NOVEL NEXT 2.19: Intruders
Jonathan ran a frustrated hand through his hair. "You're really forcing my hands here, man. I can't run a business like this."
Ethan frowned as he stared at the three red dots standing only a few yards away from Wyldrock's walls through the pylon's map. The envoys seemed to be content to wait, but Ethan would rather finish here before he dealt with them. Thankfully, being pressed for time was moving the negotiation along pretty fast. Without looking up, he responded to the man's plea.
"I already got what I came for, Jonathan. I don't need to sell you anything. Or buy anything from you. You said spellforms are rare, and I got plenty. One less, now that Gavin took the [Breath Gland]. But this is your shot to pick a few off of me. For a fair price. Otherwise, I'll be just giving them away to those who could use them best instead of selling them."
Ethan stole a glance toward the young man, and it was as if the merchant was being forced to chew lemons. He struggled, eyes darting around as he considered Ethan's offer, but Ethan didn't want him to have too much time, either.
"Really running out of time here, Jonathan, so I'll repeat my offer. I'll give you my last [Breath Gland] for the Explosion, Lightning, Barrier, and Slowing primagems. It boosts two stats. And I'll give you one tier-2 [Reptilian Scales], one tier-1 [Scales], and the [Crossbow] armament for your [Heal], [Sunshard], and [Wall of Fire]. Keep in mind, these spells will be put to use to literally make sure you and everyone around stays alive. Either by having these spells go into the pylon's defenses, or in my inventory as I deal with rifts and other threats. Eldritch-infested monsters included. Hell, I'll even drop in an extra water primagem. I'm sure that could come in handy. Give me a good deal, and we'll keep doing business."
"You're asking for 27 units' worth of spells and 22 in primagems, and you're only offering 4 spells," the man said between his teeth. Jonathan was tapping his feet more and more frantically as his face twitched more and more. His lips were pressed into a line, and it seemed the merchant was reaching a decision, but Ethan didn't want him to get comfortable, so he extended a hand out to the spellcores and primagems he had arrayed on the table.
"Too bad, then. You're selling tier-1 spells for 10 units, and I clearly remember you saying how spellforms were valuable. Seeing your inflated prices, I'm sure the [Breath Gland] wouldn't go for much lower than 10 or 15 units, and I'm offering two tier-2s and two tier-1s. But I guess that's not enough," Ethan said with a slightly disappointed tone as he picked up one of the spells and went to store it back in the pouch.
Ethan had no compunction about using underhanded tactics against someone who'd just tried to hijack his deal in broad daylight, hoping to corner him into a worse bargain.
"Wait! Add the second [Reptilian Scales] and you got a deal. I still need to run a business, man."
Ethan blinked at the man, then without breaking eye contact, dropped the spell in the pouch without a word.
Panic welled up in the man's eyes, and a moment later, the words broke. "Wait! Fuck! Fine. Fine," the man said, seemingly in a great deal of pain. He let out a deep sigh, shook his head, then gave Ethan a dark glare. "Wait here, I'll go get them," Jonathan bitterly said, just as he turned and entered the cabin, while the two bodyguards shared a look.
Gavin whistled at his side. "I thought your negotiator was back in New Dawn. You're not that bad yourself," the man said. There was a flare of magic, and Gavin's throat gained a couple of inches of diameter as he tested his newly acquired [Breath Gland].
Ethan grinned and waved that off, eyes still on the map. He tried to peer into New Dawn's map, but he was only limited to Wyldrock. Maybe once the Reconnaissance module was upgraded, he'd be able to?
"This is just haggling," Ethan said, dismissing the interface. "The stakes aren't usually that high, so it's fun. Negotiations can get nasty. Haggling usually doesn't."
A few moments later, Jonathan came out of the cabin, still grumbling, but it seemed like he'd mellowed out a little.
"Sorry. Lost my temper a little there," he said, face flushed as he put a little mundane pouch on the table, unwilling to meet Ethan's eyes. "Here's what you asked for."
Ethan smiled and picked up the spells he'd requested before he put them all in his pouch. For the primagems, he just assimilated those straight out. But as he was about to leave, he eyed one more item on the list.
"Say. One last thing. How about two Draining primagems for that [Enlarge] modifier? I could find some uses for it."
Jonathan blinked, and a little frown drew itself on his brow. "That's a surprisingly fair deal coming out of you."
Ethan gave the man an even stare, and the merchant just threw his hand up and turned back to his cabin. "Never mind. I'll bring it over."
As he watched the merchant dip back into his cabin, Ethan grinned. With this, he should be well set for a nice round of spell evolutions, and then he'd look into the defensive stuff for the pylon as well as the new available module upgrades. Turning toward Gavin, he asked. "Want to come with? To see the envoys?"
The man had been breathing out a thin cloud of vibrant green magic that smelled like basil and pine trees, and at Ethan's question, he dismissed the spellform, and his throat narrowed as he gave Ethan a nod and a smile. "Sure thing, boss. Let's go."
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***
They didn't find Marcello to open up the tunnels this time, but they didn't need him as he wasn't the sole earth-specialized mage in the city. The older woman wasn't as fast as the mole-clawed man had been, considering her lower levels, but she let them through quickly enough and within a few seconds of them leaving the protection of the wall, Ethan found a cross-armed Marcello and high-chinned Sophia facing the three envoys, with the three wyldcats slowly circling behind the woman as they glared at the strangers.
The reception seemed to be frosty, considering the summoned spellforms and the drawn weapons, which instantly annoyed Ethan. He knew there would be a lot of stick-waiving in this world and plenty of measuring contests, but couldn't he go an hour without a new crisis to deal with?
Turning his attention to the three envoys, his eyes were instantly drawn to the highest levelled individual, whom he couldn't see as they seemed to be encased within a thick suit of ice. It was a bulky thing. Around two and a half feet tall, and it reminded him a little of the parasitic rock elementals, only, this one had a slightly humanoid face with blue-glowing eyes that were intensely looking at him.
[Human (II) - Level 70]
Next to the ice-golem, a man and a woman, neither of which seemed to be too happy with his presence. The man was holding a jet-black spear with a crystal-red spearhead, while the woman had a pair of white-feathered wings and a sword in hand.
[Human (I) - Level 68]
[Human (I) - Level 66]
Ethan kept his walk casual, and he didn't summon anything extra aside from his already present scales. Stealing a glance toward Gavin, he found the man's features to be a little tense.
"Were they coming to take the city by force?" Ethan asked. They were getting pretty close, but he didn't care if they overheard him.
"We thought they might. And it looks like they did. They hadn't brought a tier-2 last time."
Ethan nodded. "Good to know," he said, and when Gavin stopped next to Sophia and Marcello, Ethan didn't. He kept walking, an easy smile on his lips as the two faces he could see shared a look and tensed, and he only stopped when he was a couple of yards away. Hand behind the small of his back, he looked at the two human faces, then up at the golem.
"Hi there. I'm Ethan. I see that you're brandishing your spells and weapons in front of my settlement. Can I help you? Are you lost? Or do we have a problem?"
The stranger had been tense, but his last few words seemed to annoy them more than prompt them to be polite.
"We had spoken with Gavin. But it seemed he capitulated to somebody else before we could convince him to join us," said the woman. She didn't dismiss her wings and sword, only seemed to grip it tighter. As for the man, he kept frowning at him, occasionally glancing past him at the three behind him and at the Wyldcats, as if measuring his odds. Still, the low-odds didn't dissuade him from completely ignoring Ethan's questions and asking his own. "Are you with the Brotherhood? Did they send you to contest us here? Because that would go against the truce that we negotiated," said the man.
Ethan looked from one face to another, and his smile slowly fell away. And while he was getting peeved by their attitude, he didn't let it get to his head though before he could speak, a notification came through.
New Dawn: Intruder detected
Ethan frowned at the notification, but after staring at it for a second, he pushed it aside. The others should be able to handle it, he hoped. Though he'd go take a look once he was done here. Turning his attention to the three in front of him, Ethan summoned his horns.
"Maybe you should start by introducing yourselves before you start asking questions. Then I might answer them. And I see weapons still drawn. Do I need to do the same?" he asked as the scales of his hands turned to a charcoal black, and as ten, 8-inch long, curved talons jutted out of his digits. "Is this a polite visit? Or is you showing up here, weapons in hand, supposed to be threatening?"
At that, he snapped his wings wide open, bathing the two humans—but not the golem—in his shadow. "Because unless you make some adjustments to your tone, and unless you," he said, pointing a claw at the golem, "get out of the golem-suit, I'm going to start taking your presence as a threat," Ethan said, letting some flames escape from his throat as he did.
At this point, the two humans were wide eyed, stepping back as they began activating their own magic, only for Ethan to snuff out all but his scales before things would devolve further, and with his point made, he gave them a wide smile.
"So. Let's try again. I'm Ethan. How about you guys? What brings you here?"
The man and woman, now a couple of shades paler, shared a look, then both looked up at the golem and nodded. The chest piece cracked open, like glass breaking, and of the cold mist and snowy dust came a pale, thin girl wearing washed out jeans and a t-shirt that seemed to hang over her bony shoulders.
Ethan stared, breath catching in his throat, and instantly felt awful.
The girl looked barely fifteen. A child. Unfortunately, before he could try to ask why there was a child being used to threaten a city, another notification came through, and Ethan began to worry.
New Dawn: Intruders detected
What was happening back in New Dawn?