Chapter 36

**Acacia Point of View**

"A gambling house?" Eelk asked as he looked at me with a strange look in his eyes.

"Hmm. A place where people gather to gamble." Although it was meant to be sarcastic, looking at the Eelk's expression a moment ago, I thought he genuinely must've not known what a gambling den is.

Not possible! No matter which era it is, a gambling place and a brothel are two places that stood constantly in every time.

"There is indeed such place, Milady. However, with young prince here, you might not be able to enter such place and the gambling place operates only when the sky is covered in dark." Eelk explained calmly.

Of course I wouldn't take my little man to such a place. I was only inquiring.

Gambling house is a place where all kinds of people from different corners gather. A place like that is a good place to gather information.

One step at a time...

If I want to solve all the puzzles that were in my life, I need to take one step at a time and know more about the root cause of this.

Know more about this race and its people.

"Apologies Milady, but a gambling den is not a right place where a lady with prominent background goes to." Circe spoke diffusing my thoughts.

To this, I only shrugged at them without giving any appropriate reply. Since the gambling house operates in the night time, I rather explore the market.

With a small sigh I started to take slow leisure steps through the road, watching several pedestrians checking out few shops and venders trying their best to sell their goods.

One word - lively!

I don't know when but a small smile took over my lips when the casual walk in the noisy atmosphere relaxed me a bit. Glancing down at the bundle in my hands, I noticed that Igses was having great fun too.

His eyes curiously roamed around making out the surrounding in his own perception. This made me decide that I need to take this little man out frequently. It will help both his brain and body.

However, the strange thing about the market is how most of the things are something I don't know anything about. They are weird and frankly speaking, I have no idea what use those weird looking stuff have.

Of course there were stall where basic necessities were sold; like food, tools, clothing and those that humans usually use in their daily lives. But there were also several stalls and shops selling strange stuff as well.

"Circe, aren't you people, spirits; do you eat normal food too?" This was something that I wanted to asked a very long back and seeing the banquet on the other day, I would've asked if not for the displeasing situation.

"Food made of vegetable, meat and other ingredients is naturally not our source of energy, Milady. However, we do eat such food more for pleasure. Over the time, a few of them have become our kingdom's specialties."

"So it's like that. Then what do you consume?"

"That -" Circe hesitated, clearly debating if she should share the information or not.

This time I turned to Eelk and raised a brow telling him silently that he better provide the answers I need. Eelk, seems like he is a wise man because he sighed heavily and opened his mouth to answer.

"One of the sources of energy was by consuming thoughts, feelings and emotions of other species weaker than us. There are three categories in this; The light, the dark and the shadow."

Interesting!

Very interesting!

Consume thoughts and emotions of weaker class? Interesting yet cruel.

"How cruel!" I mumbled thoughtfully.

"Not necessarily!" Eelk replied. "The consumption doesn't mean we squeeze the prey empty of all their thoughts and emotions. Just like how you breathe in air to live doesn't mean you are emptying the atmosphere. You are only taking in one component and releasing another. The same theory applies to us."

While he was explaining this to me, he pointed to the nearby stall. The stall was not much farther than where we are standing and the small stall is selling colorful gems.

"Milady, do you see those gemstones, they are called energy stones. Like I said, there are three categories; the light category people consume pleasant and good energy from around. The dark category people depend on depressing and negative energy. The shadow category consumes neutral energy which is neither good nor bad but something that exists in the middle."

"So each color of those gems signifies different state of emotional energy." So this is how it is.

The energy is stored in the form of gems and are sold. From what I'm seeing, there are all kind of energy gems which means consuming dark energy is not necessarily wrong.

"Is consuming dark energy not wrong?"

"Our race is considered one of the deity level races and his Majesty is a deity himself. Consuming the dark energy is nothing special or different unless they let the negative consume their heart and mind. The only different is the difference in strength. The light is stronger in some aspects, the shadow excels in some and the so does the dark."

Hmm, it is like vitamins alone is not enough but you need other nutrients too. That makes sense.

"Not every one of us needs these stones, Milady. The strong and the able people consume directly from the nature while there are several who are not able to do so. The energy gems are for them."

Now that I learnt about this, the strange items that are out for sale does not seem that strange now. Since these people belong to supernatural kind, the market indeed seems more interesting than before.

I slowly made my way to the stall that was selling the energy stones. The old aged vender welcomed us happily.

When I touched the gems, surprisingly each color gem has different temperatures. "Give me one of each." I turned to Circe to pay for it.

The seller's eyes brightened and packed them with such excitement that made me smile wider. No matter what kind it is, there are some people who are happy in smaller things.

Eelk and Circe, although did not raise a question at my purchase, they still looked very confused. It is apparent that they want to ask me why I need them when I cannot consume them.

Without clarifying their curiosity, I proceeded to move forward, taking in everything around me. Walking for a minute, a sudden thought came to mind and I immediately turned to Eelk.

"Tell me, do you consume from humankind too?" Why didn't I think this earlier?

Humankind is obviously much weaker.

"Yes, Milady. Every living thing has a spirit and Dr'helellis control and manages souls/spirits of every living existence. So we feed from those we mange. This is one of the reasons why we are knows as most powerful of all kinds."

Reasonable!

When you put it in that way, even plants have some sort of spirit in them. Although they do not have the compassion and variety of emotions that other species have, plants do exert their own kind of emotions.

But the more I think about it, the more spooky and perverted these people come to be. I never knew there was someone knows my thoughts and feelings and was feeding on them.

A chill ran down my spine at a mere thought of something invisible has complete access to my heart, mind and soul. This is so damn creepy.

Turning around, I continued to walk and the two followed me dutifully. I asked more about the other kind of food they consume. Eelk said consuming energy from thoughts and emotions is one of their food so when I asked about other kinds, Eelk said I would not understand them unless I have a basic understanding of Dr'helellis.

I understood what he meant and did not probe further. Since there a few stalls that provide food that I can eat, Circe recommended few that I could like and after tasting them, I loved them.

I gained knowledge about a few things that Jerk was too much of a scumbag to tell me. Since it's a monarchy, they are divided into different classes.

The Monarch or the King is at the apex of the cone. Then comes the ministers and other prominent families of Dukes, Earls etc. Then there are merchants and the rich who are not civil servants but just ordinary civilians who made it rich followed by medium class and poor class.

It's almost similar to normal monarchy system though!

After walking for a while I noticed a certain place which is rather energetic than the other part of the market. It was a huge colosseum like establishment, old and weary, but attracted several rich and prominent looking people.

"What place is this?"

Eelk looked where I pointed and shrugged casually while saying the most absurd and senseless words.

"That's a slave market."

Slave market? Imprisoning people and selling them like goods!

How cruel!

**~*~*~*~*~*~

Hello Sweeties,

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