When dawn broke, Adaline took a shower and said her farewell. She would break her fast with Hizanko, it would be their last meal as Master and apprentice. Adaline activated the amulet and was pulled away by a space displacement.
After her departure Tuck went to the library and did some reading while waiting for Manager Kenon, soon one of Kenon’s servants came to invite Tuck to break fast with the Association Manager. Tuck followed the young servant through the complex into the dining area where Kenon sat a female Sphinx. They didn’t call themselves that, they called themselves the Narasimha but to Tuck they looked like Sphinx of legends
As Tuck walked in he studied the cat woman hybrid. She wore a golden circlet on her brow shaped like a flaring cobra, her hair was jet black and cut into a bang just above her shoulder. Her skin was a dark brown which made the yellow of her cat-like eyes seem more pronounced. Around her neck she wore a blue and gold wesekh which covered her human shaped breasts. She wore bracelets and bangles on her fore limbs, which ended in digits that blurred the line between fingers and paws. She kept her glossy black wings tucked onto her sides where they were nearly invisible against her black fur of her bottom half.
“Greetings good brother Tuck!” Kenon stood up and exclaimed. Tuck noticed that Kenon’s nouns for him were getting more intimate the longer they knew each other.
“This is Ancestor Lumis of our Merchant Association. She is one of our few Sacred Enchanters.” Tuck and Lumis exchanged bows. Once again Tuck was the tiniest person in the room, the discrepancy was not as huge as when he met the goddesses but Lumis was over 2 metres (7ft) while standing on all 4 legs and Kenon was above 3.3 metres (10ft). Even Kenon’s servants, who were all Niwach, towered over Tuck’s meagre 1.9 metre (6ft 2) height. Tuck rolled his shoulders to shed the conceptual weight of a growing inferiority complex and stepped forward.
“I am Altair Bashtuck, Master Enchanter and travelling Bagman of our Merchant Association. Well met.”
“Well met indeed.” Ancestor Lumis agreed, her voice was deeper than he imagined but still feminine, she took her time to form her words which made her sound very proper. Kenon gestured them all to take their places and they began a working breakfast.
“Master Bashtuck, Manager Kenon has spoken of your enchanting prowess. We checked with Director Opcide who confirmed that you are indeed as good as Kenon said. The Association really appreciates its gifted members. As such I am here to offer you the honour of being one of our Sacred Enchanters.” Ancestor Lumis informed him, Tuck was taken by surprise.
“Ancestor Lumis, I thought you were here to negotiate the trade between my family’s manual of the Magic Barrier-Pillars and the Association’s Manual for Transit-Gates.” Tuck sought clarification. Lumis took no offence, smiling as she popped a piece of chicken in her mouth.
“We studied the Magic Barrier-Pillars you made for Manager Kenon, those will be a paradigm shift in future city building. Once we have the creation manual they will be added to our list of Sacred scrolls. Since you can already make them and will soon be able to make Transit-Gates it just makes sense to add you to the higher echelons of the Merchant Association Enchanting department.” She smiled in a way that made the hair on Tuck’s hand stand on end.
“Give me the contract.” Tuck said. He caught Lumis off guard who was expecting more questions.
“You are making the right decision.” she said as one of her bangles glowed and a folder appeared in her hand.
“I’m not signing anything until I read this front to back and find what it is you are not saying.” Tuck said as he opened the folder and began reading the document.
This new contract would replace his original one, It didn’t take long for Tuck to realise that being a Sacred Enchanter would mean jumping levels in the Association’s Hierarchy. He would no longer be a free agent.
People like Opcide and Kenon didn’t know the scope of the Merchant Association because they held positions like City State Director and Branch Manager but this contract spelled out the Association to Tuck very clearly.
Every permanent member of the Association was a shareholder, they were technically at the top of the business but not really. The real heads were the Founders, Tuck had no clue if they actually founded the Association or not, but they acted as a board of directors.
The Dyson sphere of Shaards is divided up into 7919 Sectors and each sector had an Ancestor, basically a regional CEO, who had their own staff. This is where Lumis sat. Below them the Sectors are divided further into Quadrants and which were usually overseen by Elders. Tuck wasn’t surprise to find out that despite the distance he had travelled since arriving on Shaards he was still in the same Quadrant. Further down the corporate ladder below Elders then they have City State Directors like Opcide followed by Branch Managers like Kenon and finally Bagmen.
There were all kinds of other positions in there like Scribes who were like lawyers and Enchanters who were Technicians. Being a Sacred Enchanter or Scribe was like being a Specialist in a Multinational Corporation. He would be sent from place to place to do jobs too important or too confidential for local talent to handle. It was a lot of power but much less freedom. Tuck would hold the position of Elder and would be a permanent member of the Merchant Association Advisory Board.
“This is a lot of commitment but I am not adverse to it. The question now is how much are you going to pay for my family’s Manual?”
“We are making you a Sacred Enchanter, that is a fair trade for all you will get access to.” Ancestor Lumis retorted.
“Tying me to your organisation will be a great benefit to you, but only a minor benefit to me.” Tuck pointed out. He knew that at some point in the future he would get to use one of the Association’s Tranis-Gates, at that moment he would be able to copy the myriad of Enchantments that made the device function, just like he was able to do with the Spatial ring.
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“I had proposed a trade where I and the Association would both get a new manual but the Association is looking to swallow me and my treasure whole.” Tuck continued.
“At your own admission the manual for Magical Barrier-Pillars is incredibly precious, once it becomes one of the Merchant Association’s ‘Sacred Scrolls’ I doubt my descendents will be allowed to inherit it.” Tuck took out a slender scroll box from his reservoir. Lumis and Kenon both analysed what they could see and were amazed at the age and strength of the preservation spell. The enchantment on the box alone was worth Bashtuck’s promotion.
“Unless the compensation is good I may not be able to sell this heirloom without consultation.” Tuck hedged, he saw their reaction to the box and knew he had them in his confidence scheme.
Antiques were highly prized because Shaards was so volatile, Ancestor Lumis and Manager Kenon had no way to know that the manual for the Magical Barrier-Pillars was written out while Tuck waited in the library and the box it sat in was bought from the Warren during Tuck’s first exchange with the Militia.
It was Tuck who used his abilities to engrave the box with an improved version of one of the strongest preservation enchantments he had ever seen, he had then sealed the Manual in the box and finally used his time manipulation to subject the box to thousands of years of ageing. So that when he took it out and put it on the table it seemed to be a true legacy item.
Lumis shook herself and pulled her eyes away from the box. She laughed before replying to him.
“Don’t try to difficult Master Bashtuck I know your Clan is defunct, you've only started rebuilding very recently. There are no ancestors or Elders over your head. All the decisions are yours. Just say what it is you want.” Lumis cut through the nonsense.
“Fine, I’m looking for autonomy. I get sent a list of what jobs need to be done, where and how much each pays and I pick the ones I want. Plus I will only answer to the Founders.” Tuck offered.
“That is doable but there must be a minimum quota.” Lumis countered.
“That is ok.” Tuck said as he sipped his juice. Lumis took back the contract and had one of her assistants join them to amend it while she finished her meal. Kenon quietly ate his bacon while looking back and forth between his two guests, just for facilitating this deal he was going to be made Director of New Gorram which was to be rebuilt out of the ashes of the original city using the new Barrier-Pillars.
By the time the table was cleared the new contract was completed. Tuck read it again and being satisfied he signed below Lumis, who acted on behalf of the Association and Kenon signed as a witness. Tuck handed Lumis the manual for Barrier Pillars and was surprised she passed him 3 other manuals; Living Map, Secret Realm and Transit-Gate.
Tuck rolled his eyes when he noticed none of the Sacred Scrolls were actual scrolls.
“You will be added to the list of Sacred Enchanters and hold the rank of Guest Ancestor. You have a year to master the enchantments for those 3 items and complete either 100 small commissions or 10 large ones. Feel free to mix it up.” Ancestor Lumis informed Tuck who had opened the Transit-Gate manual and was carefully flipping through the pages.
“I believe Director Kenon may have your first large commission.” Lumis said before she dismissed Bashtuck and Kenon from her mind. The enchantment for force fields had been lost long ago and she had spent years after the rediscovery of Gorram trying to rediscover the lost technique with little success. Now she had the step by step guide and full schematic, Lumis reverently opened the Manual for Magical Barrier-Pillar and began to read.
“Congratulations on the promotion.” Tuck said, which made Kenon beam. Both men paused to glance at Ancestor Lumis who was reading the Manual for Magical Barrier-Pillar and had begun to purr. Ignoring her, Kenon replied.
“Thank you, good brother. I need 200 Barrier-Pillars so I can begin reclaiming the city. The Merchant Association has agreed to provide all the materials but I have to find my own funding.” Kenon gave a pained smile, he hoped Tuck would give him a discount. For his part, Tuck didn’t need money, he needed resources.
“Send in a request form for the raw materials to make 300 Barrier-Pillars, I’ll take 50 finishished ones as my payment.” Tuck suggested, this would save him all the hassle of trying to procure enough marble, gold and Energy crystals to build Barriers for himself.
“Ah, you seem to be a bit of a hustler.” Ancestor Lumis noted.
“Maybe a little but I am also a very good fellow to know. I believe I see a solution to the size, distance and power problem our Association is having with Transit-Gate Magicology.” Tuck said, waving the Transit-Gate Manual in his hand. Ancestor Lumis closed the manual in her hand and pounced over the table next to Guest Ancestor Bashtuck. Director Kenon excused himself as the two enchanters began an animated conversation about their class.
Things were looking bright for the Merchant Association.
***
Kenon had moved swiftly and had all the materials before lunch time. By then Lumis and Tuck had completely re-written the Transit-Gate manual. Ancestor Lumis had a dream of Transit-Gate in every major City State but Tuck pointed out how that would adversely affect the Association’s Merchant Fleet so Lumis’ new proposal to the Founders was one Transit-Gate per quadrant.
Once again Tuck turned down material rewards in exchange for something else. This time he asked for information on the 'Sacred Realm'. Lumis took Tuck’s request and left to submit their proposal.
Tuck thought about his next moves while shaping and enchanting the 300 Magical Barrier-Pillars. During his travels with Adaline Tuck had begun to collect soil and grow his own self-contained ecosystem. A garden with a lake, its own water cycle and an artificial sun. It had been a huge success but it was only a proof of concept.
In the future Tuck wanted a massive Clan but the situation with the Warren made him doubtful of settling down within Shaards. Instead he was considering down his roots ON Shaards.
The outer shell of the Dyson sphere Shaards was deserted. It had no sunlight and no atmosphere but Tuck had Magical Barrier-Pillars, and the experience to make self contained ecosystems. Now he knew how to create Transit-Gates to get to and from his base all he needed was a location. Tuck figured that in areas where the world’s shell was fractured, powerful Sects would have already built bases so he needed to build his Clan’s Sacred Realm base in the center of the largest unbroken piece of Shaards.
‘On Earth building a CULT I mean a Clan is difficult because people are treacherous but on Shaards contracts made that a simple thing to overcome.' Tuck thought to himself as he finished the last Barrier-Pillars and put 250 into Kenon’s Spatial ring.
Finding talented people would take some time but for now Tuck had his Hide away home which would be more than enough room for him and his growing Clan.
Having said his goodbyes to Kenon and his staff Tuck entered his Wyrm hole and headed in the direction he felt Miriam was in. It was the night before the Council meeting and Tuck wondered how well the ladies got through with their plans.