After killing the lizards that had appeared along the path, Mikael lifted the heavy monitor lizard's body with one hand and asked how much the corpse would sell for. The merchants—still in shock after witnessing the one-sided slaughter—took a few long seconds before they were able to speak. Some looked as if they had forgotten how to breathe altogether.
When they finally came back to their senses, they explained that, depending on the buyer, the creature could be worth up to thirty gold coins. Monitor lizards were useful in several fields, but what truly raised the price were the two magical cores inside their bodies.
Seeing that the corpse was practically intact, aside from the crushed neck, the merchants let out a mix of relief and frustration. To them, Mikael looked like the kind of man fortune insisted on favoring.
Mikael, however, felt nothing but disappointment.
"Only thirty gold coins?"* he thought, frowning. *"What a joke… I was expecting at least a hundred. I really am broke…"
If the merchants could have heard his thoughts, they would have been furious. For any ordinary person, thirty gold coins were more than enough to live comfortably for months—maybe even years—depending on how carefully they were used.
Currency in that world worked like this:
500 copper coins = 1 silver
300 silver coins = 1 gold
1000 gold coins = 1 platinum
Copper was the most common metal. Silver held a middling value. Gold, on the other hand, had become rare—its mines nearly exhausted or tightly controlled by powerful kingdoms. And platinum was so scarce it might as well not exist for the average person.
But Mikael had no real understanding of how money worked in that world—something that inevitably pushed him into situations like this.
Not far away, Drake watched Mikael while leaning against a large stone, a calm expression resting on his face. A quiet sense of contentment swelled in his chest. He hadn't regretted leaving his old life behind to follow that man—not even once. With Mikael he had food, lighter days, warm baths, rest, health, and, most surprising of all, kindness—something Drake couldn't remember receiving so often before.
But he also understood another truth: Mikael never showed mercy to his enemies. He was efficient, direct, and utterly relentless. Drake had yet to learn that this cold precision came from the vampiric instinct pulsing just beneath the surface—something deep, primal, and impossible to resist.
Even so, a smile appeared on Drake's face, touched by the faint light of dawn. His eyes shone with something close to admiration.
There was no denying it: following Mikael had been the best decision of his life.