The new arrival turned out to be a woman from the other side of the world. All the way from Australia. Apparently she was from a city called Canberra. Though she insisted it was the capital of the country, Xavier had never heard of it. Besides, he figured it was a little too late to learn the world’s capitals, considering they’d all been shuffled around anyway. She wanted to speak with the first person to create a base on Earth in hopes that they weren’t an invader.

And because she had information.

As they spoke, she told him something amazing—the invasion forces that had her and her people pinned down, the ones they’d been fighting off since their tutorial had been interrupted on its second day, had left, simply having disappeared.

This had happened mere hours ago. At first, the woman—Alicia—had thought it was a trap. Some way for the enemy to draw them out of their defensive position and into the open. She’d sent scouts out to see what was going on, ensuring the scouts were volunteers, fully expecting them never to return.

But they had returned, and they’d come back with good—if confusing—news. They’d been aware of several different invasion forces within the general vicinity of where they were situated.

All of them were gone. Even their portals had disappeared. The enemy had decamped, leaving the world in a hurry. Even as Alicia spoke to Xavier, she still had scouts exploring the area.

Xavier smiled as the woman told him this.

“You… don’t seem surprised,” Alicia said. “Is the same thing happening here?”

“I haven’t checked,” Xavier replied. “Not yet. But it should be.” He paused. “And I’m the one responsible for it.”

Xavier and Alicia made a formal alliance, then, one they made official with a System contract. Xavier didn’t know how useful having allies on the other side of the world would be right now, especially when he wasn’t able to communicate with them.

Which reminded him, he might not be able to acquire enough Communication Stones to communicate with everyone he needed to, but there was a certain elf that he needed to make contact with.

I wonder if he’s received orders from his home world to return. The contract we signed might make that a bit difficult for him.

It was time to take a trip.

~

Xavier needed more Portal Stones. Hell, he needed a whole network of them. For now, a portal connecting him to Fronton seemed like the best idea.

When he found the elves’ hideout, for a moment he was worried they’d abandoned the place. It was eerily quiet, looking at the building from the outside. The entire city felt quieter now. On his way here, he hadn’t come across a single invader. He planned to get to the top of the building, right up onto its roof, and use the eyeglass he’d taken from Commander Alden Trellot to give him a good look at the city. He wanted to see if any of those portals had been left behind. More specifically, he wanted to know if the owners of those portals were still around.

If they were, he would have some cleaning up to do.

He stepped into the building. Looked around. As far as he could tell, the place was deserted. But he knew these elves had been trying to remain undetected.

Besides, Famarial and his people weren’t allowed to leave. Not until twenty-four-hours before the restrictions on the planet were lifted.

He made his way up the different floors. Part of him was beginning to wonder if they hadn’t simply abandoned the building. Famarial would find it difficult to take orders if he was nowhere his orders could be taken. Xavier realised next time he made a similar contract, he would have to be a little more careful with the terms.

But then he heard something. A soft thud in one of the rooms. He forced the door open and found a bunch of elves huddled in fear. None of them were Famarial, but from the looks on their faces they knew who he was.

Xavier grinned, and couldn’t help himself with his next words. “Take me to your leader.”

Famarial was in the same place he’d always been. In the top floor, penthouse apartment, with a couple of beautiful elves doting on him.

Xavier had to admit, it certainly didn’t seem like a bad way to spend one’s time.

“Xavier!” Famarial stood. His eyes widened at the sight of him. “I’ve been hearing a lot of things about you.” He raised his hands. “I swear, I kept quiet. I had to keep quiet. The System wouldn’t have let me talk even if I wanted to! Not that I wanted to talk! Of course I don’t. I love the arrangement we have going on. I’d do it even if I hadn’t been forced to do it! Okay. Well. That’s a lie. But the other things I said weren’t lies. You can trust—”

“Famarial.” Xavier raised a hand to silence the babbling elven leader. “Stop talking for a moment.”

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

“Right.” The elf nodded. Then quickly shut his mouth. He almost looked like he wanted to say sorry, but he kept himself from doing that. A small blessing.

“I exposed myself intentionally. Plans changed after I visited you and we made the contract.” He tilted his head to the side, cracking his neck, and couldn’t help but notice that this made Famarial flinch. He felt an odd sense of satisfaction at that, though Famarial currently had no reason to fear him. “Have you heard anything from those you sell to?”

Famarial scratched the back of his neck. “At first I was worried people would stop buying, but…” His eyes darted to the side, as though he didn’t want to say anything.

“But what?”

“But sales skyrocketed! Everyone else, as far as I know, has gotten the hell out of here. I’ve actually had a fair few associates warn me I should do the same. They think I’m crazy, sticking around.” Famarial smiled. “But that doesn’t stop people from paying. I’m the only potential source. The only one ‘crazy’ enough to remain.”

The elf shrugged. “It’s doing wonders for my reputation, even if everyone thinks I’m close to winding up dead. Fortunately, our gang—” He cleared his throat. “Our organisation, isn’t connected to any one world. That way, we can operate without someone having control over us, pulling us out.”

“Interesting,” Xavier replied. He certainly liked the sound of that. He tapped his foot on the ground. He could use this. In fact… “Do you have access to the System Shop?”

Famarial narrowed his eyes. “Not here. But I can get access. What do you need?” He looked eager to help. His fear of Xavier had only grown.

Right now, what Xavier needed the most was a way to communicate with his people, and a way to get around.

“Portal Stones?” Famarial said after Xavier had requested them.

“Portal Stones.”

Famarial ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t know how easy that’s going to be, my friend. Portal Stones are expensive. Buying a pair of them would wipe out a lot of our profits.”

Xavier narrowed his eyes. He didn’t really care about the man’s profits, but he also wanted a good working relationship with the elf. He’d already pushed the man into a contract. He didn’t want to push him into everything.

Even though he very well could.

Xavier smiled. But he didn’t need access to all of this man’s profits. There was a way that this could benefit both of them. A way that would make Famarial happy. And if he made this elf happy, he’d work for Xavier more willingly, which meant he’d be more likely to bring ideas to him and help him out in other ways.

Xavier already had access to plenty of money after he’d made that councilmember take everything out of her Storage Ring. To his surprise, there hadn’t been a great deal of spirit coins in her Storage Ring, but there had been a lot of items.

Xavier showed the elf the items now, placing them on the ground one at a time. He’d been through them already. The councilmember hadn’t been a fighter. He hadn’t been able to find anything all that useful to himself. But he was sure the things she did have would be worth a pretty penny.

Famarial’s eyes widened as the items appeared on the floor around Xavier.

“If you’re able to sell these, do you think you’ll gather enough spirit coins to buy me a few pairs of Portal Stones?”

Famarial swallowed. Something told Xavier the elf’s poker face wouldn’t be all that convincing. He nodded. “I’d definitely be able to manage that.” He frowned. “Where did you get all of this?”

Xavier smiled. “From a D Grade I killed,” he said casually.

“A D Grade?” The elf narrowed his eyes. “Really? How did you get through the fail safes on their Storage Ring?”

“I used mind control to have her give me all the items, rather than getting them from her Storage Ring after she died. It made the process a lot easier,” Xavier said. He was a little disappointed the elf had mentioned there were fail safes for D Grade Storage Rings. He’d been careful not to try and open any of the Stroage Rings he’d gotten from the D Grades he’d killed just case they had taken precautions to protect their things, but he’d been hoping he was being paranoid.

Apparently, he wasn’t been paranoid. He’d been right on the money.

“Do you know how to get past the fail safes?” he asked, trying to do so casually.

Famarial narrowed his eyes again. “You really took down a… a D Grade?” The man didn’t look afraid as he said it. Surprised, maybe. But there was a curious glint in his eye. “That was in one of the information packets…” He trailed off. Shook his head. “But I was struggling to imagine how that could be possible. No wonder people are afraid of this place.”

Xavier grinned. “People are afraid of Earth?”

Famarial nodded vigorously. “After what you did, I don’t think you’ll have anything to worry about.” He paused. “For at least five years.”

Xavier grunted. He had plenty to worry about. There were other threats to deal with on this world, even if those weren’t threats that would directly impact him. Just because the invaders were gone—and he hadn’t confirmed that they were all gone yet—didn’t mean the world was safe for the people on it.

There would be billions of people out there—assuming that many people survived so far—who had no idea what they were doing. The invaders might no longer be a threat, or the at least, the threat they once were, but there would still be countless beasts roaming around.

Xavier frowned, remembering the necromancer woman he’d made a deal with back in the Deathly Dungeon. Romalda Heralda. He’d been planning to send enemies her way. To help her level up and break free of the dungeon. He smiled inwardly as he just thought of the perfect person to send her way, assuming he ever got the opportunity.

With the invaders gone, it’s going to be harder to live up to my deal with her.

He’d have to figure something out. He couldn’t imagine just how much of an asset a former B Grade could be for him. Besides, she would have invaluable information on the Tower of Champions.

Xavier put his focus back onto the task in front of him. He hadn’t taken that long to respond—maybe a couple of seconds—but Famarial was looking at him expectantly.

“You can share in the profits of the sale of these items,” Xavier said. “Ten percent.” He took a step forward. Poked a finger at the elf. “But if you somehow manage to screw me out of my money, or my items, I assure you there will be consequences.”

Famarial looked a strange mixture of elated and afraid. He wore the expression well. Something told Xavier it had been a weird couple of days for the elf.

It took a moment, but the elf composed himself. He stood straighter. Adjusted his clothes. Then he stared Xavier in the eye, that glint in his gaze. He was seeing the opportunity he had—the position he was in.

He was getting in on the ground floor of a True Progenitor’s rise, and all he saw was the profits he could make, and the power he could gain. Which, incidentally, was exactly what Xavier had wanted the elf to see.

“I can get you what you need,” the elf said. He spoke confidently, Xavier imagined it was the same way he spoke to those under his command. “Now, about the Communicators that you wanted.” The elf grinned. “How many were you after?”

“As many as you can give me.”