27-Making Deals Under Duress

7/1/5/4353 M.A.C - Niwut - Evening

Percy's eyebrows rose so high that his eyes were fully visible for the first time that evening as they started glossing over and tears started dripping from their inner corners.

"Tom, this is better than a chance. Ancients know how many of our seniors managed to get through a threshold thanks to members from our generation. If Earth kept developing, maybe one of them has knowledge that will open up new avenues for me. Are you sure though? How many have you found?"

"Yeah Tom, when did you find one? You never said anything."

"Not outright, but didn't I tell you that it was important that you made sure the boy was fine when he woke up, and to get him back to his home safely?"

Dhruvah dropped the chicken leg he had grabbed from one of the platters as he turned to Tom.

"Wait, you mean Doro? That makes so much sense! He did come across as older than he looked, and for some reason when they upgraded my armor, it was him and not his father who was giving the instructions. Also explains why a young boy was able to come up with two metals I've never seen, as well as the golden stuff he applied to my armor. If it was only one of those things, then I could explain it away as a coincidence, but it piles up. Plus, if you got your Blessed tingle, that probably confirms it."

"Please don't call it my "Blessed Tingle"..."

Percy's tears seemed to have stopped, but Something Dhruvah said caused a spark of hope to ignite a large fire inside him as he stood and straightened his back.

*Crack*

"Oh crud! I got too enthusiastic and it appears I may have slipped a disk. Tom, would you be a dear and fix me up?"

An evil grin appeared on Tom's face.

Oh Percy, how sweet of you to increase my bargaining power whilst we are still in negotiations.

"We haven't made a deal yet, let me tell you my counteroffer and then you can decide if I will be your physician. First, let me give you a quick check-up with my Abilities to see exactly what I can offer you."

"Would you really take advantage of an injured elderly man?"

"If his name is, or ever was, Percival Stanley, then absolutely."

[Sense Ailment+][Sense infection][Sense Vitals+][Sense injury]

Ok, let's see...Inflammation in the joints. Brittle bones. No infection or infectious disease that I can see. Blood pressure is slightly low but heart rate is steady. Lungs show small signs of deterioration but the kidneys and liver seem to be the worst off. next!

[Informed Diagnosis++] [Prognostic+]

Two years? Weak! Just with my Abilities, I can push to nearly three. At least his diagnosis was accurate. No ailments or diseases are to be found. His organs have started responding to his dwindling lifespan though. I can slow it down, but as far as I know, only passing a threshold can stop the process now that it has started. Rheumatismus can be alleviated with medicinal baths, and I can make some bone-strengthening elixirs to help with his brittle bones. Let's see what I can do for his failing organs.

[Memories of the blessed][Mental Dispensatory][Simulated Alchemy]

If I do my best with what I have and easily accessible ingredients, maybe five years. Closer to six if I can come up with a few rare-ish ingredients and fine-tune the medicine. Let's make an offer.

"I will be your physician for five years, and not only let you live that long, but also greatly improve your physical situation in the meantime. In exchange, I want you to devote half of each day to seriously work on breaking through your threshold. You can keep your company, but I will take the guest quarters. You will also have to soak in a medicine bath for half an hour each day, but aside from that and your training, you are free to spend the rest of your time training your successor in preparation for the worst-case scenario. After five years, I may be able to keep you living a few months longer, but your state will deteriorate rapidly. While you are still in relatively good shape, unless you can convince me that the chances are too low, you will attempt to break through your threshold at the end of the fifth year at the latest. If you succeed, you can have a year to finish training your successor before rejoining our party and making a serious attempt at getting to the next threshold for the following twenty-five years. That will leave you with an extra twenty-five years of life or so to enjoy a second retirement if you want to give up again at that point. Be aware that as long as you don't give up, new offers will be coming from me. I would not care to lose you too."

Tom took a deep breath and kept going before Percy could begin formulating a response.

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"To sum it up, the quarters, half of your time every day, you attempting to pass your threshold in five years' time at the latest, and spending at least half of the life expectancy you will get from passing your threshold trying for the next one with us. In exchange, I will make sure you have the time to finish training your successor while keeping you healthier than you are right now. I will tutor your successor while you are busy making progress, and I will arrange for you to meet Doro if he is willing. Since we saved his life, I believe he will at least accept to meet you once if we were to ask."

"Deal!"

Tom was startled by the sudden response. When they had last separated, none of his entreaties had managed to sway Percy, and so he had expected his work to be cut out for him.

"Wait really, no negotiations or anything?"

"Nope, really. You gave me all I wanted and more at a lower immediate price. Also, you've been talking for ages and my back is really throbbing."

"Oh...Yeah. It slipped my mind, let me fix that."

[Realign Bones]

Tom put his hands flat on either side of Percy's spine, on his lower back, as he activated his Ability and applied pressure. The bones responded to his input and shifted back into position. Tom decided to make his way up to the shoulders and the neck to alleviate some of the hunch his friend had developed, and help the treatment he would give him for his rheumatoid arthritis be more effective.

"Now that you two have hashed it out, and Percy is no longer stuck on the floor, could you tell me what I am meant to do for five years? Let me remind you that my purse is empty and I have no job lined up at the moment. A day or two is fine but I eat a lot and I would start feeling bad about being a leech fairly soon."

"Dhruvah, stop being so down on yourself. With your level, and your work ethic, you can easily find employment in Niwut. Maybe you could even go work at the HQ. Aside from Niwut's Head Centurion, you may be the highest-level active legionnaire in the city. People our level rarely come back to the mainland for significant amounts of time except for retirement after all. I'd say you are top ten at the very least."

"Yeah, they could hire you as a drill instructor. If they send potential recruits to you, the ones without the right stuff will piss their pants when they see your bulk in full armor. Those who don't run away with urine-filled boots might make for good legionnaires. Well, I'm jesting, but I'm sure you could find some work as a bodyguard, or as a combat instructor for some young lordling. I could inquire with some of my clients."

"Let me check out the HQ first, I'll get back to you on that. You don't mind if I stay with you in the guest quarters Tom? I'll sort out my own meals with how pricy food is in this region, but I'd feel left out in an inn somewhere with the two of you living it up over here."

After a short while Rana entered the room, bringing the desserts along with her.

"Ah! Rana, come sit with us for a little bit. You met Rana earlier, but let me officially introduce her. This is Rana Chronos, one of my youngest descendants. I call her my grandaughter, but I honestly don't know the exact number of generations that went by during our adventure outside the empire. I was lucky enough that my descendants still went by the name I picked, and that they were still active in Niwut. Good thing I came back when I did because the family had dwindled and they were only a generation or two away from losing the shop and having to move to boomtown. They were competent, but they hadn't made any real innovations and had lost some of my techniques. I decided that I would stay and help them out, but if I wanted Chronos to outlive me and for the family to continue growing, I needed to train a successor. After looking for a disciple outside the family for about a year, I found a suitable candidate. He was a passionate young man that had the spark that my descendants seemed to have lost, and he gave me hope for the future of Chronos. I was a strict teacher, spurred on by the knowledge that I would only have a decade or two to train him, and so I kept pushing him."

Percival glanced at Rana and then continued in a more somber tone.

"Unbeknownst to me, one of my granddaughters had fallen in love with him, a love that produced fruit a few years later. Soon after he found out, he decided to try and pass the level 29 threshold, telling my granddaughter that he would use his success as an opening to ask for her hand in marriage. It would seem that I hadn't done well enough at conveying how impressed I was with his growth, and he feared that I might not acquiesce to his request considering he was asking for permission after doing the deed, so to speak. I wish he had come to me then, for in truth, I would have been overjoyed that he wished to join my family in more than just name. That would have reassured me that he would stay and take care of my family after my passing. Instead, he rushed and tried to pass his threshold before my granddaughter could no longer hide her condition from the rest of us. He wasn't ready. Luckily he wasn't taken over by the Maya and turned into a monster, but his failure caused a lot of internal injuries. He died two days later with my granddaughter and me at his bedside. Six months later, Rana was born. This little gear devil helped us regain morale and as she grew up, she started showing an incredible amount of potential when it came to machines. In memory of her father, I decided to take her as my new successor as early as I could, and have been doing my best not to waste the limited amount of time I have left."

"Sorry you two, Grandpa tends to ramble on when he's had a drink. I don't think you guys needed my whole life story."

"Rana, show them a little bit more respect, please. They are going to live here for the next five years and Thomas is gonna be tutoring you while I undergo treatment and cannot do so myself."

"Five years!?"

Rana started wiping at her eyes as tears formed in their corners. She jumped at Tom and gave him a tight hug while sobbing.

"Th-ank you so much...the last doc-tor said grandpa only had two left at the mo-ost."

"There, there. If all goes well, five years is just a start. We managed to convince your grandpa to give breaking through his threshold another serious shot when my treatment has reached its limit. Be warned, we plan on stealing him away if he succeeds, so we can try to drag him along to the next threshold. Basically, we are forcing him out of retirement in exchange for our help. Use the next five years to learn all you can, because either way you are taking over as the head of Chrono then."

As Tom patted Rana on the head, she calmed down and dashed away from him.

"Sorry about that, I'm just so happy that I lost control a little. I'll do my best, and if Grandpa leaving for a while increases his chances of staying around longer later, I'm all for it. I'm planning on taking what Grandpa teaches me to surpass him someday, so please force him to be as high a target for me as you can."

Dhruvah, who had remained silent for the last few minutes, decided to participate.

"Don't be too happy just yet. Your grandpa offered half of his company in exchange for Tom's help but Tom refused. You see, it has been a couple centuries since Tom has taken a wife, and if you were going to inherit the company, rather than take 50%, he might as well marry you and become co-owner. Your grandfather agreed, and so now you get to know your betrothed during tutoring sessions until you come of age. Sorry that you got betrothed to the prissy old fart."

Wait what!? What in the heavens Dhruvah!? I need to quickly put an end to his joke be-

"As long as you don't expect me to become a housewife, and you wait until I am an adult, then I guess that'll be the price I have to pay. At least you look rather good considering you are the same age as this old geezer who sold me off without asking my permission first."

The three old men blinked a couple of times and laughed in unison after sharing looks.

"Sorry, I was just pulling a prank. I thought that with you being a teenage girl and all, a surprise marriage to an old man you didn't know might create a funny reaction."

"Honestly I don't really care about marriage. The only requirement I have is that my future husband, if I ever get married, doesn't get in the way of my work. Gears and screws are where it's at! Maybe I'll build an automaton so advanced he'll gain sentience, then I won't need a husband!"

The three men's laughs intensified, making Rana visibly annoyed.

"Ugh. I'm going to bed."

Rana stomped out of the room, but with her small frame and light weight, the effect was greatly reduced, adding to the three men's laughter. The rest of the evening went by as the three friends spoke about their near future while enjoying some food and drinks. For the next few decans, Tom would get his old friend's treatment started, but once that bit was settled, he would need to go and formally meet a boy called Doro.