Groggily pushing himself out of bed, James dumbly looked at the morning sun streaming through the window before realizing that his quick nap had extended more than expected.
He had been exhausted when he got back, more so mentally than physically, but he hadn’t expected to sleep for so long, considering how he had returned home before dinnertime.
I must have looked like a mess since they didn’t wake me up. I know they must be dying to ask questions.
After a quick stop to the bathroom to relieve himself of the pressure in his bladder and to wash his face in an attempt to wake up further, James finally walked downstairs, where he could feel his grandparents waiting in the living room.
The moment he set foot off the stairs, his grandfather stood up, only to be stopped by Rosa. “Oh Larry, he’s not going anywhere. Let him eat something; he must be starving since he didn’t have dinner yesterday.”
As she said it, James’ stomach rumbled in agreement, and he grinned embarrassedly, quickly shuffling to the table that was still laden with scrambled eggs, fresh bread - one of his grandfather’s fixations, as he said the classic American sandwich bread was an abomination - fruit and, thankfully, coffee.
Drinking from his mug with great gulps, James finally started feeling human again. He knew that coffee couldn’t have possibly already worked its magic, but he was content with his placebo-induced wakefulness.
Once he was done scarfing double what he usually would have eaten, James quickly washed the dishes under his grandparents’ gaze, all too aware that he would need to explain himself soon.
Technically, I didn’t do anything wrong. They know I’m an Awakener, and it’s just common sense to expect one to go on dungeon runs. But I wasn’t very forthcoming and then came back all dirty with crusted blood and torn clothes…
With his task finally done, he couldn’t delay anymore, so he took his place on his favorite couch, meeting his grandfather’s eyes for the first time that morning.
Surprisingly, he found very little anger or disappointment. Instead, worry and sadness were the main emotions, mixed in with something else, a bittersweet twist to his lips that he couldn’t exactly place.
“As you might imagine, I went to a dungeon and fought the monsters inside.” He began, deciding to cut to the chase.
“I was actually successful in completing it.” He added, getting surprised looks. Even clearing just a H-rank dungeon was a great accomplishment for a new Awakener, especially one who had gotten his powers less than a week before.
Once they had gotten their gasps under control, James continued. “It was the squirrel dungeon in Central Park, so the very weakest one available. I managed to defeat the Boss by myself and then was helped by an AA Agent with a potion to recover from the cuts it had inflicted.”
This was the bit he enjoyed the least. He wasn’t about to lie to his family, especially because they knew him too well. Still, if he went into detail about the extent of his injuries, and more importantly, how much the elixir he had been given was worth, he’d never hear the end of it.
“I realize that it was reckless of me.” He added, gaining a scoff of disbelief from Larry, who then gestured for him to continue with an errant hand wave. “I really know it. I took many precautions and still went in for the Boss because I got overconfident. It would have sucked to go to the hospital because of that, so I’m very grateful to Miss Walker for her help.”
“And what did she want in return?” Larry asked, honing in on the crux of the matter.
“She followed me in because she recognized me from the AA test I took the other day, and she has been assigned the leadership of a new team of rookies they are forming, which she wants me to join.” James explained, pulling out his phone to check his email.
As expected, one [email protected] had sent him a message with a document attached. Inside the file was a contract a dozen pages long, and by the very quick skim James gave it, it was more or less what he expected it to be.
Passing the phone to his grandmother, who had been silent so far but had extended her hand when he showed them the contract was real, James settled back, waiting for their judgment.
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“What did you have to give her in exchange for the potion she used on you? Those things are mighty expensive.” His grandfather asked, returning to the topic he felt the most strongly about.
James sighed, having known it would be a point of contention. “I gave her the Boss and its mana stone in repayment. She didn’t want anything at first, but I insisted, not wanting there to be a debt between us, just like you taught me.”
The hint of a proud smile on Larry’s face might have been an illusion with how quickly it was concealed, but James knew the old man well enough to realize it was real.
“This is a generous contract, dear.” Rosa finally interjected, handing the phone back. “If you want to consider it more seriously, though, we should have someone look at it.” She gave Larry a look, and he stood up with a grunt, walking over the landline to grab the black agenda where they kept all their numbers.
“Thomas should be perfect for this.” He commented, finger skimming the pages until it stopped over a name.
“Wait, I still haven’t even thought about this! I need time before committing to such a huge decision.” James complained, not liking how quickly things were moving. He wasn’t necessarily against it, but his main concerns with working for the AA were the lack of funding and their overall submissive attitude to the Guilds. Still, if the first problem had been resolved, at least in the specific instance of his future team, James might seriously look at it. That didn’t mean he wanted to choose now!
“Yes, dear. No one is making you do anything. But it’s important to know whether it's a legitimate offer. Only then can you truly start thinking about it.” His grandmother explained calmly.
“No use wasting time if this thing is a trap or scam of some kind.” Her husband agreed, punching in the numbers.
Before the call could start, a series of strong knocks at the front door stole their attention. Considering how it was Saturday morning, and they weren’t expecting anyone, this was surprising.
Extending his Awareness in that direction, James found two presences, much stronger and more noticeable than the average person.
Immediately, this put him on high alert. “Two Awakeners. Do you have any idea who they might be?” He asked, even though he already had a suspicion.
“Absolutely not.” Larry replied, putting the phone down for the time being. He made to go for the back, where his firearms were stashed, but James stopped him.
“I think they might be Guild recruiters. I have read many times that the AA leaks like a sieve, so they might have already gotten access to my data.” He explained. Greeting two guild members with a gun was not the best idea, simply because while firearms were still useful up to rank-C, especially high caliber ones, starting a confrontation like that was an excellent way to make an enemy they couldn’t afford.
One of the reasons James hated the Guild system so much was that they basically operated like gangs or mafia families, with grudges and acts of revenge they constantly enacted on each other.
“Let’s see what they want first. We might be able to send them away without resorting to that.” He added when seeing that the old man wasn’t convinced. Larry sighed, acquiescing to his grandson’s request.
When James finally opened the door, it was to find two well-dressed men in expensive-looking suits, with what looked like gold Rolexes on their wrists.
Jesus. This is such low-level manipulation. Who do they think I am, some bumpkin ready to throw away my rights simply for some money?
Still, he let nothing of his internal thoughts shine, keeping a friendly smile on thanks to his customer service training “Yes, how may I help you, gentlemen?”
The taller of the two, a blonde man with a well-groomed, full beard and bright blue eyes, extended a hand holding a paper card. On it, the golden emblem of the Golden Sun Guild was stamped, one of the top ten such organizations in New York City.
“My name is Bradley Esposito, and this is my colleague Jeremy Truss. We come from the Golden Sun Guild because we have heard tales of your talent, Mr. Summers.” He said, gesturing to his shorter companion, a hook-nosed and stoic man who merely inclined his head.
“We don’t want to take too much of your time, as you might be busy preparing to run another dungeon.” He added, immediately revealing that they knew everything that was on his file at the AA. “We are here simply because we want to offer you a very generous entrance package if you accept entering Golden Sun. This is not a common offer, as we would place you in one of our subsidiaries to nurture you into a high ranker worthy of standing with us.”
The smile this Bradley gave was a professional one, like a devil bartering a poor man’s soul. Even had James not been ideologically and personally completely against joining a guild, the sheer smarminess exuded would have turned him against it.
“A copy of our standard contract and the bonus package included in it should be arriving shortly, both to your email and that of your grandparents. You do well in valuing their wisdom so much, Mr. Summers. Grandparents are always missed greatly when they are no longer there.” The blonde finished, his tone taking a colder shade in the end. It wasn’t enough to be threatening, but James wasn't inclined to be charitable, considering that he had explicitly referenced things he shouldn’t have access to and come to his house uninvited.
Before he could respond, however, the other man motioned to his watch, showing Esposito the time. The blonde grimaced, turning to James and giving a very shallow nod. “I’m sorry to say that we have to cut this short. I would have liked to speak with you more and tell you all about the wonderful things you’ll have access to in Golden Sun, from fantastic trainers to powerful equipment and access to even better dungeons, but we have to run.”
Not having allowed him to get a word in during the whole conversation, the two Awakeners were enveloped in a shiny gold light and with a wave, they shot up into the sky, their speed such that James immediately lost track of their ascent.
The whole thing couldn’t have lasted longer than a minute, but from the sweat collecting on his back, James could have sworn it was much longer.
So the carrot is the benefits, the money and the image of wealth and power they displayed. The stick was showing me that they knew exactly who I am and who my family is, where we live, and a vague reference to their possible deaths. Fucking guild bastards. The Golden Sun’s subsidiaries are the Eclipse and the Radiant Guilds… Yeah, no.
It took James a couple of minutes to calm his anger. He managed to keep himself in check before because of the knowledge that anything he could try would be entirely useless against what had to be at least C-rank Awakeners. Now, he wouldn’t be surprised if smoke were billowing out of his ears. He stomped back in, closing the door with more force than strictly necessary.
“Well?” Asked his grandmother, who was pale-faced and clutching at the armrest. James turned to his grandfather, motioning toward the phone. “Let’s make that call.”