Savage Awakening 46. The Deal (Patreon)

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Edit: added to previous chap:

Marcus Blackwell, The Soldier of God, World Rank #44 by Level according to his C-ranked Beacon, sat on his throne and waited, grinding his teeth.

Elias Ventor, World Rank #24, strolled smoothly in

//

Zane and Avery set out to meet the Signed. The Signed was walking through the lair of the Keeper of the Forest—a barren wasteland. The only place in the Safe Zone that hadn't been settled.

It turned out to be a thin man, slickly dressed, with blonde hair combed back in tight curls. He smiled as he sauntered through the forest. He'd been taking his time waiting for them.

"Morning!" he said cheerfully. "Some party you've got going on there. Congrats on the victory, by the way. Nicely done."

Elias Ventor (Creature)

Signature Title: Void Seer

Essence Level: 84

Faction: Silicon Coven

Class: Warlock

Zane and Avery both froze. The man seemed not to notice. “The name's Elias,” he said, putting his hands up in surrender, smiling. “I know what you're thinking—I'm a trespasser. I'm high Level. Look, I just want to talk. I come in peace.”

“What are you doing in my territory?” said Zane softly.

“I’ve been taking a tour up the West Coast. You know, sightseeing, making new friends, scouting certain people of note. People who’ve caught my eye.”

“And Zane's one of them?” said Avery.

“Oh, yes,” Elias's eyes twinkled, not in an innocent, grandfatherly way. He seemed like a wolf that’d just caught a scent. “Zane’s very interesting. I should say—before I was Elias Ventor, Void Seer, I was Elias Ventor, famed investor. You may have heard of me.”

They stared blankly at him.

He gave a hapless little grin and carried on. “Point is, I’m very good at spotting potential in people. People like you, Zane.”

“I see,” said Zane.

“…What about me?” said Avery. She looked a little miffed.

“Ah… I'm not as familiar,” said Elias, smiling apologetically. “I'm sure you have great potential, Miss Lively. It's only that, of all those I've heard of in the Pacific Northwest—Zane, you stand out as the greatest. By far.”

That sounded… off to Zane. Something about the way this man talked, the way he smiled... It was all very slick.

"Hold on a minute. Now, look," said Avery, "Zane's my guy and all. But… you looked at the Soldier and him, and thought—this is the guy? By far? No offense." She said that last bit to Zane. Zane shrugged. “None taken.” He’d been wondering the same thing.

“Oh, of course!” said Elias, smiling wider. “Potential measures what you can be. You have to look at where you began. Zane, you got the shit end of the draw. You were stuck in the middle of nowhere, alone, in an E- and F- rank wasteland! Why, the Soldier—he and his armies had access to C-rank dungeons since week four. The Treasure Areas there practically fed him Levels. A night there’s like clearing dozens of E-rank dungeons. You ever seen Iron Man? Tony Stark in the cave, with the scraps…? Great movie. Never mind.”

The man had done his research.

“Look at me, for instance,” Elias continued. “I was in a skyscraper when the Change happened. My first dungeon was an F- rank. Cleared it with hundreds of my employees at my side. Then we found an E-rank filled with essence saunas—these massive saunas of…well… essence. We were all in the 30s before the first week was out. Snowballed from there.”

Hundreds? Zane had never seriously entertained the thought of bringing massive parties in. Probably because they’d take the fun out of it. If the goal was only quick dungeon-clearing, it made sense.

“Hell, if you dropped me where you are?” Elias shrugged. “I'd barely be scraping the 40s! You hardly have a D-ranked dungeon to your name—not one C-rank. And for your team, nobody of note except for Miss Lively here—a great asset, I’m sure. But nothing like the firepower we’re used to in the big cities. Which is all to say… yes, Zane. I find you very, very interesting.”

“I see,” said Zane.

"It's not just your Level. It's your Laws. Now, Signed have a much higher comprehension rate than commoners, but even for a Signed—six Minor Laws and one Major, that fast? Rare. Very rare.”

“I have eight,” said Avery, hands on her hips. She still seemed miffed she’d been left out.

“Do you, now?” Elias blinked. And then that oily smile came up again. “Well then! Perhaps I can make you an offer too.”

“What offer?”

“I saw your fight from afar,” said the man. “I figure this might be of use to you.”

He tapped his Bag of Holding, and out came a smooth grey brick. Its surface was lightly reflective. It looked expensive.

“Here.” He tossed it, and Zane caught it on instinct.

Fuxi’s Whetstone (C)

Imbued with Laws of Sharpness and Durability alike, this treasure allows the user to practice the Major Law of Sharpness across physical and essence surfaces, speeding Comprehension greatly. This Major Law is integral to both the Elemental Laws of Wind and Steel.

…It was exactly what Zane needed.

“It's a gift!” said Elias. “Go on, take it. I have lots more in here.” He slapped his bag of holding. “Speaking of…”

Out came a vial of bubbling white essence, stoppered with a cork. “For you, Miss Lively. Where you're at, this should be worth… oh… six or seven Levels? Four delvers died getting that vial, you know. Do use it well.” He tossed it at her, too, and she snatched it out of the air, squinting at it.

“Huh,” she said. “…Looks legit.” She seemed surprised. “What's the catch?”

“Must there be a catch?” said Elias, sighing. “Very well! Say the catch is your friendship, if you must. Here, a final gift then—Marcus will land on the shores of Olympia in less than three days.”

Zane jerked up. “We’ve heard different.”

“Then you’ve heard old news. He's rushing this. He's very, very angry. He's massing his armies in Seattle. He just needs the big cruiser they've got to return from its trip up north. Then they’ll load in all their men, sail down the Sound in the night, catch you off guard, and wipe you off the face of the earth. That's the plan, at least.”

Both Zane and Avery were looking suspiciously at him now. He held up his palms.

“Look, believe me or don’t! You have ways of checking, surely. Allies in nearby Safe Zones? Send out some feelers, gather some intel. I think you'll be surprised. I’ve got no dog in this race—just thought I'd let you know, friend to friend.”

“Friend, huh,” said Zane.

“Of course,” Elias continued. “Though… there's more where those gifts came from…”

He reached into another robe pocket, pulled out another bag of holding, and tapped it. Out came another vial—this one twice as big as the last, and its contents glowed an eerie purple.

“Now this,” he said fondly, “This is a little treasure I'm frankly loath to give up. B-grade Essence Elixir. I've cleared just one B-ranked dungeon, and nearly died doing it! This was one of the treasures in its dungeon chest. If you take this, it'll boost you, oh, I don't know… ten Levels? If I take this, I'll be two or three Levels higher. Enough to clear top 15 in the World Rankings!”

He waggled it in Zane's face. “Take this, study that treasure well, and all your Iron Legion worries go away. You’ll wipe them off the map. Like that.” He snapped his fingers. “Though…”

He paused. That oily smile came back. “This… I'm afraid I can't just give out for free.”

“What do you want?” said Zane, cocking a brow.

“Oh, just a 4% stake in your future essence earnings. A very small, non-controlling share. An excellent deal, if I do say so myself, even if there were not a life-threatening threat looming at your doorstep… and there is, isn't there? Coming in less than three days’ time… I don’t know. If I were you, I’d want as much help as I could get.”

He whipped a black feather quill out of nowhere. “So what do you say?”

Zane frowned at him. “You want me to sign something?”

“Just a soul contract. To make things official. You understand.”

Zane and Avery exchanged a look.

“Let us talk about this,” he said.

“Sure, sure. I'll go stand by that tree over there.” Elias walked away, humming.

Then, at almost the exact same time, they said to one another, “I don't trust him.”

“I don't know,” said Avery. “He dresses well, but he talks like my sleazy uncle. I don't like it. The ‘soul contract’ stuff...” She wrinkled her nose. “Smells rotten to me.”

“Agreed,” he said.

Only—if the offer was real—it could make a difference. He wasn't sure how strong the soldier was, but from what Avery described, there was still some gulf between Zane and the man. If it took Zane and Avery to match him, could Reina really hold off all the rest of his divisions?

Zane got the feeling, though, that if he signed a contract with this man, he'd be agreeing to a lot more than he meant to.

“I don't believe a word he says. We don't need him,” Avery said. She slapped him on the back. “You got this, big fella.”

He shrugged. So, it was decided.

When Elias came back, they set down all the things he'd given them. “You can take your gifts,” said Avery, primly. “We decline your offer.”

Zane was a little tense. There was always the possibility that the man got violent—though, this close to enemy turf, with multiple Signed against him… Still, he had almost twenty Levels on Zane. That was serious.

But Elias seemed to take no offense. He just smiled. “I figured. Well, I'll drop by in a week or so… I have a feeling you’ll be more receptive to me then. Do keep the gifts! I was serious when I said they were a gesture of goodwill. I have a feeling you'll make good use of them.”

He bowed and made to leave.

“Wait,” Avery piped up. “Where’d you get all these treasures?”

Elias just smiled. “Some kind people gifted them to me. See you soon.”

Waving, he left.

//

A/N:

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