“You okay there, good buddy?” Drake asked, showing a bit of concern through his smile.

Eric nodded. “Never better. I actually got a quest!”

“Good,” Morlekai said. “I take it you also got a sense of the rift location?”

Eric took a long look at his friend before slowly nodding. “You knew I would, didn’t you.”

His friend grinned. “I had hoped. Master Grim said you radiated a true Contender’s strength. Clearly that means you not only get to accept quests, but can sense exactly where you need to go.”

Eric nodded, deciding against telling his friends that not only did he have the equivalent of a Skydragon curser blinking in the right direction, but he knew exactly where the rift was located, almost 40 miles from Freetown and in what was now most definitely hostile orc territory where forest and farmland met. In point of fact, his interface map, which he could access with only a modest reduction in his Perception of his immediate environment, gave him a rough sense of the terrain for hundreds of miles . He sensed he could zoom out even further, and might, when things weren’t so busy.

“I don’t think I’ll have any problems finding it.” Eric frowned at his friend. “Are you saying you can’t?”

Morlekai flashed a tight smile. “I’m saying it’s not a mission I can accept. I’m glad you can.”

Eric dipped his head. “So what now?”

His friends exchanged nods. “Now we go make nice with the Squiglepuse faction, and secure ourselves a heritage library.”

“Morlekai, I have some concerns...”

“No time,” his friend said, before flashing a tight smile. “It seems like whatever you did stirred up the hornets nest with the Blue. The Goblins were implying that the Blue Faction is going to make a move and the head administrator wasn’t sticking around to be a captive of their intrigue. He said if we’re going to make the deal, it would be tonight. But don’t worry, Eric. You spent hours going over that contract? Our lawyer spent days pouring over every facet, checking and verifying everything he could. Master Grim isn’t stupid. And don’t for a minute think that he won’t ring a few extra concessions for them trying to force an early signature.”

Eric forced a smile, despite the growing sense of anxiety he felt in the pit of his stomach. “Fine. But I invited a friend over. I hope that’s okay.”

Morlekai jolted to a halt, glaring at Eric. “You what?”

“Agent Caliban. An… associate I know at Blue Corp. He’s the one you left the message with. Let’s just say… he has experience dealing with these clowns.”

Morlekai glared at Eric for long moments, and he couldn’t help but feel a certain chill… as if more than his vampire halfblood friend, savvy as he was, was looking back at him. Before he abruptly nodded. “That’s fine. If it throws our opponents off their game… it can’t hurt.” He flashed a hard smile. “Lord Grim will even insist that your friend be given a chance to peruse the document.”

“Good,” Eric said, almost certain that he was speaking to the man in question. “Because the codicils make it clear that all parties are permitted legal representation.”

Morlekai gazed at Eric with cloudy grey eyes. “So, you’re saying you want in?”

Eric flashed a hard smile. “That’s right… Lord Grim. I read the terms. They’re complete shit. And I want in.”

The laughter echoing from his friend’s throat held the promise of winter. Morlekai gave a bemused nod. “Then by all means… associate. Come. Sign. But before you do, show us the traps these fools think they can put before a Master Criminal with the eyes of a Hawk and the hatred of every orc clan.”

His friend abruptly turned and made a beeline for what Eric assumed was to be the conference room, Eric’s concerned gaze washing over his friend. “Morlekai?”

“I’m fine,” he said, quickly shaking his head. “It’s fine. You ready?”

Eric swallowed thickly, giving a quick nod as he checked his interface. “More than ready. And Caliban should be at the front gate in less than a minute’s time. He says… please don’t mind the company.”

Morlekai echoed Grim’s chuckle once more. “So long as it keeps our guests on the back foot, the more the merrier.”

They raced down the polished marble tiles then, going down two flights of stairs to what was a very private and secure chamber indeed, a servant opening a pair of silent doors leading to what looked almost like a ballroom, for all that it was presently occupied by nothing more than a single round table, one side occupied by Lord Grim, Louie, Alice, and a gray-skinned individual who looked almost human, save for his dead fish eyes and waxy skin void of any hair or pore. Lord Grim’s lawyer, Eric assumed.

Opposing them was a cluster of goblins slouching on the far side, including three dressed in scale armor radiating enchantments with swords presently sheathed, for all that they crossed their arms and glared, guarding, it seemed, a shimmering pearl on a stand behind them.

The fattest of the three seated gnomes squawked with outrage, standing up on his seat and near falling right off as his medal covered robe of shades of lilac and puce quivered with bulbous outrage.

“What is the meaning of this, Grim? I don’t recognize the redheaded cub, and we have wasted enough time! My portal closes at first light. If you want the library, you and your cohorts will sign without any further delays!”

Eric froze at those words, noting the indifferent glares of goblins annoyed by his presence… but who had no idea who he was.

Then he flashed a quick smile, immediately hidden.

Of course.

If there was one thing no self-respecting goblin would do, it would be sharing information with possible competitors. Not when they could use it for their own benefit at a later date. The goblins own contract, using Senior Administrator’s standing to supersede any other goblinoid contracts written in Freetown, showed that they cared very little about sabotaging each other’s gambits, if the most powerful among them thought they could get ahead by doing so.

So why the hell would any of these beady-eyed troll-spawn know jack shit about went down at the bank? Or the Blue Palace. Because he had no reason to think that the Snicklit tribe gave a rat’s ass about Administrator Squiglepuse’s gambits, or that one wouldn’t sell out the other in the blink of an eye.

Eric’s tight smile turned to a cold frown when he gazed at the furiously whispering female goblin radiating odd magics he was almost positive weren’t System sanctioned. Tribal bloodmagics of their own sort, Eric was almost certain. Which made them absolute hypocrites, trying to force human Necromancers into second class status while their own clearly held esteemed positions within their own culture. No doubt she was the reason why they pushed for an early emergency meeting in the first place, using Blue Corp bullshit as a pretext, their seer sensing that something was shifting in the winds of fate, even if she didn’t know exactly what or how.

Because of course that was the way of it.

Shame your enemy into turning their blades into plowshares, while you sharpen your own to stab them in the back.

Or something to that effect.

And his What The Other Party Wants and Nose For A Bad Deal perks, which he felt much more comfortable of thinking as his newly boosted intuition, seemed to agree.

“He’s dangerous. No way he’s stupid enough to sign. Get him out!” the Seer hissed so softly and in their native tongue that if Eric didn’t have his absurd sense of hearing and a language translating Interface, he wouldn’t have made out a word.

Not that her hostile glare wasn’t easy enough to read.

Of course he wouldn’t be himself if he didn’t give her a shit-eating grin in turn.

“Hey there, folks! Sorry I’m late. Hope you don’t mind if I join the party!” he quipped.

“This is a private meeting, you imbecile!” Squiglepuse huffed in outrage.

“Eric! So glad you could make it. Please sit down,” Lord Grim said, gesturing to an empty seat by his side as Morlekai took a seet to Lord Grim’s right, while Drake scooted himself next to Louie, the lawyer standing quietly behind the -lich- lord of the house.

Grim flashed a cool smile Squiglepuse’s way. “Our dear Eric is a good friend of the House, and has proven invaluable in protecting our interests. And in case it wasn’t already clear… he is the final party that might come on board that I mentioned several days ago.”

The female shaman glared at Eric for long moments, before her withered lips cracked open into a gap-toothed grin. “So he will be… signing the papers as well?”

Grin slowly nodded. “Per the clarification of a few modest points of concern? Yes. That is the plan.”

The seer slowly nodded, licking her lips with an odd hunger, Eric thought. “Yes… He does radiate a certain delicious potency.” She jerked a nod, turning to the snorting Administrator. “This one is a good catch. He will squirm… but our clauses will bind him like steel!”

Eric carefully kept his face absolutely neutral, stealing a glance Grim’s way.

Regardless of whether or not Grim and company could make out the words of the goblin dialect, couldn’t they at least pick up the singular malice when Administrator Asshole slowly nodded, smirking at them all like children he was about to sell to a sweat-mill?

Eric glared Grim’s way. ‘Really? You really can’t sense any of this?’

If the looming man sensed anything, even Eric’s stare, he showed no sign.

So Eric took the hint, put his game-face back on, and forced himself to smile at the smirking goblins.

“So yeah, I gave it a quick read, and wow! I love the promise! A complete heritage library, including a spell manuals and an ability encyclopedia, as well as tried and true techniques for achieving even Advanced classes with regularity. And if the resources offered really will show us how to unlock the path to Bronze then yeah, I’d call that pretty much priceless. Certainly worth a ton of gold. I did have a couple quick questions, however.”

Mocking smiles turned hard and irritated when Eric began making sharp observations in between his flowery words of praise. Noting multiple loopholes that could be used to delay delivery, and insisting upon assurances that the heritage library was genuine, free of corrupted ascension paths which he didn’t even know was a thing or not, but damn was he glad when he just threw it out there and noted every single goblin present flinching or snarling his way. At point he no longer held back, giving a list of stipulations and demands that would have made even his mother proud, including the clause that the library had to arrive intact and in excellent condition, made of material that would last for centuries without any deterioration, transformation, or alteration that would render it less than ideal for human or humanoid use in the foreseeable future.

And as much as he appreciated the surprised looks and grateful smiles of his friends, what really threw him off was the fact that their so-called lawyer hadn’t caught any of it. Doing absolutely nothing to assure that they didn’t receive a pile of absolute worthless garbage showcasing nothing but moth-eaten techniques that would destroy their Ascension base or actually prove toxic, catalyzing with skin oils or just the oxygen in the air.

Eric couldn’t help it. He knew how important it was to maintain his role. He was a trained actor, even if he was an absolute joke compared to anyone with true talent, only gaining any sort of insights into the skill when his life or fortunes were literally on the line. But at least he could spot a hustle or a con, or role-play the sharp pulling everyone’s strings. Roles his mother had trained him for better than any other, he couldn’t help thinking as he surrendered to his growing disbelief and glared daggers at the grey-faced man behind Lord Grim.

Chilled by what he saw.

Far from being an impartial failure or a complete idiot, or happily assisting in the human’s destruction… the creature was terrified.

As much as his clay-like features were near impossible to read, Eric could sense his fear.

As far as his perk was concerned, what This Party Wanted was simply to escape this world with his life.

Eric clenched his jaw.

As badly as he had thought the goblins were fucking with his friends… it was clear he hadn’t even scratched the surface. In fact, he was right at the point of ripping up the contract and challenging the bastards to death matches right then and there, even as he knew that the impulse was pure craziness… save for two things that kept his temper in check.

One, he thought he knew why they were so willing to tolerate his nitpicking bullshit that had to be driving them crazy.

Two, they had absolutely no idea what the true long term consequences would be of their so cavalierly hijacking contractual accords of an entire community.

Eric did.

And knowledge in this game wasn’t just half the battle.

It was everything.

“Enough, you little brat!” Administrator Squiglepuse the third roared. “We have made over a dozen edits and concessions already, wasting precious time reassuring your rank paranoia, no matter how grievously you insult our dignity and honor. As if our noble intentions actually had to be spelled out. As if we would give you anything less than a Premier Grade A Humanoid Friendly Heritage library free of broken classes and twisted Ascension paths! As if we’d be so petty as to give you a library made entirely of orc black powder lit with a fuse saying ‘fuck you, humans. You get what you deserve.’ Ha! As if we’d even think to stoop so low!”

The man scratched a final alteration to the contract before slamming down his pen. “There! It is done! Signed by yours truly, and all three of my associates! Now sign the damned bottom line or get the hell out of here, knowing that no goblin will ever deal with you again!” he roared.

Eric flashed his widest shit-eating grin, never having felt so thrilled as he did at that moment while utterly ignoring Morlekai’s hiss and Alice’s desperate whisper for him to back off. Not even when he was charging his enemies in the heat of battle, eager to bathe himself in their blood.

Instead he leaned back and stretched like a cat, sensing a welcome presence. “You know what? I think I will do just that. And you and your associates will be up a full ton of gold that I have no doubt you’ll do everything you can to collect!”

“And you’ll receive the first five hundred pounds of gold before the night ends, Mr. Squiglepuse, we promise!” an oddly anxious Drake cut in.

The goblin smirked at that, looking strangely reassured by Drake’s nervous words. “Oh, I have no doubt of that, human. None at all. It is for that reason alone that I’m willing to tolerate this pointless exercise that’s wearing my patience!”

“But before we do any signing on the dotted line… there’s just one final check that needs to be made.”

All six goblins froze and glared at Eric with an ire that was palpable.

It was all he could do not to wink and blow them a kiss.

“What the hell are you talking about? You’ve been wasting time for over an hour, fool!” Roared Squiglepuse.

“Eric!” Drake hissed. “Ease up, buddy!”

Eric smirked. “If you’ll look at section 12, paragraph 7, you’ll note every involved party is allowed their own council.”

“You already have your council!” Squiglepuse declared, unable to hide his smirk as he pointed at the flinching humanoid before a stone-faced Lord Grim.

Eric clenched his jaw, forcing a smile. “Sorry, I’m afraid I prefer council that doesn’t flinch in fear every time you glance their way. I’m sure you understand.”

Before goblinoid features bulging in outrage could turn to a furious roar, an abrupt knock on the door froze the goblins where they sat.

“Senior Administrator Caliban, serving as representative for Eric Silver,” said the butler by the door, earning a bemused nod from Lord Grim.

Eric smirked. He couldn’t have planned it better himself, as agent Caliban entered with the slightest of bows.

And the look on Administrator Squiglepuse’s face, surprise mixed with avarice and a scavenger’s twisted glee all warred together. And just before outrage could win out, the seer whispered into his ear.

“That means the Roundear must be Eric Silver. He’s a Contender! If the Blue fails to see the black, then they’ll all be wearing our brands before the night is out!”