Chapter 362: Mermaids
Compared to the Primordial Era, the Magus World saw a marked improvement in the treatment of the aquatic races in the current era.
The divine towers and orders of the knights had explicitly banned the poaching of these beings.
In the Magus Alliance, the aquatic races theoretically stood on equal footing with humans because of their contributions to the flourishing of the Magus Civilization.
Many divine towers along the southern coast even invited aquatic races to join them in interplanar wars, recognizing their considerable strength.
Although not on par with knights and mages, the strength of the aquatic races was significant enough to rival that of major world civilizations.
The vast expanse of the sea nurtured countless aquatic races and formidable creatures beneath its surface, the full extent of which remained unknown.
Despite past persecutions by some knights and mages, these incidents involved only a small fraction of the vast number of aquatic beings.
The prevalence of demihuman hybrids along the southern coast arose from their challenges in blending in with pure aquatic races.
Given their more human-like appearance, it was also easier for them to get along with humans of the Magus World.
Consequently, these hybrids often played a pivotal role in bridging the divide between humans of the Magus World and the aquatic races to a certain extent.
The poaching of the aquatic race, a practice dating back to the primordial era, had led to the continued reproduction of demihuman hybrids.
This issue represented a historical legacy that remained a complex challenge for the upper echelons of the Magus World to resolve fully.
Currently, no one dared to poach aquatic races openly, for fear of being branded as a black mage or a black knight by the divine towers and orders of the knights on the southern coast.
However, the trade involving aquatic races had not vanished entirely from this region.
Even though the upper echelons of the Magus World, along with divine towers and knight orders, had officially prohibited such practices, these bans proved ineffective if the aquatic beings themselves consented to these arrangements.
In fact, many aquatic tribes still mired in primitive conditions.
These beings with lower intelligence often traded members of their tribe for resources or essentials.
Furthermore, romantic connections between humans and aquatic beings were not unheard of.
These relationships were often romanticized in the tavern tales sung by bards in human cities along the southern coast like Fernandez City.
While these narratives were based on true events, many had been embellished for entertainment value.
After all, it was not easy for two fundamentally different races with distinct appearances, physical bodies, and anatomies to simply fall in love with each other.
Among the countless aquatic races, the Blue Sharkfolk indeed bore a close resemblance to humans.
However, a true Blue Sharkfolk differed significantly in appearance from a Half-Sharkfolk.
They were characterized by their elongated faces and deep blue eyes. Instead of hair, thick, light blue scales covered the scalp of their head.
One could only imagine what was going through the heads of those humans from the Primordial Era when they bedded those Blue Sharkfolk, leading to the birth of a considerable population of Half-Sharkfolk.
The ones that truly bore the closest resemblance with humans were the Mermaids, the epitome of beauty among sea dwellers.
Naturally, Mermaids were highly coveted in the black market of the southern coast.
Even a Half-Merfolk could fetch exorbitant prices in the black market.
A common one with a life level below Rank One could sell for up to thirty magicoins, while those of higher life levels could fetch hundreds, nearly the entire earnings of a ranked knight or full-fledged mage from participating in an interplanar war.
Although selling mermaids was a lucrative trade, it was not easy to catch them. They were elusive beings that dwelled in the depths of the sea. Their royal lineage allowed them to command over the sea creatures around them.
Mermaids had a strong affinity for the hydro element since they were known as the daughters of the sea. The talented ones among them could even easily attain the life level of Rank One and above.
Unfortunately, the size of their population was small compared to humans.
According to historical records, mermaids possessed a unique ability—they could bestow upon their true love with a partial affinity for the hydro element after mating.
This gift was known as the “Blessing of the Sea”.
On the other hand, coercion resulting in resentment could cause the offender to be despised by sea creatures within the Magus World.
This effect was known as the “Curse of the Sea”.
Nevertheless, their innate abilities did not deter the curiosity of mages in the Magus World, who were obsessed with the pursuit of truths.
In fact, during the Primordial Era, the mages had already studied and understood that these innate abilities were no different from the blessings and curses in the field of occultism.
It was believed that a senior magic initiate specializing in occult magic could lift the curse.
Hence, the curses of the mermaids did nothing to curb the activities of those chasing profit through mermaid poaching.
Motivated by profit, these people could even hunt the mighty dragons, let alone the more vulnerable mermaids in the sea.
Ironically, the very existence of their innate abilities only served to heighten the allure of mermaids, thus significantly inflating their value.
Sein’s significant knowledge of the aquatic races did not come from the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring’s archives but from the magic notes of his late mentor, Master Morsidor.
Black mages like him had journeyed through the southern coast to reach Gloomhaven back then.
The southern coast, with its evident prosperity and underlying chaos caused by the interactions between humans and aquatic creatures, presented a sharp contrast to the more orderly regions inland, such as around the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring.
At least, Sein had never heard of any illegal black markets existing in the region around the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring.
Through the magic notes left by Master Morsidor, Sein learned of the existence of multiple black markets along the southern coast.
He surmised that his late mentor had probably visited these places in the past, and could not help but wonder whether the black mages still frequented in those parts.
While no black market existed within Fernandez City itself, rumors suggested a smaller black market operated just to the south.
Sein was rather curious about the divine towers and orders of the knights’ stance on such establishments.
Interestingly, the black markets were not only frequented by black mages or black knights.
Contrary to what one might expect, they comprised only less than two percent of the patrons.
The majority were normal knights and mages who ventured into the black markets not with malevolent intentions but to trade.
The allure of the black market lay in its diverse and more affordable offerings, many of which were unavailable in conventional markets, including items as controversial as mermaid slaves.