NOVEL NEXT Chapter 84: Contract?
'Why wait?' Brax thought to himself. 'You know better than anybody that given the time to think you will chicken out. Be a man of action, be confident.'
Brax rolled down the window and looked at Holly who was still glaring at him angrily.
"Give me your sisters phone number." He commanded.
"What, no way."
Brax frowned.
"Do you want Jenna to be happy? I know you don't like me but am I really a bad person? Surely you know how your act as a barely dressed idol has affected your sister. Have I ever done anything to harm her? I care about her. Give me her number so I can ask her out. She is an amazing woman who shouldn't feel objectified or inferior just because she has the same body as you. I know she has never done anything to stop you from pursuing your dream even though it puts her in an awkward position that she hates, so stop being a brat and give me her number so I can make her days happier." He demanded.
"I-." Holly choked on her words and couldn't say anything. After a moment she eventually gave Jenna's phone number to Brax. "If you do anything to hurt her, I don't care about the consequences, I will make you suffer."
"If I do anything to hurt her, I deserve it." He said before rolling up the window and driving off.
Brax couldn't wait any longer. He was already thinking of ways to text her instead of calling. He was slowly chickening out.
'NO, be a man and do it.'
He punched her number in and tossed his phone into the passenger seat along with his sunglasses. With the polarized windscreen of the Aero Specter, they were only a hinderance.
***
Jenna Beneil was enjoying a relaxing morning at home. Since she wasn't pursuing a graduate degree anymore, she had much more free time during the day. She was enjoying herself why scrolling through the Evolution online forums, leaving comments and posting memes.
*Ring* *Ring* *Ring*
Her phone started to ring, and she habitually answered it without even looking at who was calling. Not many people had her number. Since she left school, pretty much the only people that would call her was her family.
"Hello."
She waited but there was no response.
"Hello, is anyone there?"
After a moment, a reply came.
"Hey."
Jenna shivered; she would recognize that voice anywhere. Her head snapped like cat fleeing water to look at her phone. That was when she noticed that it wasn't a phone call she answered, but a video call. She stared unblinking at the man that was video calling her while driving a car.
"You, me, dinner tonight. Let's go out."
Jenna was speechless but eventually managed to nod.
"Good. I will text you after I leave Terracorp."
She nodded again until Brax hung up.
***
"Hell yeah!" Brax shouted as he drove. He truly felt like he was standing at the pinnacle of the world. He wasn't even concerned with his meeting at his uncles' company anymore.
Dealing with a bunch of stuffy businessmen, pah, amateurs. That was nothing compared to asking out his crush. His Aunt was right. He needed to be confident to get the things he wanted. Nothing would hold him back from now on.
He didn't forget to text Marie.
[Thank you. Oh, and I won't be around for dinner tonight. I am going out with Jenna.]
Her reply came immediately and was displayed on the windshield through the heads up display.
[AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!]
***
Brax had been sitting in a conference room for the past 2 hours. At the other side of the imposing table sat 20 people. There were lawyers, executives from Terracorp, and members of the Goblin Crusher Guild. He only recognized three people. His uncle, Pickle(Dill Jenis), and Squeaky Mouse.
His jacket rested on the back of his chair while his sleeves were rolled up. Lucan set the contract on the table while his uncle looked at him apologetically. He understood that his uncle only had so much power. Ultimately, the terms of a deal this size were up to the board of directors.
"No." Brax said.
"I'm sorry, I don't understand." Said one of the lawyers. "We were told you were interested in having us take control of your marketplace. This is the best we can offer."
"Do you expect me to take this mockery of a deal seriously." Brax said while raising his voice in a calm manner. "This is insulting."
"You are only one person, do not over value yourself. This is a good offer. I suggest you take it." Said the director of finance.
"Ha, you think you know me and what I am capable of. You know nothing. I have listened to you praises yourselves for long enough today." Brax said standing up from his seat. "You even have the gall to claim my own accomplishments as your own and expect me to be happy that you have given me such an awful deal. You have really opened my eyes to a new level of shamelessness."
"Hey you watch your mout-."
"I am not done talking." Brax said while smacking the table. "You tell me that Hellfire is more popular and developed than I am, so you don't need this deal to happen. Good luck trying to leverage him against me for a cheaper price. Did you bother looking up why his popularity quadrupled a month and a half ago?"
"Let me tell you that it was I who pulled strings and set things in motion to make it happen. Go run to Hellfire and ask him if he is willing to go against the leader of his coven and benefactor for a quick buck. I will not buy your bullshit, and neither will he."
Brax took a sip of his water before continuing.
"You tell me that your guild is powerful and has destroyed many other guilds including the Deadly Dozen. That's nonsense, and if you believe it, you truly don't even understand what is happening in Evolution. You may have absorbed the Golem guild before they delivered the final blow to a dying dog but you did nothing. I was the one who sent my associates to whisper in the golem guild's ear providing them with the means and opportunity to destroy them. I gave them power and gold to destroy the Deadly Dozen. I gave them the detailed information on every single one of their big hitters. I didn't do it for any glorious reason such as justice or helping the random people who they caused to live in suffering and misfortune. No, they traveled into my hunting ground and I didn't want to stop leveling there so I instructed others to rid them from my sight… permanently."
"You are right in saying I am just one man. I am not a massive organization with tens of thousands of players who will do whatever I say. I am an unseen shadow that manipulates the world to bend to my will. I can cast everything aside and burn it all to the ground tomorrow. I have invested nothing but time into this game while reaping everything I lay my eyes on. I will not stand for this insult of a contract. If you are so confident that you can enter the shadow realm elsewhere, go ahead and do it. But to side with anyone but me is to move against the Supreme Ruler Raze directly. Do you think that just anyone can be the hand of the mighty Raze while they are level one? Even the Queen of Shadow sends her most loyal guards to deliver money to me every month because she knows how to honor a debt."
"The people in my pocket who owe me favors are not the type of people you can just erase. Perhaps I should go to Baramore and have a conversation with Grand Magister Faylen. Two thirds of the knights in Baramore's army have come to me to seek the power to protect themselves and their loved ones. If you want to move against me, be my guest. I can offer him double what you are paying for supplies and get you shut out, but I seriously doubt I even have to do that. He would probably let me just take your supply orders for the same price to build up a friendly relation with the shadow realm. It sounds like those border wars have been getting nasty. The nobility always needs a safe place to fall back to. What could you actually offer him that I can't trump? But honestly, the material plane bores me and isn't worth the effort. You have 72 hours to come up with an acceptable offer or don't dream of peacefully inhabiting the shadow realm."
Brax picked up his jacket off of his chair and turned to his Uncle. "Uncle Bo, I won't be home for dinner tonight. I have a date." He said before walking out of the conference room.
Although Bo couldn't oppose his company, he was more than happy with his nephew's firm rejection of the trashy deal they had offered him.
The conference room was dead silent until Squeaky Mouse spoke up.
"Damn, if what he said is true, we could go far by having that guy behind us."
"Somebody checkout what he said and see if he really wields that kind of power." One of the executives commanded.