Ben, Mahaansh and Vishok was in a meeting. They wanted to plan for subsequent days. Ben explained his meeting with Rebecca. Contrary to what he expected, there was no sarcastic comments or eve teasing. Even Azurbaan was quiet.
Mahaansh: " So we have only 23 days now as today is almost over. Tomorrow Silock will come for business. You will be meeting up with him. But in your mask. Because, while we are sure about his business capabilities we are not sure about his allegiance.
Ben: Can't we do business with other people? Should we be doing business with him alone.
Vishok: We have no choice at this point. Towards the end of the expedition we need not depend on him. We can collect all the stuff and sell it in the market ourselves. Till then in order to prevent the organic stuff from being rotten, we will have to use his channel.
Mahaansh: Also, tomorrow after the meet up with him we are going to change the camp. Senior Iravaan warned about some unusual happenings around the forest.
Ben: What kind?
Vishok: It seems that some kind of terrorist organization has infiltrated the area. It is a secret right now. But it will be released to the media once the forest is settled.
Mahaansh: Yes. Some people died. Even entire teams were wiped of. But the authorities don't have a clue as to what group did it.
Ben: If entire teams were wiped out that is a problem. Is it an inside job or something? Like someone who knows how teams are deployed and they are relaying the information to these terrorists.
Mahaansh: ( Raising an eye) Sometimes your insight is almost terrifying. Well, we assume so.
Ben: It could also be the doing of big families or conglomerates. They may be silently killing of their enemies or the people standing against them. After all this is a large forest and anything can happen here.
Vishok: Mahaansh, what have you done to this boy. Where is his innocence? Or did something happen in the forest.
Mahaansh: Oh shut up.
Vishok: ( With a smile) Worried about your girlfriend are you now?
Ben: (Face-palming) I am not talking about her. I am just assuming. And she is not my girlfriend…yet."
That last 'yet' made Mahaansh and Vishok suddenly look at him with a stunned look. They dramatically rubbed their eyes and looked at him again.
Vishok: (Laughing) " I knew he had it in him. That's the guts.
Mahaansh: Ha already sure about that are we now.
Ben : (Dramatically) Well, a man needs ambition."
They continued their bantering for some time. It was like a bunch of friends chatting with each other. Mahaansh also reminded Ben about having a class before selecting martial techniques. He said, he needed to explain certain things so that he will have a better idea on the direction he should take. They had their dinner and went to sleep. Tomorrow was a busy day for them. They needed to haggle the price and try to get maximum out of Silock.
The next day Ben got up and did his morning routines. He even went out to a clearing and practices some moves he had developed using the 'Agastya Parvam' as reference. With the combat experience he had, even though it was limited, he had developed some moves in conjunction with the knowledge from this chapter. That was the brilliance of the Saptarishis. At a glance, 'Agastya Parvam' looked like a set of rigid movements and principles. But once he understood it and had experienced real combat, a whole new world was opened in front of him. When he referenced this chapter, some underlying subtleties were revealed to him. It was not perfect, but it was progress, nonetheless.
After coming back from his training, he had wash and got ready. He also studied about the things he had to sell and their current market value. He also messaged his parents, assuring them that he was safe.
Silock came on time. They initially had some small talk. Soon, they went into business. Ben was the first one to present his stuff. Neither Mahaansh, nor Vishok interfered in the transaction. They wanted Ben to suffer some loss. They knew that because both of them were there, Silock would not go too far. But contrary to their expectations, Silock was actually sweating. Ben had studied about all the things he was going to sell, including its potential uses, purifying and manufacturing processes, its supply and demand, the complications in its production and management, the current market prices of the products and so on. With this knowledge Ben was able to strike good bargains with Silock, gaining a considerable sum of 2 million mudras from the transaction.
Silock: " You are a tough negotiator boy. I really am tempted to recruit you to our company.
Ben: Thank you for the offer. I will consider it later.
Silock: You are stiff just like your teachers. No fun at all.
Then Silock discussed business with Mahaansh and Vishok. Since that involved some secrets, Ben was not part of the conversation. Azurbaan and Ben just chilled together.
Silock, Vishok and Mahaansh discussed for a long time. Their goods were much more sophisticated and complex and the deals they made were also of the same nature. Everything was no peaceful in the nation. There were many coveting eyes all around them and one can never be too cautious. Mahaansh had a degree of protection because of his identity as a teacher. Vishok was a martial as well as a researcher, gaining considerable immunity over other Martial Lords. They were cautious but not to the extent of complete anonymity.
Ben's case was not so. There were variables when it came to him. He was at the bottom realm of a martial and Nobles and Lords can easily kil him. So he needed anonymity. But it was not completely foolproof. But still something was better than nothing.