Adranial was a shrewd negotiator. Xavier wondered how she’d gotten that way. Something told him she was used to getting everything she wanted growing up, because she wasn’t familiar with the word no.
“You want first-clear rights for every dungeon you encounter?” Xavier raised an eyebrow. “That’s ridiculous.”
“Can you really put a price on their lives, Xavier Collins?” Adranial said in a crooning voice.
Xavier bit back a harsh response. “First-clear rights on one dungeon,” Xavier said. Considering what Adranial had asked for, he didn’t expect his offer to get a good reaction. Behind the white-robed woman, Elsie’s eyes widened for a fraction of a second, as though surprised. There was also the flicker of a smile on her face. Her emotions were quickly guarded a split-second later, however.
He held back a smile.
Apparently that’s worth a lot to them. More than I thought. Good to know.
“One dungeon? I asked for rights on every dungeon I encountered and you offer me one?” Adranial crossed her arms.
“It’s one more than you had before.” He nodded at the Blood Trackers in her hand. “I’m sure it’s worth what you have. How often does someone from your side of the Greater Universe get an opportunity like this?”
Adranial smiled. “More often than you’d think. A part of our training is coming to the Edge and mapping new frontiers. It’s not often we have such harsh restrictions on ourselves, however.”
“You’re the one who agreed to those terms.” Xavier was glad he’d added that they couldn’t go after Earth’s resources while they were on Earth into the contract. He knew it would give him some bargaining power, but he hadn’t really known what kind of resources Earth would have in the first place. He tilted his head to the side, realising something. “Besides, how often do Champions from the tower get to come to a newly integrated world before the five-year restriction is lifted?” He smiled. “Something tells me it’s not as common as you’d like me to think. How could it be? You would have levelled yourself out of being an invader. Now, you get to benefit from a newly integrated world and the Tower of Champions.”
Adranial didn’t respond to his words, instead, she put in another offer. “A hundred dungeons. A world of this size, there are going to be thousands upon thousands of dungeons. You won’t be able to get first-clear on all of them, Xavier Collins.”
Watch me, Xavier thought, but didn’t say. He paused for a long moment. He could almost feel their anticipation, as though it was something tangible, thick in the air. He couldn’t give them what they were asking for, but he could give them something. “Four. And that’s my final offer.”
Domical turned his head and looked at Adranial. For the first time since he’d arrived on Earth, the tank was tight-lipped. All he did now was tilt his head slightly to the side. Xavier wondered how much those massive, curved horns weighed him down, as his head dipped a little.
Like wearing a top-heavy helmet. Must be hell on one’s neck. Though his seems plenty thick enough to deal with it.
Adranial tapped a finger on her forearm and started pacing. “Your final offer?” A smirk slipped onto her lips, and it looked as though she wanted to keep pushing. But she didn’t fight him on it, which came as a shock to him. “Deal.” She put out her hand and they shook on it.
A contract appeared in his notifications stipulating the terms. Xavier frowned when he read it. “This says the Blood Trackers don’t have to find anyone, only look.”
Adranial shrugged. “You can’t hold me accountable if everyone you’re looking for is already dead. Blood Trackers only track the living.”
Xavier didn’t like the clause, but he supposed there was nothing to be done about it. He signed the contract.
I’m beginning to sign a lot of these.
He wondered what Earth would have been like before the integration, and all throughout history, if there had been System-binding contracts like these, ways to enforce and guarantee someone’s loyalty beyond a shadow of a doubt, at the expense of a portion of their freewill.
It certainly would have changed things. I’m not sure it would have been for the better, or not.
He still didn’t know how he felt about System contracts as a whole. All he knew was that he was glad they were useful to him.
Adranial deposited all but three of the Blood Trackers into her Storage Ring, then she touched the tip of the needle that held Howard’s blood to each of them—one for Howard, one for his daughter, and one for his son.
Rebecca and Michael. Howard told me their names when he thought he would have to sacrifice himself to get out of her contract.
That made a flare of anger blossom in his chest. Anger at this woman for putting Howard through that. Though the anger dissipated quickly at the thought of what she was doing for him now.
“How will we be able to follow all three of them at once?” Xavier asked.
That’s when he get a prompt—a notification.
ADRANIAL ——— wishes to add information to your mini-map. Do you accept this request? Anything she adds can be deleted.
Xavier accepted the request and opened his mini-map.
The spheres in Adranial’s hand shot up into the air all at once. They vibrated there for a moment, hovering in the space above Adranial and Xavier, as though unsure what to do.
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“You might want to open a window,” Elsie said.
Xavier blinked, then did as the woman suggested.
Then they shot away. One zipped to the left, heading in the direction that Howard and Siobhan had left the base in. The other two headed off to the right, swirling around each other as they soared. Not quite in the direction of Fronton, but close.
Good, that means his son and daughter are all together. I have to believe his wife is with them too. But it also means Howard was heading in the opposite direction when he left…
Adranial smiled. “Looks like his children are alive.”
“A good sign,” Domical said. “I thought they’d be dead.”
Elsie slapped Domical on the shoulder. “That’s insensitive!”
Domical blinked. “It is? But I said it’s a good sign. I thought that would be considered nice?” The tank looked quite baffled at the fact that his words weren’t taken how he expected them to be.
The way the other members of his party were all looking at him, however, made Xavier think these things happened all the time—especially with how reflexively Elsie slapped the man on the shoulder.
I wonder if he even felt it through all of that armour.
On Xavier’s mini-map, he now saw three new arrows. The arrows were red, pointing toward where the Blood Trackers had gone. A part of Xavier wanted to go to Howard and Siobhan first, and let the former cop know that his children were alive, and he knew exactly where, but he didn’t want to waste any time. He hoped that they’d managed to survive for this long meant they weren’t in any imminent danger, but he imagined their level of safety could change in an instant in a world like this.
He didn’t want to take any chances.
Xavier looked Adranial in the eye. “Thank you for doing this, Adranial. I know you weren’t doing this for me, or for Howard, but I think this will go a long way in your apology to him.”
“I was doing it for you, and for Howard. That’s why we were able to make a deal. If I didn’t have anything of value to offer you, you wouldn’t have offered me anything in return. There’s nothing wrong with a mutually beneficial exchange, especially when both parties have something valuable to offer.” Adranial bit her lip. “Isn’t that what any healthy relationship has? Mutually beneficial exchanges?”
“You make life sound so transactional,” Xavier muttered.
“Transactional? No, I think it’s beautiful. Everyone in the Greater Universe has something to offer. Isn’t that a wonderful concept, Xavier Collins?”
Xavier frowned. Perhaps she wasn’t as cold hearted as he’d grown to assume. There was something about the way she talked that he liked, if he were honest, and that was long before he’d met her in person. “I haven’t got time for philosophy, Adranial. I must go find Howard’s family.” He still had a mental connection via the Communication Stones to John back in the camp. He sent a quick message.
[There are four Denizens from another world currently in my quarters. They are allies, and are unable to harm anyone in the camp. Please let everyone else know so they are not frightened by their presence.] Xavier added that John should treat them with respect, but be tight-lipped with information.
“Safe travels,” Adranial said, giving him a little wave with her fingers.
“I hope they are not dead by the time you find them,” Domical said. He smiled, showing sharpened teeth. Elsie slapped him in the shoulder again. The big, demon-like man growled at her. “What?”
“Shouldn’t we go along with him?” Larson, the elf, asked.
Adranial shook her head. “This is something he has to do by himself. In the meantime, we’ll take this opportunity to explore.”
That was the last snipped of their conversation he heard before he was gone from the room. He could still speak with Adranial through their paired Communication Stones, if needed. He went down to where the open portal was, the one that would take him back to Fronton. He wasn’t sure if that would bring him closer to where the Blood Trackers had gone or not, but he was hoping it would. The arrows were all sitting at the edge of his mini-map. They kept growing thinner and thinner, which he imagined denoted that they were farther away.
That means they’ll grow thicker when I’m closer, so I’ll be able to tell.
When he stepped through the portal and arrived in Fronton, he checked his mini-map, and smiled.
The arrows were thicker. At least, the two that were heading toward Howard’s children were. The one headed toward Howard was so thin it was difficult to see.
Xavier deactivated the portal and grabbed the Portal Stone, depositing it into his Storage Ring.
He only had so much time before he needed to be back on the base. In less than two hours, people might start arriving. And if someone wanted to challenge him for the base, he wasn’t sure what would happen if he wasn’t there.
Better make this quick, then.
Xavier sped through the streets as fast as he possibly could, content in the knowledge that the next time he saw Howard he would be able to tell him his children—and hopefully his wife—were safe.
I’ll bring them back to base for you, man, he thought. I’ll make sure they’re never in danger again.
He couldn’t do that for everyone on Earth—not yet, at least—but he could do it for some.
~
Alistair Reed had never been very good at making friends. Apparently, it was even harder to make friends now that the System had come down, considering everyone he approached wanted to kill him. That he was happy to kill them in return didn’t seem to help his case when he tried to announce he was coming in peace.
Hard for them to believe I come in peace when cutting them to pieces…
He accidentally killed the first group of invaders he came across.
But Alistair was nothing if not persistent. Eventually he managed to get some of the invaders to listen to him—it was easy, when they realised they couldn’t take him, and that by refusing to fight, he was letting them live.
I only had to kill twenty of them before they began to listen.
The man he spoke to wore some kind of military insignia over his armour—every one of his soldiers did. They were all reserved, serious military men and women. Alistair was sitting inside a tent on the outskirts of Fronton—or what used to be Fronton, before the System had jumbled it all up. The tent was, remarkably, bigger on the inside than it was on the outside. The little oddity made him smile.
The military man sat across from him. Commander Flinders. “What you say makes little sense,” Flinders said. “It should be impossible for such a Denizen to have gained as much power as you are talking about in such a short time.”
Alistair leant back in his chair. He summoned one of his daggers to his hand. The gesture made Flinders flinch. Alistair openly smiled at that, then started cleaning beneath his fingernails with the tip of his blade. “I may be new to the Greater Universe, but I’ve learnt something these last few weeks.” He flicked his gaze up, locking eyes with Commander Flinders. “Nothing is impossible.”
Commander Flinders tilted his head to the side, as though he were listening to something. His eyes widened. He was afraid—though not of Alistair. At least, not right now.
“What is it?” Alistair asked.
“One of our camps has been destroyed.” Commander Flinders swallowed. “Commander Alden Trellot is dead. His head was… was thrown through the portal. Isn’t that what you said this Xavier Collins did?”
This man must be mentally communicating with someone. Interesting. And it appears as though he’s not the only invasion force from his world on this one.
“That’s exactly what Xavier did.”
Flinders looked afraid. He dropped his head. His lips moved, forming a word but not making a sound. Alistair couldn’t read lips, but he thought the word started with “pro.” Slowly, the expression on Flinders’s face shifted from fear to determination. Then, there was something of ambition alighting his eyes. “This man sounds too powerful to take head-on.” He locked eyes with Alistair. “We’ll have to set up a trap. What do you know of where he’s going?”
“He asked about Safe Zones for those under the age of sixteen.” Alistair grinned. “Finding one was rather important to him. It seems as though there are children he wishes to save.”
“Ah, well,” Commander Flinders started. “I happen to know where the nearest Safe Zone city is.”