NOVEL NEXT Chapter 27: The Banquet
Lucan found SuperSleuth in the morning. He had been out all night, drinking, buying rounds and getting to know different people.
He sat down at the table where Lucan was eating breakfast and drank a stamina potion.
To answer Lucan's questioning look, Super replied. "A stamina potion will clear up a hangover for an hour or two, hopefully it is gone by then." He said, already appearing to be in a better mood with more energy.
"Good to know." Lucan nodded while cracking another hard-boiled egg.
"Already this trip has exceeded my expectations. I owe you one, and I am not someone who forgets their favors." Super said after placing his order with the maid.
"Do you mind telling me more about your character? Other than getting along well, I don't know much about you, or even what your class is."
"Ha, yeah, sure. At my source I am an elementalist. I am in tune with the elements around me and can take advantage of them, I am also a hunter. With the two combined there is no terrain I cannot travel with ease. I am adept with a bow, but mostly use it for distractions so I can escape."
"Is an elementalist like a sorcerer. Can you summon fire and wind and so on?"
"No, not really. The best way to describe it is that I am in harmony with the elements. The elements can somewhat act as my senses. The wind will carry whispers to my ears. The ground holds the vibrations of creatures. Subtle temperature changes are easy to notice. It is things like that."
"Ah, I see. That and being a hunter must make it pretty easy for you to go where you want."
"Yep, that was the plan when I built this character. Your class has been a nice addition of abilities. I can see great success if we continue to work together."
"I am glad you think so. I had the same thought and wanted to make you an offer."
"Oh really?" Super said with a businessman's smile.
"Before we get into that, I spoke with Hellfire last night and informed him of your presence. Let's talk about that."
"Yes, is he okay with me recording?"
"I got you the exclusive story, but it is set up with conditions."
"Of course, such a popular ranker must be flocked by the press all the time. I am willing to meet his conditions if they are doable."
"You will find him very easy to work with. I sold Hellfire on the idea that it would be a pay-per-view event. He agreed to an interview tonight and tomorrow after the challenge. I know in real time it is 6 hours until the challenge, but do you think it's possible to get enough hype out that you both could make some money?"
"Hmm, it's not long, but he is very popular online. He will have millions of viewers, even if we only charge a dollar we will be rolling in money."
"I thought of a way to announce it to every warlock and acolyte under Raze. I will unlock Raze's forums, there will be an announcement. And I will make sure the first post available is a link to your site."
"Ah, that would be great, but I still don't have enough gold to buy the Livestream media gear."
"I have no idea what you are talking about?"
"To upload a live video of the game, you need special in game equipment that Source Creations sells."
"How much gold are you talking about?"
"150."
"That's it?" Lucan asked, expecting a crazy number.
"I reinvest my profits while keeping my employees happy and expanding my business. A lot of gold is needed to change hands to get things done. Plus, after last night my pockets are pretty light."
"Let's go back to the offer I want to make you." Lucan said. "I want you to become a direct warlock. Your acolyte class will change to warlock, you will get a 10% discount and access to Raze's full selection. You can recruit your own followers and earn 10% of whatever they spend. I will transfer over all the people you have sent to me already. It will be much easier to run your organization with you at the head. You shouldn't overlook the pact magic ability either. It has more uses than making someone an acolyte, a verbal agreement with a handshake becomes magically binding and just as powerful as any signed contract. I want you to agree that you won't try to go after my position and in return, when I can, I will take you to any places my position can gain access too."
"I only met you yesterday, it is obvious you value my connections and sources and that is the reason you want this. You want to make my network your own. I am sorry, but I am not looking to cash out on my hard work."
"Here is what I was thinking. You are still you; you do your own thing. I would be interested in buying 15% of your business and becoming your best customer. I would pay for information from you, but maybe you give me priority and since I am a part owner you might want to chose not to reveal my big secrets no matter the price offered."
"Hmm, it is a tempting deal. You seem like the kind of person who would prefer not to rush things, but this is very sudden. What aren't you telling me?"
"A lot, but there is a little more you should know…" Lucan explained the situation with the other Hand's and how it would be ideal for SuperSleuth to spread his influence, casting a wide net to detect any underworking's of the 3 rogue Hands.
"Okay, I feel like I have the full story. I think this will be good for both of us, any don't worry I will be commentating during the challenge and will do my best to help get Hellfire more acolytes." SuperSleuth shook Lucan's hand.
[You now have 2 of 5 direct warlocks.]
"Here is 200 gold I will get you the 1,800 within a year in game."
"I won't sell your secrets, but until you complete the share purchase, I cannot consider you an owner."
Lucan nodded, he understood when he agreed to the terms. He then transferred over 80 of his acolytes that Super had signed up through him.
"Oh wow, there are a lot of mental abilities."
"Yeah, it's a bit overwhelming. Once you buy something, the category you found it in will become available to your followers and mine, it's the same as when I buy something. But what you buy doesn't become available for Silent followers."
"Okay, I got it. I need to switch some things over and logout. I will have a camera and be ready for dinner tonight. Wait for my say to launch Raze's forum, we can do that after I have the first interview on the site."
"Sounds good." Lucan hollered to Super who was hurrying back upstairs to his room.
Silent Night and Lucy had made plans and were already gone. Lucy was going to visit a shadow temple and undergo a baptism while Silent was training with Ash and his subordinates. After spending weeks in the Forest of the Lost, Lucan was happy to sit on the patio and give time to his two professions. They needed attention now more than ever since Lucan had expanded his woodworking to bows and arrow shafts and had also picked up formations.
He spent the morning making a couple of wands. He still wasn't confident enough to use special wands cores he bought. He still used the low-grade mana crystal. Each time he made a wand his wand making skill went up a small amount. When afternoon came, he pulled out his books, trying to better understand what formation were capable of.
"Why haven't you changed yet?" Lucy asked, snapping Lucan back to reality. He set down the book to see the priest wearing an elegant purple dress, her hair was up while a black gemstone necklace draped over her exposed collar bone.
Lucan also noticed Super was wearing nice clothes instead of armor as well.
"Uh... give me a minute."
Super chuckled. "If you need something to wear, I probably have something that will fit."
"It's alright, my followers have been good to me lately." Lucan said while buying the illusionary garment spell from his wish list. The spell wasn't much more complex than his normal illusions, he wouldn't have an issue casting it.
Lucan gave his wand a wave after stepping in front of the mirror. Lucan's thoughts came to life. He now wore a well-fitting suit. His gear vanished while the illusion took place. The higher content of Mental magic in the illusion tricked the mind into feeling real clothes if someone where to reach of and touch it.
"How do I look?" Lucan asked Lucy and Super.
"Like a jerk that didn't tell me we were dressing up." Silent said, coming down the stairs in her normal gear.
Lucan smiled. "Don't resist my spell." He said before waving his wand.
A midnight blue dress appeared on the rogue. Lucan was aware of her preferences. The dress was long, her chest was covered. Sleeves went down to her hands where silk gloves were pulled over her sleeves. Only her neck, shoulders and head were exposed after her gear turned invisible.
"Wow, this is umm." Silent started to blush, her embarrassment was causing her to struggle with her words.
"Don't worry, you look beautiful." Lucan said while looking her over again before turning and walking out of the house. Ash was waiting to escort them.
***
"Introducing the sixth Hand of Raze, the Magical Sage, Lord Lucan Quilldrake."
Lucan walked into the banquet hall after being announced, many faces were inspecting the newest and lowest level Hand.
"Introducing a direct warlock of the sixth Hand, Silent Night."
"Introducing a direct warlock of the sixth Hand, SuperSleuth."
"Introducing an acolyte of the sixth Hand, Lucy Evermore."
There were many people Lucan didn't recognize. Due to the nature of the event, Raze, the Duke of Flames, and Hellfire wouldn't be showing up until everyone else had arrived. Looking around the room Lucan recognized Lisel and the Queen of Shadows. Besides those two, every other face was a new one.