Beyond Chaos

"Personally, I am an Executive. I'm under the President and the Enchanter, who hold the penultimate position at the top, then the Directors, who hold the second position under them, and then there's the Executives, like myself, Jurot, so on."

"The President and Enchanter do not hold the penultimate position, the Directors hold such, for penultimate means next to last," Adilnur said.

"Oh," Adam replied. 'Yeah, that does sound about right, actually…'

"What is a Director?" Adilnur asked more pointedly.

"They're sort of like a Mustashalur, I think?" Adam replied. "They hold certain responsibilities that are hard for me to define, but they essentially allow and disallow us from certain tasks, requests, and so on. They are able to direct us in our journey through business, although, the President may overrule them. The Enchanter prefers to enchant as they please."

Adilnur noted something within Adam when he mentioned the Enchanter, but was unable to understand it.

"So, as an Executive, and as the President is my brother's and sister's mother, I am certain I am able to go above and beyond, just this once," the half elf said, emphasising the last few words, a warm smile upon his face, recalling the times he had spoken the words previously.

"Your brother's and sister's mother?"

"Aunt Sonarot, to me, and President of the United Kindom," Adam said, smiling politely. "She is also my children's grandmother, as the Mad Dog is her father, an in law, but that's how it works in the Iyr."

"I see," Adilnur said, noting the complex feeling on display, but he bowed his head.

"Of course, the services of the United Kindom are open to Black Mountain, and considering one of our Manager's is close with your Order, uh, is a member of your Order, and hopefully, shall remain a member of your Order, there are certain privileges that come with that, even more than the Amira. We've worked with a great number of nobles, royalty too, but in this business, we value those of the Iyr, those of Life's Rose, and those of Black Mountain highly."

"To procure magical weapons from another source is certainly useful," Adilnur stated, sipping his sweet pink tea lightly, rubbing his chin lightly with his fingertips, through his thick beard. "We have others who are able to enchant for us, however."

"I'm sure, but how many of them have enchanted a blade that has taken the head of a Fariq?" Adam replied. "The sword in Dunes' possession, Thunder's Triumph, belongs to my niece, Dunes' own daughter. It was that sword, the sword of my adorable niece, which took the head of the Fariq, and has clashed and defeated a great number of figures. There was already another who wished to covet it, those of a newly formed Order in Floria, but after I dealt with them, they dared not to covet the blade, for no one can, not from my little Ranya."

Adilnur could see just how much the half elf was working himself up at the thought of losing such a blade, but seeing how much he adored his niece, he understood it was not because it was such a fine blade, but that the blade held such a great story for his adorable niece. 'He surely is the one known as the Crazy Father.'

Mo Hassan was fairly certain the half elf was threatening him over the sword, a fair warning in case he decided to covet the magical blade, the one that had apparently taken the head of a Fariq? Not just any Fariq, but that of High Garden, one of the confirmed Paragons? It was quite the prize…

"I had also thought of something else, although…" Adam cleared his throat. "I was hoping, perhaps, if it's not too much trouble, if you could send some of your warriors to teach our youth, some of our warriors. I'd like them to become Guardians or Priests, for those with talents. We would compensate the Order, the temple, and the individual for their time."

Adilnur blinked, and even Mo Hassan's eyes grew wide from the half elf's audacity, the pair glancing between one another, before the Mustashalur roared with laughter, placing his cup of tea down gently, before slapping his knee with great fervour.

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"I'm not that funny," Adam said, sitting up straighter, though the awkwardness on his face remained.

"To ask for guidance, assistance, in training your warriors, you, whose business is within the Iyr, you, who was able to defeat our greatest warrior?" Adilnur clapped his hands together before falling into laughter once more.

"Well, yeah, but…" The half elf cleared his throat. "Listen, just let me pay you too much gold for you to teach some of our kids, and let's grow closer over time with this cultural exchange. This isn't about the gold, it's not about training, it's about our commitment towards the future."

"How would you compensate us?" Hassan asked.

"For a total of two years, for an Expert, it would be…" Adam paused, trying to do the maths in his head. 'Twenty. Thirteen. One thirty. Two sixty. Five… twenty?' "Five hundred and twenty gold, plus their housing and food will be dealt with, and we will hand them a Basic weapon, at the least, upon completion. We will also pay at least a hundred gold to the Order, another one hundred gold to the temple, too. First, to the temple, of course, then upon completion of the training, to the Order."

'Hmm,' the old man thought.

"Oh, but also, if they have a spouse, we would like to also include them. They would receive at least half as much gold, and if they have children, we will also take care of them at the business, and we will increase the donations to the Order and temple. If, however, you send a Master, we will pay at least fifty percent more, and we will double the donation to the Order and the temple, and we will consider an appropriate magical weapon for them too, more so a Greater, probably, or a Basic Enhanced. In fact…" Adam thought about how much favour he should show them. "We'll say that for now, but if we aren't busy at the time, and we're particularly flush with gold, we'll probably upgrade those weapons in some way, and we'll send back more gold."

"Do you only deal in magical weapons?"

"At this time, yes, but that depends on the mood of the Enchanter, and the President and Directors," the half elf said. "Also, if you do buy from us, if you buy four weapons, say four Basic weapons, we of the business will also donate an additional Basic weapon to the temple, and we will do the same for any Greater weapons. Enhanced weapons are more difficult to donate, so we may just donate the same tier of weapon, just to keep things simple for us. So Basic for four Basic Enhanced, Greater for four Greater Enhanced."

Adilnur reached up to his beard once more, sizing up the half elf, seeing the way the colours fluctuated as he spoke. The colours seemed earnest, though it could have been that the young man was able to hide his thoughts well enough. "What great favour you intend to show us."

"I've lost my family twice already, and I don't intend to lose them again," Adam stated firmly. "Dunes, Mo Dunes, Manager Dunes, came with me to die, that damn fool, how dare he! He should have stayed home with Ranya! Just because he felt a little guilty about something he didn't need to feel guilty about!"

At first the half elf had started off so earnest and sweet, but Adilnur could see how quickly he had grown embarrassed, so he needed to act the fool.

"To call a Mo of Black Mountain a fool-," Hassan began.

"Is our dear granddaughter that adorable?" Adilnur asked.

"She's the cutest! She's so sweet too, even though she won't share her peppers with me, but it's okay, because my heart already tingles so much! She's sweeter to me than even my own daughter!"

"It is daughters who prove so troublesome, don't they?" Adilnur mused.

"You know it," the half elf replied, the pair sighing together, and even Hassan bowed his head.

Indeed, for they were all fathers here, and thus knew such a universal truth among fathers.

"To lose both Mo Dunes and Kal Amira, certainly, it is a great loss. Dunes, who is an Expert, Amira, who must be close to it. To lose such during the time of the Reavers, it would be a great loss for the Order, one that may prove fatal for those in the surrounding villages."

"If the Reavers end up drawing much closer to the Order, send me word, and I will come and assist personally. I promised Bael a good fight too, and my brother wants to spill their blood."

"You say you fought them before?"

"I have."

"How strong were they?"

"The two we faced were around the strength of Grandmasters, that much was certain. I'm sure there are those that are weaker, like the typical Reaver forces, but I'm more certain there are those who are even stronger, those who are Paragons. I wouldn't worry quite as much, but they seem united with a single focus, so I assume they're going to cause a lot of trouble to the nearby lands."

"They will cause great damage, but we will force them back," Adilnur stated. "We will contain them upon their island and deal with them."

"If you want, if you have anyone here you want to be an Expert, I can train them over the next few years, and gift them a few magical weapons, to make up for the Mo remaining at the business to represent your Order. Ah, I'll train at least two. No, should I just train one into a Master?"

'What is he talking about now?' Hassan thought.