"Brother Soren. Welcome. Welcome!"
Achi warmly greeted the delegation of the Wild Bull Tribe. The Wild Bull Tribe sent twenty-five men, led by their chief, Soren.
The latter firmly grabbed Achi's hand and shook it. "It has been so long since I last saw you. You've grown up, Achi. You look manlier now. I heard you even married someone and got a child?"
"Haha, yes but that was years ago," answered Achi. He smiled and led the Wild Bull Tribe to the central place of the village.
A warm meal was already waiting for them. The Musclewood Tribe had long been preparing to receive these guests. After all, the Wild Bull Tribe was a large and powerful tribe. But more importantly, it was located at a strategic location between the Musclewood Tribe and the Tolden Encampment.
While the Musclewood Tribe had access to the dungeon, its value would significantly decrease if it became unable to trade with the townsmen. The Wild Bull Tribe was the key to the trade route. It remained neutral during the incident involving the Musclewood Tribe and the ten tribes but now that a clear winner had been decided, it approached the Musclewood Tribe.
The Wild Bull Tribe rarely concerned itself with the barbarian tribes. It preferred to focus its attention on the Tolden Encampment. Despite the existing agreement between the townsmen and the barbarians, the Wild Bull Tribe had been secretly exchanging goods with the Tolden Encampment, resulting in them becoming a powerful force.
Wanting to create some ties with the Wild Bull Tribe, Achi and the other members of the ruling council agreed to allow them to explore the dungeon.
They sat around the campfire as the women started serving the thick soup they meticulously prepared for hours.
"So. Explain to me this licensing thing," said Soren after emptying his bowl.
"Simple. We are inviting your tribe to send in twenty-five barbarians in the dungeon. We have set up a few rules but these mainly consist of basic things like not attacking the other tribes and not fighting over other people's loot. In exchange, we would ask for 20% of whatever you collect," explained Achi.
"We are still experimenting with this system. So there might be some changes. We also invited other tribes. They should arrive tomorrow with twenty members each."
"20%? And how long will we be allowed to stay in the dungeon?" asked Soren.
"For you, we will make it 15%. Our tribes have always been friends; there is no harm in giving you some benefits," said Achi as he recalled the Shaman's words. "As for how long, you can stay for as long as you want. We have also prepared tents for you to rest at the village. You can go to the dungeon any time you want but we would advise you not to go there at night. Once you decide that you've collected enough, just speak to me, Wesh, Ganya or Xena. We will check your loot and will discuss which portion we can take. After that, you are free to leave."
Soren thought cautiously about the offer. "Then, will that be a one-off thing?"
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"No no. As I said, we are just trying this system. We should be calling you again next week and in the future, we will set up a schedule for you to send your men at regular intervals."
Soren was indeed interested in the offer. The Wild Bull Tribe had been keeping a close eye on the Musclewood Tribe since it was revealed that they owned a dungeon. They would be lying if they said they were not jealous but at the same time, they could not fight the Musclewood Tribe over it. It was clear that the dungeon was helping them.
The solution proposed by the Musclewood Tribe might indeed be the best possible outcome. They would be able to farm their own resources from the dungeon without creating any conflict. They knew the greatest winner in this situation would be the Musclewood Tribe; all the tribes would have to get on their good side if they wanted a share of the dungeon's resources. However, the Wild Bull Tribe held an advantage as they could block the townsmen from coming to the Musclewood Village. If they played their cards right, they could benefit as much as the Musclewood Tribe from this situation.
Soren was cautious and asked: "We are naturally very interested in this offer but before this, I have one question. Will the conditions of your deal with the dungeon also apply to us?"
Achi was taken by surprise. He kept a straight face and answered: "We really cannot hide anything from the Wild Bull Tribe. We do have an agreement with the dungeon master. We will tell you more about it when we escort you to the dungeon but as long as you follow the guidelines, none of your tribesmen should end up severely injured."
"Very good then. As long as my tribesmen will be safe, we are willing to fully cooperate," answered Soren.
They continued to discuss the details over the meal. When they were reaching the end, Soren became solemn. "There is one more thing we need to discuss. It is about the giant meteor that fell near your tribe."
Achi frowned. The matter of the giant meteor had been kept secret by the tribe. Many forgot about it due to the recent events and the sudden licensing of the dungeon. However, Achi was well aware of the development surrounding the meteor. There has recently been a breakthrough in the research of the strange material.
Elsa, the head of the blacksmiths of the Musclewood Tribe recently managed to integrate the black shard in one of her weapons. The effects had been a significant decrease in the weight of the ax. As a result, she was able to significantly increase the density of the ax. The weapon became abnormally large as the amount of Black Steel used surged and in the end, the ax came out as a Grade 4 weapon.
Elsa broke through and became a Grade 4 Blacksmith. If the craftsmen of the empires heard about her advancement, they would not believe their ears. Reaching Grade 4 would usually take a whole year for normal craftsmen and yet, Elsa did it in a few months. It was all thanks to the combinations of her own natural talent, the notes, and blueprints left behind by the Black Iron Tribe's ancestors and the understanding obtained from the research of the Helyum Shards.
With the ability to make Grade 4 weapons, Elsa became one of the most prominent figures of the tribe. So much that the council was even thinking about expanding themselves to allow Elsa to represent the blacksmiths. However, the female blacksmith refused. She did not want to waste time in long boring discussions. She preferred to hone her skills and spend her free time with her son. Her living conditions improved significantly; she was already happy with the life she was having.
Achi carefully answered, "What is it?"
"The townsmen expressed their desire to obtain some of the shards from the meteor. In fact, they want to buy the whole thing but knowing your tribe, I already refused that. They are ready to pay a high price for the shards. Something tells me that they might even be looking for ways to get steal it from you," said Soren.
"Is that so? This is not a decision I can take alone. I will have to arrange a meeting to discuss this first."
"I understand. I hope we can still go to the dungeon."
"Of course. Why wouldn't you?"
...
Achi waved at the departing figure of the Wild Bull Tribesmen. They were impatient to start exploring the dungeon and made the request to go there right after their meal. Achi commanded a few barbarians to guide them there.
"Will everything really work out?" asked Xena next to Achi.
"Yes. It should be fine. How are the townsmen doing on your side? I heard that although they no longer fight at the camp, there is still some conflict outside. The camp they built next to our village is also very noisy sometimes."
"It's fine. From what I am hearing, more townsmen are making their way here with a lot of merchandise. They have been trying to bribe our tribesmen lately when I mentioned the licensing system to them. I will not hide that many tribesmen accepted the gifts."
"I see. The council has yet to decide which guild they would give permission to explore the dungeon but we should finalize it by next week."
"They are just trying to hasten things up and to get the other party to be kicked out of the village. It should be interesting to see what they will gift us," said Xena with a smile.
"It's fine to accept bribes but we must not get complacent and become lazy. Our tribe is growing quickly but we need to stay on alert to warn the hostile tribes. Let's convene the council for a meeting. Soren informed me that the townsmen are now eying the Helyum Shards. It is possible that they know the use of the shards. Aside from this, we also need to sort out the situation with the Brown Bat Tribe and the Pronghorn Tribe; what did Five mean by saying that they would be attacked soon. And finally, there is also the issue that the Vicious Rhino Tribe was exterminated overnight."