Published at 9th of September 2025 12:26 pm

Book 5: Chapter 7 Forced Negotiations [Part 2]

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The hall was thick with the smell of iron and sweat, filled to its rafters with hard-eyed men and women of all races, each one as rough and scarred as the next. Eyes followed me as I entered, their gazes a mix of wariness and a grudging respect that bordered on fear.

"It’s the one from Salahaem," one of them whispered, nudging his companion. The man flinched as my gaze settled on him, and I offered a sharp, humorless grin that sent his eyes darting to the floor.

A man in plain, practical plate and mail stepped forward, as nondescript as they come—brown hair, average build, a face so ordinary it might have belonged to a thousand men. Yet there was something in the way he held himself, something that spoke of quiet authority and the unspoken weight of his words. He was the Guildmaster if I was not mistaken.

“Aldina… that would be Gilgamesh of Uruk,” he announced, his voice a low rumble that hinted at some distant, exotic origin. “Originally registered at our Ansan branch.” Without another word, he drew a heavy purse from his belt and tossed it my way. It arced through the air, jangling with the unmistakable sound of coin, and I caught it easily, feeling the familiar weight of well-earned silver and gold in my palm.

“For services rendered in Ansan,” he explained. “You never returned to collect.”

Quest Complete.

500 experience gained.

I could not help it—I simply broke out into laughter, a sound that echoed off the stone walls like the crack of a whip. That was the trouble with having no quest log; sometimes, things slipped the mind. After all this time, I’d finally completed my task of warning the Adventurer’s Guild about an Echo-Stalker’s nest. But no one else found the humor in it. They watched me as if I were mad, their expressions blank, mirthless. Not that I expected them to understand. No one ever did.

“I have come to…” I began, though the words faltered in my throat, falling short of the dramatic tone I had imagined.

“You’ve come to end my life, I presume?” The plain man’s voice held an even tone, but a flicker of challenge danced in his eyes. “It would be logical for one of the Salahaem. You think you can face us all, alone in your arrogance. For our part, we acted as duty demanded, as our patrons required. Nothing personal. To think that, a man of the Copper like yourself carries a price—nearly a thousand in gold. It is temptation.”

“Interrupt me again, and your life ends here.” My voice rang coldly, each word sharp with the malice I dredged from my very core. “I speak with the voice of the Mother, and you would be nothing more than a sacrifice. You, like so many before, believe a man’s worth is bound only to his rank? I have killed more Silver and Gold than are standing in this room right now…think on that.” I let the silence stretch, the weight of my words settling into the stone of the room. “Shall I make myself clearer, or would you prefer I reveal the Guild’s true secret to all present?”

“You would not dare!” the Guildmaster hissed. “You could not even if you so wished.”

A few adventurers drew closer, tantalized by my promised revelation.

“That I could even speak of speaking of it should be proof enough,” I replied lazily, barely concealing the threat under a layer of calm. “Or do you wish to test me? Decide quickly—my patience wears thin.”

There was a murmur before the hall grew quiet once more.

I saw the flicker of unease cross his face. The subtle tremor in his hand, the tightening of his jaw—he knew he’d been cornered. His silence only confirmed it, a damning, hollow quiet that hung heavy in the hall.

One more push and he was done.

“We will discuss terms now,” I continued, my words edged in steel.

I watched his resolve crumble like a castle of sand meeting the first waves. He looked away, fingers raking through his hair in a gesture of surrender. “You couldn’t have chosen a worse time…” he muttered, voice tinged with desperation. “We’re assembling to face the Djinn that threatens this city, here in the heart of the storm. I can offer you two hundred gold if you step aside, and a pledge to act if we fail. A talent of mithril if you join us. Aldina will see it done.”

It was an offer grand enough to pull a gasp from me. I had come here expecting to leave the place awash in blood, not to negotiate riches.

“A talent? Guildmaster Canis, you can’t be serious!” came a sharp cry from the gathered throng. A small, wiry man, clad in a thick coat of plates with a pair of sickles at his side, glared at the Guildmaster.

“Silence, Xan! The men are talking!” Canis snapped, his voice harsh and clipped.

“Will Kaila be joining you?” I asked, feigning nonchalance, though I watched Canis closely.

His eyes narrowed, probing for whatever intent lay beneath my words. “Of course. She’s one of our strongest—one of the most reliable among us.”

“Then here is my counter-offer,” I said with a cold, vicious grin. “A sanctioned duel to the death—with her. Keep your coin.”

The hall fell still. The silence was thick, shocked, disbelieving. I knew if the Salahaem won the Contest of Knives, I would have more than enough gold. Money meant little to me at this stage of the game.

“You can’t be serious,” Canis barked, his voice straining. “What has she ever done to you? What reason could you have to kill her?”

My face was blank, my voice as flat as old iron. “Let’s just say that she came to my village one day and slaughtered all its people, left me an orphan.” It was a lie, but my tone was dead enough to carry its weight. The voices within started whispering, forming the threads of an old spell.

The gathered fighters shifted, unease spreading through the hall like the chill before dawn. Canis scoffed, skepticism hardening his face. “You’re lying.”

Without a second’s thought, I flung out my hand. A dark, curling spell of Rust surged through the air, black lightning that latched onto Xan’s armor. His armor and weapons flared in a violent blaze as the metal corroded in an instant, sparking an exothermic burst that seared his flesh. He screamed, high and shrill, his body aflame in a terrifying wreath of red-hot decay.

The hall erupted into chaos, but I stood still, a grim smile tugging at my lips as the Guild saw firsthand what defiance might cost them.

You have slain a human 10 experience gained.

A shout echoed across the room as the smell of roasting flesh filled the air, rich and sickening. The adventurers’ faces twisted in horror and fury, weapons flashing in the torchlight as they began to close in, their eyes lit with the promise of violence.

“STOP!” Canis’ voice thundered, cutting through the chaos like the crack of a whip. Instantly, the advancing mob halted, their steps arrested by the sheer force of his command.

A ball of water splashed over Xan in a desperate, fruitless attempt to save him. It steamed and hissed upon contact, sending up a sickening sizzle that only served to underline the futility of it. Xan was already beyond saving, his death a brutal punctuation mark to Canis’ command.

I turned to address the room, my voice carrying over the simmering murmurs, aimed as much at the mob as it was at Canis. “Besmirch my honor and call me a liar again,” I warned, “and you will find me with my patience spent. But, out of respect for your bravery, I will amend my offer. I will fight you both at once. It would be unsporting not to grant you some measure of survival, slim as it may be. And in exchange, I will lend my aid to the fight you face, against this Djinn.” I paused, letting my gaze sweep over them. “Remember this well: gold and silver may sway a man’s hand, but there are greater things that guide his purpose.”

Canis’s face was an iron mask of self-control, each feature rigid with the effort it took to contain his wrath. But to his credit, he held himself steady, forcing the words from his mouth with grim determination. “Very well, Gilgamesh of Uruk,” he ground out, his voice low and strained. “As the Goddess is my witness, I accept your terms. May the strongest find favor in her eyes.”

He met my gaze, the room watching, tense, as the die of fate was once again cast.

You have gained 1 Charisma

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