“We’re here to make a deal that will hopefully see us both profiting handsomely. If you take us out, then we both lose out on what could be the most profitable trade you and your company will ever make, opening up opportunities for your future unlike anything you'll find, anywhere else. And don't expect anyone else to be making offers for this land either, once the DI Interface announces to the world who likes taking out diplomatic envoys for fun, and that's the least of what my sister will do, I promise you that,” Eric said.

  Arnor glared at Eric for long moments. Fortunately, Eric didn't think the man actually intended on slaughtering them. More, he was engaging in the most ruthless sort of diplomacy. Leverage every tool at your disposal, threaten one's financial opponents with their worst fears, and squeeze for every last coin. And no matter how bold your declarations, so long as you didn't actually make good on your threats, you were in the clear. Because really, how much could your counterpart claim you had wronged him, if they hadn't shed one drop of blood? Ruthless, sure, but definitely in line with the rules of this brave new world.

  Yet if there was one advantage to the sudden weight of the man’s aura rendering his friends mute, it was that Eric could use Identify passively, without alerting or antagonizing his target at all.

  ******

  Captain Arnor – Mech Warrior – Rank 30 Bronze

  ST 300 / Qu 400 / Vit 300 / Fin 400 / Per 400 / Arcane Res – 300 / Appearance – Handsome!

  *******

  Even sensing the utter peril that should send any White-tier native crashing to their knees in terror, especially one who had been drained all the way to level 0, Eric still found the attribute choices quite telling. His suspicion that there were hidden bonuses for elites buying their stats in hundred point lots was now ironclad. Not that it really mattered at that point. It was just one more example of idealized build design techniques and maximizing one’s ultimate potential that Terran natives had been utterly denied.

  Captain Arnor’s hard stare pinned Eric’s entire party. His derisive glaze flicked dismissively over all of them as he shifted his stance, turning to his second, a high pitched whine indicating a conversation intended for their comms alone. “These natives are quaking in their boots. Half of them have no potency at all. This better be worth my time, Joc.”

  Eric cleared his throat. “Greetings, Captain Arnor. You have my apologies. Your impressive entrance has left my companions at a loss for words.”

  The captain’s glare caught Eric’s half-smile. Then he frowned, puzzled.

  “There’s something off about you, boy.”

  Eric shrugged. “I’m a mixed-blood. Does it matter?”

  Power armor shook his head. “That’s not it. You dare to stand nonchalant as a lord before me. Challenging with your eyes, like a young scion or a fool who never learned his place. Yet you don’t show any sign of being any stronger than your friends. And that’s an anomaly.”

  Eric looked at his anxious friends. Morlekai and Alice were the only ones even able to put on masks of sangfroid, especially after the earlier warning that let them know just how perilous their negotiations had become. The others were seated like frightened rabbits, desperate just to bolt. Eric then turned back to Captain Arnor.

  “We’re all apprentices at Mistridge. It would be strange if I showed as any different, right? So how’s that an anomaly?”

  The man glared. “Because in an ascending world like this one, adversity should have wiped that smirk off your face long ago. Or torn out your throat, if you don’t have the strength or clan to back it up.”

  Eric’s lips curled in a feral grin, despite Yuki’s dismayed hiss, and Morlekai’s warning glare.

  He just couldn’t help it.

  “Well that’s actually pretty convenient when you think about it,” Eric eyes danced hungrily as he met the glare of the armored merc before him. “Since I’m not quivering in my boots, that means we can get right to making a deal without any of us wasting our time.”

  Arnor’s exotic gauntlet tapped the hilt of a Mark-III plasma minigun. Eric’s heart started pound, knowing damn well that weapon could obliterate a party of Rank 0s and a couple gifted Nosferatu before any of them could blink. Yet he stood his ground, meeting the man’s glower, knowing that flinching and folding now was the absolute worst thing he could do.

  The tension grew thick, like a cord on the verge of snapping as Marsha whimpered.

  Captain Arnor took one step forward, sneering down at Eric, his men in lock step as Jack desperately reversed his levi, Eric alone comfortably outside the vehicle.

  “Eric!”

  The power armored man’s ice-cold visage broke into a chuckle. “Diplomatic envoy, is that right?”

  Eric dipped his head. “You got it.”

  The man cracked his neck. “Alright, kid, does your queen really think she can afford all this prime hunting land? How much is she worth? It better be considerable, or you’re just wasting our time.” His good-natured smirk turned to a warning glare. “And I absolutely hate people who waste my time.”

  “She’s worth more than—” Jack’s words cut off when Eric abruptly raised his clenched fist. Before lowering it with an easy motion, just in time with the mini gun the captain had actually raised with Eric’s rapid movement.

  Eric suppressed a wince, having revealed a tiny bit more than he should have. But before the captain could consciously process what his instincts should have picked up on, Eric pulled out the document he and Morlekai had worked on before leaving… just in case.

  Captain Arnor’s blinked, all his focus suddenly on the document. “You serious, kid?”

  “It’s a Blue Corp document. How could I not be?”

  The merc beside the captain, Joc, peered at it, his eyes widening. “Fifty million credits for a non-aggression sign-off.”

  The captain’s glare silenced the man who stepped back.

  Captain Arnor then affected a sigh, dramatically shaking his head. “Sorry, kid. But I’m afraid a territory this precious, with such lush, fertile hunting grounds, is worth a bit more than fifty million over-valued store credits.”

  Eric forced a smirk. “Wait, you didn’t know?”

  “Know what.”

  “Blue Corp has a chartered Savings and Loan with full investment bank and retail development rights, here on Earth. If they say you’re up fifty million credits, then you’re up fifty million credits, just as legit as anything else you’ll find on a fully ascended world.”

  Arnor frowned and tilted his head, eyes rapidly shifting back and forth as if flash-reading interface documents of one sort or another.

  “Captain?”

  “Kid’s right.” Arnor’s measuring gaze met Eric’s own once more. “Still doesn’t change the fact that it’s a bullshit offer.”

  Eric blinked at this. “Seriously? I can hunt unlimited rabbits and dear. It’s convenient, and it pays to have unified territory. But it isn’t like there aren’t half a dozen neighboring territories we can convert to extremely profitable cropland in less than a years time, paying off your neighbors for a fraction of what we’re offering you.”

  Arnor smirked. “If that’s the case, why are you offering fifty million?”

  Eric blinked, hating just how valid a point that was. He inhaled to speak when Yuki cut in.

  “Because this is the one territory with a bunch of Bronze-tier bucket heads. Can you blame us for not wanting an unaligned faction of elites on our doorstep who haven’t at least signed a nonaggression treaty with us? And if fifty million credits, which is a shit ton of money, can keep you all in our queen’s friends category, then sure, it’s worth it. Especially if you give her a friend discount when she eventually hires you for missions of her own.”

  There was no mistaking the sudden hungry look in the eyes of all three mercs, clearly itching for challenges more substantial than level 5 hunting grounds.

  But they were professionals, and the look of eagerness vanished so fast that it was hard to tell it had been there at all.

  “Alright, envoys, you tell your Queen that we might be willing to play ball… if she’s willing to offer us noble rank and revenue earning properties in addition to giving us the right of first refusal on any and all kingdom missions offered.”

  Yuki and Jack visibly blanched. “Is this guy fucking serious?”

  “Or, you up your offer to a hundred million credits. In gold.”

  Arnor’s smile grew at the looks of consternation this earned. “Come now. Gold has to be even more common than credits, right?” He gave a satisfied nod, minigun resting casually in his crossed arms. “That’s my offer. Gold, or elite titles and privileges along with your original enticement, and we’ll be the best investment your queen makes in the next decade. We Blood Ravens guarantee it.”

  Eric features tightened, before he finally gave a frustrated sigh, dipping his head.

  Arnor beamed, a look of triumph on his features. “Good. You have a week to get back to us before we start looking for other possible buyers. Perhaps one quite opposed to your own sovereign’s rule.”

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  “Sure. Can we assume that we’re under a non-aggression accord at least until the week’s passed?”

  Arnor gave an imperious nod. “You have my word, boy. You and yours have nothing to fear from us... for the next seven days. I suggest you get back to us before—”

  His words cut off. Eyes bulging when Eric snapped his fingers, summoning forth both gilded chairs and hardwood table, complete with linen cloth and a bottle of Champaign. He then sat down, took a sip of bubbly, and quickly annotated the contract, placing it for the bemused captain to sign.

  “Alright. Ashland territory and a permanent non aggression pact between Captain Arnor and the Blood Ravens and Elonia Silver, the Sylvan Alliance and the territories they control, and all close friends and relatives of the Silver clan that you know of. In return, you’ll receive a hundred million gold within a week’s time. If you’ll sign here?”

  Arnor scowled. “You have rights to modify the treaty as you see fit?”

  “Well of course he does. He’s her brother,” Yuki quipped.

  The mercs froze, gazing at Eric like wolves before a fattened sheep.

  Eric’s feral smile grew. He gave a lazy tilt of his head. “You know, I could remind you all that you just gave your word not to fuck with us for the next week, but if you’re that eager to dance… I’m always game.”

  “Eric!” Morlekai hissed.

  Captain Arnor had the strangest look on his features before he burst out in laughter. “You are one cocky bastard for a prince radiating no power at all!” He flashed a knowing smile. “How powerful is an artifact that hides an elite White-tier warrior, I wonder?”

  Eric’s smile matched the captain’s own. “Surely not powerful enough to match a Bronze-tier veteran of a hundred battles like yourself.”

  “You’re damn right you’re not. And don’t be stupid enough to forget it.” The man dipped his head in what seemed genuine respect. “Your mien could still get you killed in the wrong circles, boy, so best you learn a little humility.”

  “Unless he hires us to cover his six, and then he can be just as cocky as he likes,” the third mercenary quipped, raising her own visor to reveal a freckle-faced woman who’s cheerful grin was that of a teenager, even if her gaze was that of a woman centuries old.

  “Leely has a point, kid.” The captain signed the document with a flourish. “Now you have a week to come up with a hundred million. In gold. Or a hundred million in income generating property in New Arcadia. We’ll take either one,” he said with a cool gaze. “What we won’t take is no for an answer with the contract signed and sealed, and best of all, you’ll be able to hire us at friend-rates. And believe me, kid, you couldn’t ask for a better guard than the Blood Raven corp for your royal clan.”

  “Doesn’t hurt that he’s cute either,” Leely said, giving a slow nod as she gave Eric a clear once-over, eating him up with her gaze.

  Eric couldn’t help chuckling. “Like what you see?”

  “You better believe I do.”

  “Then I’ll let you see it from the back,” Eric said, sauntering as he turned on his hip, strutted back to the veli, bent over as he opened the tactical backpack out of casual view in the back seat, adjusted the contents within then straightened himself once more with modified pack in hand.

  He couldn’t help winking at Leely’s whispered curse.

  “There’s no fucking way that kid is a level zero anything.”

  “Glad you approve,” Eric quipped, tossing the captain the pack. “So tell me, Captain, does that square us?”

  “Kid, you better not be fucking—holy shit!”

  Arnor’s eye were wide as saucers, Leely’s flash of alarm, hyperion rifle raising before easing to her side as her sniper’s crouch turned to a bemused slouch when she took in the polished golden bars flashing in the light of the afternoon sun that the captain was now pulling from the bag he had been so casually tossed.

  “Holy shit, Captain! That ballsy kid just happened to have a hundred million in fucking gold bullion on him? Bullshit!” Joc’s gaze was an odd mixture of awe and disbelief. “What kind of fucking accountancy profession let him know to prep so well? No way he could have done that on the fly!”

  Eric ignored the hushed whispers Yuki and Jack exchanged, his eyes carefully on Captain Arnor as he counted the fortune in hands that didn’t tremble a bit.

  Oddly accusing eyes met Eric’s own, for all that the man’s lips hardened into a smile. “A hundred million on the fucking dot.” He flipped Eric a golden eagle. “And that much extra. Trying to make sure there was no wiggle room at all, were you?”

  Eric shrugged. “Just making sure you’re payed in full.”

  Captain Arnor positively beamed as he signed the final document, right under Eric’s own signature.

  “Signed and sealed, the territory is yours and the Blood Ravens are now at your service for all your hiring needs. At friendship rates,” Arnor assured, the pair exchanging documents with a handshake, Eric relieved to see that the man was too much of a professional to risk crushing his hand, probing him for his Strength. Because crushing Eric’s hand to shattered pulp would be an immediate violation of the contract and that would be a bad look.

  Then Eric felt it. A surge of wondrous possibility flooding through him, the potential of an entire glorious territory. He bit his lip and held in the momentary ecstasy that passed through him as gently as a warm spring breeze.

  Because he had already claimed this territory once.

  And there was no doubt that it was his once again. And maybe it showed, in the way he stood just a bit taller, feeling the light caress his backside like a stagelight directed by a friendly hand, to show him to best effect.

  Even the mercenaries seemed to sense that something had changed, Arnor giving him an oddly approving nod.

  “Pleasure doing business with you, kid.”

  “You as well,” Eric said, giving a nod to both Joc and a beaming Leely as he headed back to the levi. But only after immediately tossing the territory to a grateful Elonia, now an old hand at ignoring the sudden flood of interface messages from irate administers demanding that he yield his prize to their control at once. Or he suspected that was what they would say. HE wasn’t stupid enough to actually check, flushing all the unwanted SPAM in the metaphoric trash bin as he stumbled just once on the way back to the levi, the glorious potential of an entire territory infusing, then leaving his psyche so fast it nearly caused whiplash.

  “Thank you, Eric!”

  “You’re welcome. Now if you’re looking for an AWESOME way to develop it… talk to Morlekai. We came up with something that I think / hope you’ll love!”

  Yet the awe and gratitude he could sense from his twin through a simple interface message made it all worth it.

  “You okay there, handsome? You ever need a personal escort… you just ask!”

  Eric chuckled at Leely’s parting quip when he tripped over his own two feet. Already knowing that her flirting was an act. The look she gave Arnor, not to mention her scent lingering on her obvious lover, made her heart’s position perfectly clear.

  “After pulling out all the stops to impress your captain, I trip on a rock. Stupid, right? But I’ll keep your offer in mind, Leely. And now that you all no longer feel soulbound to this territory, I’d invite you all to check out Freetown. You’ll find a wealth of opportunity, and any number of mercenary companies as well that can show you the ropes.”

  Leely’s eyes widened. “Wait, how did he know that we felt tied to the—”

  Her freckle-faced innocence turned to something calculating and cold when her shortwave comms blared with messages that froze all three mercs as Eric casually leaped back in his seat.

  “Go. Now.” He said to Jack with a smile.

  Jack gazed back at Eric with a look of awe. “Jeezus! Those guys could have… and you were just being such a cocky fuck and you did it! Clearly, I misjudged your sorry ass.”

  Eric’s smile tightened. “Move. Now!”

  The redhead’s features flickered rapidly from ire to alarm to a discipline nod, the levimobile rising a full three feet above the grass and zipping towards Picksonville.

  Marsha gazed worriedly at Eric. “Why did you snap at Jack? He’s on our side. And how did you keep you’re cool when those…” Her words cut off when Alice gently patted her hand.

  “Later, dear.”

  Morlekai gave Eric a pointed look. “How bad?”

  Eric flashed a hard smile. “There are more than three. A trio are still back at their reinforced bunker, and someone was yelling in their comms that a surge on their sensors let them crack the code about the nature of the high-tech artifact that they still can’t break into. Conveniently, some anonymous asshole just sent them a request to collect Mistridge samples.”

  Morlekai frowned. “Mistridge samples?”

  “He means us,” Yuki whispered, eyes widening with horror as she got it. “We’re priceless.”

  Eric sighed. “I think maybe there were a few unexpected drawbacks to Mistridge. They did sign a nonaggression treaty, but if Legendary-tier artifacts and anyone associated with them are as valuable on the intergalactic stage as I’m betting they are… let’s not press our luck.”

  Marsha’s eyes widened with dismay as an anxious Jack shifted to maximum speed.

  Eric frowned at the wobble before Morlekai’s hand joined Billy’s own on the central shaft. “Careful, kid. Take a deep breath. Just relax and focus on the speed. I’ll guide the shaft.”

  “Why, Eric?” Marsha flinched as she stole a glance back, the wind that had been whipping through the levi muted to nothing with the force dome now on full strength. Which Eric knew damn well would do absolutely nothing against at T-III minigun.

  “Why would they care about our Mistridge origins? I mean… we offered to let them join! All they have to do is ask!”

  Eric shrugged. “All I know is that both the captain and Joc were offended at the thought of sacrificing any of their power, fearing it was some sort of trap. Yet considering how eager so many elites are… clearly their intel guy’s finally getting the scoop. Now, whether that means they’ll be begging or demanding admittance—or whether it means something far darker—best thing we can do right now is not be in their faces. We’ll give them time to cool off and make the right choices.”

  Morlekai was giving Eric a hard look. “You knew exactly what that sealed tech they couldn’t break into represents.”

  Eric smirked. “Damn right I do.”

  “How?”

  “I made it.”

  Everyone was not staring Eric’s way.

  “Focus on the fucking road!” Eric snapped.

  “Boyscout, what did you do?” Alice was giving him a look that he recognized all too well. Admiration and good-natured jealously transmuting to a hungry lust she kept in check with quips and a teasing smile. “Inquiring minds want to know.”

  Eric sighed. “Don’t you remember the Tier-II Ascension Facility that absolutely no one below Silver could hope to break into? Maybe not even then? Let’s just say this isn’t the first time I claimed and surrendered Ashland.”

  Yuki scowled. “Come again?”

  Eric smirked. “You do recall me telling you that this isn’t the first time we’ve worked together? You can think of it as an overlapping timeline, if you like. And this beautiful territory is a remnant of that life none of you remember. Well, except you and your sister, Morlekai. Probably because of the half trillion in gold bullion. That creates an anchor point all it’s own.”

  Yuki’s eyes bulged. “Half a tril… what?!?”

  Eric smirked. “It’s almost all off-world now, and I’m not counting on ever seeing any of it again, so no use worrying about it, one way or another. But I managed to scrape enough gold through one near disaster after another such that I was able to buy off these Bronze bad boys and lock in another territory for the college. And that equals title and elite tutors for you guys. So look at the bright side! As hair-raising as this encounter was, we’re technically already winning.”

  He was surprised by the strength in Marsha’s grip now squeezing his hand, careful not to squeeze at all in turn.

  “Marsha?” But then he caught the light reflected in he gaze. Instantly understanding.

  “Eric… I think they’re following us!”