Jinni blanched. His mother gave the tiniest of approving smiles. Because however much he played clueless upon first smacking open the door… words he had later let slip had made his secret ace all too clear. Arlen Ort had referred to Jinni’s own comments regarding how much smoother the gears of commerce would turn with Eric’s signature on sheets of fine vellum, as opposed to a single digital acknowledgment in a very exclusive Interface tab.

And the only way Arlen could know that, was if he had been listening in.

So perhaps his storming in wasn’t quite as coincidental as one might think. And as far as the awkward first impression… Eric assumed that audio spying alone was in play, to be so startled at catching sight of Eric, finely pressed slacks and high thread-count collard shirt no doubt looking nothing like the average Contender, Arlen perhaps having momentarily thought Eric an assistant, hanger-on, or perhaps even son… until Eric’s inhuman strength and familiar voice immediately clarified exactly who, and what, he was.

Eric frowned at his mothers quiet half smile, wondering just how intricate were the gears spinning in that woman’s mind. Had she known? Was that why she had so insisted upon him wearing no armor at all before their meeting with Blue Corp?

Jinni, to her credit, was no fool, gaze hardening as she glared at the door.

“What should I expect from the contracts?”

Jinni gazed at him for long moments, before writing under his choppy scrawl with elegant handwriting that bordered on calligraphy.

“I beg you to read everything over CAREFULLY. And if his investments are what I fear they are... PLEASE do not overreact. Your enemies would love nothing more than for you to assault a supposed ally.”

The very words chilled Eric to the quick. Both for what it implied, and that things were so dire that Jinni was willing to risk what might be her own career for a stranger.

Albiet one who’s territory just might prove vital for Blue Corp’s own benevolent capitalist plans for Earth as a whole.

“Fuck,” Eric whispered. “Maybe I’d best forgo the contracts altogether.”

Surprisingly, Jinni furiously shook her head. “It’s important you find the one that matters, Eric! The one acknowledging your—“

Eric blinked, impressed with how quickly the charcoal stick and vellum disappeared when the door burst open to reveal a pleased-looking Arlen who’s confident grin was belied by the skittering of his rapidly beating heart, the sweat on his brow, and pupils dilated way too wide for such a well-lit room, with the warm noon sun shining so brightly through the floor to ceiling windows giving such a gorgeous view as the central tree-lined boulevard that would be the heart of this quarter of the city slowly came into its own.

Perception check made!

And Eric didn’t need a Perception over 100 to sense that Arlen was chemically enhancing his confidence something fierce. If the acrid stench of stimulants tingling in the back of Eric’s throat didn't give it away, the traces of white powder not completely wiped away from the elf’s nose certainly did.

Dear Ort seemed to be a man of many vices, Eric thought.

No doubt the perfect candidate to be enticed into the pocket of Eric's enemies.

An unworthy thought, he conceded as Arlen placed twelve vellum contracts onto a coldly-staring Jinni’s desk, immediately presenting the signatory lines, body positioned to leave the rest of the contracts in shadow.

But if the nervous vibes the man gave off when he attempted to distract Eric with his constant patter of unbeatable returns wasn’t enough to clue him in… the nature of those contracts, and Jinni’s warning, certainly had.

“Twenty seven percent profit, my dear boy. And that’s just the start! Now if you’ll sign here and here and here, I’d love to tell you about a dozen fantastic opportunities we have in New York of all places… I know, right? The big apple’s still kicking, even now! And talk about diversification. No need to worry about poor little Freetown! With half a trillion to work with, we’ll be able to buy major shares of all the hottest action in every city on both coasts! We’re talking an economic windfall, Eric… Eric?”

The man’s furious patter only died off when Eric gently moved the man’s hand and body off the contracts he was so conveniently half covering with his rear as he sat on Jinni’s table casual as a lord, giving Eric the strangest look when Eric’s gently pressing arm inevitably forced the man to lurch off the contracts. Though he was savvy enough to immediately shift gears.

“I wanted to save you a headache since we don’t want to keep an imperial guest cooling her heels, ha ha! And a single contractual quibble or two can wait for us to nitpick over later. What matters right now, lad, is securing that half trillion credits worth of wealth we could be investing this very moment, when the whole wide world is open to us at literal rock bottom prices! Do you understand what I’m saying? And don’t worry about all the fine print gobbledygook. It’s just lawyer speak for profit splitting, and you already know you’re getting your fair share.”

Eric found it effortless to tune out the elf’s words. He slowly read over first one contract. Then a second. Then a third. Refusing to be swayed by Arlen’s increasingly urgent patter, his confident smile turning to an anxious stare as he tapped on his Rolex.

“We don’t have time for this, kid. The Empire’s own pet agent is waiting on us! Sign the bloody documents and let’s get—“

His words abruptly cut off when Eric held up his tightly clenched fist, glaring the man to silence as he read on. And on.

And on. Increasingly incensed by the vile words slithering across his mind, finding it so easy to imagine the cackles of his enemies, their twisted gibbering logic looping throughout not just one, but every single contract he had seen so far.

It was all he could do not to rip them up.

But he recalled Jinni’s look, noting the glimmer of calculation underneath Arlen’s increasingly anxious gaze.

Plans within plans.

Schemes within schemes.

No doubt Arlen had thought him such a fool as to sign those twisted contracts with narry a second glance.

Or barring that, be so incensed that he shredded them all.

And somehow, both would work in this man’s favor. Eric wasn’t sure how, but somehow he knew.

So Eric would play neither the outraged berserker, nor the fool.

Instead he would swallow his rage, ignore the insistent demands of the increasingly irate banker and make himself read through each and every contract while third party witnesses coolly watched on.

No matter how much the papers all made his blood boil with fury and disgust.

Until finally, carefully creased between the middle pages of the final, thickest goblin-written contract, Eric found the single concise vellum sheet he was looking for, in the concise script he recognized as coming from Caliban’s own hand.

He read over it twice, carefully, his rage mitigated by a certain dark satisfaction at the angry glare his actions earned him by the man who had tried to set him up twice over, and only going after it twice did he prepare to sign it… before passing it to Jinni.

“Lady Genevieve Gilderstrom. Am I correct in assuming that this is the original document that Lord Caliban had prepared for me to sign, both signifying Blue Corp’s claimance of the open Terran Banking Charter, and my fifty percent stake and profit share?”

“Watch your words, Jinni!” Eric blinked, surprised to sense the hostile command radiate from Arlen Ort’s cold gaze, pinning the young administrator still seated behind her desk, a threat Eric sensed perfectly clearly, as if Arlen had spoken it aloud.

And it was obvious from the way she flinched, that Jinni had gotten the message loud and clear.

Yet, much to her credit, she boldly gazed at Eric and nodded her head, ignoring Arlen’s displeased hiss.

“It is, Eric. It also acknowledges your investment of a full billion credits as seed capital for our bank, and assures that your own venture ideas will be considered by a representative approved by both your party and our own to represent Blue Corp’s interest in our Chartered Bank’s holdings and investments. With that established, both parties have equal veto rights as to what projects will be considered, and you are always free to bring one or more representatives or heirs on board to split your voting block or otherwise assume whatever duties or responsibilities either party would delegate to the other.”

Eric, heart racing, gazed at the words for long moments, flashing Jinni the tiniest of smiles. “So, Blue Corp is allowed to recommend one or more bank managers for me to work with… and I get to choose the ones I feel are a good match for me.”

Arlen paled. “Now wait just a minute. There’s no need to be hasty. The branch manager is expected to turn a profit, and I’ve performed my duties exceptionally well!”

Eric locked gazes with the man who dared act like the affronted party.

“You took our chartered banks seed capital… and you invested it in the slave trade.”

He kept his words cool. Professional. He made sure of that.

Yet, for some reason, Arlen Ort’s complexion had gone a ghastly shade of white as he gazed upon at Eric, lurching back to stumble on his own ass, now scurrying back from Eric with a whimper.

“I made us a profit. I was just doing my job!”

Jinni positively beamed. “That’s right. Central administration should have given us a pool of at least three. Unfortunately, the other two potential candidates are no longer with us.”

Eric gazed at Jinni for long moments while his mother smiled coolly at the shaken Arlen who looked two seconds away from collapsing in a faint.

“What do you mean by… they’re no longer with us.”

“They died!” Jinni said with deliberate nonchalance, and a too-wide smile. “One up-and-coming Nicki Sufil, just starting her tenure as an administrator with a sterling track record, was instantly incinerated when her shuttle blew up just as they touched down. A one in a million occurrence! And of course, dear Grima made the poor choice to actually enter the heart of Freetown to get a sense of the city and its people after dark!”

Her brilliant smile turned ice cold. “Who cares if no mugger dares to assault strangers in Freetown, in this day and age. Especially not elves, or anyone that they haven’t spent days or weeks casing. Because you never know who’s a high level adventurer or a level 15 up-and-comer, both far beyond what any desperate zero level fool, the only ones so contemptible as to murder for the loose change in a purse, might handle. But somehow our dear Grima became the first and only elf to get a stiletto right through the heart, in the middle of the central market, just an hour after dusk. With both her wallet and force bracelet conveniently missing! Just one of those tragic, unfortunate coincidences. Right, Arlen?” she said, no longer hiding the sheer loathing she clearly felt for the elf beneath a bitter cold smile.

Arlen’s anxious countenance twisted into bitter fury, as he glared down the one person in the room weaker than him. “You’ll pay for both your insults and insinuation, Genevieve. Mark my words, the Ort clan neither forgets nor forgives any insult to our honor!”

Jinni visibly paled.

Eric winced, sensing the sheer terror she felt. Yet he couldn’t help but admire her. Two other women who had been in a position to cause Arlen problems had conveniently died. And here Jinni was, actively inviting his ire.

Eric smiled at the woman. “May I have the contract Caliban wrote? That one alone is worthy of my signature.”

Arlen’s furious gaze turned to one of outrage as Eric deliberately turned all the others over, glare coldly at the man who by some dark twist had ended up as his bank’s manager.

“I’m afraid I’m going to have to take a hard pass at all these… suggested investments,” Eric said with cold finality.

Arlen’s anxious gaze became one of sudden hot fury. “Who the hell do you think you are? The funds we invested earned a 27% return in less than three months! Do you understand what that means, fool? I made us 270 million credits in a single season, boy! That’s a manager’s job! To make money! I netted us a fortune, and you didn’t have to lift a damn finger for any of it! So who the hell are you to judge me?”

It was all Eric could do not to explode. “According to your own records with the contracts, you had your hand in not just a handful, but in over a hundred slaver raids. Not only that, you’ve backed over a dozen subsidiary goblin loan operations, and we both know that borrowing from a goblin is a one way ticket to indentured servitude. And don’t for one moment plead that that only occurs in the most extreme of cases. You even went so far as to facilitate processing centers for a massive influx of collard slaves in every city where you helped fund these loan-shark operations!”

Eric shook his head in absolute disgust. “You made your blood money on the backs of thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, of desperate refugees. You made it on the backs of my people!”

Eric couldn’t hold back the tight hot fury building in his chest any longer, no matter how he tried to control his breathing.

It was all he could do not to lash out at the man before him.

“Eric, be calm!” His mother snapped, her icy words somehow chilling the berserker’s fury he was so close to embracing, furiously hungry for the hot scalding blood of the screaming elf who had dared bring a billion credits worth of misery into this battered world… and under Eric’s name, with Eric’s coin, no less.

He didn’t even need to say it. It was as clear as hell was hot that this worm was bought and paid for by the goblins, through and through. No doubt one or more hit squads had been paid to deal with his competition. For all he knew, those former goblins served in his eternal legion even now.

Truly a brilliant play by his arch-nemesis, the Snicklick tribe, so cleverly using his own resources against him. Eric could only glare at the man seething with dread and fury in equal measure before him, for all that he was hunched over like a slave fearing the whip.

Like so many children being whipped by manic goblin slavers even now, Eric was bitterly sure.

“Eric!” His mother’s short sharp bark, no longer hiding her own very real concern, jolted Eric out of his own killing fury, surprised to find himself sniffing the trembling Arlen like a predator savoring the scent of his prey.

Right before he went in for the kill.

Eric jolted back to his feet, pretending he wasn’t just as startled by what he had almost done as everyone else in the room.

He turned to a shocked-looking Jinni with a forced smile. “I’d like to formally declare that I have zero confidence in one Arlen Ort, no matter who his father is, or what his connections are. I will not truck in slavers or slave trading. So I’d like to request the immediate removal of him from any standing within my bank… the joint charter shared by myself and Blue Corp, immediately.”

“You can’t do that!” Arlen screamed, trembling no longer, on his feet in an instant and glaring with all bluster and fury Eric’s way. “You have no right, none whatsoever! You’re just a stakeholder! A foolish boy with no financial acumen at all! I made 27% in a single quarter! Do you understand? Upper management loves me. They love me! Ha! I think it’s time we got rid of any pretext of you having any say within our organization whatsoever. You’ll take your profit share and be happy! And if you don’t like it, you’ll get nothing at all!”

Eric smirked, not even bothering to look back at the blustering fool. “Lady Genevvieve Gilderstrom, could I interest you in assuming the position of bank manager?”

Jinni’s eye widened with a brilliant smile lighting her features. “Eric, I...”

“Dont. You. Dare!” Arlen’s chill voice froze Jinni where she sat, and Eric ached to see the naked fear in her eyes.

“I’m sorry, Eric. I’m afraid it’s a complex process, and...”

Eric knew he was being forward, and didn’t care. A soft finger gently caressed her lip.

“Shhh,” he said with a smile, pretending he didn’t see the way her eyes widened, or her heart start to race with something besides fear.

Just dilated nostrils and the look of a frightened young woman taking comfort in a newfound friend’s reassuring smile.

Eric flashed her his warmest grin back, then turned to Arlen, the furious elf immediately blanching and stumbling back as Eric strode stalked! towards the man, the air abruptly crackling with the hum of an activated forcefield as Arlen desperately jabbed his watch.

“No, please don’t hurt me! It avails you nothing. You’ll lose everything!” The man screamed.

“Eric!” His mother hissed.

And Eric stopped on a dime, flashing Arlen a smile that was all teeth. “Thank you for all your hard work, but I’m afraid we won’t be requiring yours services any longer.”

Arlen’s eyes bulged. “You can’t do—“

The man gasped when Eric suddenly loomed before him. “And if anything happens to my good friend Jinni… anything at all… I will find out who did it. I will find them, and I will shove my hand down their throat. Shove it HARD while they kick and scream and writhe in my grip as I force inch after inch of my forearm down their rupturing esophagus, their eyes bulging like a panicked fish, squirming on the hook of my arm as I FUCKING RIP THEM OPEN!”

He snarled in the whimpering man’s face.

“But that won’t the end of their suffering. That is only the beginning! Because my hand won’t stop tearing into them until I jam it so far down that bloody toothless hole that I can feel their beating heart! And they will live, Arlen. I promise you that. Kicking and writhing in my grip, choking for breath that will never be theirs again, they will live on. Even as their heart beats with the agony of death forever denied, held tight in my clenched fist, they will live on! Do you know why, Arlen?”

A trembling Arlen was pale as a sheet, gazing at Eric in speechless horror.

Eric smiled. “I’m so glad you asked. Because I’m a necromancer, and raising the dead is what I do. Anyone who hurts me or mine… I won’t just kill them. Oh no. My foes never get off that easily. They have a debt to pay, after all. And come hell or high water… THEY. WILL. PAY!”

Eric cracked his neck, enjoying the look of unspeakable horror on the sniveling Arlen’s face, knowing damn well the loathing all elves had for the necromantic arts. What Eric was threatening really was the equivalent of damnation in their eyes.

“I’ll raise them right back, and allow them to experience the sweet bonds of torment that will bind them to me for all time as they fight by my side til Earth’s final days. Do you understand what I’m saying, Arlen?”

The man choked back a sob, eyes red with tears. “Please… I’m begging you...”

Eric leaned real close, whispering softly in the man’s ears. “Oh, and the four hit squads the goblins had at their beck and call, including the ones used to take out Nicki Sufil and Grima? They serve me, now. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

Eric’s twisted smile widened as the elf lurched back and screamed when he summoned forth his soul bound Arcane sniper rifle in the blink of an eye. Before returning it to his ES Space so fast, one might think it but a trick of the light.

But no one in this room was so foolish as to believe that.

“Do you understand, Arlen Ort? The goblins already sent their best against me and mine. Now those assholes serve me for all time.”

Eric’s manic laughter echoed strangely through the domed office. “And hey, any time you feel like joining them for guaranteed eternal employment, all you have to do is make a move against me or mine. That would be a great way to let me know your interested in… how shall we put it? Fresh employment opportunities where you never ever have to worry about retirement.”

Eric then stood back up, ghastly distorted features once more easing into a smile that was almost… charming. He could see it by the reflection in the man’s eyes. “Not that those words of warning need concern anyone not actually hunting my people. And you’re not going to bother my people, are you, Arlen?”

The man desperately shook his head.

“Good! So of course we’re square, you and I.” Eric’s smile hardened. “We are square. Aren’t we, Arlen Ort?”

The man lurched back, jerking his head in a panicked nod. “Yes. Yes of course! Dead square. We are dead square!”

Eric smirked. “Wonderful. And hey, let me add this. Should you do what you can to ease Jinni’s transition into taking over the Terran Blue Corp banking charter… I’ll count it as a personal favor.”

His gaze hardened. “A favor big enough that I won’t feel it necessary to make a line by line audit of every transaction made during your stint as manager. You say we made a 127% return on equity? We can live with that. Any incidentals we might just be willing to overlook. But I expect a concise records of all our holdings. Especially human holdings.”

He gazed at the trembling elf for long moments. “I assume I can count on you make the transition for Jinni as smooth and painless as possible?”

The man flashed a panicked smile, lurching to his feet. “Smooth as silk, Your Grace. But don’t ever expect someone as soft as her to match the returns you could have had with me!” he declared before all but tearing out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

Eric took a deep breath, exchanging a glance with his mother as they both turned to a pale-faced and near hyperventilating Jinni.

His mother whispered a handful of syllables that sent shivers down his spine as they echoed endlessly through the room, subtly fading, but never stopping completely.

“It is done. You may speak at will,” she said with a satisfied smile.

“Are you okay?” Eric gently asked the trembling elf.

Jinni clenched her jaw, gazing at Eric with eyes damp with unshed tears. “I had suspicions. So many damn suspicions. But after today… it’s all so fucking obvious. I should have done something.” She swallowed. “Anything! Instead, that bastard...”

“Will no longer be playing bank manager, if I have anything to say about it,” Eric said, squeezing her hand. Jinni’s eyes went wide as she inhaled, pupils dilating with whatever scent she caught.

Eric smiled, pretending she wasn’t now gazing at him with naked hunger. “If he has even a lick of common sense, he’ll take the carrot I offered, sparing him the pain of a formal audit, so long as he makes the transition for you both safe and free of any hassle or headaches.”

Jinni’s bleak smile didn’t quite reach his eyes. “So long as I survive it.”

Eric shook his head. “I think all interested parties will know what happens if they try anything against you.”

“A brutal death, followed by eternal servitude in your legion of the dead?”

Eric laughed. “I see this beautiful damsel catches on quick.”

“Yes,” Jinni said with a surprisingly husky voice, soft fingers gently stroking his cheek. “I do.”

She then blinked, eyes widening, as if surprised by her own boldness, before clearing her throat, favoring Eric with a professional smile. “Though it may prove a significant challenge… I will do my best to square things away with our banking operations, and our real estate venture both. I do hope you don’t mind if I make use of a number of administrative assistants that I trust?”

Eric smiled and nodded. “Absolutely. And I think the banking side of things will be simple. We immediately pull out of any loansharking or any real estate involved in the slave trade. And we will only sell those assets to people willing to convert it to a new business. Those willing to do something legitimate with it. Adventurers can always use new inns, and I’m sure there’s all sorts of manufacturing innovators out there doing interesting things with magitech.” He shrugged. “Don’t know for sure. But what I do know is that any slaves currently marked in our asset column? We’ll bring them here. And we’ll offer them and their families both freedom… and a job. With no strings attached. They’re free to go the minute we get those collars off and fill their bellies with a hot meal.”

Jinni’s eyes widened, a slow grin creeping across her strained countenance. “Eric, that’s brilliant! It will both salvage whatever damage our reputation suffered in the last quarter, and assure us the most loyal and devoted of employees… People who will see us not as slavers, but heroes and freedom fighters! Best of all, we do it without a drop of blood being spilled!”

She furrowed her brow in sudden concern. “Eric, idealism aside, you know we’ll probably suffer a significant drop in working capital...” She blanched, her words stumbling to breathless anxiety when she saw the look in Eric’s eyes.

A look he immediately softened to an understanding smile.

“It’s alright, Jinni. The important thing is we really will be making a difference, and we can pull all the liquid capital here, where it belongs, helping to fund the first of what will one day be a dozen cities that will serve as jewels of our future Queen’s kingdom. All here in Ashland, all making us an absolute fortune, and churning out hundreds of high level adventurers able to take on the eventual monster surge that I know you’re not allowed to mention, but I’ve read too many post-apocalyptic progression novels not to know is coming.”

He smirked at the look of sheer horror she sent his way. “And if I had any doubts before… I have none now. But the important thing is that I know that I’m leaving both the bank and our real estate venture in the best of hands.”

He clasped her soft, trembling fingers with a smile. “Hands I know I can trust.” He winked and stepped back. “Hands that I know will make us both a fortune, and help guide every territory I can pull free of future beast tides to economic salvation.”

He chuckled softly at her helpless smile, her face an odd mixture of awe, exhaustion, bemusement, and desire. “So sure. Hire all the administrative assistants you want.”

“Well said, my son.” Aurelia commended before turning to the still flustered administrator. “And being as these are exceedingly precarious times, I’d be happy to… assist with a good half dozen of my most trusted advisers. Advisers who will happily swear loyalty as your personal assistants. And who additionally happen to be extremely skilled counterintelligence and surveillance experts, well-versed in all elements of security, as well as basic administerial tasks.”

She flashed a tight little smile. “Security specialists who have three solid months of foiling over a dozen assassination attempts. Before my son finally claimed the last of Snicklit’s anti-material rifles, and the assassins who dared to use them.”

Jinni blanched, gripping her table as if for dear life as she took deep, anxious breaths.

Before shaking her anxiety away, and favoring Aurelia with a poised smile. “Lady Aurelia Silver, I would indeed be grateful for any competent elves or humans you might recommend into my employee. I… believe that under the circumstances, should anyone inquire, a few bent rules can be more than justified.” Her gaze hardened. “And somehow I’m equally certain, given a certain individual’s favored status, that any number of people will be quite anxious to sweep all of this under the metaphoric rug as soon as possible.” She flashed a bitter smile. “And we can all pretend that his contracts aren’t proof that Arlen effectively sold out our banking charter to goblinoid interests.”

She turned to a frowning Eric, her eyes glinting with heat of her own. “And we will make no waves whatsoever about what occurred here, Your Grace, lest certain powers that be decide more than simple misdeeds must be swept under the rug. For I promise you, no matter what considerations are made, should a certain corrupt elf be permanently retired, I won’t be far behind.”

Eric winced. “Message received. As long as you’re in good health, he’ll never hear from me.” Eric flashed an apologetic smile. “But I do apologize for thrusting you into perilous waters.”

“It’s alright, Eric. If things progress as I suspect they will, Arlen will find plenty of exciting opportunities far away from Terra, and I will enjoy an unexpected promotion the moment Ashland turns a profit, and none of us will ever speak of this again.”

Eric turned to his mother with a tight hard smile. “Damn, but this reminds me of our old friends back in Cali.”

His mother snorted. “You’ll find certain business practices common the galaxy over. Just another battlefield. And how pleased I am to see that you can handle yourself in this arena almost as well as you can within your preferred one.” She flashed a teasing smile. “You may never be the actor your sister is. But your ability to project your wrath, to crush potential opponents with the weight of your gaze as you mercilessly negotiate deals your opponents will find exceedingly hard to refuse? Unmatched. Well done, my son.”

Eric gazed longingly out the window, eager to finally have an outlet for the furious maelstrom roaring in his heart that he knew he had to keep tightly bound for at least a little longer, taking a deep, steadying breath, not hesitating to make use of his most basic cultivation cycling technique in a desperate search for calm.

Congratulations! Acting is now Rank 6!

Negotiation is now Rank 10!

You have achieved Journeyman Status in Negotiation!

Perk automatically chosen! - Intimidation.

Master Criminal and What The Other Party Wants Perks make it effortless for you to sense just how to SQUEEZE your opponent with the force of your will and the intensity of your desires! Your competitors will understand the stakes they face trying to get the best of you more viscerally than ever before! You receive significant bonuses to your negotiation skill checks based on just how effortlessly you could kill all your competitors, or otherwise make their lives, and deaths, the stuff of nightmares!

“Eric?”

He couldn’t help smiling at the concerned tone he heard in his mother’s voice, flashing her a reassuring smile. “It’s alright. I’m just… eager to hunt.”

His mother flashed a reassuring smile. “I believe you have one final appointment, my son.” She turned to Jinni. “Would it be alright if I accompanied him?”

The Blue corp administrator frowned thoughtfully. “Now that I think about it, it should be no problem at all. It’s an imperial matter, and transcends the politics of a single world, so their should be no perceived conflicts of interest.”

She nodded, before turning to her son. “Would that be alright with you, Eric?”

Eric forced a smile. “You know what? That would be fine. Because I’m barely hanging on by a hair here. That FUCKING ASSHOLE was involved in selling Rica. HE SOLD MY GIRLFRIEND! If killing him wouldn’t put me at war with my only allies, and DOOM the only bank competing against the goblins… if I didn’t know that the sneering mocking elders of Snicklit tribe were hoping for JUST THAT OCCURRENCE! He’d already be DEAD! Stupid fool doesn’t realize that the only reason why he made 270 million, why he was able to get his claws so deeply in the slave trade, was because THEY WANTED HIM TO! It was an attack on me. He was just too stupid to see it!”

His mother gently squeezed his shoulder, making it clear she was reading his furious thoughts loud and clear. “Just a little longer. Come, my son. Unclench your fists, and let’s secure your holdings for the next era, at least, and call an end to the politics and paperwork you so utterly despise.”

Eric took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm, as Jinni quickly took the lead through luxuriously appointed corridors wreaking of old money, for all that the city hall couldn’t have been more than a week or so old, and still smelled a bit like sawdust and mortar.

Yet there could be no mistaking the aura of wealth, old money, and sheer, unbridled power from the silver-skinned sylvan waiting for them in what Eric suspected was the most luxurious room in the entire building. A grand arched ceiling sporting dozens of stained glass windows gave a cathedral-like air to a room as glorious as any noble’s hall, albeit with the trappings of the business elite. As evidenced by the fine bookshelves filled with tomes he knew the goblins would never sell, in addition to plush leather furniture, gold-filigreed tables of teak, black oak, and more exotic woods still, and a dozen exquisite paintings depicting bucolic landscapes that somehow represented each of his twelve delves.

Yet the woman seating herself at the far end of the conference table in the heart of the palatial executive office, dressed in an exquisitely cut teal blue power suit with the air of an imperial princess put all of that to shame.

Eric knew the weight and feel of power, having faced many a fearsome foe, even daring to pit his will against his mother, the Winter Queen. Yet the golden eyes peering with unbridled curiosity from features so shockingly perfect she was a living work of priceless art, froze him where he stood.

“Eric Silver?” Said a voice that caused the entire room to tremble, as if the shaking before the might of a deity beyond the pale.

And Eric didn’t need his mother’s fierce pinch to know what he must needs do, immediately flowing into a sweeping bow, and holding the pose, head lowered, even as his mother curtsied as low as any young maiden before a queen.

Until with the tiniest of nods, Eric sensed the awful tension his mother radiated ease to relief, yet only daring to raise his head when his mother’s genuflection was complete.

As was fitting for a prince who was but the least of all of the Winter Queen’s countless sons.

“It appears your son has netted himself quite the prize, Aurelia.”

“Yes, my lady.”

It was all Eric could do not to flinch in alarm to hear his mother affect such a meek tone with the woman gazing at them so speculatively from across the room.

The woman’s smile didn’t quite reach her calculating eyes, however, as her gaze froze a trembling Eric where he stood. “I have two questions for you, boy.”

Eric swallowed. “Ask, and I shall answer them to the best of my ability… Your Grace.”

The lady flashed him the tiniest of smiles. “One. Did you or did you not instruct one Lord Caliban, Terran head of the Blue Corp Faction, to authorize an Imperial Bond in your name?”

Eric swallowed the sudden lump in his throat, heart roaring in his ears, doing his best to concentrate… for all that he was screamingly certain that this woman could kill him. Effortlessly. With but a thought.

“I did, Your Grace.”

She flashed the tiniest of smiles. “Good. That saves us the trouble of a messy execution, and a headache with Blue Corp executives that I really don’t need. The Terran Administrators and goblin elders who dared insist otherwise, however...”

Eric couldn’t help grinning at that, sensing the sharp wave of sweet pleasure his mother was radiating by his side. The mirror of his own.

Shockingly, the indescribably beautiful woman before them snorted. “Your teeth are showing, Aurelia. And no, I won’t serve as your faction’s executioner. Not this time around.” She affected a yawn. “Grandfather had words with me the last time that happened. Yet one more headache I’d rather not repeat. Still, certain questions need to be asked.”

She shook her head, actually looking amused when she measured a trembling Eric once more with her gaze. “He dares to claim independence, when never before has any of your get echoed your soul to the degree that he does, Aurelia. And your youngest, so fragile, nothing like you at all. Best marry her to someone utterly safe and boring. The babies will be pretty, at least.”

At that moment she stood. Eric’s heart started to race, though whether in terror or exhilaration as her eyes roamed over his entire body, he did not know.

The smile she flashed was that of a shark, a second away from devouring its prey.

“Oh my. Look at those ascendant features. As if a thousand versions of himself had lived and died to harness the perfection of his own transcendent beauty.” She gave an oddly approving smile. “He clearly has potential… and he’s definitely Eve’s type.”

Her smile grew as she took a sniff with delicate nostrils. “He stinks of blood, death, and power. And he dares to use the System to synergize both a forbidden heritage class and Eve’s own cultivation path!”

Her throaty chuckle was enough to make Eric swoon.

It was all he could do to stay on his feet.

“Did you enjoy it?” The woman radiating such monstrous potency so as to eclipse even his mother whispered in his ear. “Did you enjoy savoring Death’s embrace?”

Eric swallowed. “Best rush I ever had. Even though it nearly killed me.”

This earned a throaty chuckle before her smile once more turned to a glare that could rupture his heart where he stood.

“Eric Silver, are you truly prepared to give the Empire 0.516 Trillion credits worth of gold to be used for an indefinite duration, a duration that could well be for eternity, in return for interest payments of whatever amount the imperial treasury deems fit, at whatever frequency they deem ideal?”

Eric swallowed, heart hammering in his chest. “May I ask a single question?”

She snorted. “Why not? Amuse me.”

“Does the interest rate and frequency of distribution match that of other imperial bondholders?”

The woman’s eyes lit with a brilliant sparkle. “Well done, boy. The only question that truly matters. And the answer is: Yes. To both sides of your question. Once more, your interest, should the Empire even bother to give its bondholders interest, will be sent to your personal imperial accounts to be withdrawn from the bank of your choice. And no faction may interfere with said bank, or your passage to and from said bank, in any way, shape, or form, during that time. And you shall enjoy a full day and night of immunity upon the moment you exit said branch, where you will be treated like the most honored of citizens, free to engage in all elements of commerce and trade as well during those 24 hours, with no penalties to be enforced, or seizure of property to be tolerated, after said period ends, whatever your normal status within that culture might be.”

Golden eyes peered intently into his own. “In other words, a slave could easily buy himself a palace, and it will forever be his palace… even if he can fill it with nothing more than rice and wooden furniture the next day. Assuming he didn’t just renew his temporary status by simply returning to the bank holding his account. Of course, in practice, such a man would quickly rise from serfdom to the highest rungs of nobility, if not seize the throne itself, in very short order, but the example stands.”

She flashed a bemused smile. “And yes. Any number of lucky souls fortunate and wise enough to invest in the empire take full advantage of this grace period to live in the heart of cities claimed by their sworn foes, while savoring every amenity none dare deny them as they live in perfect comfort in the heart of territory that considers them anathema.” She winked. “Here’s to hoping they never miss a day.”

Eric bowed his head. “Then it would be my great pleasure and honor to invest my 0.516 trillion credits worth of gold in the Empire.”

The woman dipped her head in turn, instantly all business once more as she handed him a golden pin thrumming with power far eclipsing even the mithril blade still sheathed at his side.

“Done. Here is your pin, boy. You may place it upon your lapel. And don’t worry, it will never come off.” She flashed a brilliant smile. “Or, you may go one step further, and bind it to your soul. Sensing what you are, blood mage, I assume this will be no problem for you.” Her smile was all teeth. “And seeing as you are now an Imperial Bondholder, no need to worry about bounty hunters coming for your head, for daring not one, but two normally forbidden paths. For no class is forbidden to those blessed by the emperor’s indulgence.”

She smirked, her gaze turning to his mother, and Eric was shocked to see something wistful in her gaze. “Probably the only reason why Aurelia allowed you to keep the gold in the first place.”

Shockingly, his mother nodded. “Correct. When I sensed the degree to which Eric has blossomed along his chosen path… I accepted the cost of securing the priceless bloom that is my son.”

Eric swallowed and bowed low before the indescribably powerful, beautiful, and deadly woman once more. “This one thanks you for your grace, assistance, and your time.”

The woman gave him an imperious nod. “Good. Long live the Empire, and may your fortunes grow alongside our own. Now leave us. Your mother and I have some… catching up to do.”

Eric, cheeks flushing, quickly nodded before darting out the door, pretending he hadn’t seen the way his mother’s eyes twinkled with something he really didn’t want to think about too closely as he darted out the door, giving a farewell nod to a terrified-looking Jinni who wouldn’t even dare enter the room, and stopping only long enough to knock on Arlen’s door and give the man a smile that was all teeth… Then Eric was out the front door, racing past the future city and towards the waist high grasslands for the dungeon entrance, his feet pumping for all they were worth.

And the sight of 16,000 bronze tipped spear shafts held ramrod straight and 25 feet high filled him with a fierce dark joy as he spared only enough time to dip his head before what were now several dozen startled elves, their commanders snarling at them to lower their weapons as they gazed at Eric with an odd mixture of awe and terror, before Eric addressed his troops.

“Alright boys, time to clear out some fresh territory! Standard marching order, and don’t knock over the elves, we got it? Good!” Eric happily called out entirely unnecessarily, the air ringing with the crack of thousands of gauntleted fists smacking bronze breastplates. And with his rune of resilience in play, he was damn certain every last piece was both harder and more resilient than top tier industrial steel had ever been.

In fact, the only thing that put a frown on his face was the complete absence of his mascot.

“Bunbun? Where are you, buddy?”

And Eric’s eyes were immediately drawn to a far too pretty young elf archer with his bunny on her head. She flashed him a teasing grin.

“Soldier?”

“Yes, Eric Orcbane, protector and savior of our people?” The girl replied with a twinkle in her eyes and a cheeky smile on her lips.

“Why is my bunny on your head?”

“That’s easy. He clearly wants to hook you up with someone who will keep you good company at night.”

This earned a chuckle from a few of her fellow rangers including Nils’ own group, and for all that her cheeks flushed, she didn’t drop her pretty violet eyes from Eric’s own.

Eric matched her grin. “I’m about to conquer some fresh territory. You’re welcome to tag along… but I’ll be racing along at a good 120 miles per hour.”

This earned a throaty laugh from more than one of the rangers chilling by the delve entrance. Including the girl. “We claiming New York now? This I gotta see!” She said. Because sometimes being forward payed big dividends, and she was more ballsy than Eric had ever been, so a part of him gave her major points. Even though he could predict what her response would be, before the words even left his mouth.

“Actually, we’re claiming the territory just east of this one.”

The joking rangers instantly went dead silent, gazing at him with looks ranging from alarm to bemused disbelief.

“You’re joking, right?” Said the girl armed with recurved bow and a blade that looked the exact same shape and balance as his 1821 Cavalry Saber. “You do know that’s an orange tier area. Right, Your Grace?” She gazed searchingly in his eyes for long seconds, before paling and stepping back.

“You’re serious. You’re willing to dance in waters with beasts up to four times the level of white tier zones.” She flashed an oddly apologetic smile. “You called my bluff. Please don’t hurt yourself on my account. Okay, hero?”

He chuckled softly. “No worries. Because it’s clear as hell we’re not going to have any civilization at all in a decade unless we start clearing now. Besides. It just so happens that I have an advantage most don’t.”

“Would that be inhuman strength and a smile that could spear any girl’s heart?” teased the young ranger as she approached close enough to put Bunbun on top of Eric’s own head, and grace his lips with a soft kiss of her own.

A kiss he chose not to resist. Even opening his mouth to savor her warmth… long enough for the pair to earn more than a couple of whistles, because soldiers were soldiers everywhere… before forcing himself to step back and wink.

“Nope! 16,000 orcs whose spirits are now infused with the souls of classic era pikemen who can charge in perfect formation with their 25 foot long razor sharp, leaf-bladed spears hardened by the Essence of Resilience, able to race across the plains by my side, five times as fast as any knight!”

The girl’s eyes widened with wonder. “We never got to see the battles you won. You have no idea how much I wanted to see you fight.”

She turned to look at her comrades gazing at them both so intently. “How much we all want to see you fight. But an orange tier area… Eric, even the periphery grasslands are stalked by massive leopards that can tear out your throat before you can blink! Faster, far faster even than our most elite rangers. And it gets worse as you go deeper in. Our scouts, the ones that survived, report horrors up past level 70 just a few miles in!”

She paled and shook her head. “The only blessing we have is that they don’t like the tightly controlled mana radiated by ‘tamed’ territories. Otherwise, we’d all be wiped out in the blink of an eye.” She reached out to squeeze his hand. “Eric, it would be suicide to take them on!”

Eric laughed aloud at that. “Then I think I have a certain advantage.”

“What’s that?”

“My troops are already dead.”