Making sure he was presentable, Jack went to the door and answered it. Standing in front of the door was a massive chest. Looking up Jack saw that it belonged to a tall dragon woman. She stood towering over him, she was at least seven and a half feet tall. The hall outside was barely tall enough to accommodate the horns coming off her head. She was wearing a set of green and gold armor, with a symbol of a hawk carved onto the front.

Looking down at him, she said "Are you Sir Jack who was at the market today?" Her voice had a raspy quality to it, and she had a strange aura about her.

"Yes, that would be me." Jack said as he tried to examine this strange aura. "Who might you be?"

Carefully the dragonkin bowed, and said "I am Yukali, servant to Lord Attomas. He is interested in speaking with you concerning a business proposal."

"Oh, Okay?" Jack said a little confused. "I have never met this Lord Attomas. I'm not sure why he would be interested in speaking with me. How exactly did you find me?"

Yukali sniffed looking a tad annoyed, "A man who spends obscene amounts of coin at the market, who has strange attire that looks well made, who has the aura of nobility about them is a very easy man to find."

Not really in the mood to talk with some strange noble, Jack was about to decline, when Veronica came back into the room. She quickly said "My Master would be honored to accept Lord Attomas invitation"

"Does your servant speak for you?" Yukali said dismissing Veronica and looking back at Jack.

Not liking this attitude, Jack said "My servant Veronica has my trust. She knows my will, disrespect her, you disrespect me. Perhaps you should tell your Lord Attomas that I decided to not go with you because of your attitude."

"Forgive me Sir Jack, I meant no disrespect." Yukali said squinting down at him.

"No," Jack said "Apologize to my servant."

Yuakali gritted her teeth and turned towards Veronica and said "I apologize for any disrespect I showed."

"It is alright, I'm sure you did not mean anything by it, let's sweep this matter away and forget about it." Veronica said.

Yukali nodded and said "Very well, Sir Jack we have a carriage waiting downstairs to take you to Lord Attomas."

Following the giant woman down to the street, Jack spotted a large green carriage with a embossed gold hawk on it's side. A foot man opened the door of the carriage, and Jack climbed in, followed by Veronica. Yukali closed the door and climbed onto the top to the driver's seat.

When the carriage started to move, and Jack heard the clacking of the horses shoes on the stone road, he turned to Veronica. "I would have liked to be consulted before you made a decision like that. Why did you agree for me to go see this Lord Attomas?"

Making sure the servant's outside could not hear them, Veronica whispered to Jack "Lord Attomas is a very powerful man in the kingdom. Getting on his good side would allow several of your plans to come to fruition sooner. For instance with a word, he could cut the spatial tax down for your Users entering the city. However if you piss him off, he could make things hard for your plans."

Taking that information he said "Thank you, though I would like a little heads up next time. You can use the message function to contact me if you can't speak out loud. Also if this Lord Attomas dares to oppose me, I will deal with him."

"Of course My Lord. He would be crushed into dust under your will. However I must warn you Nobles often have the backing of several gods. The gods don't like direct actions of gods upon them. If you attack him, they will likely attack you. If you must remove him, I suggest doing the deed with another's hand." Veronica said.

Jack said "No need, as powerful as this Lord Attomas is, he rules over a tiny portion of this world. If the rest of the world falls to me, what can he do then? Now tell me about this man."

"Lord Attomas is the eldest child of three of the Marquess who controls this region. The Marquess reports to Duke Adam Evercral. Lord Attomas is well liked by the citizens of the city, and is seen as the likely replacement for the Marquess." Veronica said.

After the Carriage hit some bumps, Jack could see they were now in an upscale area of the city. "Lord Attomas is well known for his interest in magical devices, he once built a strange device in the middle of the city that just made lights appear in the sky. He also has an interest in monsterkin, he has several who serve him." Veronica said.

"Thank you for the information." Jack said. They passed the rest of the short ride in silence. Soon the carriage pulled into the driveway of a large mansion. Passing through a large garden section, Jack from the windows could see a massive hedge maze.

Pulling in front of the mansion, the carriage shook a little as Yukali jumped off and landed on the ground with a thud. She opened the door and Jack stepped out onto the ground with Veronica following them. The entrance was surrounded in a green marble. A gold Hark statue was above the entrance, looking as if it was standing guard. Following Yukali they entered the Mansion.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Past the entrance was a grand foyer, a set of twin stairs led up to the second floor, they were carpeted in a green rug. The floor of the foyer was tiled, and a mosaic of a large hawk in the middle of diving could be seen. With her heels clicking on the floor, Yukali led them down a side hallway. From the windows Jack could see the impressive garden as they walked.

Stopping in front of a door, Yukali said "This is the private sitting room of Lord Attomas. Please take a seat inside, and I will inform Lord Attomas of your arrival."

Entering the room, Jack found the room was fairly small. Along the back wall was a fireplace. Two couches surrounded a table in the middle of the room. On the table was a vase filled with odd looking flowers. At a second glance Jack realized they were actually made out of crystal.

Several paintings lined the walls, most were paintings of hawks in flight. Above the fireplace looked to a painting of a man engaged in battle with a large demon. Jack took a seat and Veronica stood at the side of the couch next to Jack. After waiting for several minutes, a tall bearded skinny man in an obnoxious suit entered.

Jack stood and offered his hand and said "Lord Attomas, It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Yes, well Sir Jack, it's a pleasure to meet you as well." Lord Attomas glanced at Jacks offered hand and went to the opposite couch and took a seat. "I'm afraid I must decline your handshake. I find physical contact with others quite painful."

Jack nodded and sat down again saying "That is okay. We all have our issues."

Yukali entered carrying a tea set on a platter. Setting it on the table she set a cup out for both Jack and Lord attomas. She placed a few cubes of sugar into the cup of Attomas. Turning to Jack she asked "Sir Jack would you like sugar?" Shaking his head, she poured the tea into the cups.

After Lord Attomas reached out and took a sip of tea, Jack followed suit and remarked "This is good tea, Lord Attomas."

"Yes, I acquired it overseas during my travels. Now, I wish to talk to you about the business deal my servant mentioned with you." Lord Attomas said placing his cup down.

Jack said "I would like to ask first, what exactly makes you interested in dealing with me."

Lord Attomas reached inside his coat and pulled out a gold coin and put it on the table. "This is my interest actually."

Taking a look at the coin, Jack realized it was one of the coins he had paid out in the market. "Are you a collector of these coins?" Jack asked.

"No, the coins themselves have no value to me, besides their actual worth of course. What does matter, is the history behind them, and who uses them today." Lord Attomas said.

Jack asked "What do you mean Lord Attomas?"

"Most of the Sevaris Kingdom coins have been melted down and recast into modern coins. Except for the coins inside the Empire of Tiaran, who claim they are the true descendants of the Sevaris Kingdom. Their nobles are the only ones I know of who have such a large amount of the coins." Lord Attomas said.

Jack laughed and said "I'm sorry this caused a misunderstanding. I am no noble of this Empire. If you had wanted to deal with the Empire, I am afraid I would be no help to you."

"Of course, Sir Jack, a noble from the Empire would be odd to find in our Kingdom, especially when the Empire is at war with our neighbor." Lord Attomas said.

Jack felt that Lord Attomas was reading too much into it and said "Lord Attomas, I must stress that I found the coins in a pond."

"What a strange pond to hide a fortune. Perhaps I should check the ponds on my land for such treasure." Lord Attomas said with a grin.

Jack deciding to move on said "You said that you were interested in the history of the coins?"

"The history of the Sevaris Kingdom fascinates me. They ruled over the entire continent, and their feats of magic still astonish us today. Yet they fell within a matter of years, casting the entire world into a period of darkness. The event was cataclysmic, in fact several monsters and monsterkin that had never existed appeared during that time." Lord Attomas said.

Jack asked "I was unaware of that."

"For example, before the fall, there was no mention of goblins in recorded history. Yet after the fall, they appeared in waves and nearly destroyed half of the continent. They are still a scourge on this world. Perhaps if we understood what happened, we can eradicate them once and for all." Lord Attomas said.

Jack said "That is fascinating, but I'm afraid I'm not seeing how this connects to a business deal."

"Ah, sorry I found it fascinating, and I get a little too passionate. My siblings and I will be headed out on an expedition to a recently found abandoned city of the Kingdom Sevaris. It was buried under a mountain to the north. I wish to invite you along on our journey." Lord Attomas said.

Jack said confused "I appreciate the offer, but I'm not sure exactly what you would be gaining from inviting me."

"Several reasons actually. The most relevant to business would be your impressive spatial storage. I'm afraid we will be on a time limit in the city, before the King officially takes control over the city. We are allowed to basically take anything within reason from the city, your spatial storage will allow us to take far more." Lord Attomas said.

Jack said "Surely you have spatial bags."

"Yes, however due to the unique area of the lost city, most spatial bags will fail. As your spatial skill comes from your god, it should be able to work within the city." Lord Attomas said.

Jack said "That sounds like you are expecting me to be little more than a porter."

"I assure you that you will be a partner in this expedition, and will be entitled to a cut of what we find within the city." Lord Attomas said.

Jack said "Your other reasons?"

"The Kingdom of Sevaris was heavily reliant on magic, while I'm an expert on most magical devices, I need another set of eyes to spot what I might miss. Your impressive display of picking out the magical gear in the market caught my attention. Even if you can only tell if something is magical, that will greatly aid me. If you were from the Empire, their experience with Magical devices also greatly exceeds my own."

Jack said "I see. I will have to think about your offer. I have an issue that I need to be addressed by the city council, if you can get me an audience with them, I will be more inclined to accept your offer.

Lord Attomas nodded and said "That is something I can do." He pulled a card out of his coat and handed it to Jack. "I will be hosting an auction tomorrow. I am inviting you to it. Please inform me of your decision after the auction."

Standing Jack said "Thank you Lord Attomas."

Lord Attomas stood and nodded "Yukali will see you out."

Jack and Veronica followed Yukali out of the room and back to the entrance.