The next day, the trio left for the outskirts of the center region to meet up with the merchant in his mansion.
When they arrived at the location, they alighted from the carriage and walked past the automatic once it recognized they had an appointment with the merchant.
'I guess this is the difference between a merchant and a noble family.' Blake thought as he looked around the environment.
They walked through a hedged path that was wide enough to fit only a single carriage and it led to an open area in front of the building.
Compared to the manor of the Winchester family it was more than 4 times smaller in size and it wasn't as beautiful and elegant.
"Welcome adventurers, I am Kadri." A potbelly brown-haired man in a white robe with golden hem walked out of the mansion.
"Nice to meet you in person Mr. Kadri." Blake greeted as they walked forward to meet the merchant.
'Exactly like how I pictured someone who would give incomplete information.' Blake was disgusted by Kadri but maintained a smile on his face.
"Now let's get down to business. The main information has been given to you by the adventurer association, so what would you like to know?" Kadri asked as he began leading them into the mansion.
"What was stolen by the intruder and at what location of the mansion was he sighted?" Blake asked.
"I deal in magical items ranging from personal magical items to home defensive magical items. Some of my goods kept in the storage room were carted away by the intruder." Kadri took them to the mansions storage room.
"Also, one of my cursed artifacts which I store in one of the safest rooms in the mansion was also robbed." This made the trio look at each other.
This was a very confusing case. How was a merchant who dealt in offensive and defensive arrays for homes get robbed? Not only did the robber cart away with some of his goods, but he had the audacity to go to the most protected area of the house and steal a cursed artifact.
'If his devices don't work for, then what the fuck is he selling to the public?' Blake managed to keep a straight face as he continued asking questions.
"At what part of the mansion was he spotted, and is there anything you could tell us about this intruder, especially his power level and elements?" Blake asked.
"When he was at the safe room, he happened to trigger the alarm and that was when I and some of the guards went to confront him. All parts of his body were covered in black so we couldn't take note of any distinct features." Kadri explained.
'At least something seems to be working right.' Brian said through the mind link, causing Blake and Castiel to try holding back their laughter.
"He possessed the Earth and water element and from judging how he was able to flee from both I and my guards, I say he is at the peak of the champion realm." Kadri continued.
"Finally, do you have any idea of who might be responsible?" Blake asked.
"It is surely Richard!" Kadri clenched his fist in anger, but he still turned to see the staring blankly at him.
"Richard is a merchant that also deals in magical items like me. He received his Noble title some time ago, but we still have almost the same amount of sales even though I haven't received mine.
Now that I am about to get mine, he is surely afraid that I will surpass him and put him out of business." Kadri finally explained who he was talking about and ended up adding more than they asked for.
"Thank you for the information. We will get back to you by the end of today with the intruder." Blake said before leading the trio out of the mansion and into an empty alley.
Just like the previous day, he brought out a detailed map of Calton city and used the locator skill.
"This is new…" When Blake cast the locator skill, the ash light appeared on the map, but this time it was moving from the middle region of the city towards the slums.
"If it is what I am thinking, then the intruder is going to sell the artifact." Blake stated his speculation.
"Should we capture him before he sells it or after?" Brian asked. If they were to stop the intruder then that meant they would have to fight the intruder alongside the buyer.
"If we would be able to save the artifact then we can request for more, but we have to put the strength of the intruder and buyer into consideration before making any moves." Once they were clear on what to do, they boarded a carriage and began going in the same direction the grey light.
After close to 20 minutes of monitoring the grey light, it finally stopped deep in the slums.
At that time they were still making their way into the slums, so once they had gotten to a certain distance from the location they alighted from the carriage and went incognito.
The slums was home to many gangs and evil groups, so they had to be very careful not to attract unwanted attention.
"Seems we made it in time." The grey light had stopped at an abandoned warehouse, so once they made their way in they took an aerial as they waited for the speculated buyer.
After close to 30 minutes of waiting, two men in masks walked into the abandoned warehouse and stopped at a safe distance away from the intruder.
"Let's see what you have for us." One of the masked men said.
Without making a sound, the intruder who had every part of his body covered in black brought out 7 crates of magical items and an artifact.
The artifact was a wooden-shaped heart with stains of blood on its surface. At first glance, it didn't seem to be much, but the cursed energy radiating from it wasn't a joke.
"Power level?" Blake asked the system.
[The fat merchant was correct. The intruder is at the peak of the champion realm, while the other are champions not too far from the peak.] The system reported.
'Any idea of what that artifact does?' Blake wasn't too worried about the buyers or the sellers. He was more worried about the cursed artifact because he didn't want a situation where the cursed artifact would foil their plans at the last moment.
[All I can say is that it is dangerous. So try to end it before he would even be able to use it.] The system advised.
'So are we attacking ?' Castiel asked in a tensed tone because he wasn't too sure about it.
If this was a normal mission where they were allowed to kill everyone, things would have been easier. The problem here was that the power level between both sides was equal, and even at that, they were still required to capture the intruder increasing the difficulty of the mission.
After pondering for a while Blake spoke. "We will be attacking. The mission requires us to capture the intruder alive, but it didn't say anything about the other guys. I will deal with the other 2 as quick as possible, while you guys bind the intruder."
Blake was a reap and kill fighter, meaning he wasn't the best option for capturing people. On the other hand, Castiel and Brian were born for the role.
Once everyone knew their roles, they went to the ground and began approaching the 3 masked men, but that was when the wooden hearth began slightly beating.
"What is going?" one of the masked men asked in an apprehensive tone when they saw the bloodstains on the wooden heart began glowing.
"I just stole it so I don't know its powers." The intruder said in a confused tone.
'This was exactly my fears!' Blake cursed his luck as he decided to end things fast before they got out of control.
Using the opportunity of the wooden heart distracting the masked men, Blake activated night veil and rushed out of the range of darkbringer.
"It's a trap!" Immediately Blake left the range of darkbringer, the masked men were able to pick up a hint of his presence even though he was cloaked by night veil.
Swish! Swish!