Chapter Sixty-Four
Ambrose cocked his head. For a moment, he thought about just attacking. Vathwin likely wouldn’t have expected it, and he was absolutely the source of raising the draugr. He could see the black lines of mana extending out from him like tendrils of fine black threads.
Killing him would kill the draugr, ensuring victory and bringing experience, levels, and power. Ambrose grunted, deciding to hear him out. He could have information he needed.
“Ah, the little rat has decided to listen. Before you hear my proposal, you need to know the context,” Vathwin waved a hand around himself.
“I am a part of an Incursion into your world. Defeating me would go some way to you closing it, leading to rewards for you. Very tempting, I know, little rat. However, if you ally with me, that would also lead to rewards, as the System will see that as progress.”
Ambrose narrowed his eye,
“Why would you want to be my ally?”
Vathwin gave him a knowing smile,
“Survival, of course. Eventually, others will come, and I can’t be sure to defeat them. I need an ally. Partner with me, and you shall earn yourself a powerful friend with equally powerful resources at his disposal.”
“I see. What would you want in exchange?”
Vathwin spread his hands.
“A small request.”
Ambrose said nothing, and finally, Vathwin relented.
“Corpses. Provide me with corpses of fallen enemies, as many as possible.”
Ambrose thought of the graveyard in Avalon, the legion of skeletons below it, and all of the buried bodies there. He was also sure he could end the lives of more than a few prisoners below Avalon if needed. He wasn’t so ready to jump into this. First things first,
“You need to tell your draugr’s to stop fighting. I don’t want my men killed while we talk.”
Vathwin flicked a finger,
“Done. Now, what say you?”
Ambrose put his axe away, crossing his arms.
“I say that I’m doubting your motivations. If you wanted to ally, why attack us? That isn’t exactly making me want to trust you.”
Vathwin laughed, and it held all of the warmth of a frozen lake in the heart of a winter forest
“How else would I know you’re worth the trouble, little rat? The way you handled my housecarl, and the power you displayed showed me your worth. I couldn’t ally myself with a weakling, now could I?”
From a particular perspective, Ambrose supposed that made sense.
“How can I be certain you won’t turn around and attack me when my back is turned?”
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Vathwin shrugged,
“We will ratify the alliance under the System, of course.”
Ambrose chewed the side of his tongue. Entering into this agreement would allow him to gain more resources for the island. It would give Avalon another layer of defense. It also gave him someone else he would have to keep an eye on.
He may not trust Vathwin, but he could trust a System agreement. He knew you didn’t break those lightly. Misaq had taught him that. Noelle sent him a probing thought of concern, and Ambrose opened his mind to her so she could grasp what was going on. The arcane tiger sent a dismissive thought into his mind and turned her attention to licking her paws.
He suppressed a smile at the tigress. Ever a cat.
“Do you need a moment, little rat?”
Ambrose growled,
“That’s enough of calling me that. I agree to your alliance. Let’s draw it up with the System.”
It took some time, but Ambrose and Vathwin finally came to terms.
[You have entered into a contract with the entity you know as ‘Vathwin’ and the terms will be as follows: Vathwin will become your staunch ally, relocating to Avalon with you, assisting in your endeavors and defending Avalon as needed, and the terms will be as follows: Vathwin will become your staunch ally, relocating to Avalon with you, assisting in your endeavors, and defending Avalon. Additionally, any violent action on either parties part will terminate this contract. Do you agree?
Y/N?]
Ambrose gave a single nod at the prompt and willed his response to the System. The moment he did, notifications burst across his vision.
[You have allied with Vathwin. By doing so, you have closed a minor Incursion. Minor Incursions are usually small groups of beings from another world that have permanently entered a newly integrated world_. You have earned experience as a reward and have advanced to level 121. You may select two new skills or upgrades. View those options now,
Y/N?]
Ambrose pushed them aside for now.
“Can you get yourself to Avalon?”
Vathwin nodded,
“I can, indeed, paladin.”
Ambrose gave him a thumbs up,
“I will meet you there.”
Vathwin inclined his head, and Ambrose made his way back up to the surface.
______________
“It says we helped close a minor Incursion. We all earned a bunch of levels.” Darren said, his voice tinged with excitement as his gruff face smiled in satisfaction.
Ambrose allowed his gaze to pass over the group. Average level was fifty, now. They were definitely getting there.
“We are headed back to Avalon. Let’s move out, back to the boat.”
No one protested.
The trek back to the boat was uneventful, except for the conversation with Darren, who was none to pleased.
“So you entered into an agreement with a complete stranger. A stranger, by the way, who raises corpses into undead uber warrior who could turn on us at any moment. You don’t see any problem with this?”
Ambrose blew out a breath. He was getting tired of these confrontations with the other man.
“He won’t break a System contract. Besides, I think he genuinely wants an alliance.”
Darren groused,
“I think you’re being too trusting.”
Ambrose raised an eyebrow,
“Really? Okay, you tell me how we defend the island then, with just me and this small group against what will surely be a small army.”
Darren’s eyes gained a dangerous gleam, his jaw clenching. Despite that, he stopped and thought about it.
Finally, he gave a grudging nod, his mouth frowning,
“Okay, I guess I can see why you did it.”
Ambrose grunted, flicking a hand.
Before long, they were on the boat and back on the island. Once there, he called Andrea, Thom, and Darren to him, and they met in a nearby building Darren had built as the town hall area. A small room in the back, they sat around a wooden table, where Ambrose filled them in.
Andrea crossed her arms,
“A necromancer? Haven’t you read any stories? Those guys are peak evil, my dude.”
Thom gave a cackle,
“I think it’s brilliant! More troops for defending us, undead ones at that! Good job, sonny! When will he arrive?”
Ambrose raised a hand,
“Soon, I think. We need to talk about the defense of the island. How’s it coming?”
Thom spoke first,
“Well now, we’ve mined quite a few crystals. Your merchant man was able to sell it, so we’ve earned ourselves a tidy sum of SC.”
“Twenty-thousand,” Andrea added before he could ask how much.
Ambrose wasn’t sure whether or not he should be shocked.
Before he could expand on that, he paused. A presence had landed on the island.
Vathwin had arrived.