CHAPTER 318 – A CONTRACTUAL AGREEMENT
Everyone was focused on Thor.
“I’m very happy to announce that the ritual was successful.” He waved the two pieces of paper around, the white of his teeth showing. He dropped his eyes to read the notes he had received.
There was silence.
Seconds passed.
“Thor, are you going to elaborate? Give some details?” Everlyn asked. “We’re all waiting.”
“Yes, I was…I’m just…” Thor didn’t bother finishing the sentence and there was no need. You could see his eyes darting from line to line as he consumed the contents of the note that Selena must have sent through.
“Thor, instead of reading in order to then sum it all up for us you could…… don’t know… maybe just read out loud to everyone. It might be quicker.”
He ignored Everlyn and flipped to the second page and then raised a hand to still any comments. Thirty seconds later he reached the bottom having clearly been skim reading. The unnecessary drama he had created was significant, and he was probably loving being the centre of attention. “Okay. I’ll summarise the contents and then if anyone wants extra details, I’ll make the note available. The ritual went down exactly as Tom had described. They agreed to half a day of peace to allow Selena to present her case. She successfully convinced them that the dragon was real and a threat. There were lots of reasons that contributed, but the fact she completed the ritual was probably the most significant data point for them. Also, surprisingly Vidja’s run in with the insects was critical.”
“What? The insects? While would they care?” Michael asked in surprise.
Thor grinned having clearly expected that response. “Because they had an altercation with them.”
Michael’s eyes widened. “They fought them? Did they win… they must have if they’re still there. That’ll make the final fight that much easier.”
The big man shook his head immediately to dispute the healer’s characterisation of events. “Easy there Michael. No need to jump to conclusions. That’s not what happened. They ran into one that was separated from the main swarm.”
Tom remembered his True Dreams and understanding of what must have occurred blossomed inside him. “They were left behind during the Vidja chase. If you remember they tested the zones Vidja was avoiding to see if they could find a shortcut. I guess they never tried to retrieve them afterwards. The leader abandoned them and left them to die. I knew the leader was a bastard… but that’s just cold and wasteful. It must have abandoned them and left them to die having figured the time cost of retrieving them wasn’t worth it.”
“Exactly. It says here—” he waved around the paper, “—that the story of the chase that Selena told them agreed with what they tortured out of the insect they caught. Anyway, that, the ritual, a truth sensing ability, the wador’s history of travelling through a zone that they think the dragon cleared along with the balancing box’s contents convinced the wador to cooperate with us. They came to a verbal agreement after all the facts were presented, and they were even willing to sign a binding contract to ensure that we work together with some level of trust. Their words, not mine or Selena’s.”
Keikain snorted. “Will they be able to slip out of that?”
“Doubt it because it was a quality version and cost almost four hundred thousand to buy. Luckily, there was an option available on the auction house, but I’m sure they would have spent experience otherwise.”
“What’s the specific text that was written in the contract?” Michael demanded.
There was a frown as the papers were consulted once more. “No verbatim was included. They’ve just paraphrased the contents and apparently it states we won’t harm each other until the dragon is dead, incapacitated, or there is evidence that it has left the trial.” Thor glanced around to assess what everyone thought about that description. He nodded with grim approval at the annoyance and concern that phrasing had created in all of them. “I feel the same as all of you. That wording is weak. It’s a concession, but not a big one. Though it’s sort of nice in that there is no pretence of us being anything other than two forces briefly aligned together. While the threat to both of us exists, they’ll cooperate but afterwards.” He shrugged. “Well, after that, it all disappears. They’re not our friends.”
“We shouldn’t be surprised,” Keikain said finally. “They’re competitors. In most encounters with them, we’ll end up fighting to the death. We need ranking points and so do they. Fighting each other is the best way to rise up the ladder. Don’t be confused by the chosen. None of the other races are like them.”
“Maybe the inventor will be the same.” Tom interrupted. “But yes, we need to keep the threat of treachery in mind.”
“Everyone,” Thor waved the notes in the air. “I haven’t finished.”
“How much was in that note?” Usko called out.
Thor flashed the front of the information sheet at them. The individual pieces of paper were small relative to what was on Earth. They were nothing like the standard A4 sheets of paper in the workbooks used at school and were instead closer to curl up on the couch novel sized. While the paper used had been lacking, Selena had not wasted any real estate on them. The scribble that covered each page was far denser than he expected. The writing was tiny with the letters packed close together without almost any white space. “It contains a lot.” He said dryly. “Now that stuffs out of the way. We can discuss the interesting bit. The wador also got a balancing box.” Deliberately, he paused and made a point of meeting everyone’s gaze.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
“Stop milking it,” Keikain growled.
“The contents of the balancing box perplexed them. They only received two items. A tier six Channelled Spear Launching skill.” Thor stopped talking for a moment as he tried to find the right words. “It’s more niche than it has any right to be for that tier. And the channelled description is disturbingly real as well. To utilise it, the cast time is three seconds, any under that it fails completely. Anymore and the effect of the skill reduces. Its effects basically enables you to launch a spear from a launcher with incredible accuracy.”
“No way!” Michael exclaimed. “With three seconds to cast and it being tier six it has to do far more than that.”
“I’ll get to that,” Thor said absently. Referring once more to the pages he held. “It had other bells and whistles. Increased speed, invisibility, deflection resistance…”
“Only that? Those extra effects are kind of more material than it being more accurate. Why didn’t you lead with that.” Michael complained.
“Not as fun, but here is the really fascinating part of the gift. In the fine print, the skill requires opposable thumbs to use it.” He wiggled his own to demonstrate. “That’s something that the wador don’t possess and Selena thinks it’s most of the reason they believed her.”
“Spear launchers and slingshots.” Michael summarised. “The tools to take down a dragon. Who would ever have imagined that?”
“Definitely,” Tom agreed with the statement with a firmness that was something more than him. The foresight he had received from the True Dreams had resonated with that statement. The battle plan remained unknown, but the type of tools that had to be used was effectively set in prophecy. “They’re the weapons.” He stated with the conviction of the absolute. Hopefully, between now and the future confrontation, he would be able to get more clues on how they could combine those unlikely elements to create something to destroy a monster capable of eliminating all of them at once without effort.
“So who of us is getting the skill?” Keikain asked. “Or do you think Selena is going to insist on it being awarded to one of hers?”
“It’s Rahmat obviously…” Michael said immediately. “At least it will be him once he gets his domain. Spear throwing doesn’t seem like a skill that Selena’s soldiers would get a lot of use out of.”
Everlyn shook her head. “No one for now. I believe it’s something that Tom’s skill will shed light on later.”
“And what was the other item?” Tom asked.
“A wood oil that protects an object from being detected by precognition abilities.”
“Another one?” Michael exclaimed in alarm clearly thinking about the artefact the giant had sacrificed for a couple of levels.
“Afraid so.”
Keikain cleared his throat. “Tom, we have to find out which of the enemies has something that requires us to hide our attack from foresight.”
“Agreed,” he answered quietly. “The balancing box’s contents definitely suggests its required. I’ll add it to my list. For now, I think my next directed dream has to be used to make sure Selena didn’t double cross us.”
As they jogged toward their next destination, a spirited debate occurred around what form the final battle would take. What items needed to be built and how all the various objects in the balancing box would ultimately come together to become something greater. The quantities they had been gifted were impressive. With the materials they had seen, they could arm all of them with spear launchers or sling shots.
With a contentious topic to amuse them, the journey was surprisingly enjoyable. With a flood of butterflies and Vidja’s team’s illusions protecting their front and back, they ran without risk. When they encountered trolls, it was usually after a charge had put them in the wall and under their overwhelming concentrated power they were destroyed in moments.
They arrived at the final cavern and decided to sleep before challenging it.
They set up quickly, and the dynamics of the camp were different from the previous days. Thor was as thick as thieves with Vidja’s team. Gerald much to Everlyn’s embarrassment was following her around like a puppy dog. She was completely uninterested.
It was a fun atmosphere where the new people had injected a vibrancy that was usually lacking. He knew he could take a couple of sips of the flask that Everlyn had supplied and engage with the happy chaos without a headache, but that path wasn’t responsible. Unfortunately, he needed his beauty sleep especially if things were speeding up. He laid on his blankets and drifted off.
He was expecting to dream of Selena’s team, but it didn’t happen. Instead, True Dreaming pushed him in a different direction.
Tom was in a body that looking down at trees that only came up to his chest.. her chest, Tom corrected his internal thoughts. Her form was heavier and thicker in the legs than he was used to. She was smiling at a giant that was lying on the ground.
“Why…” the prone figure whispered. “Why do this? What about honour?”
The mind he was in did not respond immediately. Instead, she looked down on the man she had felled with quiet pride. The single blow had splintered the middle leg joint. If she left and he somehow survived, he would not walk for weeks. Not that she would do that. She would finish him as was proper and for now, that process needed her to wait patiently for him to say his piece.
“Don’t pretend you’re honourable when you ambushed me. Your silence highlights your guilt.”
“I was always the strongest. This action just expedited things. But this is not about me. This is your chance, Hector to have your successes heard.”
“There is no honour in telling my story to the honourless. We were bonded.”
The mind he was in laughed internally, but none of that amusement reached her face. It would be unbecoming. This situation was too serious to be trivialised by stray facial muscles even if the other man did not think so. “There was no bond between us. We were not family, partners or friends. Our wider clans aren’t even aligned.”
“We fought our way free of the dread caves together.”
“I’m sorry Hector we were never more than allies of convenience. We were each others only hope of survival. That is why the ten of us joined.”
“It was more than that. We battled back to back once those weaklings were found wanting.”
“I had no choice but to fight with you, but ultimately, we are enemies of each other. If you were too dim-witted to see that, then I fail to see how that is my problem. I am the strongest and I’m affording you a chance to have your achievements heard. Speak or if you have no achievements to be honoured, then remain silent.”
“Three days… and you.”
Without hesitation, she brought her club down and brained the whiny fool. She had after all warned him multiple times.
“If you were the strongest you would have chosen the same.” She whispered.
The dream broke up, and Tom wondered what it meant. The discussion on the wador from earlier in the day played in his mind. That contract had stated that they would only be friends while the world was trying to kill them both. After that it was going to be a free for all. It was a warning about the future, and he planned on heeding it. He would not trust any of them.