct choice is win. Win, and you will be the one who will write the history. You will set the tone of your actions and justifications. As the old saying explains- To the victor go the spoils."

  Jack kept on going through the pages he had attained, rereading what he had on hand once more, his mind developing the skeletal frame of a few possible plans, all dependant on what he would find out come morning. All the theory would be dealt with, leaving only the last controllable variable to be sorted- the regularly spawning dungeons.

  Jack Raja(?)

  Age- 27

  Species- human(?)

  Level- 30

  Class- Awakened twin aspect of Creation and Destruction(Ex)

  Stats unassigned: +4

  Attributes:

  Strength- 34 (14+7+13(gear))

  Vitality- 28 (12+8+8(gear))

  Dexterity- 29 (15+6+8(gear))

  Intelligence-20(15+ 5(gear)

  Spirit- Spirit- 30 (20+10)

  Skills- Wisdom of Creation and destruction(EX), Choice of the creator(EX), Eyes of procurer(EX), Matter storage(EX), Arukain language(C), Spark of inspiration(EX), Origin of matter(EX), Unbound by laws of the lessers(EX), The end made manifest(EX).

  Spells- none.

  Titles(unlocked): The real Monster, Big Game Hunter, The brilliant rookie, The insane Solo. Monster debugger.The actor. Executioner. Survivor. Pioneer, Record breaker.The new champion supreme. Slavemaster.

  Gear: Two handed sword(t3)+ 5 str +5 vit: Armor 3str +3 vit +3 dex; Ring 1 - spatial storage, ring 2 +5int, ring 3 +5 str; amulet +5 dex.